The text for my newest childrens book project “The Professional Dog” is shaping up. I’m still collecting dog photos from friends but I’ve almost gotten them all. The project still feels vague but it’s more in focus than it was last week. I’m content to view it with my peripheral vision so to speak.
Dog photos came this week from a Gallery owner, a Reporter, a Park Ranger, a Sculptor, an Assistant and a Bus driver.
So one of the focal points this week was a masked-up very quick in person visit to the Caplan Art Designs gallery in Portland Oregon. The Gallery invited some of the Gallery artists to participate in a “Holiday Box Exhibit”. We were given wooden box cubes and asked to do something with the cube in our art style. The cubes are 8 inches square.
This box project is now a vague project on my work schedule. It’s much more nebulous at this point than The Professional Dog book! In a creative life learning to deal well with uncertainty and insecurity is as much an essential creative skill as the ability to draw!
Of course while I was at the Caplan Art Designs Gallery I enjoyed looking at my Odditorium exhibit and seeing the red dots indicating sales and the spaces indicating that my pieces have gone to their new homes! About a year ago my Odditorium project was itself a vague nebulous notion. I dealt with all of the uncertainty and now my Odditorium project is a very solid real thing!
The other focal point this week was my exhibit “The Old Stories” that opened in Oklahoma at Downtown Art and Frame. Each of these paintings are about stories: a folktale, a myth, or an ancient children’s rhyme or saying. For example the one with the dancing sheep is titled “Ewephoria” and it’s about the history of the rhyme “ring around the rosies, pockets full of posies…” (Black Death)
“The Old Stories” is an artexhibit of my larger artworks – anyway, all of these pieces refer to classic ideas from mythology or fables –
The titles of my collage paintings give you clues…
Panda Dora’s Box – 24″ x 24″
Woolrich Family Yarn – 24″ x 24″
Long Dog Love – 11 3/4″ x 12 3/4″
Just In Time For Cookies. 10 1/4″ x 12″
Ewephoria 24″ x 36″
Cheetahs at Cards. 24″ x 36″
Please contact Downtown Art and Frame in Norman Oklahoma for more information
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057154703557
If you’re wondering- no I didn’t visit Oklahoma in person. I just talked with the Gallery owner there via phone. I have worked with Barney at Downtown Art and Frame since the late 1980’s and we can darn near read each other’s minds! Makes long distance projects like this so much easier! They ship art all over this globe the way you and I would switch a book from one hand to the other.
The third focal point this week was the Aurora Gallery https://auroragalleryonline.com – I made sure they had plenty of my greeting cards and my various artist books. I also got, via no-contact delivery, new white boards from them cut to my various sizes so that I have plenty to work with for my Professional Dog book project as well as for my greeting card designs.
I’m particularly glad they have copies of Favorites So Far as I intend to do more recipe postcards and place some at the Aurora Gallery.
Just look at all these lovely blank boards in the photo below! A vast expanse of open potential!! Wahoo!!!
This week the long awaited video thingamajig (see last post) came in the mail!! At first all I had time to do was get it out of the box and read the instructions. Then…
… later I had a very brief chance to practice with the new thingamajig so I did this flip through of a book https://youtu.be/tOf3q9ALNoA It was really nice to have both hands free to turn pages! My brain is a whirl with possibilities!
We’ll see what happens next week with this new gadget… I’m hoping I’ll have time to play with it.
I hadn’t made nachos in a while so I remedied that! Spouse and I had such a delightful off-grid sort of evening! Especially during busy times playing is important!
This recipe is from Favorites So Far – and definitely one of the recipes I plan to eventually put on a postcard!
No matter how busy your week is I hope you remember to play at least a little! See you next Monday!
You always have so many exciting and intriguing projects on the horizon. I look forward to seeing how the box project unfolds when the time comes.
I have not had nachos in ages – I think maybe it was the last Superbowl, which I don’t even watch and just use as an excuse for indulgent food. I will need to remedy that.
Thank you!! I’ve been enjoying seeing your project too!!
I hear you…we couldn’t remember for certain but we thought it had been about 2 years since we last had nachos. Far too long!! I hope you’ll enjoy yourself when you have your nachos too!! ❤
You’ve been so productive this week! Your brain is just awhirl with creativity and possibilities!! Your nachos look very good. When our daughter was here, I made nachos with homemade salsa using tomatoes from our garden. Looking forward to the next update on the professional dogs project!
Aww thank you!! Your nachos sound amazing!! I’m so glad you had something so yummy!! I can’t wait to hear how your book event went and about your visit to the Dog Chapel … it’s such fun to share these things!! ❤
You’re welcome, Sue! The photos will go up at 10:00 this morning.
I immediately had an idea that seemed rather Sue-like for a theme on your box. But I’ll sit back and see what you come up with and perhaps share it for fun after you’ve settled into your project… if I remember. Certainly don’t want to influence your creative flow in the earliest stages. Just kind of a hoot to wonder if our minds might think alike on it.
Your chat gear looks wonderful! Your videos are a great addition to your web presence and creative works, I think. Nice to hear your voice and make one more level of connection through seeing you interact ‘live.’ Of course I’d like to meet you in person one day. Hopefully at a true gallery opening when they’re available to all of us again.
Be well, and have a wonderful week, Sue!!