Gotcha!

Fear not, this is not a blog about fooling anyone or something along those lines. It is merely a tabulation of all the artwork we own that was made by others. The weekly dusting (well….I am not saying which weeks get designated for dusting but of those that do…) I get to come in direct contact with all the pieces displayed around our house and am reminded of those who made them.  I get to recall under what circumstances they were purchased, or acquired in the event of a show or trade, and the joy each one brings to me. As I made the rounds (yesterday was dusting day!!) I decided to record the artists’ names. Below is the list.  A * means we have more than one piece by that artist. The tally only includes original works (paintings, glass, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry) or signed and numbered prints, and only pieces by those artists whose names I can find or know. The textiles from other continents are not included, nor any textile not signed somehow. A few artists did not sign their works (original pieces) and the older the I get, the less I can remember their names so those are not here either lest I spell one wrong.

If you don’t see your name on the list, perhaps we need to play “let’s make a deal” at some point, minus the costumes of course. Thanks to all of you below who share your creativity with us and make our home a fun place for visitors to wander through. (Not all artists are local, some are deceased, others are older pieces….we've collected for awhile). As of now, you are all dust free for a few hours.

Holly Buffy Atkinson                                      

Jack Baker*                                                       

Christine Benner                                             

Diane Belfiglio*                                                

Gretchen Bierbaum                                         

Brennis Booth                                                  

BZTAT                                                                  

Meg Dawson                                                    

Danny Day*                                                       

Leroy Dierker*

Lynn Digby*

Dragana

Uncle Dreg

Don Drumm*

Dr. Fammartino

Tom Fanno*

Melanie Griffith* (not the actress)

Russ Hench

Teri Howard

Rick Huggett*

Imagine Gallery*

Bili Kribbs

Edward Langley

Gary Mamolya

Paula Mastroianni

Nancy Steward Matin

Carol McGill*

Stephen McNulty

The Mudmothers

Erin Mulligan

Dana Muntean

Pam Neff*

Cindy Nichols

Su Nimon*

Patty Z. Parker

Sandy Thouvenin Phillips

Scot Phillips

Bobby Rosenstock

Cynthia Schott*

Chris Schulz

Mark Soppeland*

Todd V

Amanda Vandenberg

Michele Waalkes*

Tom Wachunas

Marge Widmar

Timmy Woods*

Mac Worthington

Bob Yost*

Isabelle Zaldivar

Zeber-Martell*

A dead horse

Project in progress...each block is 2" x 2"

No, that animal was not on the response list for our most recent question of the month, but probably should have been by the end of the night. Our corner of the world was hosting a local high school art exhibit as well as my usual community participation project, our question, and a “just for fun” art history quiz. The departed equestrian in question is named Friday. I think after 7 years, most of us would know which one that is, but believe it or not…I had people visit the studio who had NO idea what was going on. They had come to see the art show and were local, but those 25 or so blocks that separate us from them, might as well be the Atlantic Ocean….25 blocks and some folks had never been downtown, never heard of the monthly event, and well…even asked me if there were any places to eat nearby. Are there some very large rocks housing whole communities that I know nothing about or are people just that isolated? I have no words (well I do but not printable here), I am tapped out of ideas, offerings or solutions as to how to make people aware of their surroundings. If newspapers, radio, bill boards, FB and word of mouth do not inform and enlighten, than I can’t help them either. I was speechless around the third time I was asked about what there was to do around “here” after viewing the HS show. The printed map was met with surprise. As the saying goes… we will just keep on keeping on and hope for the best...welcome all first timers and hope they come back for more.

I could tell by the answers on our question of the month board that the demographic was younger and not exactly “serious” about participation in our activities. Several of the answers were inappropriate and will not be included in the final tally below.  Because we were hosting an art show, I had hoped that the art history mystery quiz matching “game” would spark more takers than it did. I think only 10 interested souls actually tried it. The monthly community project was a big hit however and probably one I will try again in the future. The project, which I entitled the Great Square Inches of Art mystery picture, is a construction by grid. The process entailed over 300 squares and end units to be colored in then placed on the grid as the code indicated on the back of each unit including an arrow for proper orientation, so the sections lined up. Once people understood the concept, they became more intrigued and wanted to fill in multiple squares because it got addicting to find out if your colors matched someone else’s creating a connection between spaces. About ¼ of the final piece remains to be completed and will be up through Thursday in the studio.  The final image will be display in the classroom next month.

And now for the question and answers:

If you could own any animal (real, imaginary or extinct) as a tame pet and companion, what would it be?

Fowl: peacock – do do – penguin (2) – Phoenix – ostrich – owl – chicken

Water related: frog – eel – narwhal – walrus – platypus – dolphin (2) – seahorse

Inappropriate or being a smart a**: (7)

Dinosaurs: brachiosaurus – velociraptor

The deprived: cat (3) – dog (3) – puppy – horse

Mystical: unicorn (2) – dragons (3) – griffin – push me/pull you – flying cheetah (2) – winged wolf

Not animals necessarily: wookie – R2D2 – Troll

I have no idea what you are talking about: snort – smaug – protochicken – shelob – brid – liger – wotcrmotimer – diglet – gromit – (or you are really bad spellers)

These I know: Pikachu – Squidward

Animals: koala bear – panda bear – jackal – zebra - giraffe (2) – tiger (2) -  leopard – chimpanzee – pigmy hedgehog -  monkey – lion – squirrel – goat – sloth – weasel – wolf – rat – aardvark – prairie dog – black panther – chipmunk (2)

Total responses 81