tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57901158141019567222024-03-13T21:38:37.868-05:00created by risarisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.comBlogger359125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-67979524466780378642011-07-17T11:32:00.000-05:002011-07-17T11:32:56.070-05:00Hello...and Good-bye...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIXlHRhDJKkwrQokKpl7QXV-C4EhNqC4T4rYj4QyUJJk5wADnPQmpaSdPbmVh6Y35J-9Gw6er5ErpTXfuNS9ZwHTTj0iPaP8NtGbVlQVq8hT-TgS3MYMZ9cpzVAWdLJ3yq3f0_2bMMAE/s1600/IMG_5173.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinIXlHRhDJKkwrQokKpl7QXV-C4EhNqC4T4rYj4QyUJJk5wADnPQmpaSdPbmVh6Y35J-9Gw6er5ErpTXfuNS9ZwHTTj0iPaP8NtGbVlQVq8hT-TgS3MYMZ9cpzVAWdLJ3yq3f0_2bMMAE/s400/IMG_5173.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I'll admit that I've sort of fallen off the blogging bandwagon. There are the usual excuses...spending more time painting (definitely a good thing), too busy with life, and so on. But I've also been taking some time to re-focus, think about how I want to spend my creative energy and also how to best present myself professionally.</b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>So I've made some changes. I've been working on my website--cleaning up and polishing it's look to present (hopefully) a more professional image. Along those lines, I've decided to drop the "created by risa" logo/branding and now you can simply find my website at : <a href="http://www.risatritabaugh.com/">http://www.risatritabaugh.com</a>. I've struggled with this one since I've created my website. My reasoning in going with <i>created by risa </i>was that <i>Tritabaugh </i>is not an easy name to spell. But what I have observed time and time again is that professional artists nearly always use their name as their website address. After all, eventually you want to develop name recognition. And so, the change has been made. </b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Over time I will make other changes, so that things will be more cohesive. Soon I will be eliminating my <i>created by risa </i>Facebook page and have in its place created my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/home.php#%21/pages/Risa-Tritabaugh-Artist/170470279683087"><i>Risa Tritabaugh - Artist </i>Facebook page</a>. I hope you will follow me there!</b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>And one of my biggest changes will occur right here...I've decided to discontinue this <i>created by risa </i>blog and start blogging right at my <a href="http://createdbyrisa.squarespace.com/behind-the-art/">website</a>. It makes sense on different levels--1) It will save me some time and energy that I can better use painting; and 2) It will hopefully draw more attention to my website.</b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>My focus will still be my art, my creative process and inspirations. I will focus a little less on personal life issues and will go back to writing about the more personal side of life at my very first blog--<a href="http://www.curlz1205.blogspot.com/">The Assorted Adventures of a Middle-Aged Urbanite</a>. (<i>You can follow me there to stay in the loop. I'll try to write more frequently. Keyword: </i>Try) </b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I have very much enjoyed writing this blog and I hope you will continue to follow me over at my <a href="http://www.risatritabaugh.com/">website</a>. It is, as always, a work in progress. </b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Thank you for following along on my journey as an artist. It is in no way over...I'm just starting a new chapter.</b></div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Au revoir. </b></div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-2947085686490356522011-06-09T12:33:00.000-05:002011-06-09T12:33:28.149-05:00Today in the Studio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZktn0euwFytt8ge_CDGPqGRLtBZHQYUffG1s59R3HuXXIHhP7HVf7AWNU2NhscJa7f_Q9nnbE_QoOM_ARvBDu-t_ximYyqmFcEMfEunhV6t53f3wDjqz3nnpRt4IAqifFaGrhgkg-bo/s1600/IMG_5120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLZktn0euwFytt8ge_CDGPqGRLtBZHQYUffG1s59R3HuXXIHhP7HVf7AWNU2NhscJa7f_Q9nnbE_QoOM_ARvBDu-t_ximYyqmFcEMfEunhV6t53f3wDjqz3nnpRt4IAqifFaGrhgkg-bo/s400/IMG_5120.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Spending more time in the studio this week and it feels good. I have been surrounding myself with all sorts of inspiration...hoping that the inspiration will then show itself in the studio. I am trying something a little different--just allowing myself to experiment, try different stuff and not worry so much about the finished product.</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'll admit it--that last part is hard for me. </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I want whatever I work on to look good. And it's not that I'm so set on creating something ugly...it's not that at all, but right now I'm just trying to focus on the process, learn some things and hopefully, find some new techniques that I will love.</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWoHt2apULf-nozPmlO_YnV_xB9PC5KFCUXC2zCz7sW5htq8Q1wpYsgQq3b497Eh2IBBvzehkQ_e2_O44y7h4r14TEb7L_F5_lkli3Skf_pyZYfXOrvqf-jH7mJtAk-mW0t48uaGwVnw/s1600/IMG_5109.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWoHt2apULf-nozPmlO_YnV_xB9PC5KFCUXC2zCz7sW5htq8Q1wpYsgQq3b497Eh2IBBvzehkQ_e2_O44y7h4r14TEb7L_F5_lkli3Skf_pyZYfXOrvqf-jH7mJtAk-mW0t48uaGwVnw/s400/IMG_5109.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It is definitely a work in progress. </span></b></span> </div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-8209873011094914762011-05-30T12:04:00.003-05:002011-05-30T12:17:01.323-05:00Nourishing my creative soul<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngVgh7hNdw-NgK0NSb-ttXV2sLb7NgZ2FmYmAXMRap89lfVTGBR90tdmmb7ipI5KwCugKy-6AtZE3cOxAOhHYLXqWSMcl_Herq9INlQ_EAIq8YASVr75D7Jc00YPCT8yYbrjYBwZNRd0/s1600/IMG_5046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhngVgh7hNdw-NgK0NSb-ttXV2sLb7NgZ2FmYmAXMRap89lfVTGBR90tdmmb7ipI5KwCugKy-6AtZE3cOxAOhHYLXqWSMcl_Herq9INlQ_EAIq8YASVr75D7Jc00YPCT8yYbrjYBwZNRd0/s400/IMG_5046.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Since I've been trying to nourish my creative soul and Friday was my only free day of this holiday weekend (working the rest of it at the museum), I decided to enjoy a day trip to Hudson, Wisconsin on Friday. Our first stop was <a href="http://www.thephipps.org/events/galleries">The Phipps Center for the Arts</a>. These first photos are of work by fiber art students at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. .</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGVcsKXr4oyn_14W9FdaFvtxr-GeoMlcL0uCKnBLHkDIiC61jlKa8WH6YJHUfhs2qBg4aZVwnmgR15nqb6sB7TU04kYQgq3dGauyEpqsJQdWBdsUxDXlE59448we-b5GTrwKX-OSO8W0/s1600/IMG_5042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzGVcsKXr4oyn_14W9FdaFvtxr-GeoMlcL0uCKnBLHkDIiC61jlKa8WH6YJHUfhs2qBg4aZVwnmgR15nqb6sB7TU04kYQgq3dGauyEpqsJQdWBdsUxDXlE59448we-b5GTrwKX-OSO8W0/s400/IMG_5042.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9G8MJeSpUX-wMwp6M9bvJWb2OtC5p4l89CsZSJrAdOJGWacB9ZU8R_mVGkgowJK6yncvKDGyDqCoO8P6VYnyYyDJZaFTjnric7qrg7NOAbmRguQMmJLw2OMk1Bk9Bq12-45_v6ASnad8/s1600/IMG_5031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9G8MJeSpUX-wMwp6M9bvJWb2OtC5p4l89CsZSJrAdOJGWacB9ZU8R_mVGkgowJK6yncvKDGyDqCoO8P6VYnyYyDJZaFTjnric7qrg7NOAbmRguQMmJLw2OMk1Bk9Bq12-45_v6ASnad8/s400/IMG_5031.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;">I also wanted to check out the Phipps galleries to see the work of former Tilsner artist, Jill Van Sickle. Beautiful, as always.</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-X3gPmiQgMJZMI68fhOD89a69fY3s-vJ9CTDcnHGcEdpwdZtmt0BBuyAzcbyIIydWpzBOprIlpz5fsjkCSJewGr44StvVGHFsGgXdniCvUjq0v6N1lJjqPr7bh0_Rs73TwcEFSUSrUA/s1600/IMG_5028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil-X3gPmiQgMJZMI68fhOD89a69fY3s-vJ9CTDcnHGcEdpwdZtmt0BBuyAzcbyIIydWpzBOprIlpz5fsjkCSJewGr44StvVGHFsGgXdniCvUjq0v6N1lJjqPr7bh0_Rs73TwcEFSUSrUA/s400/IMG_5028.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyO9NETUoRo7Ssq0-5sv1Lxs03IsMQAhkkcfJPPI6ykjSWtd4Kya-cYyOrp-wQtRO3rV-pFu2T0hcRMwAtq-3IBO_7_bssYVK2EJ7fPtRDGFlth1cF63pXqam5qPXv1KUk9YnrGKf8wwg/s1600/IMG_5036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyO9NETUoRo7Ssq0-5sv1Lxs03IsMQAhkkcfJPPI6ykjSWtd4Kya-cYyOrp-wQtRO3rV-pFu2T0hcRMwAtq-3IBO_7_bssYVK2EJ7fPtRDGFlth1cF63pXqam5qPXv1KUk9YnrGKf8wwg/s400/IMG_5036.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Following our visit to the Phipps, we visited several other shops in Hudson and then made our way across the river (and state lines) to Stillwater--where we also visited several galleries and shops. We wrapped up our trip with a drive to Marine on St. Croix--another town I love. Of course, we drove through the Jackson Meadow community just outside of town...which always inspires me. </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix9boTefbHem7XzxZpGSwCT6eLOjCbP7s0xrIFqen6d1fGXuC8U0cXS0HJ1sR9vaGa8lGEvdag0it5084JZJxn8hkJ7rxU-YXzcgLrMgzjcLjMHRS1ix0Wl8yM9rCA8o9wDBX0imndhKQ/s1600/IMG_5069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix9boTefbHem7XzxZpGSwCT6eLOjCbP7s0xrIFqen6d1fGXuC8U0cXS0HJ1sR9vaGa8lGEvdag0it5084JZJxn8hkJ7rxU-YXzcgLrMgzjcLjMHRS1ix0Wl8yM9rCA8o9wDBX0imndhKQ/s400/IMG_5069.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7J1ViZsH4_pQ4AMXvj7L5Hck6P8_CYeVrOzXMpJLVOJY2wtEGRd4_Wnl34SUeT_91GdAUmw1lrCpMs-r0338R2j30LIuorYpV_l8El0oIXgSNfkr5zlMNe6DIlEmUtt_3QJaxEmHdvx4/s1600/IMG_5087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7J1ViZsH4_pQ4AMXvj7L5Hck6P8_CYeVrOzXMpJLVOJY2wtEGRd4_Wnl34SUeT_91GdAUmw1lrCpMs-r0338R2j30LIuorYpV_l8El0oIXgSNfkr5zlMNe6DIlEmUtt_3QJaxEmHdvx4/s400/IMG_5087.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">As an artist, it's always important to nourish my creative soul. Honestly, I think we all need to do that on a daily basis. I do it many ways, often without much thought. But when I find myself in a slump, creatively or otherwise, I try to pay more attention to filling my "creative bank". </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Often that can be as simple as visiting places where I find beauty--a favorite gallery/museum, a garden in full bloom, or spending time with family and friends. </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm starting to feel my creative spark coming back. I'm starting to think about more projects and dream of new paintings. My task this coming week will be to clean and organize my studio...I think that alone will open up some creative energy!</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'll try to have new pictures of my working space soon (there's a challenge!) </span></b></span><br />
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</div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-46542583595172907632011-05-25T22:39:00.002-05:002011-05-25T22:40:39.258-05:00Getting back to work...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsnN8gxELi_ZxyfVUlHSK7T3BAyO9ceBQjs_4JpMV-HjmMCHtzgfS6ccLotY4tIO6z7xNEqRCDJnO9rHMh9mBrQ2sOwVZRlbmbERzF1p4_UzJ-02kyJAHYTEuGOS4qckE27KqSOSafr0/s1600/IMG_4736.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsnN8gxELi_ZxyfVUlHSK7T3BAyO9ceBQjs_4JpMV-HjmMCHtzgfS6ccLotY4tIO6z7xNEqRCDJnO9rHMh9mBrQ2sOwVZRlbmbERzF1p4_UzJ-02kyJAHYTEuGOS4qckE27KqSOSafr0/s400/IMG_4736.JPG" width="300" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm not quite sure where the month of May has gone...it's been a rather odd month...cool, not exactly spring-like. I've been busy recovering from participating not only in the St. Paul Art Crawl, but another one day crawl in mid-May. Both crawls required a great deal of my time and energy and pulled me away from working on new stuff in the studio. </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's time to get back to work.</span></b></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It has also been a discouraging month. The Art Crawls were good avenues for sharing my work and getting feedback from others, but didn't net much in the way of sales. </span></b></span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And then there was the disappointment of the grant opportunity. Along with all that, I've been dealing with the difficult realities of being laid off for a year. Sometimes it feels as if life just won't right itself.</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But what I know serves me best in difficult times is painting, creating.</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And it's time to get back to work (in the studio).</span></b></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I have been using this time to think about about what direction I want my work to go in. Ideas are swirling around in my head, but not making it onto canvas (<i>yet</i>). I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do, but fear and feelings of being stuck and discouraged are keeping me from getting started. </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sometimes it's hardest just to get started.</span></b></span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> So my goal this coming month is to spend lots of time in the studio working and getting things started.</span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>As always, I' ll let you know how things go along the way. </i> </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-24071435163873269332011-05-07T08:00:00.002-05:002011-05-07T08:00:07.319-05:00At the Egg and I...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXc6Q0pP1Axxb4tws9deNnOWgVVeUgOoLVhmEh43nlitRZH7dG-XyMMdz0ZylYdjoV4li498sr64d5CSSWZtcgGaI9eEG05wbsbZrnB0Y_61dEGzTH20VVxkXh3zG_vPWeH0lrzXqmzc/s1600/IMG_4988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvXc6Q0pP1Axxb4tws9deNnOWgVVeUgOoLVhmEh43nlitRZH7dG-XyMMdz0ZylYdjoV4li498sr64d5CSSWZtcgGaI9eEG05wbsbZrnB0Y_61dEGzTH20VVxkXh3zG_vPWeH0lrzXqmzc/s400/IMG_4988.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Today I switched out my art at the <i>Egg and I </i>restaurant located in Minneapolis (at 28th and Lyndale). The lighting wasn't the greatest for pics, but I snapped a few before I left. </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The show will be up till the end of May. Stop by and enjoy a killer breakfast while also enjoying my art. </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-8745042431624106212011-05-06T22:15:00.001-05:002011-05-06T22:19:04.317-05:00Email Update<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvZnC4mR3mkTuQdE4eS6Op5Us47lvkQ0snQT9PcS59hHXDaaGQBv8mki1QuhXmENOVTwSqQwJH6MnIRxF8MgffcJjB9HQYGWhbjf09GGmiBHN6gjr2jkKFwF-OxgCQoE3iUuVtzQ2Ayc/s1600/IMG_4979.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwvZnC4mR3mkTuQdE4eS6Op5Us47lvkQ0snQT9PcS59hHXDaaGQBv8mki1QuhXmENOVTwSqQwJH6MnIRxF8MgffcJjB9HQYGWhbjf09GGmiBHN6gjr2jkKFwF-OxgCQoE3iUuVtzQ2Ayc/s400/IMG_4979.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, the anxiously awaited email did NOT arrive on Thursday. It did not, in fact, arrive until the dinner hour today! Since I was out on a Date Night with my Honey, I did not receive the news till late this evening.</span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The news was not favorable. I did not make the cut. Only 51 (not 100) finalists were selected. About 32 of those will be awarded grants. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a friend who's a finalist!</span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> I'm still in the allowed "feeling lousy" phase. I've had a good, long cry and I'm starting to feel a little better.</span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I know, in my head, that's it's silly to let my self-worth as an artist be determined by a panel of folks who have never even seen my work. And I know this was super-competitive. But just like everyone else who applied my hopes were high and my ego just got bruised a bit.</span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And yes, I have already placed that consolation order to Dick Blick. </span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Today's the day the BIG email comes letting me know whether or not I'm a finalist for the MRAC Next Step Grant. I applied for the grant back in March. (It's an individual artist grant totaling $5000). </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>It's hard, really hard, not to just sit by the computer watching for a new email to pop up. I'm sort of failing at that right now. I'm sitting here, watching a House marathon while also watching my in-box. Every time a new email comes in, my heart skips a beat, and then my heart drops as I realize it's not THAT email.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>370 artists (of various mediums--visual artists, writers, performers, musicians...) applied for this grant. About 100 applicants will be selected as finalists. Finalists will then have a week to submit work samples (not needed for the initial application). And then approximately 32 of the 100 finalists will be awarded a Next Step grant. That announcement won't come till the end of June.</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Obviously a lot of talented folks submitted a grant application, so I'm prepared for the very real possibility of not making the finalist cut. If I'm out of the running, I will give myself a day to feel lousy and then move on. Actually, I also plan to put in a large Dick Blick order, because grant or no grant I am still a working artist (a starving artist, but a working artist nonetheless).</b></span></span><br />
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<i><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Stay tuned for an update tomorrow.</span></b></span></i>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-34422765393786976862011-05-04T21:48:00.001-05:002011-05-04T21:49:37.732-05:00Spring 2011 Art Crawl<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgffgLYcx5BSAiKpm9jrSzjsnll7MtcJfeUJC3uriWx4SucoNnMo26-WydLFgaI1mUUuYfEqpdu_PlCmBN6XDmeN70OUllXhPURBXN4hlBW7vZ7bJlXyJ8TMGCwhDGpLsd5ucTjufpvP8/s1600/IMG_4964.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgffgLYcx5BSAiKpm9jrSzjsnll7MtcJfeUJC3uriWx4SucoNnMo26-WydLFgaI1mUUuYfEqpdu_PlCmBN6XDmeN70OUllXhPURBXN4hlBW7vZ7bJlXyJ8TMGCwhDGpLsd5ucTjufpvP8/s400/IMG_4964.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #0b5394;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><b>the view into the studio from the doorway</b></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQA9xdAAQWgjByuhzS1du7XgXvzJZ6fZWX1J7Hwthx8T01rgz3a5QvQfPhPh_VCM5D_FGU3R_ERPnrI0k3R2jD9bI51eUizL3gPyneWqD0yXftkrCuh3-X2Hkn2WlF6RA0po7GUTuvLpc/s1600/IMG_4961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQA9xdAAQWgjByuhzS1du7XgXvzJZ6fZWX1J7Hwthx8T01rgz3a5QvQfPhPh_VCM5D_FGU3R_ERPnrI0k3R2jD9bI51eUizL3gPyneWqD0yXftkrCuh3-X2Hkn2WlF6RA0po7GUTuvLpc/s400/IMG_4961.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">art just outside the studio</span></i></span></b><i><b><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">A few days have past since this past weekend's Art Crawl. For those of you who couldn't make it, I thought I would give a little mini-tour of my home studio space as set up for the Crawl. Welcome.</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXN3ETdeNnRPQxKgG5Kk1XhG8M0K5ws-L602-6ZU8IJJqdokNyZ0AWBH2mjmUHlQ8IymeggJs18rCDz4bBJqCxybN5B6FUqpaZAAGcQjFBbKv_iiDNRu0aNtYfJzONpUwYqMT7AKriWY/s1600/IMG_4952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicXN3ETdeNnRPQxKgG5Kk1XhG8M0K5ws-L602-6ZU8IJJqdokNyZ0AWBH2mjmUHlQ8IymeggJs18rCDz4bBJqCxybN5B6FUqpaZAAGcQjFBbKv_iiDNRu0aNtYfJzONpUwYqMT7AKriWY/s400/IMG_4952.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Furniture was rearranged (and put away) to make our home feel more like a gallery. This was the first time I've shown my work in our new space, so much work was done to prepare the space (including painting our outer door and entryway). Many visitors were wowed by our space--especially with the huge brick wall and all the light pouring in through the floor to ceiling windows (even on a cold gray day like we had this past weekend). </span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI-90Iop4x8kNawtkuDliEMqTZU33745j-XjrjOnr60oGpd2Ul8Dvuos6ssrIRY14fGF7frV9nU_jYhN97DFGROa_gg5GXmAMPGNs74OhyphenhyphenaM2VlVG08nweatM8AF2udJ3enDGDQam1SX0/s1600/IMG_4951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI-90Iop4x8kNawtkuDliEMqTZU33745j-XjrjOnr60oGpd2Ul8Dvuos6ssrIRY14fGF7frV9nU_jYhN97DFGROa_gg5GXmAMPGNs74OhyphenhyphenaM2VlVG08nweatM8AF2udJ3enDGDQam1SX0/s400/IMG_4951.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Most artists, myself no exception, prefer to work on their art in isolation. Sometimes it's a good thing to peek your head outside the studio and see what others think. The Art Crawl provides me with that opportunity to share my work with others. It's a great time to talk about my work, talk about my process and what I'm working on...and get a feed on what people think about my work. It's exhausting and energizing all at the same time.</b></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmK8rrejofwGVEI4yjY-eqaN9JLZ6ENea0Ocm2aodzd3fcFAqN462SA5XKCxvxbZXsWwTU6gMyZKCwkhvTIiTaa5JHj7icpJ_c7ml05WoPAVc7gDxcvC3yJK_lVzwXAOsPtzvUxGFRc40/s1600/IMG_4954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmK8rrejofwGVEI4yjY-eqaN9JLZ6ENea0Ocm2aodzd3fcFAqN462SA5XKCxvxbZXsWwTU6gMyZKCwkhvTIiTaa5JHj7icpJ_c7ml05WoPAVc7gDxcvC3yJK_lVzwXAOsPtzvUxGFRc40/s400/IMG_4954.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I had new, as well as older pieces to share. There was a lot of interest and positive feedback about a number of pieces...and that definitely felt good. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>With the Crawl over, I'm enjoying a few days in recovery mode--resting and relaxing--before I start getting ready for another show in a few weeks. This show will be at an outside studio and will be a one-day event, so a bit easier to do. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>And sometime in between all that, I hope to clean & organize my studio and start working on some new pieces. <i>So much for resting and relaxing.</i></b></span></span><br />
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</tbody></table>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-84739251494693192542011-04-25T00:13:00.002-05:002011-04-25T10:49:16.661-05:00A Day Away, A Haircut, and Crawl<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTjGwIXy6v_tjVDQH7QJ0yZXGLME5QWsHjULRt_lY2LeRh0H1_tDvSbyLNx1WhivqyLu0jG3XwpHtYw8Q05OYhT8E6SzWJ2J7e1oycIpIivHl-rb_HfAZ1VnA_PXa3brSwHS7hb9GYDg/s1600/IMG_3161.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiTjGwIXy6v_tjVDQH7QJ0yZXGLME5QWsHjULRt_lY2LeRh0H1_tDvSbyLNx1WhivqyLu0jG3XwpHtYw8Q05OYhT8E6SzWJ2J7e1oycIpIivHl-rb_HfAZ1VnA_PXa3brSwHS7hb9GYDg/s400/IMG_3161.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Life has certainly been a juggling act lately, with not nearly enough time for working in the studio. I try really hard to spend those days I'm not working or busy with outside appointments in the studio...but sometimes a day away refuels the creative fire more than anything else can.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Last week I had a day just like that. I left home in the morning and didn't make it home till bedtime. It was a day spent with artsy friends and even time all to myself. I had time to catch my breath, treat myself just a little and just enjoy being away from the pressures of life in general. It was the kind of escape we all need once in a while.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I started off the morning by meeting with my mentor, <a href="http://www.brennabusse.com/">Brenna Busse</a>, to take a trip to <a href="http://www.circagallery.org/html/gallery_main.html">Circa Gallery</a> in downtown Minneapolis to check out the <a href="http://barbaragilhooly.com/">Barbara Gilhooly</a> show that is there till the end of this month. Barbara was a Lowertown artist (she moved this past summer) that still exhibits locally. I love her work and this show was inspiring--to both Brenna and myself. For one thing, I was just amazed by how productive she is as an artist. A large chunk of the exhibit included 100 6x6 paintings--all completed this winter, I believe. Even if they were small--that's a lot of work. They were painted on birch wood panels. Part of what I liked about them was how she built layers upon layers of color, carved into the wood and even used sandpaper to reveal multiple layers of paint. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Seeing a show like that makes you want to run right home, lock yourself in the studio and get busy. But then I remembered ... this was my day.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I said good-bye to Brenna and made a call to see if I could make an afternoon appointment for a hair cut. I've been dreaming of a new cut for a couple of weeks. I felt the need to get rid of some hair. Really. On so many levels, I just needed to get it cut off. It felt too long, too bushy, too everything. And I felt like a new hairdo would put me in a spring-sort of mood. I've just had enough of snow and winter (I had to wipe snow off my windshield that very morning, damnit) and even if it didn't look like spring outside, I needed to feel like it inside. And hooray, I got an appointment with a new person who finally gave me the short haircut that I've been wanting to get for the past year (there were several failed attempts). I left the salon feeling like a new woman. I got my sassy back.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">From there I met up with one of my WARM buddies...we hung out, talked art until it was time to go to our very first <a href="http://danceexchange.org/projects/critical-response-process/">Critical Response</a> for two of our fellow Protegees. I think I will write about this more in-depth at a later date, but basically it is a process developed by dancer Liz Lerman for artists to give one another feedback about their work that supports the artist rather than tear them down. (I do not have fond memories of critiques in college many years ago). It was an interesting experience. It definitely felt good to connect with other artists and experience a "critique" that could be both supportive and informative. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It's been several days now, but the experiences of this one day are still swimming around in my head. I want to spend time in the studio and work on the projects in my head...and while I have done some painting, what I'm really focused on is getting things ready for the Art Crawl. Bigger projects will have to wait, cause the Crawl is next weekend!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm not quite sure how it's all going to come together, but I just keep going. I've made my lists, keep finishing things on those lists, and know that somehow it will all get done (more or less) and I'll be ready for another Crawl. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'll let you know how it goes. </span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-58302008660528616572011-04-14T23:29:00.000-05:002011-04-14T23:29:13.431-05:00Waiting on Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaAuagUaOOt7-3P1Hp-QDVL2cUvc7RU3AFFSgTSW0f2iQG-83fPlDgVQN-Q3fpnllxEjGmgM-Mx-ZIMRLpiVJS5KL3FNR0D3oxaF6bWNLT3lLlLsLJgjVcsoouQIPi4O8fXvSlAWmQCg/s1600/IMG_4856.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCaAuagUaOOt7-3P1Hp-QDVL2cUvc7RU3AFFSgTSW0f2iQG-83fPlDgVQN-Q3fpnllxEjGmgM-Mx-ZIMRLpiVJS5KL3FNR0D3oxaF6bWNLT3lLlLsLJgjVcsoouQIPi4O8fXvSlAWmQCg/s400/IMG_4856.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>This past winter I've become a bit of a blogging slacker. It's been a tough winter on several fronts. Weather wise, it's been one of the snowiest, coldest winters we've endured in several years. Besides all that, I've been juggling ongoing changes/transitions in my life...we're still settling into our new loft and I'm still adjusting to my new part-time gig at the nearby Science Museum . </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>The doldrums of winter have worn me down, but things are starting to look up. For a little bit this past week, it actually felt like spring had arrived. It was so hot and humid last Sunday that I was ready to get a new spring hairdo! But alas, snow has found it's way in the forecast one more time...enough already!</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>It's been hard to get motivated, but as I said, things are looking up! Last week I enjoyed one of those magical days when everything just seemed to go right! I needed one of those days to get me moving in a more positive direction! </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>On Thursday last week, I had an appointment with the owner of the <a href="http://www.artistmerc.com/">Artist Mercantile</a> for a studio visit to check out my work. The Artist Mercantile, located in downtown St. Paul, features an eclectic mix of gifts, as well as the work of local artists. To make a long story short, the <a href="http://www.artistmerc.com/">Artist Mercantile</a> is now featuring some of my smaller paintings, including the work pictured above. I was very excited today to deliver these paintings today! I can't wait to take a walk downtown to take a peek at my work in the window!</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>The same day I was getting ready for this studio visit I received a phone call from the Mpls' <a href="http://www.eggandimn.com/map.php">Egg and I</a> about showing my work in their restaurant. Nearly a year ago, on a lunch date with my co-workers, I got my name on their list of artists to show work. I was actually there for our final team get-together before my layoff took affect. We were actually in very silly moods, had a great time and I wrote a thank you to our server on the back of one of my postcards. She invited me to get on the list of artists willing to show their work...and so I did. Recently I've wondered if I would hear from them and had come to the conclusion that they had lost my info. And then wham, I got the call!</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Originally, I was invited to be their May artist, but when the April artist failed to show I agreed to come in early. So on Tuesday, I hung some work at the Egg and I (2828 Lyndale Ave S, Mpls). They are an awesome breakfast joint, so I suggest you go down there and enjoy the kamikaze pancakes (while also enjoying my art)!</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>And there's more! I've gone from a relatively quiet time on the art front to super busy in the blink of the eye. </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>I have the St. Paul Spring Art Crawl in two weeks at my home studio. And then in May, I'm participating in a one-day crawl in south Mpls (see the sidebar for details). </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: purple;"><b>Of course, all these events are motivating me to get busy in the studio...which is really the best cure there is for the winter doldrums.</b></span></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-67646175102201157872011-04-03T09:20:00.000-05:002011-04-03T09:20:57.516-05:00Spring, please!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCcPj2Hl4kFdoTwlqDe7D40dyMMy5ozbJ8HlaQ_JAuQ5TvqtdBmMM7-WgcR8nTaw1wwWwTQ_1cI4nHw7cI8gtfPTEn_iITu0VtVOVJhVAhLl5nv_4-izo0A16BcZoDsZNCtNorQt2GYvk/s1600/IMG_4725.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCcPj2Hl4kFdoTwlqDe7D40dyMMy5ozbJ8HlaQ_JAuQ5TvqtdBmMM7-WgcR8nTaw1wwWwTQ_1cI4nHw7cI8gtfPTEn_iITu0VtVOVJhVAhLl5nv_4-izo0A16BcZoDsZNCtNorQt2GYvk/s400/IMG_4725.JPG" width="233" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Spring is coming here oh so slowly...it's like she's dipping her toe in, testing the waters. C'mon already! </span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Here in St. Paul, spring has brought the rising waters of the nearby Mississippi...the back entry of our building has been sandbagged shut for over a week now. I have actually been thankful for the colder temps this past week--it kept the flooding to a manageable level. But I am done...I need sun, warmth, the sight of trees budding and flowers trying to make their way up through the earth.</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Winter has had its grip on us long enough!</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-67443963607976395512011-03-24T10:22:00.000-05:002011-03-24T10:22:00.941-05:00Day trip to Hudson!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSREooEEEIvthMYOf5mydWBt3-JrCZB-mPQyUezF-F30QcDPXQKydo3YkHV5_9O1Ouemm9izBdvtEWc_k3KvE73I8WgCJ4hfCj0plvX1HV7q2mr4GXhkbbgX5fo1JMMArvGPxR-Am3aeg/s1600/IMG_4801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSREooEEEIvthMYOf5mydWBt3-JrCZB-mPQyUezF-F30QcDPXQKydo3YkHV5_9O1Ouemm9izBdvtEWc_k3KvE73I8WgCJ4hfCj0plvX1HV7q2mr4GXhkbbgX5fo1JMMArvGPxR-Am3aeg/s400/IMG_4801.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">My friend, Julie, was here in Minnesota about two weeks ago for a visit...a visit that included lots of great conversation, good food, and artsy fun! We kicked things off by taking in the opening reception for the <a href="http://www.textilecentermn.org/gallery.asp">Textile Center's Figuratively Fiber</a> show. Julie had a piece in the show--that beautiful, vibrant piece you see through the window. The show is up until April 16th, so if you're local you might want to check it out. (You can even see Julie's piece from the street as you drive by on University Avenue). Here's a detail pic of Julie's piece.</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaulfk7h80QLuk-LhFb8pca4pb-XBXbp715brSDjTmSaB4sdqvwOVNRxG-ygJ1MR-Uh5U5Wwz3RJU7cuvoUewkNCUuixNlP_HKn3YxcXYhOWK9wcqWQUulhmbV6nmfm_xfSxDu8d0V3UM/s1600/IMG_4791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaulfk7h80QLuk-LhFb8pca4pb-XBXbp715brSDjTmSaB4sdqvwOVNRxG-ygJ1MR-Uh5U5Wwz3RJU7cuvoUewkNCUuixNlP_HKn3YxcXYhOWK9wcqWQUulhmbV6nmfm_xfSxDu8d0V3UM/s400/IMG_4791.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>The</b></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> piece is titled <a href="http://juliebranch.blogspot.com/2010/07/for-pele-playing-with-fire.html"><i>For Pele: Playing with Fire</i></a>. She wrote about it <a href="http://juliebranch.blogspot.com/2010/07/for-pele-playing-with-fire.html">here</a>. I may be a bit biased, but this is my favorite piece in the show. Really, it's one of my favorite pieces of Julie's--I love all that vibrant color!</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QwgCS2yTragJj_kCym7yiw-n4vojF0mESTyLcM4mTzKO8Jplg1R9-heeP1ZOUNkfnp7kEZ6W5RmO68TQCl74-TEY8UIIR6FtOk5iau8RtVDivC_pCx8wZ81RcPgpYftq-vJYiwJqD4o/s1600/IMG_4804.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9QwgCS2yTragJj_kCym7yiw-n4vojF0mESTyLcM4mTzKO8Jplg1R9-heeP1ZOUNkfnp7kEZ6W5RmO68TQCl74-TEY8UIIR6FtOk5iau8RtVDivC_pCx8wZ81RcPgpYftq-vJYiwJqD4o/s400/IMG_4804.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtC41Xlw6G4Y1aEBuegSEEXmfGK8KPIEQwOgE1dkcsWJPZeJ9jrF3vV9c5I-0nrfNFoATg8nAnAeK7MjI3wPZeuAmwmHlzLwx6Zu4IuxITv1MehSSTbBlo_FyWchSyuN1mnRO63IxXbc/s1600/IMG_4800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBtC41Xlw6G4Y1aEBuegSEEXmfGK8KPIEQwOgE1dkcsWJPZeJ9jrF3vV9c5I-0nrfNFoATg8nAnAeK7MjI3wPZeuAmwmHlzLwx6Zu4IuxITv1MehSSTbBlo_FyWchSyuN1mnRO63IxXbc/s400/IMG_4800.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We also made a quick trip to the town of Hudson, Wisconsin. I love this town. Not too small, not too big...and it has a very vibrant art scene. Our first stop was at the <a href="http://www.thephipps.org/events/galleries">Phipps Art Center</a>. Currently (thru April 3rd) their galleries feature the work of six different artists. I fell in love with these mixed media pieces created by artist <a href="http://www.followthemuse.com/">Daphnae Koop</a>. They were created using </span></b></span><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">repurposed wood and glass. Incredible.</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijoBDKagWDELQxayPAqTdPBBpzF_Lmt8n0CZvY8IJm464CXQht5PNVL5qVtkAbkIqI5ugBJEVzePETKelmrubnZXdYdaQDi19_o9acoVT1xZu8gP5MOKzO7EgsnhRlcaRMxY7HMHMKrw/s1600/IMG_4806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgijoBDKagWDELQxayPAqTdPBBpzF_Lmt8n0CZvY8IJm464CXQht5PNVL5qVtkAbkIqI5ugBJEVzePETKelmrubnZXdYdaQDi19_o9acoVT1xZu8gP5MOKzO7EgsnhRlcaRMxY7HMHMKrw/s400/IMG_4806.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhql3pn6No9VvrGO0bMvzi4EGXaHoBgCPxPUVlQ51NJEwx4kyuROzx2ODxdHXY37iAERwnZvs2MzvVY2AjyLLygsKzshgxde6RV39ieAhgwtXYRXc6H3iQNZ4EbrtdwszdUnqwLbAdPalw/s1600/IMG_4812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhql3pn6No9VvrGO0bMvzi4EGXaHoBgCPxPUVlQ51NJEwx4kyuROzx2ODxdHXY37iAERwnZvs2MzvVY2AjyLLygsKzshgxde6RV39ieAhgwtXYRXc6H3iQNZ4EbrtdwszdUnqwLbAdPalw/s400/IMG_4812.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And then there were these whimsical pieces by <a href="http://www.susanfeigenbaum.com/">Susan Feigenbaum</a>. Pictured below is both sides of this fun piece.</span></b></span><br />
<h2></h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBPmxEoBzn5OjR16bZdUlnETiQqRdwAEzM1tZdUzbbgJ4gAsZQ7_HJrRrVPGzRgGds4nZKIMVQOaIaLVn46Lerg59vMB9f5Hw-njtlVm23fUuZuCvsLodxixNGjofbgRw6zdRhT1Elm0/s1600/IMG_4815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBPmxEoBzn5OjR16bZdUlnETiQqRdwAEzM1tZdUzbbgJ4gAsZQ7_HJrRrVPGzRgGds4nZKIMVQOaIaLVn46Lerg59vMB9f5Hw-njtlVm23fUuZuCvsLodxixNGjofbgRw6zdRhT1Elm0/s400/IMG_4815.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We wrapped up our trip to <a href="http://seasonsonstcroix.com/">Seasons on St. Croix Gallery</a> in downtown Hudson. This place is a goldmine--filled with light that shows off all the fantastic artwork. It's a nice mix of gallery and retail space. I like that they generally have a little show on one side (either featuring an artist or a themed-show; currently the show features artwork with a "food" theme). They also feature works in several mediums--painting, fiber, glass, ceramics. They even have glass and ceramic studios on site--sometimes you can see artists at work!</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-23385293908479412732011-03-17T07:03:00.000-05:002011-03-17T07:03:50.315-05:00Small paintings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxn5xS4OpN3f3p2ElRCxxWJYA_v4nIkEge-KZprhq1mfXhNsdUPoBSLLAO16hXheM623uDJ-T-o_Tj8mp6LcoXuPZyZ90hxzqMNdm1Q63vm0bSnTmR9YwghPmZUh9L4Vfgsp6nyzp4eA/s1600/IMG_4822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxn5xS4OpN3f3p2ElRCxxWJYA_v4nIkEge-KZprhq1mfXhNsdUPoBSLLAO16hXheM623uDJ-T-o_Tj8mp6LcoXuPZyZ90hxzqMNdm1Q63vm0bSnTmR9YwghPmZUh9L4Vfgsp6nyzp4eA/s400/IMG_4822.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Some days I just feel like painting small pieces. I worry sometimes that it's a waste of time, but I enjoy doing them. They may start out as studies for larger pieces, but more often than not, they are paintings all on their own. Working on them is a form of meditation. I can hold the piece in my hand, think about things like color and composition, and just forget the rest of the world.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am thinking of opening our new space for April's Lowertown First Friday and featuring my collection of small paintings. This event is scheduled for Friday, April 1st: 6-9 pm. </span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmHFbgAy-Ou2Oz2GmCfI0QUSyw9N-Vt5wRFp6QHAhDuSbuAZFimsKOxTLwwxLKb2DNdQeuWh2g4nbcSPsXS3zh3I6hv2ji9Lx9oMvNJkEhkLVlem58YVuTFRvgpRLgpn7TAVC_Kxe1Og/s1600/IMG_4823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVmHFbgAy-Ou2Oz2GmCfI0QUSyw9N-Vt5wRFp6QHAhDuSbuAZFimsKOxTLwwxLKb2DNdQeuWh2g4nbcSPsXS3zh3I6hv2ji9Lx9oMvNJkEhkLVlem58YVuTFRvgpRLgpn7TAVC_Kxe1Og/s400/IMG_4823.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-1140833800909512702011-03-10T09:48:00.000-06:002011-03-10T09:48:01.669-06:00Waiting...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHfSafO8OtaJvaiyRgpXqOaBEqz3KVWrDs_qRyC4oV4owQQe_Fo8Rl3-ulr77B6iUNb6hcOpQ_TkDabBSvhasyH-LBSTCpw3mjsUv00FOdQOaEPM0FQ12vh7x0F5DhpeuPA2AIQiY8ms/s1600/IMG_4678.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKHfSafO8OtaJvaiyRgpXqOaBEqz3KVWrDs_qRyC4oV4owQQe_Fo8Rl3-ulr77B6iUNb6hcOpQ_TkDabBSvhasyH-LBSTCpw3mjsUv00FOdQOaEPM0FQ12vh7x0F5DhpeuPA2AIQiY8ms/s400/IMG_4678.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm moving about as slow as this turtle these days. It's quite gray outside and we are still talking snowpack and windchills here. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But I think the real reason for my malaise is a bad case of "post-grant-itis". Yes, I did get my very first artist grant submitted! It was a relatively easy grant proposal (in comparison to others that I've heard about!). Still it required my dedicated attention for several days. It was all completed via an online submission process (quite easy actually). When I finally hit the "submit" button late Tuesday night, the sense of relieve I anticipated was more like an "OMG! What now?"</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The truth is, I can do nothing but wait. Wait for some news on whether or not I make it to the finalist round for the grant (It will be a 4-6 week wait. I submitted it with NO expectations, but keeping my fingers crossed anyways.)</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And wait for spring. She's slow in coming this year. We've made it to the #7 snowiest winter of all time (for our area). Whoopee. I'm not looking for any records to be broken. I'm already anticipating flooding (again). We actually need spring to come rather slowly, but I think everyone is getting a little antsy.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And best of all, my shortest wait is for my dear friend, <a href="http://www.juliebranch.blogspot.com/">Julie</a> to come for a visit this weekend! She has one of her pieces in the <a href="http://www.textilecentermn.org/gallery.asp">Textile Center's Figuratively Fiber</a> show opening this Friday! </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So for all of you waiting for spring as I am, I'll share pics from a visit I took a few weeks ago to the <a href="http://www.comozooconservatory.org/">Como Conservatory</a>. It was wonderfully warm and moist (<i>I could feel my hair curl up and frizz</i>). And luciously green. Plus there was a little surprise at the end.</span></b></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Are you ready for the surprise? As I rounded the last corner, heading to the exit door, I looked up and saw this: </span></b></i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
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</span></b></i></span></div><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">He didn't move a bit!</span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-9932694189235609042011-03-06T10:45:00.000-06:002011-03-06T10:45:13.173-06:00Temporality: Opening Reception<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr style="color: #0b5394;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>B3 in front of T's encaustic piece</b></td></tr>
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I had a great time Friday evening at the opening reception for the Temporality exhibit. The best part was celebrating the evening with my fellow protegees: here we are above trying to compose ourselves for a group shot!</span></b></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The exhibit space (at the Grain Belt Bottling House which is now home to artist studios) is huge! There was art up on the second floor as well! </span></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And after the reception, hubby and I were off to a screening of MCAD student senior film's projects. My hubby had the most screen time--appearing in three (or was it four?) films. More great fun seeing my hubby on the big screen. </span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Definitely a night we both got to enjoy "living the dream" for a bit.</span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></b></span> </div><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-84127511658363237162011-03-04T09:14:00.000-06:002011-03-04T09:14:37.965-06:00Temporality<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgkKWbI5bZ3svhG6Gq46MgdukI20r61PZwnIbyeETW0NN_ffWrF7BdujstiwYpduk0jVEHflZlfF-v7IXjFBtO5L-TCQ2IAKJL0m72Nmn0zMTlVheV0FWockbqZCts0lx2QQ-4AvJL6M/s1600/temporality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgkKWbI5bZ3svhG6Gq46MgdukI20r61PZwnIbyeETW0NN_ffWrF7BdujstiwYpduk0jVEHflZlfF-v7IXjFBtO5L-TCQ2IAKJL0m72Nmn0zMTlVheV0FWockbqZCts0lx2QQ-4AvJL6M/s400/temporality.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i style="color: purple;">Time is On Her Side / Debra Roisnestad</i></b></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'll be taking a bit of a break from grant writing this evening to attend the opening reception for the WARM member show. This is a great opportunity to enjoy the work of 65 talented Minnesota women artists. Here are the details:</span></b></span></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Temporality Opening Reception</span></b></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Friday, March 4th</span></b></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">5 - 8 p.m.</span></b></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Grain Belt Bottling House</span></b></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">79 13th Ave NE</span></b></div><div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Mpls, MN</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>I will be at the reception on the early side of things, because then I'll be off to join my husband in a preview of one of the film projects he appeared in! </i></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>If you are unable to take in the show tonight, you can still catch throughout the month of March. The show will be up till March 31st. The exhibit can be viewed during building hours: Monday-Friday, 8-6 p.m. </i></span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i> </i> </span></b></span><i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span></i></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr style="color: purple;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>My piece that will be in the show</i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></b></span></i></div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-6767907208352975512011-03-01T12:24:00.000-06:002011-03-01T12:24:34.430-06:00Psst...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwcNRLHdSelmjxMgNYj3Cb6TvteoSunYjmriTyZWNVlrIHeytjGGPezcSZj5r6vDhELFErmuYgkb_h3y9H9Z3RwRNeHr2cjKciv_7SIQC9300Fj87cSzs2qVZaEL2jQO5rRKQKX3u8N4/s1600/IMG_4479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAwcNRLHdSelmjxMgNYj3Cb6TvteoSunYjmriTyZWNVlrIHeytjGGPezcSZj5r6vDhELFErmuYgkb_h3y9H9Z3RwRNeHr2cjKciv_7SIQC9300Fj87cSzs2qVZaEL2jQO5rRKQKX3u8N4/s400/IMG_4479.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hey there...I want to paint, in the worse way. The sun is streaming in the studio, just calling me to paint. I also want to blog...I have lots of pics and things to share...</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But it all must wait a bit. If I painted or blogged right now, it would really be more of a diversionary tactic from the project I really need to accomplish. In less than a week, I need to submit my first ever individual artist grant. I set this as a goal about a month ago and I'm not letting myself off the hook! </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The application isn't too complicated...I just need to sit down and write! But geez, you've all been there--isn't it amazing how many other things you can find to do when you have a deadline looming in front of you!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But enough procrastinating! I'm sitting down to start writing this very minute! And until I'm done, you won't see anything more from me! </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Au revoir! </span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-61734750592796843682011-02-27T12:27:00.000-06:002011-02-27T12:27:22.753-06:00Peacock Painting #2<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSXpRUjD3kL7szUh6dG3x3bjyFuXDltyWjC6YxARDs1sWXRrA8V7VILElUCjDRjo1e7LssC9ch2T5SBr3ZGmJb4gyC68RDRmd1vxSJ54NJPTKIF1vUWpMqJ-qbDW3XtZWnBAYEHykiOA/s1600/IMG_4645.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBSXpRUjD3kL7szUh6dG3x3bjyFuXDltyWjC6YxARDs1sWXRrA8V7VILElUCjDRjo1e7LssC9ch2T5SBr3ZGmJb4gyC68RDRmd1vxSJ54NJPTKIF1vUWpMqJ-qbDW3XtZWnBAYEHykiOA/s400/IMG_4645.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For Christmas, I painted a Peacock painting for my daughter. (I wrote about it <a href="http://createdbyrisa.blogspot.com/2010/12/peacocks.html">here</a>) I enjoyed painting it so much I decided to paint another, only larger. I finished it a few weeks ago. This one is 30x30 (the earlier one was 24x24).</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnyHq4IVaDIIud4aT09ADaPXedOsvrTOM3XN9ibSqYfR-4yKyd_jub6SB2VpFArDGstY5eBgRJDGQI1HDxqbVV1jvi3kipNoP3ioJPZ4ywYV21vucuwUkvQkmTtUM4jqxXiROjWRz02o/s1600/IMG_4647.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnyHq4IVaDIIud4aT09ADaPXedOsvrTOM3XN9ibSqYfR-4yKyd_jub6SB2VpFArDGstY5eBgRJDGQI1HDxqbVV1jvi3kipNoP3ioJPZ4ywYV21vucuwUkvQkmTtUM4jqxXiROjWRz02o/s400/IMG_4647.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>I enjoyed working with the rich, royal colors...quite a contrast to the sea of white that makes up our winter landscape. </b></span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO9c9xE1hsPJWsYxM50jP1LwmB_yxA6jLnuzXDnOMg22k_EDBNSy9q0Vhu8YTpCnylUeN0jnOnF7xuAu72X1VlQ0MjwgQGG-jNNMpTV24EGgWjPDDRQ1T91G2gA8uwUTKlYPBuL5yE8I/s1600/IMG_4641.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHO9c9xE1hsPJWsYxM50jP1LwmB_yxA6jLnuzXDnOMg22k_EDBNSy9q0Vhu8YTpCnylUeN0jnOnF7xuAu72X1VlQ0MjwgQGG-jNNMpTV24EGgWjPDDRQ1T91G2gA8uwUTKlYPBuL5yE8I/s400/IMG_4641.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I also like the movement and energy of the feathers swirling around the peacock's head. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm not certain I'm done with the peacock theme just yet. I may <i>need</i> to paint another peacock painting somewhere down the road. I have visions of a painting with a woman and a peacock...haven't started it yet, but the idea of it keeps swimming around in my creative brain. </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I do intend to sell this painting, but for now, this painting is adorning my studio, providing inspiration...and waiting for its new home. </span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-54426754495724344382011-02-22T13:27:00.000-06:002011-02-22T13:27:58.669-06:00Getting my Groove back!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG7I207wAam1pqkut8WdaIfXyI_qPr_jo2nfDVpKr4QExYGa8EAdLbKSMtoKbwXqmyetDZuGyRBvj5v1oxU16yabJAJ6LxMDXA40eoxlxZR0lNCF0x_UrxE-vT5puIehFh2UZy5xKebI/s1600/IMG_4669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaG7I207wAam1pqkut8WdaIfXyI_qPr_jo2nfDVpKr4QExYGa8EAdLbKSMtoKbwXqmyetDZuGyRBvj5v1oxU16yabJAJ6LxMDXA40eoxlxZR0lNCF0x_UrxE-vT5puIehFh2UZy5xKebI/s400/IMG_4669.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Just a quick update here (I know it's been a while!):</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I sort of re-discovered my painting groove a few weeks ago, only to "lose" it again when I started working my new job. Last Friday I started my new gig as a Visitor Assistant at the Science Museum of Minnesota, specifically for the King Tut Exhibit. The most immediate adjustment has been dealing with the aches and pains of the job--I stand for my entire shift (6-7 hours), save my lunch break. Not easy on this 50-year-old body! I bought new cushion-y shoes and 2 days later bought new cushion-y inserts for the new cushion-y shoes. It's helping, but at the end of the shift, my back and feet are hurting. (Other than that, the job has been great!)</span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span><br />
<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">So I've been heading to bed early and chilling (stretching!) before work. Oh ya, we also had a snowstorm (15+ inches) this weekend. It's been gray, cold, windy...might I say, a little depressing in the weather department!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This morning I woke up to the sun streaming through the windows...a definite day brightener! It's amazing how much a sunny day will put me in the mood to paint...and so I did...and I'm happy to report--Risa got her groove back! </span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-69238025549598770562011-02-08T07:31:00.002-06:002011-02-08T07:31:00.599-06:00Studio 107: In progress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m25-OE86-1sw-oWh4-uUuY3h9bjVlb0uH-U_2Bk7xMcLuANe1pqFDZGESXtUox-BAKPAHtuCvY67kkGgCFuhwNFsHU3EfwLNHzoiylg0QptO0TXUcUaJfUNV9L3qACyFUGXEP0zkwaY/s1600/IMG_4599.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0m25-OE86-1sw-oWh4-uUuY3h9bjVlb0uH-U_2Bk7xMcLuANe1pqFDZGESXtUox-BAKPAHtuCvY67kkGgCFuhwNFsHU3EfwLNHzoiylg0QptO0TXUcUaJfUNV9L3qACyFUGXEP0zkwaY/s400/IMG_4599.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Despite all the craziness at our place last week, I have been settling into my new studio space. Well maybe, it was all the craziness that made me lock myself into the studio and start working again. I decided I needed to mix in some painting time with all the time spent cleaning, organizing the space. Painting saved my sanity.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I went back to work on a series (working title: Abstractions in Gray?) that I had started this past fall. The color of these paintings is not as bold as the colors I usually work with, but there is still a depth and warmth to the color. I found the work very soothing.</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwey9kC47yUsnMQpoQZ37DOBg9qoo1Xzn6KP3SXvd1SYMOCYV_ZS3B2cuxwfMLOFFLmaoocCIq0gXXuLAzosEURyrA8h49meRip60DnIPtM56Jlz5d02IXO-ZYzv7PP8YjXwMkgWZ9Bo/s1600/IMG_4582.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmwey9kC47yUsnMQpoQZ37DOBg9qoo1Xzn6KP3SXvd1SYMOCYV_ZS3B2cuxwfMLOFFLmaoocCIq0gXXuLAzosEURyrA8h49meRip60DnIPtM56Jlz5d02IXO-ZYzv7PP8YjXwMkgWZ9Bo/s400/IMG_4582.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The space is far from organized (<i>it is also a work in progress), </i>but the space is very functional. I brought in my big shelf from my Jax studio, as well as the same fuchsia curtains...my walls might be white, but I will still feel the space with color!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I will continue to post pics (both of the studio and paintings in progress) as work progresses. But for now, it's back to the paints! </span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-43009986290178130492011-02-07T08:01:00.002-06:002011-02-07T08:01:00.619-06:00Tearing it up!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqyWjGPfao5d_0Jl44IOAKXTPzjvahwUOnxNp_8FCR9ORxgm4BeDq9CFrtiWWb7AxUxhCCSlbXUGcByTRcqKkwULYGGeQYLqZFX7Ry2Wg5nj0KgNnGFt0hAf0pvvO4zLg-Egnv-ttnlo/s1600/IMG_4583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqyWjGPfao5d_0Jl44IOAKXTPzjvahwUOnxNp_8FCR9ORxgm4BeDq9CFrtiWWb7AxUxhCCSlbXUGcByTRcqKkwULYGGeQYLqZFX7Ry2Wg5nj0KgNnGFt0hAf0pvvO4zLg-Egnv-ttnlo/s400/IMG_4583.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was a little crazy at our place last week--as they were tearing up chunks of our floor boards!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Our building, a warehouse </span></b></span><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">converted </span></b></span><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">into artist lofts, has pine floors that haven't really stood up too well. Our new unit had more than the usual splintered boards, but our bigger concern was that a number of boards were "sinking" when you walked over them due to the sub-floor being in poor shape. The management company agreed to replace boards...about 50 in total.</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JHTLNcTdy1Lke6WNHeot_5qtSkAXiBfbk9dI6QTMkWHtP8inmhKEIIK4e56vVbMfTrJbevtTZoE0KPZxpW7J4-VskG-xNvm9mnQFgy2-GuE3qX1eFv3DCCGegRhnmIsfp2NNK4lXm9E/s1600/IMG_4586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1JHTLNcTdy1Lke6WNHeot_5qtSkAXiBfbk9dI6QTMkWHtP8inmhKEIIK4e56vVbMfTrJbevtTZoE0KPZxpW7J4-VskG-xNvm9mnQFgy2-GuE3qX1eFv3DCCGegRhnmIsfp2NNK4lXm9E/s400/IMG_4586.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of course, this project would have been much easier to accomplish the month the unit sat empty before we moved in...but that would be too easy! So on Wednesday, we moved all our furniture to the side, packed up fragile items, threw drop cloths over just about everything and the work began. What a mess!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Things got a lot more stressful on Thursday, when we saw that nothing was being done to fix the sub-floor ... even in the places where you could clearly see how the floor would sink with any pressure on it. And then the boards came in...Now I wasn't expecting a match, but the new boards were very light in color compared to the old boards. And we were told the boards wouldn't be stained or varnished for quite some time! </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Every time I looked at the work in progress, my heart sank. This is after all my home and space that I open up to the public for open studio events. And to top it all off, within 24 hours we saw boards splintering where the sub-floor was in the worst shape (and is the walkway to the bathroom).</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTzuUJR_UI4Ycbks7MrEuyHspbpu4mTWzHttSKcnnMvPfJ3sp6sQ9BbXiI0qzPmWyMzkehNI5v25kTorrI6mkAl9ssMmS2zfvTSWiFaaIZP496Sr6DlBDBqAhXbUFkW_jBsNDLBdbRSQ/s1600/IMG_4604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRTzuUJR_UI4Ycbks7MrEuyHspbpu4mTWzHttSKcnnMvPfJ3sp6sQ9BbXiI0qzPmWyMzkehNI5v25kTorrI6mkAl9ssMmS2zfvTSWiFaaIZP496Sr6DlBDBqAhXbUFkW_jBsNDLBdbRSQ/s400/IMG_4604.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">We invited management in when the project was completed Friday afternoon and have, I think, negotiated some sort of resolution. Unfortunately, some boards are going to need to be ripped up (again!) and the sub-floor be repaired somehow. We'll probably need to do a bit of sanding (more dust!) and then try to stain the boards a bit to bring them closer in color to the weathered boards. Finally, we will need to varnish...which may mean we need to be out of our unit for a few days. Yikes!!!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">But for now, we've removed the drop cloths and furniture is back in place...at least for a little while!</span></b></span> <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXiNIWm3qVr2DctNOfmzn_icAepwQ_n2qe5Pn_egL-h7GpG1RD87QOLhM0zsfmgWlk-VLgIv5Ud8BLMxx_Lp1gzowEi9k_VC2_gXFjzt0p9n5Yrgm09gK9VELxYKCY_YYyZ-pXfO5ekQ/s1600/IMG_4608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWXiNIWm3qVr2DctNOfmzn_icAepwQ_n2qe5Pn_egL-h7GpG1RD87QOLhM0zsfmgWlk-VLgIv5Ud8BLMxx_Lp1gzowEi9k_VC2_gXFjzt0p9n5Yrgm09gK9VELxYKCY_YYyZ-pXfO5ekQ/s400/IMG_4608.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-1801091931162635532011-02-06T12:41:00.004-06:002011-02-06T22:34:34.607-06:00Back to Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3dp4bX61776U5J6txm7uNZNDS0X9CGs54MlsKVr0ircTvXM2GwUvJWXTgoqKjMjKRZc2zeV4lXkkIMg3KTsTnyjZO75vhWESATkkdOMwsx7oJ0nmRwW6_XlZpKq4QsjCX580IDiwITE/s1600/tut2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3dp4bX61776U5J6txm7uNZNDS0X9CGs54MlsKVr0ircTvXM2GwUvJWXTgoqKjMjKRZc2zeV4lXkkIMg3KTsTnyjZO75vhWESATkkdOMwsx7oJ0nmRwW6_XlZpKq4QsjCX580IDiwITE/s400/tut2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Besides all the moving, there have been other big changes looming in my life. I am dipping my toes back in the working world. I have just started a temporary, part-time position at the <a href="http://www.smm.org/">Science Museum of Minnesota</a> as a Visitor Assistant for their upcoming <a href="http://www.smm.org/tut/about/">King Tut exhibition</a>.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">New beginnings always come with some anxiety and adjustments. As I said, it's a temporary, part-time, and I may add, low-pay position...so, it doesn't completely resolve my employment issues. And I haven't walked into such a new, unknown work situation in over 14 years. <i>But</i>...I think it will work out just fine. It's close enough to home that I can sometimes walk (or be dropped off by hubby or ride the bus five minutes). I will be working evenings, including the weekend...which will still give me plenty of time to paint! And I get to work in a museum (love that!), be surrounded by cool, interesting stuff and help solve simple problems (vs. helping people resolve huge life dramas in my social worker job). I think it will be much less stressful.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I worked my first training shift last night. It helped resolve some of my anxiety. I will be spending a lot of time on my feet, so I need to buy some new comfy shoes (that fit within the uniform guidelines). I'd post a picture of me in my uniform, but I'll save that for a day when you all need a good laugh!</span></b></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsqJVm-UUXFii33ohToBMMNInWVWMOGS_GGDDaL7LzonUVyVGWPkpsRSEha_FBAWtwtDjJVRaFJHJbx2NkQc5IwLueMg3Bm2eUtibxzy3pWwNoirw47rgNXymaz9nXZcAC9q4UrAJSjY/s1600/Tut.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWsqJVm-UUXFii33ohToBMMNInWVWMOGS_GGDDaL7LzonUVyVGWPkpsRSEha_FBAWtwtDjJVRaFJHJbx2NkQc5IwLueMg3Bm2eUtibxzy3pWwNoirw47rgNXymaz9nXZcAC9q4UrAJSjY/s400/Tut.jpg" width="245" /></a></div>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-6212102260350666832011-01-30T10:53:00.000-06:002011-01-30T10:53:34.256-06:00Moving on!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivObBvO6hSXieRbgayfEoVehfQVvJBwEiXs29Elk6WPTxW64el_03WaxeZtnNGRFRsHbHTGj7nxukC0l7IY9JrUFRHIclKT3KUTyRifujDcWk2AqPPDpokjSKFeIjyJpxAAC-8hoNB_wA/s1600/IMG_4555.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivObBvO6hSXieRbgayfEoVehfQVvJBwEiXs29Elk6WPTxW64el_03WaxeZtnNGRFRsHbHTGj7nxukC0l7IY9JrUFRHIclKT3KUTyRifujDcWk2AqPPDpokjSKFeIjyJpxAAC-8hoNB_wA/s400/IMG_4555.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Last week was all about finishing up "The Move." We rented a truck and moved all the big furniture out of the Jax studio (along with several carloads filled with boxes of art supplies...). It's all in our new place now...not quite organized, but getting there.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">It was a big deal saying good-bye to my first studio.</span></b></span> <span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The Jax studio has been my home away from home, my haven, my artist retreat for the past four years. (I wrote about my hubby and I moving into the space <a href="http://createdbyrisa.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-jax-studio.html">here</a>.) It was such a huge leap to have that separate space dedicated to working on my art. I became much more serious (and productive) about painting and then sharing my work with the public through open studio events. It helped me think of myself as an artist. It's the place where I started to realize my dreams as an artist...<i>it's</i></span></b></span><span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i> the place where I went from keeping those dreams to myself to sharing them with the world</i>. Huge, huge steps!</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'll admit it was a little hard to say good-bye to the space, but I'm feeling good about moving on. My studio practice is now so strong that I know I will be just as productive working in my home studio...maybe even more productive, because who doesn't want to paint in their jammies?!?</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I am ready to be done with moving! Moving was frustrating in all sorts of ways--besides being physically demanding (we did most of it ourselves), studio time was very minimal this past month. That part drove me crazy! But it has been a good time to take stock of what I have accomplished in the past few years...and also take a look at many works of progress. Sometimes looking at unfinished pieces with a set of fresh eyes helps you realize what you need to do to finish them (<i>a</i>nd occasionally there is that<i> "what was I thinking" </i>reaction!<i>)</i></span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> So now the only moving I'm doing is moving forward! I'll be back soon with pics of the new studio space and more BIG news of changes in my life!</span></b></span>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-8872556514180985752011-01-23T22:23:00.000-06:002011-01-23T22:23:50.847-06:00Surviving the deep freeze<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1vVnwtqzJYjraqLZg9F6RbZ_GRajPSHC-le8467DKkpPoQzVo8rNdhqWWD9f_2qBYGhYAw9KvYLUwDtiNoA4qF7cZ8aJunN47a60ZI96YZw8TK9wW3dHpjCIof7hQP7yA-vw8uc_fSU/s1600/IMG_4300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs1vVnwtqzJYjraqLZg9F6RbZ_GRajPSHC-le8467DKkpPoQzVo8rNdhqWWD9f_2qBYGhYAw9KvYLUwDtiNoA4qF7cZ8aJunN47a60ZI96YZw8TK9wW3dHpjCIof7hQP7yA-vw8uc_fSU/s400/IMG_4300.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I've been trying to survive the deep freeze here in Minnesota. It's hard to find the desire to leave your warm, cozy home when you wake up to temps<i> well</i> below zero (-16 degrees Thursday morning). While I've enjoyed some days within the shelter of our home, settling in our new place, I've also been brave and ventured out. </span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Thursday I had my first meeting with my WARM mentor, Brenna. I got to show her my new working space and share with her more of my artwork and my life story behind the work. </span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The past few days have included more WARM-related activities...Friday I met with my small group that includes two other protegees that are working with Brenna. The three of us (still trying to come up with a name for our group) will be meeting on a regular basis, offering each other feedback and support. </span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">And then today I attended the Protegee Tea for all the protegees participating in this two-year cycle. There are 19 of us. Some of us have met at different events leading up to this kickoff to the program, but this was our first formal event as a group. It was nice to meet and get to know a little better the artists that I will share this whole experience with.</span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div style="color: purple;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">This week the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. After this past week, temps in the 20's will feel like a heatwave! It's funny how we psyche ourselves into believing it's "not that bad". We even try to convince ourselves that with January coming to a close, winter is almost over. Ha! There's still a good few months of cold and snow...but it's at least the half-way point, right?</span></b></div><div style="color: purple;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7HeoVKnVvBgL4A3UabvP1lkDcYm2YSM539pHohDBmKmjByNGF7eRcuZ2NLEhzh-ACIgkXG2g2KUGhh5GncQcStl12zejcJbtyvmX8BASVwROUYWa8HBhpQHNPcU3OBo8BTqSaOFw8WsA/s1600/IMG_4296.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7HeoVKnVvBgL4A3UabvP1lkDcYm2YSM539pHohDBmKmjByNGF7eRcuZ2NLEhzh-ACIgkXG2g2KUGhh5GncQcStl12zejcJbtyvmX8BASVwROUYWa8HBhpQHNPcU3OBo8BTqSaOFw8WsA/s400/IMG_4296.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zDVxvv40Yb39rdrhcJMD-r02QEdVHSbQAhv-Wj1ODax1bhiOk3ocSqGF8UrUvqI3kjOPcBGZsa8V9AKVu7CJXaoFsvWjKGjSiO4zGB0-5h5uXtu6qLd8XgKaU5xWR24fEDUWYzlWyFM/s1600/IMG_4301.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2zDVxvv40Yb39rdrhcJMD-r02QEdVHSbQAhv-Wj1ODax1bhiOk3ocSqGF8UrUvqI3kjOPcBGZsa8V9AKVu7CJXaoFsvWjKGjSiO4zGB0-5h5uXtu6qLd8XgKaU5xWR24fEDUWYzlWyFM/s320/IMG_4301.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="color: #0b5394;">pictures taken following our December blizzard</span></i></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>risahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07946816869368616868noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5790115814101956722.post-88415827896303158652011-01-17T19:28:00.000-06:002011-01-17T19:28:39.328-06:00Today at the Studio...finally!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5RUDaW5FxYCKD1SLrkw-dWMFe-Hc4dEoNdykcRrJs80qeNuSOmNGWcplDaUNe2xKMo_ip7uF0rY55PkAUQVpfPEK4aGlBviTqlVHDAfmeQVVuAah2K43iKWSF_3PzdpwyMf7fWXre7g/s1600/IMG_4528.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK5RUDaW5FxYCKD1SLrkw-dWMFe-Hc4dEoNdykcRrJs80qeNuSOmNGWcplDaUNe2xKMo_ip7uF0rY55PkAUQVpfPEK4aGlBviTqlVHDAfmeQVVuAah2K43iKWSF_3PzdpwyMf7fWXre7g/s400/IMG_4528.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">I snuck into the studio this morning and did a little painting. For a few hours, I escaped the chaos, ignored the boxes and did what I love to do...paint!! It was a welcome respite from the business of moving.</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #0b5394;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Later we did move over a few more carloads of stuff from the Jax studio. It feels good to have more of my supplies in my new studio. And while I'm waiting for some shelves to be moved over from the Jax, I am making do with the shelves I have here. There are boxes to unpack and piles of stuff to go through, but my music is hooked up...and I'm ready to do some painting. </span></b></span><br />
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