September 2007
.....................woodyduncan@comcast.net....................
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Woody's Blog September 2007 .....................woodyduncan@comcast.net.................... |
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Back from Kansas (9/4): I'm back at writing in my blog after an unexpected trip into Kansas City. We rented a Toyota Prius for the drive to KC just to see how it drove. We spent time with friends, relatives and of course the triplets. The pic on the left is "IGGY", Timothy's pet. Below are the new ducks which hatched in July.  |
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| Diet Off Track: When I got home the scale read 217 1/5 lbs. It must have been the mexican food at Margarita's on Southwest Blvd. or the BBQ we bought at Ollie Gate's in KCK. Now it's back to eating salads and steamed veggies. How could I put on five lbs in one week ? |
Index to Woody's Blog |
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About Me March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 |
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Don't Leave Home Without:  |
August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 |
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| Watercolor Accepted (9/5): I picked up my mail today to find out that Gerald Brommer selected my newest beach painting for the NMWS Fall Exhibition. As usual I expected others that I entered to be selected. I entered two floral paintings from my stay in Taos back in June. I guess I'll be painting more of the triplets since they always seem to please the jurors.  "Beach Play" 2007 from left to right > Tess, Tim and Tiffanie The
opening reception (Preview Night and Awards) will be Friday, October
5th (from 6 to 8 pm) in the Fine Arts Building at Expo New Mexico. It's
going to be a fantastic show. The exhibit continues from October 6th
until the 28th, Thursday through Sundays only from 10 am till 4 pm.
I'll enter the two watercolors which were "rejected" into next years Western Federation of Watercolor Societies. The deadline is October 12th. Next years exhibit will be at the Tubac Center of the Arts, South of Tucson, Arizona. You can get a prospectus if you CLICK HERE. |
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 Click on Drawing to view photo of Tiffanie |
New Watercolor Started (9/7): Jan Hart will be in Albuquerque to teach her last class for our Saturday Painting Group. This got me back to painting at last. I'm working from a great photo I took of Tiffanie when we stopped at White Sands National Monument. Jan wants to emphasize shadows tomorrow so this pic should fit the bill. I'm shooting pics at various stages of the painting because I'm planning a new CD on painting in watercolor. After I finished the drawing, I made a tracing so I could easily repeat the painting when it doesn't work out. I've not sure how to approach all that white. I may paint in so very lightly or leave the white of the paper. We will see how it goes. Jan has a book coming out - I have not seen it yet, but I highly recommend it. I hope she has copies to sell tomorrow. She is a master at using color in watercolor. Her book is titled "The Watercolor Artist's Guide to Exceptional Color", published by Walter Foster. Her website says it will be available by October, 2007. Of course it will be available on Amazon too. |
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Backyard Garden (9/8): It's hard to believe that we planted that little bitty cactus less that three years ago. Now it is taking over everything. Every purple seed pod is where a yellow flower was earlier this summer. And Frani's Pampas Grass out performs itself each year. It's amazing how these desert plants flourish with just a bit of water from those drip lines. Today I'm working on my watercolor of Tiffanie playing in the white sands of Southern New Mexico. Tomorrow Frani and I head South but we won't have time to stop and play in the sand, not this trip. I have a commitment at the Albuquerque Museum on Monday morning. We are leaving Kuan Yin at the Doggie Bed-n-Breakfast tonight because we are driving down to Las Cruces Sunday morning. Frani will do some serious shopping while I visit with members of the Southern Chapter of the New Mexico Watercolor Society. |
I'm back down to 214 lbs this morning |
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Tiffanie Day Two |
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 Value Study |
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| Carl Dalio: The Fall issue of American Artist "Watercolor" magazine came in the mail today. There is an eight page article on my friend Carl Dalio's watercolors. Carl's paintings are packed with color. Check this issue out if you do not already subscribe. The artist lives in Colorado Springs and was a guest artist in the workshop I attend every June in Taos, New Mexico. I hope the NMWS has a chance of getting Carl for a juror and workshop presenter in the future. Here is a pic of Carl painting a demo at the Sagebrush Inn in 2004. Dalio has a way of making color sing and a real ease at explaining concepts to his students. On the right is a painting Carl did of the Ranchos Church in Taos. |
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| I'm down to 212 1/2 lbs this morning |
Las Cruces (9/9): We drove to Las Cruces today (about 220 miles) for a meeting of the Southern Chapter of the NMWS. I was treated to a delightful lunch before being invited to sit in on their board meeting. It was a delightful day. I'm so glad I had this opportunity to speak with so many of the members in attendance in Las Cruces. They presently have grown their membership to 96. The members viewed slides of watercolors from last years MasterWorks of New Mexico to encourage more entries in next years MasterWorks. I do plan to make this visit to Las Cruces again. We discussed ways to make our Watercolor Society truly a state wide group. Frani spent the day shopping for shoes in Las Cruces. She even found some shoes for our grand daughters back in Kansas. Below is a pic I took of the skies on the drive home to Albuquerque. What a great New Mexico sky. To the right is a pic I took before the meeting started. |
 SC NMWS Meeting |
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 My Poppie |
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| down to 212 lbs today |
Museum Presentation (9/10): This morning I did my presentation on Native American pigments for my fellow docents. We rotated between three presenters so I didn't get to hear the other presentations. Estell did hers on woven baskets and Joe did his on the Ghost Dance dress in the Blue Winds Dancing exhibition. This is the greatest way to learn - using study groups and teaching each other one small facet at a time. We also learned about the Albuquerque Museum Foundation and it's relationship to the museum. Gale Williams Doyel - executive director for the foundation spoke to the docents. The foundation works to raise funds to augment the moneys a city owned museum needs. They come up with about 1.3 million each year to support programs and other budget needs of the museum. One thing they do is to operate our gallery store and make our cafe in the museum possible. Of course we docents who work with the school tours most appreciate the funding they raise for Magic Bus. |
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| down to 211 1/2 lbs today |
Curator Position Open(9/11): Finally the Albuquerque Museum has posted the position for Curator of Education. The opening will be posted until Friday 10/12/07. Anyone with museum and education experience wishing to work in our wonderful museum should apply. Our museum is city owned and is both an art and a history museum concentrating on 400 years of history and artist from New Mexico. I promised several people that I would put the word out as soon as this position was posted. Of course you would have to move to New Mexico if you got the job. What a beautiful day. It was after 2:30 in the afternoon before the AC came on and I closed the windows and doors. This is a wonderful time of the year to be in New Mexico. |
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Dumping Stuff & Parks (9/12): I stopped by the Eagle Rock Convenience Center on the way home today. That's a fancy name for a building where you drive in to dump stuff to big to put in the weekly trash pickup. I can dump a car load of stuff for $3.60. Back in Kansas City they charged $27 and you had to drive you tires into the dump itself worrying about your tires all the time. Convenience is a good name for this city service. Behind our house the city is putting the finishing touches on a 4 1/2 acre neighborhood park. It should have grass before the Balloon Fiesta early in October. A few weeks ago they finished another neighborhood park a few blocks away. I saw children playing there this morning. It's going to help home values and make it easier to sell, not that we ever plan to move. A single story house a few doors away is on the market now for 375 K - probably 150 K more than the original costs. Just small reasons why the move to Albuquerque was a smart one. |
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 140 lb Arches WC Paper stretched over gatorboard for my paintings |
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Sod Carpet: The city started to lay the sod carpet in the new neighborhood park, behind our house. Pretty cool too - the sod comes in big rolls and they have to use a machine to unroll the grass. They hope to have the sod take root before balloons land there next month. I promise some great pics of the upgraded landing zone. It will all depend upon the wind. Last year we had lots of balloons landing in that empty land. Even Frani got up early enough to see the balloons. |
down to 211 lbs slow progress |
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 Hanna Montana Tickets |
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| down to 210 1/2 lbs today |
Rip Off (9/16): Radio news reports in Kansas City have Hanna Montana tickets for sale at $400 - $1,800 now through ticket brokers. I've written my protests to the Sprint Center, to Ticket Master and to Disney, which of course will fall on deaf ears. But, I wrote my protests anyway. One would think their customers would come first but I suspect they must get a cut from those who resell these tickets at highly inflated prices. Isn't the capitalist system great ? Nuff said about that, now on to things I have some control over. Tomorrow at the NMWS meeting, Dave Cook will present the watercolors which were selected into the Western Federation exhibit in Arvada, Colorado. He will also discuss the changes in next years WFWS show in Southern Arizona. I plan to enter my newest watercolor of Tiffanie when it is finished. You can download a prospectus and framing instructions from the NMWS web site. Next years exhibition will be in held at the Tubac Center of the Arts, South of Tucson, Arizona. On October 7th I'm doing a workshop in Pueblo, Colorado for the Colorado Art Education Association as part of their Fall Conference. I'm doing a hands on workshop on building Tessellations a la MC Escher. It went over well when I did it for New Mexico art teachers last fall. I put in a proposal to do two hands on workshops at our national conference (NAEA) in New Orleans next March. I'm not sure when I expect to hear if either is accepted. |
 Capitalist Pig |
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Boston Legal (9/17): Frani and I really enjoy watching our DVD's (Season 1 & 2) of Boston Legal. This week we will pick up Season 3 to enjoy over and over. The question we keep asking ourselves is: Do Conservative/Republicans watch the show ? And if they do - Do they think "Denny Crane" is the hero and "Alan Shore" the Buffoon. We see the show as correctly bashing everything the current administration is and does. Do Republicans see that or do they see something else ? It's an interesting question. Season 4 starts Tuesday, September 25th on ABC television. Tune in to find out what's happening at Crane Poole & Schmidt. ON "You Tube" you can watch "Denny Crane the trained sniper". But, the best show from last season was "Denny Crane and the duck lady". Sorry - These two video clips are no longer available due to a copyright claim by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. But, you can click here for a premier of season four. Docents: Today, at docent training, we were introduced to several of the new additions to Common Ground. That's the section of our museum which concentrates on artists in New Mexico. Our Art Curator, "Doug Fairfield" has a real knack for explaining even the most abstract art to a very skeptical audience. You don't have to appreciate everything in the museum to lead a tour. But, it helps to know something about it. All those art history courses, I sat through at the University of Kansas, really are paying off now, by front loading the old rolladeck with images for me to draw on to compare new art against. Watercolor Society: Tonight, Dave Cook (our WFWS delegate) showed images from this year's Western Federation show in Colorado and tried to convince more artists to test themselves by entering into next years exhibit in Southern Arizona. When you are competing against artists from nine western watercolor societies it can seem over whelming. Yet, if you don't try to compete at a higher level how will you ever know how good you really are. For a prospectus for WFWS click here. If your painting is accepted the framing instructions can be found by clicking here. The wide variety of styles in this years Western Fed should show us that almost any approach has a chance of being selected. Now - Get Out & Paint
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Load of Sod (9/18): Two more flat bed trucks of sod were unloaded today for the park behind our house. I guess it really will be ready for balloon fiesta. I just hope the grass gets rooted so it's not destroyed by the chase vehicles picking up the balloons. Some cities paint cows, Albuquerque once had "painted ponies", all around town, but now it's called "Paint the Skys". Check out those hot air balloons that artist's are decorating - and they will be for sale after the balloon fiesta. This year the fiesta runs from October 6th through the 14th. Check out this year's schedule by clicking here. With even cooler nights, I expect my roses will be blooming more now. Roses do best with cooler nights. I expect two more months of beautiful blooms before a hard frost gets to them in mid November. At 5000 feet, we usually get down to 28 degrees by mid November. The best information on what grows best here is High Country Gardens in Santa Fe. |
 Backyard Rose September 18, 2007 |
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 State Fair Security |
State Fair (9/19): Today was dollar day at the state fair - only one buck to park, only one buck each for the entry fee, our kind of day to attend the New Mexico State Fair. The State Fair Grounds (Expo New Mexico) are in the middle of Albuquerque. We walked around, checked out the crafts and art, but avoided the many food vendors - except for the Indian fry bread with honey on it that we split. There goes the diet.
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 White Buffalo |
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Americans for the Arts has mounted a campaign to increase the amount and quality of the Arts taught in our schools If you haven't already seen these ads: http://www.artsusa.org/public_awareness/campaign_information/004.asp please check them out at the link above No Hay Suficiente Arte Para Nuestros Ninos |
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Aaron Douglas Conference on " Aaron Douglas and the Arts of the Harlem Renaissance " September 28-29, 2007 |
Aaron Douglas at KU (9/20): Well, not the artist himself for he is with us only in spirit as inspiritation for future generations of artists. KU's Spencer Museum of Art is hosting a major exhibition celebrating the life, work and legacy of Aaron Douglas. He was an African-American painter and illustrator from Kansas. He is recognized as the most important visual artist of the Harlem Renaissance. The exhibition began September 8th and continues through Dec. 2nd. The brochure for this exhibit is on line as a pdf file. It took seven years to put this together. "Aaron Douglas: African American Modernist" brings together nearly 100 works from public institutions and private collections across the country. The Spencer-organized exhibition is the first-ever national traveling retrospective of Douglas' work. In 2008 it will move from KU to Nashville's Frist Center for the Visual Arts, then on to the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., and later to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City. More information about the exhibition, national conference and public programming is on line at www.aarondouglas.ku.edu. Born in 1899 to laborer parents in Topeka, Kansas - Douglas overcame many obstacles to pursue his passion for art and ideas. He was one of the first African-American artists to portray racial themes within the context of modern art. His ambitious pursuit of justice through his work continues to influence artists today.  |
 Aaron Douglas 1899 - 1979 |
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| 210 lbs and aiming for 200 even |
Weight Loss (9/21): I'm on my way to reach my goal of 200 lbs. Today the scale read 210 lbs. So that means a lot more salads in my future. I even avoided the temptation to chow down last night at the museum. Our city is hosting thousands of Kobota dealers from all over the country. About 900 of them were treated to live music, dancing senoritas, and lots of food at the Albuquerque museum. I was there to help guide visitors through the collection.
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 Kobota |
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| 209 lbs now |
NM Art Teacher Workshops (9/22): I just added a list of presentations for the New Mexico Art Education Associations website. You can view the list by CLICKING HERE. I maintain the website for New Mexico art teachers. The presentations are for the NMAE Conference here in Albuquerque on November 9th and 10th. At the conference, this year, I'm doing a hands-on workshop on Tessellations. Help Me Choose ??? Which format is best for me to mat and frame my new watercolor of Tiffanie ? In my Saturday painting group it was suggested that I crop my white sands painting in on each side. So, would you help me decide ? CLICK HERE to see the two choices then send your vote in an e-mail to me at woodyduncan@comcast.net. Thank You for Voting |
votes so far not cropped 15 cropped 11 other 16 see choices at |
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still 209 lbs
let's celebrate |
Santa Fe (9/23): We spent the day in Santa Fe today. Museums are free to NM residents on Sundays. We started at the Flea Market where we picked up a large pot and a bird bath. Do you ever have enough stuff ? Then we looked through several galleries downtown. I did check out the Excavating Egypt exhibit at the New Mexico Museum of Art - because Albuquerque has an Egyptian exhibition quite soon. After a stop at the Santa Fe Outlet Mall, we stopped at China Star to celebrate my 14 1/2 lb loss. I hope I didn't put it all back on. Sweet and Sour chicken and egg rolls are a wonderful reward. |
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40 Years Old (9/24): Happy Birthday to the Albuquerque Museum, it is 40 years old this year. Today we learned more about the history of our little museum. It was a dream even before it's birth 40 years ago. The museum used to be at the airport. We were told of the museums development from its beginning as the Albuquerque Historical Society Museum in 1961, to its founding as a city museum at the Albuquerque Municipal Airport in 1967, to its current location on Mountain Road in 1979. New Birdbath: To the left is my new birdbath that we picked up at the flea market yesterday. It was high fired in a pit in Mexico by the family we purchased it from - so it will hold up to changes in the weather. Later I'm sure we will plant flowers in it rather than leave it full of water. Storage Space: I went native today and rented a storage unit. Few to no houses out here have basements where you can put all the stuff that piles up over the years. So, if I want my van back in the garage - I've got to move the boat trailer and canoe out. This will also give me a place to store all the extra picture frames I've collected plus lots of other stuff that's taking up space. Wednesday, I clean out the garage. |
gained one pound but the sweet n sour was wonderful |
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back down to 209 lbs |
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| to the right are portions of comments I made yesterday (9/25) when I was interviewed for a Journal article on the upcoming NMWS exhibit |
Why Watercolor ? (9/26): Watercolor is a very unique medium, a fresh medium. Unlike oils or acrylics, the success of a watercolor depends upon how damp the paper is and how the pigment reacts to the papers surface. The longer an artists experiments with watercolor the more they begin to understand what degree of dampness will be required in order to create a desired result. Does it always work as expected ? No – but that’s when good fortune strikes. They say there are no “mistakes” in watercolor – just “happy accidents”. The quality of the paper is crucial for a successful watercolor. I prefer Arches watercolor paper. I used to paint only on 300 lb cold press or rough Arches paper. Lately I’ve begun to stretch 140 lb rough around a sheet of gator board. I soak the paper for about 30 minutes and then staple it to the board. As it dries it shrinks tight as a drum. I love this surface to work on. Painting in a dry climate like New Mexico means the surface dries more quickly than say – the Missouri Ozarks, where I used to paint. One learns to adjust your speed to the degree of dampness of the paper. Or, I’ve been known to keep three or more paintings underway at the same time. Then, I can easily switch to another painting rather than paint too quickly on one that needs to be left alone for a while. For subject matter, I used to prefer crumbling adobe or large red poppies – but recently I’ve tended to paint more and more images of my triplet grandkids. If you are passionate about your subject matter in will show in your work. And the quality will improve if you keep with a subject long enough. But, they grow up so fast. I guess that means I’ll just have to paint that much faster just to keep up with them. |
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Making Room & Cutting Mats: Today I moved my boat trailer and canoe to the new storage unit. As soon as I move some other stuff I'll have room for my Oldsmobile back in the garage. I'm going to move many of my extra picture frames over there as well. Once the canoe was out, Frani spent most of the day arranging her side of the garage. Poor Kuan-Yin just lay there watching with her one good eye. We had her to the vet yesterday. Seems like she cut her eye somehow. I'm sure she will loose it. I also cut mats today, for myself and for a friend. Our Fall exhibit will be here soon. I can't imagine paying a frame shop to mat and frame a painting. Last Saturday, I showed Sally how to use her new mat cutter by cutting a mat for the watercolor she accepted into the Fall show. |
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 El Camino Real Heritage Center |
Travel (9/27): I'm getting the docent travel committee together today. I'm proposing a day trip, for the docents, this fall to "El Camino Real Center" 30 miles South of Socorro. We will be looking for other historical places to visit while in the area. This is the history training year for new docents. Bosque del Apache and Fort Craig are not far away, so they seem likely choices. Too bad the trip to the (VLA) Very Large Array would add too many miles. It would be good as a contrast of early New Mexico with the space age era. Of course the Trinity Site is not far away as well. We hope to make an over night trip to Taos in the Spring. The museum has a retrospective exhibit on Blumenschein, an important figure in the Taos Society of Artists. So, Taos is the place to visit for authentic research. |
down to 207 1/2 lbs today |
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 down to 206 1/2 lbs today |
Happy Birthday Times Three (9/28): Today is a special day. Today Timothy, Tess and Tiffanie turn nine years old. Sorry, Poppie and Grandma can't be there on your special day. Each of you should get to eat an extra piece of cake for us. I hope your birthday cards arrived on time. Have fun at your party with your friends. Afterwards, be sure to study hard because your college years at KU are not very far away.  When They Were Young Today, I load up 16 watercolors from the NMWS permanent collection from our accounting firm where they are on year round display. We select a small portion of the collection to display at our spring an fall exhibitions. Our fall exhibition opens, with a Preview and Awards Night, next Friday, October 5th. The opening reception is (from 6 to 8 pm) in the Fine Arts Building at Expo New Mexico. It's going to be a fantastic show. The exhibit continues from October 6th until the 28th, Thursday through Sundays only from 10 am till 4 pm. |
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Story Behind Song (9/29): If you are old enough to remember Don McLean's "American Pie" then you need to set aside the time to watch this eight minute video on You Tube. It outlines the story behind the song with images from the events the song references to. It is both sad and wonderful at the same time. Poignant is the best word to describe the video. On February 3rd, 1959 - Don McLean was a paperboy with but a dream of doing music. That was the day Buddy Holly died. Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper also died in the plane crash. If you remember 1959 and the years afterward - these images and the words of "American Pie" will hit you. Click Here: for a copy of the lyrics to "American Pie" |
down to 206 lbs today |
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| Magic of Chimayo from MasterWorks 2007 |
MasterWorks 2008: Anyone interested in entering "MasterWorks of New Mexico" can download a prospectus by clicking here. Entries are in four divisions: Water media, Oil/Acrylic, Pastel and Miniature. The three large divisions have an entry deadline of January 26th, 2008 - see the prospectus for details. This will be the 10th year for this premier event. The competition is tough which makes you feel even better when you are accepted. I was able to get two watercolors into the show in 2007. |
Road to Taos from MasterWorks 2007 |
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| Painting Poppies: I needed to paint something that gives me more freedom and flexibility so I'm back at painting my old standby - Poppies. I loved my watercolor of Tiffanie but I had to be so very careful to get it just right. Now Poppies, on the other hand, I can play around with. I can twist the pedals any which way. I've been painting Poppies for years - most of them were from my own garden.
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| Journal Interview Click Here | Journal Interview (9/30): This mornings Art's Section of the Albuquerque Journal had a great article about the NMWS Fall Exhibition. Aurelio Sanchez interviewed me a few days ago. He gave us a nice write up about our juried show which opens on October 5th with the Preview Night. Thank you Phyllis for putting Aurelio in touch with me. He even put my watercolor of the triplets at the beach in the paper. I'll have to send a copy to Tim, Tess and Tiffanie. Diet Progress: This morning the scale read 204 1/2 lbs. I've been especially good at sticking to my diet and not cheating. Even Frani is dropping a few pounds even though she eats a candy bar once in a while. Perhaps I'll hit my goal of 200 well before Christmas. |
down to 204 1/2 lbs this morning |
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