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Our Mountain January 23rd, 2010
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| New Mexico Sunset 2/27/10  Looking East  Looking West |
Stones in the Road (2/27): While reading today's blog about the African bike ride where Ethiopian children were throwing rocks at the cyclists during the Tour ‘d’Afrique - I thought about the song written by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Here it is on youtube: "Stones in the Road" by Mary Chapin Carpenter. Carpenter's song had been sung even earlier by Joan Baez. The lyrics bring back fond memories of my own childhood of riding bikes on rocky rural roads. The song is quite powerful as it talks about our loss of Bobby Kennedy and then laments the loss of innocence for all of us. When we were young, we pledged allegiance every morning of our lives
The classroom rang with children's voices under teacher's watchful eye We learned about the world around us at our desks and at dinnertime Reminded of the starving children, we cleaned our plates with guilty minds And the stones in the road shone like diamonds in the dust And then a voice called to us to make our way back home When I was ten, my father held me on his shoulders above the crowd To see a train draped in mourning pass slowly through our town His widow kneeled with all their children at the sacred burial ground And the TV glowed that long hot summer with all the cities burning down And the stones in the road flew out beneath our bicycle tires Worlds removed from all those fires as we raced each other home And now we drink our coffee on the run, we climb that ladder rung by rung We are the daughters and the sons, and here's the line that's missing The starving children have been replaced by souls out on the street We give a dollar when we pass, and hope our eyes don't meet We pencil in, we cancel out, we crave the corner suite We kiss your ass, we make you hold, we doctor the receipt And the stones in the road fly out from beneath our wheels Another day, another deal, before we get back home And the stones in the road leave a mark from whence they came A thousand points of light or shame, baby, I don't know
What poor African children perceive (while throwing rocks) as
they see this invasion into their lives by hordes of white men on
shining bicycles going past their villages - I can only guess at? The
contrast between their lives and these invaders is truly an enormous
chasm. Like Mary Chapin Carpenter's song - here is an end of ''End of the Innocence- but in Reverse''.
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 "Snow Roses" liquid frisket removed |
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| On Advice From Friends: This morning, in my Friday Painters group, I got excellent advice on how to save my two newest paintings. Rod and Hazel both suggested subtle changes that made both my balloon painting and my roses in the snow pop. Now I'm happy with both of them and I can move on. I've added these new watercolors to the others which I posted earlier on the Artists Daily website: http://www.artistdaily.com/media/g/member/tags/watercolor/Woody+Duncan/default.aspx
  "Snow Roses" "Fire in the Hole" |
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| Blue Jeans Day Today: Today is the birthday of Levi Strauss, inventor of blue jeans. He was born on February 26, 1829. So, it's suggested - that everyone wear blue jeans today. But, of course this is New Mexico and blue jeans are formal wear in the Land of Enchantment. In 1853, the California gold rush was in full swing, and everyday items were in short supply. Levi Strauss, a 24-year-old German immigrant, left New York for San Francisco with a small supply of dry goods with the intention of opening a branch of his brother's New York dry goods business. Shortly after his arrival, a prospector wanted to know what Mr. Strauss was selling. When Strauss told him he had rough canvas to use for tents and wagon covers, the prospector said, "You should have brought pants!," saying he couldn’t find a pair of pants strong enough to last. Levi Strauss had the canvas made into waist overalls. Miners liked the pants, but complained that they tended to chafe. Levi Strauss substituted a twilled cotton cloth from France called "serge de Nimes." The fabric later became known as denim and the pants were nicknamed blue jeans. |
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 Balloon Progress  |
I try to get contrast into my watercolors -
one way to check is to view the image in Black and white. I believe
this one falls short. It looks too flat, not enough contrast between
the darks and light areas. Does anyone else see this - am I correct ?
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 Latest Version (finishing touches left) removed the liquid frisket today |
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 "Fired Up" |
  Painting "Snow Roses" from my backyard last November |
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 Jason 2/23/2010 |
Tuesday Tour Day (2/23): As Albuquerque wakes up to a slight dusting of snow, which will be gone as soon as the sun hits it, I'm printing a tour rotation schedule for our docent team. Just enough snow to remind us that it's still winter. It should be back to 50 degrees by Friday. This morning we take 3rd graders through the history part of our museum. I'm lead docent today, so I create the schedule and decide on an art activity at the end of the tour. Last night, KU easily beat Oklahoma, although Bill Self was not happy because the team let a first half lead fade away. Last nights win makes 58 in a row at home for the Jayhawks. KU is now 28 and 1 for the season - but big games remain against Oklahoma State, K-State and Missouri.  Home Court Advantage |
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| Jason Enters Addis Ababa (2/22): "Its been a busy week in the Ethiopian highlands for riders on the Tour d'Afrique and communication problems have meant that we haven't seen many photos or updates from them. That will all change today and tomorrow as they arrive in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa for a one day break. You can expect a flurry of blogs being updated, tweets being twittered, and pictures being posted. Stay tuned..." Posted February 21, 2010 by Shanny Hill - Ethiopia | Tour Updates   Jason in Addis Ababa - Capital of Ethiopia Posted by Jason, on his facebook page:
Hi everyone. Just letting you know that we made it into Addis Ababa, Ethiopia today. I have not tallied up all the mile we have ridden, but we are roughly 1/3 of the way to Cape Town, South Africa. Wish us luck! |
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 Dean Mitchell |
My Year To Try: Dean Mitchell got his jump start after he began entering watercolor shows across the country. So, I decided that this would be my year to give it a try too. After getting into the Mississippi National last year, I found out that I could get accepted into national watercolor shows. This year, I already gotten rejected from Western Federation and MasterWorks of New Mexico. But, I did get my paintings into shows in both Arizona and Missouri. I'm waiting to hear decisions by jurors in Louisiana, California, and our annual NMWS show here in New Mexico. I'll need to do some serious painting so I can enter Watercolor USA and the Taos National later this year. I've gotten into the Taos show for three years now, reaching signature status. But to get into quality shows like Watercolor USA in Springfield, Missouri - my paintings will have to really pop. I need to loosen up and start to show passion for my subjects. I also need to choose content that tells a story and makes the viewer want to linger a while to discover the hidden meanings. This is much easier to write down than to translate onto a sheet of Arches - but, I'll give it a try. The deadline for Watercolor USA comes soon on March 30th. Richard Martin Ash III is the juror this year. Should I pay any attention to what the juror of an exhibition creates ? He is a printmaker and I love the art of printmaking - perhaps I will try adding multiple images imprinted onto my watercolors. As I type - I'm watching "Lust For Life", the fantastic movie about Vincent Van Gogh. The movie from 1956, has always been an inspiration to me. I still have the catalogue from the Van Gogh exhibition, at the Nelson, in Kansas City back in 1963. |
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View From Upstairs Window Sunday, Feb 21st |
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 Diane Denish |
You're Not In Kansas Anymore (2/21): Yesterday morning, rather than go painting, I attended the Pre-Primary Democratic Party County Convention. I was one of 754 elected delegates from the various ward meetings held a few weeks ago. The next step is attending the Pre-Primary State Convention. Moving here from a small Democratic corner of a very Republican state, like Kansas, it was strange to see such a large enthusiastic gathering. But then, my adopted state of New Mexico is the only state with and all Democratic delegation in congress. All three of our members of congress and both senators are Democrats. Our job as a party now - is to keep New Mexico blue. There were speaches by various office holders and office seekers. I was especially impressed by our next governor Diane Denish and Ben Ray Lujan the congressman from Taos and Santa Fe. He spoke passionately about continuing to work toward strong single payer health care. Lujan was dressed in jeans and no tie - a real Northern New Mexico Democrat. 14 resolutions were passed which will go on to the State Convention. |
 Ben Ray Lujan |
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| Photographing Frani's Quilts: I took photos of ten new quilts that Frani just finished sewing the binding on. They are posted on a new web page which also has links to earlier quilts she has made. Check them out at: |
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| Entries Off To California (2/20): Yesterday, I barley met the deadline to send my three entries off to San Francisco. The California Watercolor Society (CWA) is holding it's 41st Annual National Exhibition at the Presidio Officers' Club Exhibition Hall. The exhibition is planned for July 14th through September 19th. When I got word that all my entries to MasterWorks of New Mexico were rejected, I decided to roll two of them over by entering the CWA show. I added my new painting "Phone Home" to two that were just rejected. How many times should I enter the same watercolors into various juried shows before I stop ? This will be the third attempt for two of these paintings.    All three watercolors were done on full sheets of Arches Matted and frame they are 36 x 28 inches These three images are off to the juror in California. Christopher Schink
is the juror. I don't think it's a good idea to send entries based upon
the style of painting done by the juror. I hope I'm correct because
Schink seems to paint with broad flat shapes. Beautiful work, but not a bit like mine. I hope I'm right.
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| Entering NMWS Spring Show: I also choose three watercolors to enter into the New Mexico Watercolor Societies Spring juried exhibition. There is a bit more variety in these three paintings. The deadline is not until March 5th, but I want to get them entered now so I can get back to creating some new paintings.    All three watercolors were done on 140 lb Arches Matted and frame they are 28 x 22 inches Our juror will be Ron Ranson
for the Spring show. He is also doing a week long workshop (May 3rd -
7th) that I'm thinking about signing up for. Of the three paintings I
choose - one has already been in a juried show (in Mississippi). The
balloon painting was done last year. It shows some of my neighbors
helping a hot air balloon land in the park behind our house. I gave an
earlier version of it away at the NMWS holiday party. The flute player
is very recent. I titled it, "Different Tune" because it seemed strange
to see a street musicial, in the French Quarter, playing a flute.
I keep track of which paintings are committed to where by putting them on a web page. That way I have a record of which paintings are entered where and which one's were selected for a juried exhibition. You can see the list at: |
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  Quilt Detail |
Beautiful Quilt Tickets Going Fast (2/19): Will you be the lucky winner in this amazing quilt raffle ? "Art in the School" is raffling this gorgeous, hand-crafted quilt so that we can bring quality art education to more New Mexico children. Only 100 tickets will be sold – so your chances are excellent ! The quilt measures 69" X 100" and will provide an extra layer of cozy warmth. CLICK HERE to an AIS web page where you can use PAYPAL to donate $10 for a chance at winning this beautiful quilt.  click on quilt for a larger image It’s fast, safe and easy to buy your $10 raffle ticket – right now! Simply click on this link to the AIS blog, and you can buy a ticket by credit card or through Paypal account. When you buy a raffle ticket or make a donation to Art in the School this year, the value to kids is doubled due to a special challenge grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation. If we raise $10,000 this year, they will match that with another $10,000! So, your donation will go even further to benefit more children. Many thanks to the New Mexico Quilters’ Association, who graciously donated the quilt to us. |
Slow Start Starting Over on "Jay and James" |
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My Dog - Blossom (2/18): Yesterday morning, while waiting for art to be delivered, I shot a few photos of my dog Blossom. She is quite entergetic at times at other times she just rests. Blossom has three beds at various places around the house to sleep in. She loves to tear up her stuffed toys - but she will only play with one ball (no other balls will do).  Blossom Loves the Morning Sun |
My Old Shipping Box Getting it ready so I can ship a watercolor to Missouri |
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Move to Amend the Constitution: In a ruling that has overwhelming implications for how elections are funded, the Supreme Court has struck down a key campaign-finance restriction that prevents corporations and unions from pouring money into political ads. In a 5-4 ruling, in the Citizens United v. FEC case, the door is now wide open for unrestricted amounts of corporate money to flow into American politics. The Republican-appointed right-wing five members of the court explicitly said that corporations are “persons” under the law, and thus entitled to Constitutional rights just like the Founders fought and died to give to you and me. The four dissenters pointed out that corporations will now own politicians, will dominate our politics, and that democracy itself is now at risk. “I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations,
which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and to bid defiance to the laws of our country.” Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to George Logan - Nov 12, 1816
Please sign the petition at the link below: Justice Stevens, in dissent, was compelled to state the obvious: ". . . . corporations have no consciences, no beliefs, no feelings, no thoughts, no desires. Corporations help structure and facilitate the activities of human beings, to be sure, and their “personhood” often serves as a useful legal fiction. But they are not themselves members of “We the People” by whom and for whom our Constitution was established." |
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 Todd Tibbals in San Diego |
Todd Tibbals (2/16): Last nights watercolor meeting was a great way to learn more about the background of one of our members. Todd Tibbals has been long admired for his paintings - many showing peoples from South America. Now we know how it all began. Just out of college, Todd signed up for the newly founded "Peace Corp" in 1962. Last night, rather than paint, Todd showed us slides of his many adventures in Peru and Ecuador. It all began with four months of training in Puerto Rico. There was even a photo of Sargent Shiver talking to the group of young Peace Corp volunteers. Todd is an interesting sort - even more so now that we have learned more about him. He is an entertaining speaker, a good story teller - especially with a flash light strapped to his head so he could see his notes. I ran the slide projector as he described his adventures inter spaced with slides of his paintings. In the audience, last night, were a dozen or more of his friends who came to cheer Todd on. They claimed to be members of the "Todd Tibbals Fan Club." Todd won an award in last years WFWS show in San Diego. He had a painting accepted again this year into WFWS, which will be held in Salt Lake City.   Examples of Todd Tibbals Art |
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 Climbing to Gondor |
Bicycle Tour Progress (2/15): Seven days of hardcore riding has taken its toll. The riders have all arrived in Gondor, Ethiopia with more scraps, one less truck and an appreciation for the rough roads behind them. Of the 63 riders on The Gorge Section only 32 riders rode into Gondor. Some riders had chosen to depart the tour early and get a head start on some well deserved TLC. The riders that choose to stay on tour were treated to a spectacular campsite amongst the highlands of Ethiopia. After three days of bone-rattling dirt roads the racers had to take on a 12km climb, gaining 2502m of elevation before lunch. The climb looked amazing. Ears popped as they reached the top of the climb some 36km from camp. All riders are happy to have another day of rest here on the mountain top of Gondor enjoying the magnificent view of the city from their hotel patio. The tour staff sorts the rest of the journey through Ethiopia without one of their beloved trucks. Jason is still with the main group of riders. After a needed rest in Gondor, he was quickly back on the road and is now just outside Abay and Bahir Dar, Ethiopia at the Southern tip of Lake Tana. See the map below:  Jason's location Feb 14, 2010 - 11:54 PM MST |
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| Google and Winter Games (2/14): We love watching the Winter Olympics. Now Google brings it's technology for a different view of the 2010 games. If you have ever checked out Google Earth or Google Streetview - this will amaze and entertain you.   Google Earth Google Streetview |
Bicycles Across Africa  The bicycle tour is moving through Ethiopia again - but I don't know if they got their truck motor repaired yet |
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2011: Our planning committee for the Western Fed Exhibition in 2011 met this afternoon. We made a good deal of progress today. We got our 2011 budget ready to present to the NMWS board tomorrow. We also selected which framer will do the 120 paintings that will come from around the western states in April 2011. As delegate from the NMWS to the WFWS, it's my job to collect and ship the 12 watercolors from New Mexico that were selected for display in Salt Lake City. I'm waiting on only one more painting - then I can ship them off. Utah is hosting this years exhibit. We ship the watercolors matted to Utah and they will frame them for the exhibit. Next year, it's New Mexico's turn. We want to be sure to do it up right. |
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 "Taos Horno Shadows" accepted into Watercolor Missouri National April 1st - May 16th |
Art Opening (2/13): Last night, Frani and I went to the "Around the Corner Gallery", on the West side, for an art opening. On display was work done by the artists that I paint with each Friday morning. I had two watercolors in the display. Since there are 30 artists on display - we had a nice turn out. This morning, I'm stopping by my Saturday painting group, at the La Mesa Church, for a short time. Then, I'm attending a memorial for one of our Friday painters back at the Unitarian Church. Eleanor Bailey was a wonderful lady who helped start the Friday painters. Eleanor was a real mover and a shaker as well as a strong Democrat who encouraged me to get active in the New Mexico party.   "Around the Corner" Opening |
 Eleanor Bailey |
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 Flour Tortilla's |
Bad Food Tax = Bad Idea (2/12): One really dumb idea came out of the New Mexico Senate Finance Committee yesterday. In an attempt to find a way to balance the state budget - they decided to put the "gross receipts tax" back on some food. Most states call it a sales tax. Right after we moved here five years ago the state got rid of taxes on food. That was good. But the idea now is to put the tax back on just the least healthy foods. One would agree that perhaps candy and soda pop is not too good for you. So they suggest no taxes on eggs, meat, fruit and veggies. Perhaps there is some logic here - but they want to tax ketchup, mustard, white bread and flour tortillas. Tax TORTILLAS !!! Hey - this is New Mexico - you can't tax a basic food stuff like tortillas - well not here in New Mexico. They won't tax corn tortillas or cheerios, but they would tax Tony the Tiger's frosted flakes. Politician's are suppose to be somewhat concerned about the next election. I don't think the members of the Senate Finance Committee are thinking very far ahead. I applaud the Catholic Church for organizing a protest today. They are asking people to come to Santa Fe and throw tortilla's at the Round House. |
 Tortilla Tax Protest |
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 Engine Problem |
Troubles In Africa: "A truck had blown an engine. Blowing an engine on one of the two large support trucks when you have a tight schedule to cycle across Africa with over 60 riders is a problem. It is a serious problem when you are in a remote area of Africa where fixing an engine is not a simple matter. We have started taking actions that will hopefully solve the short term as well as the long term problem. The number one priority of course is to find a short term replacement which we are now actively pursuing. Hopefully we will have an answer by tomorrow. Tomorrow is a rest day so at least we have 24 hours to deal with the breakage. The likelihood is that we will take an additional day to organize ourselves. It will also give the riders an extra day to recover from some tough cycling between Khartoum and Gondar." February 11, 2010 by Henry Gold |
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 "Grow up Democrats" |
"Grow up Democrats" (2/11): The other night, Rachel Maddow called out individual Republicans for voting against the stimulus, then taking credit for projects it paid for back home. She also had some words for the Democrats, telling them that trying to work with Republicans "is like trying to teach your dog to drive. Wastes a lot of time, it won't work, and ultimately the dog comes out of the exercise less embarrassed for failing than you do for trying." "Grow up Democrats; face the music. Do it alone. You’re the majority. Kill the filibuster
if they won’t let you use that majority. The country needs you to." |
 Starting Over |
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 Tough Ride |
Hard Days in Africa: It was ‘the hardest day of my life so far’, said one rider - while another described it as the ‘biggest EFI massacre ever.’ It was an epic, epic day... it was two or three giant days of riding on the untested roads approaching and inside Dinder National Park – a new route for the tour. These will surely be rides that live deep in the hearts of many riders, and surely for others it was simply soul shattering, frustrating days. In these situations the cyclists have to dig deeper than they ever did in the past. This is the risk they run, and this is the style they like. To all those cyclists enroute, you have many challenges ahead. But now you are all graduates of Dinder National Park school of pain and we salute you for traveling this road … from Tour d'Afrique blog - February 10, 2010 Feb 11th - Shows Jason in Gondar, Ethiopia >>>
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 Gondar, Ethiopia |
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 Map of Ethiopia |
A Different Terrain (2/10): Checking Jason's progress this morning shows him into mountainous terrain of Ethiopia. This will be the third of ten countries the bike tour will travel through. You can track Jason's progress across Africa at: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=50881 Jason carries his personal "Spot Messenger" GPS Device which sends a signal up to a satellite every few minutes. I'm sure Jason has some sort of camera with him. I often observe him working on paintings based upon photos from his travels. I don't know if he plans to be in Taos this June to paint at the Sagebrush Inn, but I'm sure he will have years of motivation to paint from.  Different Terrain |
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 Painting to Music |
Busy in Retirement: Yesterday morning I toured 5th graders through the Albuquerque Museum. It's was a very intelligent ad polite group of young people. Our future is safe in their hands. I had agreed to stay and help with the afternoon tours - but discovered I had goofed again and was suppose to be in two places at once. So another nice docent agreed to take my afternoon commitment. That allowed me to drive over to the Palo Duro Senior Center where I had forgotten I was suppose to teach watercolor on Tuesday. I loaded the car with stuff and my plan was to shoot from the hip. I think that's the proper pedogocial terminology. I showed my "senior" students how I used "Light Molding Paste" for textures in my watercolors. Then I played a CD of old time Kansas City Jazz and we painted to the music for warm ups while the texture dried. Later we tested wet-n-wet watercolors over the textures. I asked about a change of music and they wanted Creedence Clearwater. Turn it up louder was the request. We had a grand time and learned it's good to loosen up with watercolors.   Senior Artists |
 Frani's Ammiralis |
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 My Watercolor |
Friendship Luncheon (2/9): My newest watercolor, "Phone Home", was on display at the Albuquerque Museum - if only for a couple of hours yesterday. As part of the Docents annual Friendship Luncheon - many of the docents were asked to bring samples of their personal creations. Besides bringing my framed painting - I also brought Frani's famous "Cheesecake Bites". The lunch is a potluck provided by the docents and all the museum staff is invited. Our small way of saying - Thank You.  Docents checking out each others creations |
 Cheesecake Bites |
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Starting Over I did a new drawing this morning so I could begin again |
<<< I decided to start over on my watercolor of "Jae and James" |
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Is it Finished ??? >>> |
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 Feb 6th |
Painting (2/6): I'm headed off to paint with friends at the La Mesa church this morning. Before I left, I posted an update on where Jason stopped for the night. Painting Advice: My Saturday morning friends best suggestion was to soak my newest painting in the bathtub. I was planning on starting over anyway - so I gave it a bath. The results are below.   Before After |
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 "Jazz Singer" Selected for exhibition at the Tubac Center of the Arts Tubac, Arizona |
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 "Phone Home" Framed |
"Phone Home" Framed (2/4): Yesterday, I framed my newest watercolor so I could take it to the Albuquerque museum on Monday. The Docents are having a luncheon on Monday. Several of us were ask to bring examples of the art we create. I hope the mat and frame I choose compliments my watercolor. Also, I started a drawing for a new watercolor. The subject is a fellow artist and her son. Jae Drummond is holding her son James on her shoulders. Jae stopped by our Saturday painting group last fall and I shot a few photos of them. This painting will be a special challenge for me because Jae is such an accomplished watercolor artist. You can view Jae Drummond's marvelous watercolors at: http://www.jkdrummond.com/portfolio.html <<< to see the steps in painting "Phone Home" Click Here     Starting A New Watercolor |
 "Jae and James" |
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Report From Africa: I copied this - just a portion - from the tourdafrique blog: "Three weeks in and the bustling city of Khartoum is at our doorstep for our third rest day of the tour. Riders are fanning out to internet cafes and ice cream shops, searching for the coldest Coke they can find in lieu of the stronger liquid rewards we won't see again until Ethiopia. Tomorrow we get back in the saddle and enjoy the solace of cycling through Sudan some more. I might even get out of the Landcruiser one of these days." - Allison Barnes - Feb 3rd, 2010 |
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Albuquerque
Voters Approve $616M School Bonds in Tuesday's Election Question asked voters
to authorize the district for millions in bonds was approved by 72 percent Thank You We Voted YES !! |
Khartoum (الخرطوم al-Kharṭūm) (2/3): Jason's next stop over is Khartoum, which is the capital of Sudan and of Khartoum State. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile flowing north from Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile flowing west from Ethiopia. The location where the two Niles meet is known as "al-Mogran". The main Nile continues to flow north towards Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. You can follow Jason as he travels across the continent on the site below: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=50881 or you can read blog entries by various members of the group - posted as they stop along the way. Currently they are in Sudan: http://www.tourdafrique.com/epictours/tourdafrique/blog Jason is learning about Africa, up close and first hand, we have to rely on blogs and Wikipedia to experience it.  Khartoum at Night  Jason Enters Khartoum - Feb 3rd 2:47 PM MST |
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 Pastel - Mali Melissa Enderle |
Teaching Abroad: A web friend of mine, Melissa Enderle, teaches in Chennai, India. She has taught in several countries: in Mali, in Serbia, and now in India. You can follow Melissa travelblog on her travels to Mali, Tunisia, Serbia, Eastern Europe and India on her blog at: http://melissaenderle.blogspot.com/
Melissa
take full advantage of the various places she has taught in. She is
often writing about her many excursions on weekends and school breaks.
She has a great eye and post the most interesting photos of her side
trips. Melissa also is an accomplished artist displayed by the pastels and paintings she posts on line. More recently, I have been able to follow Melissa on facebook.
Yesterday, Melissa posted photos from the Madumalai Wildlife Sanctuary about 155 km away. I can travel on virtual trips, in exotic places, by following Melissa's postings. Originally she is from Wisconsin. She has been living overseas as a Tech Facilitator for 10 years, with her current adventure being in Chennai, India. And , yes I did ask permission to post her art on my blog. You can find more about her art and her travels on: |
 Madumalai Wildlife Sanctuary |
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| Tiffanie: My grand-daughter Tiffanie looked a the definition of her name on the web. She found this great definition: Tiffanie: a rare spelling variation of the name Tiffany. Tiffanie's share little in common with Tiffany's other than the first 6 letters of their name. Tiffanie's are much harder to find, making them irresistible. They are well known for being too cute for words and, more often than not, stunningly beautiful. Tiffanie's have the natural abilities to succeed in every aspect of life and look damn good doing it. Unfortunately for the world there are not enough Tiffanie's to go around. Very few are lucky enough to have one, the rest of the world lives their lives in jealousy - or settle for a lesser Tiffany. They got the description of Tiffanie - So, So Correct.
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Albuquerque Now II (2/2): Docents were training docents in yesterdays model tours of selected objects in the second "Albuquerque Now" exhibition at the Albuquerque Museum. The exhibition of 100 local artists runs until April 18th. It is a very diverse collection of art representing artist who reside in and around Albuquerque.  Docents Training Docents |
Stack of Pink Rabbits  for baby quilts Frani's Creations |
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Win This Beautiful Quilt ! Will you be the lucky winner in this amazing quilt raffle ? "Art in the School" is raffling this gorgeous, hand-crafted quilt so that we can bring quality art education to more New Mexico children. Only 100 tickets will be sold – so your chances are excellent ! The quilt is crafted of fine 100% cotton fabric in luscious shades of blues with crisp, contrasting white. Skilled craftsmanship with expert free-motion machine stitching add the perfect textured dimension to this unique piece. It measures 69" X 100" and will provide an extra layer of cozy warmth. CLICK HERE to an AIS web page where you can use PAYPAL to donate $10 for a chance at winning this beautiful quilt. click on quilt for a larger image It’s fast, safe and easy to buy your $10 raffle ticket – right now! Simply click on this link to the AIS blog, and you can buy a ticket by credit card or through Paypal account. When you buy a raffle ticket or make a donation to Art in the School this year, the value to kids is doubled due to a special challenge grant from the Lumpkin Family Foundation. If we raise $10,000 this year, they will match that with another $10,000! So, your donation will go even further to benefit more children. Many thanks to the New Mexico Quilters’ Association, who graciously donated the quilt to us. |
Quilt Detail |
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 Cool Tiffanie's New Glasses |
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Eyes Fixed <<< corrected portrait
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Jason Becker |
Follow Jason Across Africa: Jason Becker is riding his bike from Cairo to Capetown - 7,500 miles - through ten countries across the African continent. GPS technology allows you to follow him on the web as he travels: http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=50881 or you can read blog entries by various members of the group - posted as they stop along the way. Currently they are in Sudan: http://www.tourdafrique.com/epictours/tourdafrique/blog Today's blog describes the food as they travel: "Brain fans rejoice! Sheep's head is a delicacy here. This is exactly as it sounds, the whole head is cooked, then chopped into bite sized pieces. A little bit like trail mix in that you have to sort through for the good parts."  Making Progress |
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