Arts on the River & Glad to Be Here

Well, thankfully this weekend was rather uneventful except not being able to go with my church friend Nancy to the Hummingbird festival as planned. I admit I was disappointed, but I did Market Days instead since Don didn't have to work & he could help me set up. Since I thought I wouldn't be here, I did not know it would last until 5 pm due to Boots on Broadway, honoring our soldiers. I did a new red, white & blue piece of artwork just for this day. I made a few copies of it - a 4x6 & a 5x7. I am still working on this since I am still finding more hearts within it. It is called "The Heart of the Matter". I like it. Rhett did too. I remained at Market Days til about 4:30 pm. I ran out of shade and was tired by then.

Arts on the River was also held downtown on the grassy center median a block up from Market Days. Rhett stayed with my art so I could go take a look at the other artists participating in this event. Later I found out the entry fee was $75 plus $15 for something whereas my fees were already paid. So I came out better.

The 1st artist I spoke to was Annetta Berry, an oil painter artist from Waverly Hall with an English accent. Her art was so very colorful. But the 1st artist's work I saw was Elsie Prather from Dothan, AL. She had all these swirly, circular abstracts I really, really, really liked. Did I mention I liked them? LOL She was so sweet. Although she was not the 1st artist I talked to, she kept thanking me and shaking my hand when I complimented her on her art. I told her and some other artists a little about myself being an abstract artist/photographer and the fact that I was back down a block at Market Days, inviting them to come see me, etc. Two artists did come down to see me! Elise was one of them. She hugged me like an old friend. Kindred souls;kindred artists.

There were several artists from the Columbus Guild, but I only spoke to one of them. When I told the artist I spoke to I was down at Market Days, he went "oh" like I was doing something way, way beneath him, but I didn't let that bother me one bit. No siree. I had to laugh at it. I didn't have to pay the fee that he did nor worry if I was even breaking even.

Tom Corley of the CAG had some beautiful paintings of buildings in Venice.

Then there was Peter Dobson, the artful Dobson. As I walked up to his spot, the 1st thing I saw was a cloud literally glowing yellow! I told him this then discovered he was English! He had the most amazing photographic art there. I was really pulling for him to win an award. He did all sorts of special effects with his photography like superimposing a sphere in his photographs. Awesome. He had one I wanted so badly. It was checkerboards fractured or fractal art. Unframed it was $70 so I had to walk away from it. He also lived in Wales in a town I couldn't pronounce although he tried to get me to say it, but I still couldn't get it nor did I have the patience for it. His wife, girl friend or whomever said she just calls the town "Mac". LOL He got an Honorable mention last year at this event. He has a website which is.... www.arttfuldobson.com I think you will really like his work as much as I do so please check him out.

Sue Jordan is an older lady artist who normally sets up at Market Days near the PC art people. She had given Rhett a small painting of birds prior to this event. She was set up at Arts on the River where she could display more and bigger pieces.

Fred Prieto of Columbus had some amazing photographs. He was rather talkative about his photos which were well displayed. They were given 3 hours to set up their artwork.

I met Melissa Brantley of Columbus who had a collage made out of tickets from clothes purchased that formed the $ sign which I thought was a clever idea. She also came down to see me later in the day. She bought one of my "Rainy Day" magnets. She loved that I had mini artwork. So thanks again for this idea, Genie & Anne!

There were several graphic artist beside Peter Dobson. Bobby Jones from Waverly Hall was another. There was something about him that was so familar as if I have met him before. It wasn't as in that "met you in another life" line. Bobby had worked at Ft. Benning as a graphic artist where there were lay offs then more lays offs. His friends encouraged him to go out on his own and he did. He is president & CEO of his own company is called ... StraightlineZ "Art is Everything...and... Everything is art!" The website is... www.straightlinez.com

Now he had those artist trading cards. ACEO cards is what I think they are called. I tried to walk away from one, but found I could not walk away. It was a black & white sketch of what looked like material. I knew I could do this myself and have done it the past. It is signed and dated on the back. After I bought it, he told me it was a shroud over a skeleton! Leave it to me! He thought he was a member of the CAG, but has not received anything. I told him I'd make sure he got info from now on. Interestingly, he is a member of the Joseph House. Some of his work is there now. It seems some artists or whoever came down from Atlanta and told the Joseph House they didn't have enough abstract artists! They welcomed him with open arms so there is hope for me yet! Just wish they didn't have such high fees.

The lady who was in charge of Arts on the River is Lois Tryon. She is also an artist that lives in Columbus. The site for Arts on the River is.... www.artsontheriver.com

I am not sure who won what awards. As we were leaving, I thought I saw red ribbon on one of Charles Willis' pieces of art.

This Saturday was very interesting. I am surprised I don't have whiplash because I felt like I was at a tennis tournament watching the people passing back and forth. A wedding party went by with the bride in the lead with her beautiful cream colored gown which she held high above gold glittery heels. I was never sure who the groom was as all the groomsmen followed then the bridesmaids in their navy blue gowns. I think they took pics somewhere on Broadway then returned to the Rankin building near me for a reception. The flower girls had such pretty matching dresses with big gold bows on the back. One groomsman had to buy himself a cookie on the way back! Pizzas were ordered from the pizza place on my right side.

All the little kids wanted to take my INSPIRE rock I use to hold down my bio page. One little girl picked up one of my baskets of older artwork, but thankfully put it on the other side of the table! I found out the hard way that the sun shines on my side of Broadway in the late afternoon. I had to move away from my set up to not be in the sun as it was hot. By doing this, I got to better observe people's reactions to my work. Their reactions were worth this as I got a lot of ooh's and ah's. LOL

I even got a little sunburned esp on the nose and neck making me a redneck! LOL Later we went out to eat because a transformer blew the power out at home. Good excuse not to cook. Rhett & I were pretty silly. Penny would call it punch drunk from being tired. Don asked me if I got sunburned. I thought my lips felt chapped. Rhett tapped my nose and asked if it hurt. It didn't. He told me, "Then you are not sunburned" just as serious and straight faced sort of like his momma. That is when I lost it, became silly and we got the giggles. I love so my life.

Be sure to check out the art if you get the chance.

Sunday nite after uploading pictures, the memory card for my camera didn't want to work once inside the camera. It nagged at me all day long Monday. I went to Walmart to see if the card would still work and thankfully it did. I made a cd just in case. I had never made a photo cd before and it didn't put my pics in the order I took them. I tried it again in the camera. It still wouldn't work. Because I'd taken the time to load only the really good pics on that cd, I tried to load all in a different order thinking they would be in the order they were taken on memory card. WRONG! This caused me to have not 1 but 2 discs which would cost more. I decided to just take the 1st disc because it was cheaper. Then I got really down and depressed thinking it was my camera. All I could think about was getting home to try Don's memory card in my camera to see if I did indeed have a bad memory card or my worse case scenario - something was wrong with my camera.

I get to mom's to pick up Rhett who had a magic trick for me before I can even get in the door! It was cool & he wouldn't show me how he did it.

On the way home Monday evening, near our house, a blue SUV at a stop sign on decides it can make it before I cross the bridge on Sanfort Rd. I threw on my newly worked on breaks and went "Uh-oh". I just knew I was going to hit it broadside, but the good Lord was surely watching over us because I stopped without crashing into it. As Momma would say, "Stopped on a dime and gave you 10 cents change." There was only enough room for the car to barely pass, but I like to think there was an invisible angel standing there between us and that car! I told Rhett the Lord was surely with us. I was so thankful it was a near miss. We are so thankful to still be here. Rhett said he saw his whole life pass before his eyes. Later my friend Bob would say if his whole life flashed before his eyes, he'd be there awhile. LOL

So today the 1st quote of the day coincidentally is:
Blink your eye - that's how fast life can change.
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.-

I got Don's camera as soon as we got inside and told him about our near miss. Well, Rhett I were vying to do this, talking over each other. It WAS my memory card that wasn't working. Thank goodness it was not my camera! I put that memory card aside and put in a new one. So thankful my camera still works. I realize I have had it for several years now, but it has become like my right hand; apart of me. I would be totally lost without it. Of course I could have started using Don's camera if mine had not worked, but it wouldn't be the same.

I know Minnie Pearl used to say, "So proud to be here" and so are we.

Tuesday I had a dental cleaning and the dentist informed me I will need a crown for Christmas! Afterwards I went to a consignment shop and got several pairs of pants that just fit me. One pair of jeans has pearls and studs on it! I put my Reeboks in the shoe shop to be reglued. I paid my JCP bill and saw my friend Jimmy. It was nice to visit with him for a good awhile without customers interupting our visit. I got Rhett some things to wear. I seem to be buying him a lot of red and black lately; his school colors and one of fave color combinations. I got his Christmas gift to his Daddy, two bird ornaments which had THE uglies tan ribbon with a silver glitter bell & peach colored pipe cleaner bow on it. YUCK! I couldn't wait to get home to yank that off! Jimmy even told me I could make that only better. All on sale. YEAH me!

When I got home, after we ate, I did yank that tackiness off and used the birds as a template using Christmas cardstock to make Christmas bird ornaments. I realized the more I add on to it, the more I will have to charge to make them. But this will probably be the Christmas craft I make as Chistmas gifts this year.

I'd almost forgotten today was Thankful Thursday. This week has been such a good, blessed one. Hope your's has been as well. What are you thankful for? Care to share? Then join us at Thankful Thursday at Lynn's place at the following....
http://www.spirituallyunequalmarriage.com/my_weblog/
where she posted 10 things no one knew about her. Hmmm. What can I tell you about me that you don't already know?

1. My least fave color is pea green.
2. I don't like lima beans. They make me gag!
3. When I get a tickle in my throat & cough, it will set off a sneezing fit.
4. I can find a template out of most any object or use it as rubber stamp.
5. I interpreted a friend's dream this week & it fit him to a t which was kind of eerie but cool.
6. I am a pack rat. I throw nothing away.
7. I gorge out on certain foods. I love buttered popcorn at the movies and will eat it until it almost makes me sick. I will say "Never again", but always do. Rhett and I just cannot sit thru a movie without popcorn.
8. I can hold the toes on my right foot weird so that one sticks up on way and the one next to it is not as high but sticks out too.
9. I cannot swim, but I sure can dance!
10. When I get cold, I sneeze. Sometimes if I drink tea at an eatery, I will start sneezing & have a sneezing fit.