Art Alliance Opening

Tonight was the opening for the 22nd Annual Art Alliance Show. Ted Kincaid, of Dallas was the juror for the show this year. I entered three pieces in the show and then left town for the week. I didn't find out until today that two of my pieces, "Banarang" and "Sadist and Masochist", were accepted.

Bill and I went to the opening tonight and viewed the show. There were many neat pieces and a good representation of 3-D work. At 6:30, the winners of the show were announced. My rings won second place! I was so excited and embarrased at the same time as I walked across the gallery to accept my award. It is exciting to receive validation that I am finally on the right track.

Spring Break x 2

I have had a great break from art. I am now behind on all of my assignments, but I needed a rest. The first week of Spring Break I spent with my wonderful, romantic Bill. We put in a new door at his house and I worked on my garden. No trips anywhere, no exciting activities, just work.

The second week I spent with my sister, Katie. We went to Austin and shopped on Congress Street and snacked at Joes (awesome chocolate fried pie and iced lattes). Then we went to Bryan and visited with our family (Grannie, Mom Peg, and Aunt Phyl) and ate at Wings 'n More and DoubleDaves. Saturday night, we arrived in Nacogdoches and headed straight to bed. Sunday, we took Katie to the ceramics studio and taught her how to throw. She did pretty good. We ate at her favorite restaurants: Cotton Patch, La Carreta, and Auntie Pastas and took her to Mr. Wills for the He-man breakfast. She went to all of my classes with me and oohed and aahed over the art at SFA, especially the art ed stuff that they like to hang around the fine art dept. We headed to Houston on Wednesday and ate lunch at La Madeline, Landry's and the Dharma Cafe. We toured several FotoFest galleries, shopped at the Galleria, visited Kemah, and shopped at Roop's Sari Palace (Katie's favorite)and visited Uncle Cody, Aunt Laurie, and Cousin Tyler. We also discovered Maxine's pound cake. OMG, Laurie's mother makes the most incredible pound cake I have ever tasted. You don't even have to put anything on it, you just eat it plain. Saturday we headed back to Austin and ate kolaches, chewy pecan balls, imperial sugar Dr. Pepper's and tacos and Fajitas at the taco stand on Congress.

As you can probably tell, vacations are all about the food. I already miss Katie.

Masochist (Prickly Ring Series)

  

Sadist (Prickly Ring Series)

  

Untitled (Prickly Ring Series)

  

Heart Burn

  

Have a Happy Valentines Day

  

Ready for Love - Sterling Silver

  

Improve Thyself

Thanks to Katie I am reading a book from the "Literary Criticism" category. The title, How to Read Like a Professor. I have been looking for a book that talks about symbolism and allegory in literature or art. This book is an easy read and very informative. It would have been nice to have read this book back in highschool so that I could have understood what the pickle dish represented in Ethan Frome. Shape alone does not make a phallic symbol, as Freud said, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

Dusk

The other evening I was walking the path to my jewelry class. It was dusk and the path is at the edge of the arboretum. I glanced down and saw this giant squirrel. It was coming toward me rather quickly. I let out a startled cry because usually animals run from humans not toward them. It paused, looked confused and changed directions. Thats when I realized it wasn't a squirrel. My mind raced, is it a possum? No, an armadillo. I started to laugh when its friend came out of the bushes and followed, trotting across the parking lot.

Terracotta

Bill and I mixed a big batch of Terracotta clay last night. It only took 2 1/2 hours to mix, wedge, and bag the clay. I am ready to embark on my next clay project. It is really going to upset my classmates.