My Favorite Red Shirt

This is my favorite red shirt, and no, those are not underwear next to it.

My old shirt has finally shredded in spots visible and is no longer an appropriate item of clothing to wear to work. But what to do with it? It's the BEST color of red.

And then there is this painting. It used to have a face on it. Now every time I paint faces I get the worst case of self-art-loathing you can imagine. I HATE the faces I paint. I like feet and arms and bloopy bodies, but faces... so right now this painting has a face made from a circle of my old red shirt. and it looks pretty good. At least to me. 

Sonny, are you out there? I miss you.

In Honor of "Pink Peeps"

This post is in honor of K. and her wonderful friends who get all decked out in pink for Gay Pride. K's peeps are gay and straight, male and female. When Pride weekend comes round they become the most outlandish, queenish, extravagant and beautiful ladies. Hoards clamor to have photos taken with them. K. calls this group her peeps and she loves them lots. 

It always amazes me that anyone would feel sorry for folks who are gay. It's such a creative and wonderful life we live. Yes, there is intolerance and inequality, but there is also a lot of fun to be had@ Go pink peeps! Happy Gay Pride!

Silkscreen Class!

T. putting the stop out stuff on her screen.

Me, with my strange little drawing (done with stop out) on the screen.

T. putting contact paper around the edge of the screen.

What a fun afternoon and how different to leave work at noon and ride the bus out to the community college to take this class. It's just great to be learning something different, and because it's new there is no sense of failure (yet). If it doesn't turn out it's just a learning experience! Next class we get to squeegee the first layer of ink. 

Michele, I love that you are doing this too!

Have a good eve everyone. This fun activity made me forget about the pollen for a while.

(Eugene the worst city in the nation today!)

No Pollen Zone!

Monty, Simon and me at the coast.

I don't have much to say today, except I survived another day of Willamette Valley pollen pollution. My favorite web site this time of year is www.pollen.com! I take some sick satisfaction that today Eugene has the worst pollen count in the nation.

I'm also really happy. Tomorrow is my 2nd silkscreen class and I'm dreaming in nice flat creamy colors. I'll try to take some photos tomorrow of what we do. We also have to keep a journal which I love, I've already started decorating mine.

And hey! friend T. says a Portland buddy of mine (P. are you out there?) has been reading my blog and doing collage. I want to hear about it! Leave me a comment ok?

Fun at the Beach

The Lion's Club of Waldport puts on a yummy breakfast.

The proceeds help pay for needed hearing aides and glasses.

Our good friends volunteered and made us feel welcome.

L. scoops pancake batter!

Good friends L. and K. who are volunteers supreme, and our wonderful Waldport neighbors.

I love pancake breakfasts. I learned to cook by flipping pancakes in the Girl Scouts.

 Waldport, Oregon is "our" community at our Oregon Coast. Small in population (about 2,000) but mighty in community spirit. They have a great library, yummy coffee, the Salty Dog with great fish and chips and view to die for of the Alsea Bay. You can buy just about anything you need here, and Ginger's favorite junk shop beckons. 

Thanks L. and K. for making us feel so welcome in the Waldport world!

Tagged by K. to answer these questions

What did you do 10 years ago?

Ten years ago I was spending a considerable amount of energy trying to manage ongoing bouts of depression . I would work for months, fall apart, and then repeat the cycle over and over. I took a year off, met K. and L. in art class and life began to change. I was 45 years old and finally my art self and artist energy was integrated into who I am. I gained a bit of sense  and quit staying up all night. Ten years ago I finally met people like me who had fun, wild, amazing ideas all the time, people who thought the shape of a line or a certain set of colors was the most interesting event of the day. Ten years ago I found my art buddies. I am one lucky artist. 

What are 5 items on your "To Do" list today?

pack to go to the coast

call about the greyhound picnic meeting

change my pillowcase (pollen)

pick up the house

pick up my "held" items at the library- "Art 21, season 4"!!

(boring, huh?)

Snacks you enjoy

doughnuts

cookies

cookies

cookies

malted milk balls

grapes (I had to add one item with nutritional value)

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

make a foundation and hire people to spend the money on good stuff

travel with g

hire a personal trainer to help me exercise

i'm not sure i want to be a billionaire

oh, create energy efficient transportation

Places I would live (for a year)

New York City

Mexico

Spain (cause K. says it's great)

San Francisco

Seattle, if K. and L. are still there

ok, that's it... phew.

I am supposed to tag you Michele to answer these questions, Kristin says so...

Dance

Last weekend was full of events. These photos were taken at M.'s dance recital. M. is 11 and an amazing hip-hop dancer. She's been practicing 4 nights a week and is in a company. It was so fun to watch her and all the other dancers from tiny kids to high school students and even a few adults. I think it would be fun to take an adult hip-hop class. Anyone up for that?

We were sitting in the middle of the auditorium and I took these with no flash using my point and shoot. They are blurry, but kind of fun. 

It's been quite a day. Little Tashi (the dog) had too much separation anxiety and has kept us from getting much sleep the last two nights. I look forward to a nice, uninterrupted rest tonight. His good moms drove all the way home from Portland to get him. He was so glad to see them.

Yawn, more tomorrow and answers to K's questions.