Holiday Rush

Wow, it seems like forever since I have worked in my studio. Since my last post, I managed to clean my studio and set up a new table for my encaustic work. But I haven't actually gotten in there to work. And I am really feeling the withdrawals of not doing so.

Last week I prepared for the Thanksgiving rush. We celebrated the day with some friends and had a great time. Over the weekend, we started getting things set up for Christmas and ventured out to the mall on Friday to get some shopping done. Got about 90% completed. Just a few more things to pick up and then we can call it done.

This week I am finishing up some cleaning projects, like my bedroom closet. Almost finished with that. Tomorrow I have to take my mother in law to the hospital for some dental surgery and she will be staying with us for a few days while she recuperates. Wednesday I need to pick up some paintings that have been exhibited and head over to the gallery to swap out some work and decorate. Then on Thurs. I am planning to get back to work. I don't know where the time goes. I really wish sometimes I could just forget the house and family stuff and just hibernate in my studio working until I drop. I need to head over to Home Depot to buy some more wood for panels also as I have gone through the ones I made last month. This time of the year is so hard to plan and schedule studio time.

Spring Cleaning

After spending this past weekend getting our EAG juried show in place, I thought that I would take a couple days off just to rest. HA! I ended up doing some things that I had been putting off for quite a while. The first thing was cleaning my upstairs bedroom. Our room is the most neglected plac in our home. It has been quite some time since I really cleaned it and felt it was time. The weather was rainy, so Monday I headed upstairs to do some major overhauling. I spent 2 whole days up there moving furniture around, cleaning sinks, dusting and wiping grime off ceiling fans. I threw out 4 hefty bags of stuff. So much for a break. Today I will be in my studio doing the same. I bought a new table for my studio to hold all my encaustic materials and need to find space. My studio is 20 x 17 and when we built it, I thought there would be plenty of room. How quickly I outgrew it.

After my trips ut of town and a change to put some distance between myself and my Samson painting, I have decided that it is soooo not finished. I need to get on it and really make some changes. The figure and the background is not integrated and I need major repairs to try to salvage it. I am confident that I can do this. Ths will be my goal for next week as I don't see myself getting any work done till then. Friday will be a busy day with my A.M. Spanish class and an afternoon EEAG board meeting. Saturday will be the EEAG general meeting and then a late afternoon baby shower and another friend who is having a kiln firing party. Sunday will be spent with hubby here helping my move some furniture from one guestroom into our master, that I was unable to do earlier. My walkin closet leaves a lot to be desired, so I need to improvise to make some more room. I also have the beginning of a major toothache and see a visit to the dentist in the very near future. Oh joy!!!

Preparing for our EEAG Juried Show

This past weekend has been a whirlwind for me. As President of the EEAG, I had to prepare for our annual juried show. On Thursday I arrived at the museum and waited for our 12:00pm cutoff for receiving works to be judged. We received 168 pieces. Many of these were fabulous pieces of art. I walked around and studied and selected my favorites hoping they would be selected for the show. I also selected works that I felt should win prizes. On Friday, I met with the jurors and stayed in the background as they selected our show. I was really amazed at the choices they made and surprised with some winner selections. Only 2 of the pieces I selected in my mind for prizes actually received one. I often wonder what goes through the mind of jurors as they are selecting a show. We had three jurors, which btw, I believe is way too many. First, there was scheduling issues, then all three had to be in agreement as to whether a piece would be selected or not and they all also had to agree on the prizes. It was interesting to see how one juror would try really hard to convince the other two to choose a piece that she fell in love with. On Sat. we shot photos of the selected pieces, all 90 of them and then returned to the museum yesterday for the ick up of pieces. It is really hard to face an artist who has worked so hard on a piece and then tell them they were rejected or that their favorite piece was not selected. Our show will open on Feb 2 and promises to be very exciting. Now the fun begins as preparations begin for the catalog design and press begin.

Interview with Glenda

Here is a video of my exhibition in DE as I am being interviewed by Kevin Melloy, gallery owner.