May 2007
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Woody's Blog May 2007 .................................................................. |
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| Roses in Bloom (5/1): I'm going to have beautiful roses this year even if they are slow in blooming. I hope my Poppies open up before we drive back to KC later this month. I picked up my paintings from Arts Alliance this morning. Now I need to select 15 watercolors to hang in the show at the Unitarian Church this Saturday. We just finished our 3 1/2 mile walk around the neighborhood. It's about time we got back into a routine of walking daily. We saw lots of roses in full bloom. Perhaps mine don't get enough morning sun due to the east wall. But if our back wall wasn't on the east we would never see our mountain. Life is a trade off. |
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Woody's Blog Index Below |
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Rain (5/2): It's news when it rains in Albuquerque. A quarter of an inch is considered a downpour. We had one of those gentle (female) rains last night as you can see from the droplets on the rose. Native-Americans claim there are two types of rain - male or female. A female rain is a gentle, steady welcome rain that blesses the earth. A male rain just quirts a little here and there and is mostly worthless. Agnes Tso has a poem about the different types of rain. The moisture is helping my poppies swell up. They should burst open soon. We walked our 3 1/2 miles again this morning as we watched puffy clouds move against the backdrop of the Sandia mountains. We also noted some progress being made on one neighborhood park. It should be done soon and then they will be able to start on the second, larger park behind our house. It is scheduled to be done before this years Balloon Fiesta. Tomorrow, I travel to Rio Rancho Mid-High to teach art to 10 eight graders. Just one day - just as a favor to a friend. We will paint some watercolor and build Kaleidocycles. I've got the full day with the students. |
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August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 |
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| Exhibits & Tornadoes (5/5): While we hung watercolors this morning, Sharon and I discussed the fact that "We were not in Kansas Anymore". Both of us originally lived in Kansas. Albuquerque is windy but fairly safe from the twisters that do touch Eastern New Mexico and of course ravage the plains states, especially Kansas. My precious grandchildren are south of Kansas City right it the heart of "Tornado Alley". They do keep a weather radio alarm on 24/7 just in case and of course they have a basement. (No basements in Albuquerque) I hung 13 of my watercolors along with Rods paintings. The church plans an opening reception but I suspect we will be back in tornado country visiting the family. I hung several Poppie paintings and a few beach paintings of the triplets, along with a few others for variety. The exhibit will be up for two months. Tomorrow we meet with our juror of the spring show. David Daniels will be doing a week long watercolor workshop for people who enrolled to study under him. Monday night he is doing a demo for the NMWS membership meeting. I'm going to use our AV equipment to project his demos all week. |
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Watercolor PR (5/6): This mornings Albuquerque Journal had a nice article about the upcoming NMWS Spring Exhibition. Our current president, Dave Collis, has two of his paintings in the article. I posted a copy of the article on my website. We have a face to face meeting today with our juror David Daniels. He flew in from Maryland last night. Don't miss the opening reception for our spring exhibition - this Friday, May 11th, 6 to 8 pm at the Hispanic Arts Building in Expo New Mexico. It will be a great exhibition. I created a web page showing some of my May flowers. Three poppies were in bloom today and there will be more tomorrow. Every rose bush will be full of blooms in less than a week. My cactus are sprouting new pads. They may take over if I'm not careful. I'm very impressed with the ground cover we planted between our flagstone. The little blue flowers add a nice complement to the orange of the flat stone. |
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| Spring Exhibit (5/8): This was the second day of David Daniel's (Mr Watercolor) workshop. He did a demo at last night's NMWS meeting as well. I'm projecting all his demonstrations. It's refreshing to see an artist using frisket so liberally. So, salt and frisket are OK. Also, today was check in day for watercolors juried into our Spring show. The quality is outstanding. It will be a wonderful exhibition. The opening reception is this Friday from 6 to 8 pm at the Hispanic Arts Building in Expo New Mexico. My letter to the Albuquerque Journal was finally published last week. Strange they didn't phone me first, but I suspect they knew really from me. I write to them, with my opinions, often enough. I wrote it over a month ago. I posted it on my April 3rd blog, if anyone wishes to go back and read it. |
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 Award Winner |
Fantastic Opening (5/11): Tonight was the opening of NMWS Spring Exhibition. At least 150 people attended to view the paintings, check out the award winners and enjoy Josh Hanna's music. Thank you Josh for the wonderful treat of your guitar and voice. My watercolor of the cactus bloom actually won an award. It's $100 that I can spend with Cheap Joe's. That will be no problem - I can always use more painting supplies. I posted a photo showing a portion of the exhibit opening tonight. Now I'm off to visit the grandkids. |
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| Welcome Home (5/20): My roses were a great surprise when I got back to Albuquerque today. They had burst into full bloom while I was away. I also got word that I sold a poppie painting from my exhibit at the church and also my cactus painting was sold from our Spring Exhibit at the fair grounds. Below is a photo of a few of my roses and a close up shot of three poppies. The backyard is a really full of color now.   Roses and Poppies in my Backyard |
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| Turquoise Today (5/21): Today I got my first turquoise to put on my docent badge. I've completed three years as a docent at the Albuquerque Museum. Every three means a new chunk of turquoise to glue onto your badge. We had a luncheon to finish off the year and to receive our turquoise promotions at. I had prepared a powerpoint about our year which ran over and over during our meal. I took the pics all through out the year. Below is a pic showing docents visiting before the luncheon. Yes - we give tours and go to training sessions - but we also like to eat. Most of the pics I took last year were at meal functions we had. |
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Billy the Kid (5/22): I served as lead docent in our group this morning. We had two great groups of 1st and 2nd graders with one hour tours back to back. With three days left in school - a tour to a museum is a great way to keep kids learning. I planned 10 minute stops in "Four Centuries" (History of New Mexico). Of course we also made a stop in the new "Billy the Kid" exhibit. It's really quite good and a hoot as well. We even got to see the bench where they laid out poor Billy's bleeding body. Recently they took dried blood from that bench to analyze the DNA to prove that Pat Garrett shot the right man. Of course they need a sample from Billy's Mom but Silver City won't let her body be exhumed. Even 2nd graders watch CSI and totally understood the issues involved. The great thing about posting to the web (like this blog) is the interactive nature of the internet. I can easily put links (Hyperlinks) from words or photos to anywhere else on the web. The exhibit on Billy runs until July 22nd. It's really worth taking in. We seem to be having good attendance. Too bad the really quality art exhibitions did not draw as well as Billy. How did a bad dude like Billy become a "Folk Hero" ? Kansas has it's "John Brown", Missouri has "Jesse James", and we in New Mexico have our "Billy". I worry who it is that will be elevated to "Folk Hero" status over the next 100 years. "Woody Guthrie" would be alright with me - but many others like "Fred Phelps" may also make the list - very scary, isn't it ? |
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| Burning More Lesson CD's (5/24): I just mailed off my last CD of Middle School Art Lessons in Powerpoint. So I'm burning a new batch. If anyone is interested I sell the 35 powerpoints on one CD for $17 (includes shipping) - I still am selling them. I updated the label (that's Pavina as an eight grader) but the lessons are the same. You can see sample lessons on my website. My lessons show students working through projects from start to finish. Below is the address I use for orders: 35 Quality Middle School Art Lessons
in powerpoint format, on one CD $17 (includes shipping) PO Box 91703 Albuquerque, NM 87199-1703 I
thought the market for these lessons would have dried up - but their
are always new art teachers joining the ranks as us old war horses are
put out to pasture. I was gratified to discover, when I was back in
Kansas City, that we had a good number of well qualified new art
teachers applying for positions. So there is a market for old ideas.
Why reinvent the wheel if someone has already created it. Of course, I
hope my lessons are not seen as something to use like a Betty Crocker
cookbook. I'd rather hope they spur new thoughts and generate fresh
ideas.
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 Iglesias Running photo from Washington Post |
Eastern Media View of Albuquerque: The Next Best Path Warming to Limelight, Dismissed U.S. Attorney David Iglesias Forges a New Future By Sridhar Pappu Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, May 22, 2007; Page C01 ALBUQUERQUE At 9 a.m. on the very edge of the dusty, desolate collection of adobe homes and Vietnamese restaurants that seem to form this city, David Iglesias begins his run through the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. This is not easy terrain. The footing is terribly uneven. The altitude can be unbearable. At certain times one can hear the grumbling of mountain lions and the feasting of coyotes. (the balance of the article deals with the controversy around the Iglesias firing) Surprisingly, this was how the article, in the Washington Post, about David Iglesias started out. This is a very distorted view of a city we love. Iglesias is running on paths near his home in "High Desert", one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Albuquerque. Many homes there cost well over a million. Many are Pueblo in style but finished in stucco, not adobe. Adobe construction is very labor intensive and would have raised the costs even more. As for the altitude, it is quite bearable unless you are an eastern writer. Also, the writer must have fantastic hearing to be aware of "grumbling lions & feasting coyotes". As for restaurants, I've yet to dine in any of those Vietnamese ones, since I prefer the many which serve "green chili". |
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What Makes A Liberal ? (5/25): According to UNM Professor Randy Thornhill (Abq Journal 5/25/07) liberals are caused by stressful upbringing. Perhaps you were from a broken home or you experienced violence at home, etc. Then you turned out liberal. I won't argue with his data but I sure love his definitions of "Liberal" and "Conservative". He classified liberals as those: who tend to value diversity, imagination, intellectualism, logic and scientific progress. He classified conservatives as those: who value order, structure, closure, family and national security, salvation, sexual restraint and self control. I've always considered myself a liberal. I doubt lacking a father figure caused my political and social leanings. My mother did highly influence my thinking by instruction and by example. I feel that being poor and having to work were major influences on me more than anything else. Just seeing the world through open eyes should be enough to shape one's views. Professor Thornhill surveyed 123 UNM students. Not exactly a cross section of the population. They answered questions about their upbringing. I would think that family income and social status may have painted a truer portrait of what shaped our thinking. No matter - I'll always be a "Liberal" and proud of it. Whatever your politics, you need to get your head out of the sand and do something. |
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| Watercolor (5/26): Today was my day to sit with our (NMWS) exhibit at the fair grounds. It gave me time to visit with Lannie (also sitting today). She is taking over our alternate spaces exhibits committee. So far sixteen (16) paintings have sold, at least by counting the red dots, on painting labels, around the exhibit area. It was refreshing sitting the watercolor show today because we had 60 to 70 people in to view the work. The exhibit ends tomorrow. Since I'm assuming the presidency of the watercolor society soon, I'm concerned that everyone be in a position where they each feels comfortable. A volunteer organization requires trust in the people willing to give of their time. We will grow and be successful based upon the hard work of our membership if everyone really enjoys what they are doing. |
 Lynn McLain |
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 Judy Chicago |
Day in Santa Fe (5/27): Sunday is the best day to make a trip to Santa Fe (less than one hour) because the museums are free to New Mexico residents every Sunday. We stopped at the Governors Palace first because they had an exhibit on Jack Kerouac, Beat Generation writer. They had the original manuscript for his book "On The Road", 1957. He typed it on a long roll of paper rather than separate sheets. It is a fascinating display. There was a movie projecting an interview where Steve Allen talks to Kerouac. A must see !! Allen playing the piano while Kerouac reads from "On The Road". Like a scene from an old Coffee House. Click here to hear Kerouac read from his masterpiece "On The Road". If someone in 2007 (50 years later) were to emulate Kerouac in our digital world - they would start writing a blog without ever creating new pages. Just have the reader scroll the text continousley across the monitor as they read. Perhaps, if Jack had a laptop rather than that old Underwood machine ??? imagine it. Another great stop was the LewAllen Contemporary Gallery next door to the Manitou Gallery (my favorite stop). They had a very informative exhibit on Judy Chicago. On display were "Preparatory Materials for The Dinner Party". It's refreshing to view an idea as it develops rather than just the finished work. Judy lives in Belen, just South of Albuquerque. I purchased a copy of "On The Road" and a book on Billy the Kid (our current exhibit). After 50 years - it's about time to read Kerouac. We ate dinner at our favorite place - Tortilla Flats. I highly recommend the Chille Rellenos Plate if you stop there. My workshop week in Taos will be here soon. I read today that an exhibit on Richard Diebenkorn's New Mexico paintings will be on display at the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos. "Diebenkorn did his graduate work in New Mexico and developed his first real mature work here", according to Charles Lovell, Director of the Harwood. The exhibit runs from June 2nd, through September 9th. I'll be able to take it in when I'm in Taos. |
 On The Road Manuscript |
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Politics (5/28): I'm backing John Edwards for president - yet - you can't beat, our governor, Bill Richardson for having the best TV ads. His ads, when running for re-election as governor were a hoot. I'm glad to see he's keeping the same humorous approach when running for the White House. |
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 Is Your Vote Counted ? |
Caging = Stealing Elections: The mainstream media seldom mentions the Republican tactic of caging. Perhaps it's too difficult to explain, too obscure to hit home for most of the public. It was used effectively in 2000 and again in 2004. I'm sure they will do more in 2008. Democrats will hopefully have such solid majorities that it won't matter. Greg Palast explains it best. Here’s how the scheme works: First mail thousands of voters letters in envelopes marked, “Do not forward”, to be returned to the sender. These letters are mailed to Zip Codes heavy with Black voters or to homeless shelters, or to college students - anywhere the Republicans would expect a heavy turnout for the Democrats. If the Black voter is overseas (military), or the Homeless voter moves around, or the college student is at school then the letters are returned to the Bush-Cheney campaign as “undeliverable.” Next, list are made up of voters to be challenged when they try to vote. If the service man or woman votes absentee from overseas - they will never know their vote was not counted. Why don't the Democrats in congress ask the tough questions about this tactic. The evidence is available. Crimes have been committed. I voted advance/absentee ballot so there would be a paper trail. Would I know if my ballot was not counted ? Would You ? Votes were stolen in Florida, Ohio and in New Mexico. Republicans often deny that they are targeting black voters. When confronted with an actual caging list they first claimed it was a prospective donor list ??? Sure - of Black voters !! The Republican Party argued that the challenges were necessary to combat widespread voter fraud. The Democratic Party countered that the challenges were tantamount to voter suppression, and further argued that the Republican Party had targeted voter registrations on the basis of the race of the voter, in violation of federal law. The Dismissed of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias (New Mexico) was because he would not go along with "alleged" voter fraud challenges. Is Your Vote Safe ?
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 Where Does Your Vote Go ? |
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| Your Comments About Anything I Post Are Welcome e-mail to: woodyduncan@comcast.net |
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