AWESOME SHOW!

But cold, cold, cold! Even the old Federal Building that now houses the Cultural Arts Center was freezing, we even kept our coats and boots on!
Even so it was fun and I even sold a painting, which is always a plus in my book, and met some fabulous people.
Let me introduce you to just a few of the local artists who keep life interesting here in the North Country:

 My friends Julie and Kendra!
Julie makes wonderful benches from old headboards!
Kendra is a retired executive chef who writes for a local magazine doing, what else, restaurant reviews!

 And here I am, awfully cold, but looking forward to a great day!

                             Our display, with my paintings and Julie's benches.

Here's Judy, a lovely watercolor artist and on the board of directors for the North Country Council on the Arts! She and her Husband Rich work tirelessly to preserve Plattsburgh's historic heritage.

And this talented lady (on the right) is Anne Rooney whose beautiful woven scarves and home decor items are to die for! The other sweet lady was buying one of Anne's creations!

This amazing photographer is Bobby Ziemba who takes incredible and very nostalgic paintings and then prints them onto canvas and mounts them like a painting. The one to his left is a photo of a local one-room schoolhouse that is still lived in today. It looked so real I almost had to reach out and touch it to assure myself it was a photo!

Here is adorable Shawn, a wonderful artist and huge in the printing industry locally. Her illustrations, which grace many greeting cards, are beautiful and colorful and capture the local flavor perfectly!
(her buddy in the back is a plaster statue from the Strand Theater which is under renovation)!

A new friend here, may I introduce Tim Palkovic who for many years painted scenery for the local college. Now retired, he has started on a new path painting local scenes and writing for a local magazine. He and his wife are a great couple and definite asset to the art scene.

This lovely lady (last name Snow) makes the most amazing spices combos for all types of recipes and I bought a bag of her corn pudding spice and her special meatloaf spice mix! Do I have to say I am dying to try it soon?
The two girls with her are her nieces and sadly I never did get first names as we were all so busy chatting with guests!

Adorable and multi-talented Stephanie Dejoseph. Her precious designs are so warm and made with such love and skill that....well you should just visit her Etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaMiaDesigns





Sadly there were a few people whose names I didn't learn but whose photos I am including here.

                                          A sweet couple who do metal art

          Awesome lady who made the most creative bags I have seen in a long time!

Who does not love dangling earrings? This wonderful woman fits the bill with her creative offerings!

And I have to include a photo of the lady who is the director of the gallery and the organizer of this show, her first and may I say a huge success!!!
Meet Shawna Armstrong (on right) and her assistant (whose name I missed, sorry), congrats ladies on a wonderful show!

Because of the cold I never did brave the out of doors to get a few photos of the buildings facade which is awesome but this May there is going to be a show featuring quilts and textile arts and I am planning to participate. The weather should be much more compatible with roaming the grounds for photo ops so I will be sure to get a few then!

Hope you enjoyed this visit with the local art community and didn't get too bored with my ramblings. Hope you are safe at home and keeping warm! Love ya!

Artist Market Tomorrow!

The first NCCCA Artist Market will take place on Saturday, January 26 from 10am to 4pm!
FREE ADMISSION!

Come meet 15 local artist vendors who will be selling their handmade fine-art including: ceramics, photography, jewelry, paintings, sculpture, prints, fiber arts, spices and more! Meet NCCCA teachers, listen to live music, watch class demos, participate in raffles, play in the photo booth, munch on snacks, decorate a sundae at the Ice Cream Bar, and participate in a number of free and low-cost family activities (Mask-making and Egg Carton Creatures!) For further details visit our website!

I am so excited about tomorrow's big event at the Cultural Arts Center and being one of the featured artists. 

This afternoon a fellow artist and I will be setting up our space and I plan on taking many, many photos of all the great art works that will be on display.

Although it is bone-chillingly cold here in the North Country I know that tomorrow spirits will be high and fun will be had!

Come join us if you can but bundle up warmly!

THIS WEEK........

All week I have tried to get to a couple of projects that I have mulled around in my head for months. 
People give me old wood and pieces of old house siding thinking I can use it for some art project or the other and of course I do see some wonderful pieces of artwork developing on the weathered grain.
So this week I started a painting on a piece of old wood and some fabric art using old textiles.

I kind of like the way the grain of the wood appears to mimic the grain of the table. I added glitter to the petals for fun and a very old rusted chain for hanging it. 

And in the textile department......

I used some very old fabric for this piece including the old crochet that was done by a wonderful 103 year old lady many, many years ago. The spoon is one of many I purchased a couple of years ago at a garage sale. I always love it when I get to utilize stuff I have dragged around with me for years...YAY!
I have already picked a few fabrics for the next project and I hope to finish it in the next day or two.
This is going to be a very busy week because I am doing an art show at the local Cultural Arts Center this Saturday the 26th and I still have a folding door that needs to be painted so it can be used to hang my paintings on and then I need to create a few paintings for the ASPCA Valentine's Day table in the local mall. I try hard to never turn them down when they ask for help.

I hope everyone is having a super weekend and planning something special to celebrate Martin Luther King Day tomorrow. 

May Liberty and Peace always be ours in America!

Where the Heck Have I Been?

I am shocked to see that this much time has gone by since my last post but yeah life does whoop up on us sometimes and 2012 was not the best year for me. There were changes both in my life and the lives of people I care about that seemed to eat up time and energy and left nothing for less serious pursuits.
I want 2013 to be different though and no one but little 'ol me can make that happen, so here's to change (mostly good I hope) and re-connecting with blog friends again!
I do have some new projects to share with everyone in the days to come and lots of art and fun activities I have been fortunate enough to enjoy over the last few months that I can hardly wait to share.

Here's to 2013 and new beginnings!