Braided Rivers…the Journey Continues

Have you ever seen a braided river in the wilds of Alaska? They are wide, meandering beds of water that flow not in one big solid body of current, but as an assortment of narrow paths that ebb and flow and weave and turn as patterns (wind, rocks, quantity) change. The narrow river-ettes (I made that word up) all tend to go the same direction eventually, but are called “braided” rivers because the pieces criss-cross and entwine as often as they run alone in a wide arc back to the main branch. They are constantly under redirection within the confines of one wide river bed.

Such is the concept and the vision of the upcoming merger of Journey Art Gallery (returning to the Journey Studios name) with the Snarky Art studio, to become a new entity on the west coast of the Arts District as you know it, and an anchor tenant of the Canton Fashion District as we see it.

Now that Su has made public the changes to come, it is my chance to look back (and look deeper) so you all understand why this is happening. Simply stated, all artists must grow and explore and create or they will wither away. The Journey Art Gallery as it exists today has served its purpose, served its community and fulfilled its original mission statement. The journey was a success by all measures of what she wanted it to be and to what point it could and would aspire.

That being said, in an ever changing world of what constitutes “art” and what the public wants to consume and accept as “art”, it becomes a necessity to stay fresh, current and viable. Television studios constantly add new shows to their lineups and drop what is not working. Movies are new to the screen each and every week. Clothing styles are introduced worldwide multiple times a year during fashion weeks. Even your local restaurant menu changes fairly often….so why not “art galleries”?  To stay solvent in this business of ours, one must not be afraid to take a new look and a different point of view based on what has been learned. The art world of even 5 years ago is not the art world of today because of many factors, not the least of which are technology, online shopping, transient communities and people wanting to live with less. The permanent is out, the consumable or usable is in.

With thoughts such as those in mind, we had many conversations over the past several months and worked very hard to come up with a solution to make “creativity” a viable and relevant business plan. Toss in a leap of faith and with hard work and a vision based on a braided river, what will emerge on the corner of 4^th and McKinley will be anyone’s guess at this point if one is trying to pin a label on us. The path will be in one direction but how it gets there will be up to our creative muses of the moment…..we want to make new ways for art to happen and to be relevant not only to the Canton community, but to a broader, wider audience of consumers. 

For certain, there will be fashions that are one of a kind creations, hers, mine, ours, other artists who specialize in the textile arts. There will be painting, painting as fashion, painting as art, and an exploration of how technology affects this fusion. There will be the fruition of visions and ideas, the creation of concepts that have been trying to find time to be realized, and a space where 2 artists can work and people can shop, all while having as much fun as we can possibly provide. After all, if life and hard work are not fun, then what is the point?

We are counting on YOU, to shop locally, to continue to participate in our community projects, spread the word and bring people downtown.  The friends and supporters of Journey Art Gallery will not be disappointed at what is to come, we know you like art, you like to see different things, you like to get your hands dirty once ‘n awhile and you have trust in us to keep our corner alive and active and inspiring. So stayed tuned…..the best is yet to come.

Its just not fun anymore.

An early JK, I am the one in pink on the left, facing away from all the others.

I love it when a title just drops in my lap!  At the Mask Affair opening last night, Chris T., his wife and I had a wonderful back and forth about the status of today’s classroom. His words were that educational reforms have “just sucked the fun out of everything!” which could be applied to just about everything nowadays thanks to regulations, expectations, and the PC-ation of our nation.  However, for the sake of not requiring you to wade through a rant equivalent to War and Peace, I shall limit myself to “what if I were back in the classroom…..?”

25 years and counting on maternity leave so no chance of my getting my old job back, but nor would I want it. The school switched over to block scheduling 20 some year ago and I did not understand it then, nor do I now.

Substituting worked for a while until I dropped off of that list too. When it became my job to track down a job and not their job to fill the job, I decided the early morning auto calls were not worth the potential back wrenching to get the phone. Choosing between options (without knowing what was being offered to teach) seemed counterproductive to the process.  Back in the day (oh stop groaning), the “caller” called the night before and offered the job by subject and grade….6^th grade math anybody?  Sure! A buck was a buck and if a lesson plan (or movie) was left for me, I could teach anything.

Fast forward 20 years or more. The substitute teacher (me) now checks in at the desk…after breaching security, getting a badge, registering my car and posing for a mug shot.  The exasperated secretary hands me a folder (binder size) for my use that day. I merrily make my way down the hall (with the use of a GPS in today’s mega schools) to my assigned room and settle in to look over the lesson plan……

But first, one must read through the security lock down or crisis in the classroom procedures. Check. Then it was the fire drill, tornado drill, bee in the hallway drill etc for evacuation or shelter in place procedures. Check. On to the custody and information sharing status for students who had this unfortunate situation regarding which parent could know what about whom and when and who could pick up or sign out who and when and when I was to not notify anybody about anything. Check. Okay, good now I can read my les………………nope, nada, first have to read the medical status and procedures for kids with allergies, medications, special requirements and when during the day such needs need to be met (and who I could tell, when and why and heaven forbid there is a bee in the hallway!!) Check. Now I can………………….sorry, first one has to go thru the do’s and don’ts of the particular class room such as restroom breaks, number of tissues per student per day, looking out the window violations, and so on…..  Check.   OMG a student has arrived!

Hi, what’s your name?  Troy.  Oh, hmmmm you are not on my list.  Its under Joseph R Smith, but my cousin is named that so I use the abbreviated version of my middle name but I have three middle names because of a hyphened name someplace along the line after the divorce, but then “she” got a dog and named it my other middle name so I had to go to plan B and now I spell it with a silent “e” so I am not confused with Troy E who is a girl.  Have a seat.

Found the lesson plan after skipping a bunch of stuff that would probably not make any difference because class would be over before I got thru it all.  Seems we are going to be drawing today  (everybody should spend math class drawing when the lesson plan is written in a language I no longer speak and requires a computer).  Hey, one has to be flexible in these trying times of modern interaction with the future leaders of the world.  Kids, take out a pencil and paper.   Pencil…it is the long skinny often yellow stick like thing with a pointy end and a pink rubbery thing on the other.  I know, some are plastic and click to dispense the lead, try and work with me okay? Thank goodness we aren’t in the Snarky studio room where my personal pencil sharpener is mounted upside down and backwards…much to the delight of dyslexics everywhere. 

Everybody draw a circle.  Chaos.  How big? Where on the page? How many? Right now? With what?.... Smarty pants in the front has to inform me that they are now required to justify their work and the process of how it was done, why and how they feel about it.  Um…it is an f-ing circle kiddo.  But I am game so let us proceed with this required element of our educational development so as not to hurt anybody’s self-esteem.  (Seriously, could we please just have a tornado drill about now?)  The simple circle….Troy(e), how do you feel about your work and why did you do this particular shape?  I know I told you too but that is not good enough…. Oh, your result is making you feel sad because it is not a big as girl Troy’s circle?  Is this a problem for either of you? Does anybody care about how “I” feel about this?  No I will not tell your aunt’s sister who is on today’s list as your legal guardian until 4pm when it becomes……..what? You need to use the restroom?  Nope, can’t allow that, could be a bee in the hallway.  I don’t care how that makes you feel, I have to go write down my justification for the answer and how I came to that conclusion and its effect on the rest of the class although only the janitor is going to be inconvenienced by this situation. 

Suddenly cries ring out…..Mrs. K do you hear that? What? Quick what is our crisis code procedure for whatever is going on? Panic!! It is a car alarm in the parking lot, page 6, second paragraph, grab your work and proceed in an orderly manner to the hallway outside of the main gym unless the alarm is on the west side of the lot then turn right and trot at a reasonable rate of speed to the cafeteria….unless it is lunchtime then go….oh forget it.  Hey kids, inside that circle you made, put two dots and a curved line. We call that a smiley face…..no, it is not an emoticon. It is art. Have a nice day.

I love teaching as do so many artists I meet. The front of the classroom warriors who claim the title of “art teacher” however are a special breed doing a job I could no longer stand to perform if everything a student did had to be justified, verified, validated, rated, recorded and dissected in minutia for its’ process, purpose and product. The powers that be have truly “sucked the fun out of everything.” Even art, which I would justify as a crime against humanity and it makes me feel sad.  Kudos to Chris and his fellow art teachers that face this crisis in our classroom on a daily basis and still make it work. 

100 years from now.....

A little late on this First Friday update, but I lost the answer list in my personal dumpster (aka the van). However, since excavated and deciphered, below are the responses to our Question of the Month.

100 years from now, I hope we have……

Peace -  no violence -  tolerance - no wars

Every zig for great justice ( huh?)  - justice – better world – more wisdom

Everything organic

Jet packs – space ships – hover hats – teleporter – flying cars

Clean oceans – cleaner air and water – a happy earth

Love for all – universal unconditional love – self love – alien lovers – respect for human life – end of abortion – love – each other

Heath – happiness and harmony - kindness

All Christians – a world accepting of Jesus and showing love – faith – equality – a place where everyone is accepted

Plant life – trees – flowers – water – eternal summers – a planet

Vanilla crush – no hunger – steak – infinite pizza – more bacon

People – still alive – nicer people - kids

Live in outer space

150^th Superbowl

No mental illness – hope – free health care – free education

No kings

Ferraris

4 Cookie Divas cookies – ice cream city

America – quiet downtown Canton

Zebras -  dogs – giant turtles – fewer homeless animals – unicorns – flying pigs – talking pigs

Freedom of choice

Our community project was very well received and resulted in the best final product so far! Not sure I can part with it so for now, it will be hanging in the Journey Two Boutique. Which, if you have not done so already, one must visit! Sales have been great and will only get better for one of kind, handmade clothing and textile related items. All made in America so come support your local art and artists!

November will be the last Community Project until March.  December conflicts with a family function.  We are closed for the January FF as that is on New Year’s Day (Journey, J2 and Snarky Art will all be closed).  February will be nuts so stay tuned for that! March will return with the Great Square Inches of Art, a favorite project from this past year.

As always, thanks for playing!!

Where do we go from here? A few observations and comments about the Akron Arts Prize.

Winners were announced last night at the Akron Art Museum. Many of those who came to hear the list did so during the last half hour or less before the official 9:30 podium time (maybe the really loud band had something to do with it?) 

Only four of us for sure were Canton entrants and perhaps a couple more were as well but the majority of the 200 pieces were from Akron area students and artists. Being “outsiders” we stand no chance of winning but it is fun to see what is chosen by the general public. (The awards are by popular vote via an app while in the footprint of the venues.) That being said, it is possible to game the system by taking ones friends to lunch within that footprint or having them drive by and vote, with no need to see the work. A total lack of media coverage probably did not help either. Not one mention in the ABJ this year that I could find. The Rep did a better job with a color article about one of the local entrants.

This is a short posting so let’s get to the interesting observations.  Keep in mind that the general public votes, only once for a piece and only 5 (or six if one fills out a survey) votes total.  The participating artists voted for one of their own to be the favorite and the winner was April Couch for her Mandela Table, a truly wonderful piece of drawing and construction. She was the only female in a field of older men who swept the remaining 6 awards. (Yes Bill L, you are gett’n up there like the rest of us).

Animals ruled this year. Bill Lynn’s dragon piece (sorry all, too lazy to scroll thru the app and find official titles), Tom Baldwin’s rhino head carving, Brian Parson’s circular snake and grand prize winner Fredrick Shortridge’s carved walking stick, which had some animals on it, are all 3-D pieces as well. 

Michael Marras’ salvaged materials man (3-D) and the aforementioned snake were both made from metals and repurposed materials.  Only J David Norton had a “2-D” piece but not a traditionally flat one like canvas or paper, it was glass depicting a sunset….and gorgeous as usual, a repeat winner.  So you notice, no paintings or drawings, no ceramics or printmaking, nothing truly contemporary in an abstract or interpretive sort of way, nothing that required a deep thought process to appreciate.  The pieces are all well-constructed and/or extremely detailed and time consuming, and in most cases truly gorgeous, but nothing that requires much “thinking” to understand or appreciate.

So these results lead us to many questions for consideration:

Does the general public want art that is easy to digest, easy to understand and can be instantly recognizable for what it is?  There were many wonderful entries in the show but they had to be contemplated to be appreciated.

Should work that is “deep” or requires a bit of processing and contemplation be avoided? Viewers don’t want to spend much time when they are going place to place and free drinks are waiting.

Are the worlds of social media and shallow entertainment television dumbing down our audience and filing them with a need for instant art soundbites? Some people want to know what something is right away because understanding context takes time.

Is paining dead?  Note for next year, please include the media on the labels, not just artist name and title.

What is the appeal for objects in the round as opposed to objects on the wall? That could be a real study in the psychology of personal space and the transient lifestyles of contemporary culture.

Are pieces with animals less threatening than those with figures? As a culture that is losing its ability to interact with live people, are animals more relatable? (After all they are pretty cool creatures in the fantasy genre, movies and TV)

As a culture that is now focused on repurposing and recycling, does choice of materials play into likes and dislikes? There was a definite Don D influence.

Wonder why it was an all-male line up for the top 6? Is there something innate in their work which appeals more to people?

Congrats to all the winners and kudos to the team that put together this 4^th year of the event.  

Vista Botanica at Gallery 6000

Not very many exhibitions are able to immerse the viewer into the world on the walls. Usually one just passes by the artworks and enjoys the view, offering comments of approval or disapproval. Sometimes even that much effort is asking too much. “Vista Botanica” however, will pull you in to the room and into the energy happening within the works as well as between them.

Not a conventional gallery space, but well suited to be one, is the Kent State Conference Center dining room also known as Gallery 6000. Okay, one has to abbreviate that a bit for the official CV listing, but exhibitors new to the space are always quite impressed. Full disclosure clause, I have five works in the show and have been included in exhibitions here before, so no reviewing of my own work.

Tom Wachunas curated and installed this show which has been garnering well deserved attention for its impact and quality of work. Regular diners and visitors to the Conference Center have let it be known this is probably their favorite show to date and it has been at least 5 years or more of installations. Why the good vibes? Because of the bold colors, pleasing subject matter, and variety of styles, media and scale that all work as one big hug of nature. United under the concept of botanically inspired imagery, artists and pieces were chosen to make a vista emerge on the three walls that surround the diners. A real vista inhabits the fourth all glass wall. So come into the garden with me and explore the works of my four fellow exhibitors.

Photographer Carolyn Jacob is familiar to many in the area who have been to 2^nd April Galerie. She has a great space on the second floor. All four of her pieces use different methods and presentations within the genre of digital photography. “Red Maple Trio” is a luscious moment of sunlight captured on three graceful leaves. The eye of the artist then uses contrast and composition to add that regal touch which elevates the subject from being just leaves to structures of almost glass-like fragility.  “Floralique” fooled many of us as we thought it was rendered in colored pencil, the surfaces were that luminous and delicate, but again, the relationship between artist and camera worked their magic.

Eleanor Kuder, a name not familiar to me until now, is someone to watch for in the local arts scene. Her four mixed media pieces, large works in large white frames, both rich and deep in markings, show a true understanding of composition and the principles of design. Layering of bold shapes and colors overlaid with linear markings and the highlighting of one area over another, create depth usually not found in the typical mixed media category. Kuder is able to capture the dimension and organic qualities of plants without the overly annoying aspects of collage that sometimes reduce works to the amateur level. Her ability to integrate the media and as I stated, grasp with firm understanding the science behind composition, will draw the viewer into her vision of the natural world. “Watershed” is by far one of the highlights of the whole show.

The charcoal drawings of Ron Watson may at first sound like an odd choice to include in a show that vibrates with reds and oranges and greens, but his renderings of local landscapes are not to be missed. The lack of “color” is what allows these pieces to punctuate the overall exhibition. “Near East Liverpool in Winter” could be considered a master work of capturing light and atmospheric conditions with limited materials. The crisp water and stark branches against what I consider a “Magritte” sky will force one to stand and explore this location for quite some time. These are not your smuggy type charcoal drawings that many expect when hearing the media. Vine charcoal is a different animal and allows for a layering of fine marking achievable only by those artists who really know how to draw in the classical way by hand. For “delicate” pieces to hold their own in this room speaks to the power they have in what again is a superb understanding of the elements and principles that comprise our language of art.

The large oil paintings of Margo Miller are the perfect choice to anchor the show. Her scale of markings and layer upon layer of blues and greens frame areas of reds and oranges that manage to escape and entwine with the plant life depicted. An interesting dynamic takes place with how her pieces are located at the end of each wall. Each artist included has a level of abstraction that is different from each other so when placed next to one other, the images create a sense of growing…or emerging and changing….or blooming and morphing….. Whether by intent or by happenstance, this visual phenomenon enhances the concept of botanical art and the definition of vista. Difficult to explain in words, one needs to witness this occurrence. The tall and vibrant canvases of Margo Miller are physical paintings in that the hand of the artist are on full display. No tiny delicate markings, no hesitation of deciding whether an edge needs highlighting, she enters into her environments with confidence as if trying to unearth the location from the canvas itself.

My pieces are from the cactus and stained glass series that has captured my imagination for this past painting season and will continue when the next session starts. You can see them on my website or at the Snarky Art studio.

The show runs through October 30^th. The building is open to the public if you wish to stop in and see this show which I sincerely encourage you to do, especially to see works by artists unfamiliar to many. Avoid the lunch hour time frame of 11 – 1 and it should be no trouble wandering back to the Gallery 6000 (dining room) location.  If you know where the H of F balloon launch takes place, you know where the Conference Center can be found.  (Notice how I got football tied to art?) HA! Score one for me…..okay, time to quit. Game over.

Labor We Must

A little late on my First Friday Community Participation Project wrap up (notice the use of capital letters to make it that much more impressive) and our Question of the Month answers. As usual, just a few words about the evening itself to start us off. The theme for our west coast location was “Secrets Revealed” to tie in with the grand opening (of the door) to the re-purposing and reincarnation of the former Journey Classroom into the Journey Two Boutique.  Two as in T-W-O for textiles, wearables and one of kinds, is a work (or space) in progress. Starting small to measure response and building upon plans in place as support allows, this venture fills a void in the existing fashion scene of Stark Co.

More on that topic at a later time. This month’s CCP (now reduced to mere letters since it is now a commonly recognized activity) was part two of the two part “Keeping Secrets – Secrets Revealed” project. The August FF was well attended compared to September’s FF but granted there were just too many events from which to choose: Stark Co Fair, Cleveland Air Show, HS Football, Theater opening, Holiday weekend travel…..it is a wonder anybody came down at all!  By my count though, we had 123 people who wanted to play and 84 that left their “question” mark.  Once again, human behavior was on the front burner.  The simple medicine bottle with its childproof protection cap proved frustrating for many until the secret of how to open it was revealed…a bonus revelation for the project concept!

Inside were the secrets recorded last month, the answers to one of 8 possible questions contained in each bottle. The question were:

Before I die I want to _______________.

I am terrified of____________________.

People think I am really __________ but I am not.

My secret indulgence is__________.

My greatest fear is someone finding out I ___________________.

I have always wanted to _____________________.

I have never heard my parents say __________________.

It can never happen, but I wish I could___________________. 

I was amazed to find all but three were clean enough to share and 90% were truly touching and heart felt. All 160 have been posted and can be seen on the Snarky Art door from the Boutique.

The undoing of the project however was asking people to make connections. Using the five colored squares inside, matching one or two colors together and keeping the pieces straight proved to be more difficult than I anticipated.  Imagine a Massillon McKinley match-up between the OCD's and the c’est la vie’s.  Needless to say, in this case, the process was more fun than the final product but sometimes how we make art is more important than what is actually made.

On to the Question of the Month: (Labor Day inspired) As long as you had to work, what do you think would be the perfect job?  For ease of tabulation, I have organized the answers by alphabetical letter (not order mind you so don’t get all spelling queen bee on me)

A – actor, animal rescue, advice columnist, arts brain-stormer, advertising director, already have the perfect job (oh yeah? So what is it?)

B – beachcomber, bookseller, boutique owner, Broadway dancer, book reviewer, band manager, baby holder in the NICU, bird calling

C – care for baby animals in the zoo, craftaholic

D/E – dreamer, dancer, designer, doula, dance choreographer (some of you should get together and start a business), event planner

F – FBI agent, food critic, furrier, fire fighter, film director

G – gardener, great person (so what are you now?), gigolo, graphic designer, gospel singer

H – helping people, housewife, hole digger, horse trainer, helicopter pilot

I/J – jewelry designer, interior designer, ice cream taste tester, international journalist/photographer, jockey (I corrected your spelling from jokey which I hope was what you meant)

K/L - (nothing!)

M/N – middle school counselor, musician (5 votes!) military nurse, musher

O/P – opera singer, pianist (2), playwright, pilot, pole dancer, pro football team owner

Q/R – retiree (that is not a job), reporter, R and D at Malone

S – spy, spy kid, stand up, SNL star, student of the world, singer (2), security guard at a nude beach

T – teacher, travel tester, travel agent, tea master (2), translator at home, Terri Gross replacement (?)

U/V/W/X/Y/Z- vacation planner, wine taster (2), writer, winery owner, wine maker (you could work for the other guy and two taste testers are ready to go too!), WNBA basketball player, volunteer work, you-tuber.

Pretty impressive. I will close this with a word to those who support what we do (and are trying to do) every day and every month on our little corner of the CAD…thank you! But remember, “little” is used a lot, as in the Little Engine that Could and the Little Red Hen. If we all do a little, we can make big things happen but if we think things will happen because we think they should or just because we want them too, could result in nobody getting anything. If confused, dig up that old folk tale (okay, wiki it if you must.)

Shameless Self Promotion

Samples of products now available online. Su Nimon and I are both on Fine Art America.

Recently chastised for not writing more often, I have to admit that I do miss it. My excuse? I have not been anyplace to review because I have been working behind the scenes on multiple projects.  Granted there have been some recent events that inspired me to blast off a few lines but my mandatory waiting period to cool off before posting had me hit the delete button. My husband’s current favorite saying ringing in my ears….”not my circus, not my monkeys”.

The title of this blog should give you a clue as to its content. If interested in what I do, keep reading. If you have better things to do, we will catch up after a review of the upcoming Akron Arts Prize opening.

Behind the scenes project one (and in no particular order) has been the creation and installation of my piece for the Akron Arts Prize competition. This is a multi venue exhibition of pieces voted upon by the public via an app that records 5 votes per person, each vote for a different piece. The voter must be within the footprint of the venues for a vote to register. One does not however have to be in the location of the work itself, so going to lunch in a nearby restaurant and voting works just fine. Advantage to winning goes to artists who have friends in Akron. Out of area artists have to encourage imports to make the drive up (or down) so they can vote. Good luck with that.  My work, the “Daily Doodle Diary Dress” is at a new gallery called Ro3 or Rule of Thirds on the second floor of the building across from Summit Arts Space.  If you don’t see this piece in Akron, if I am juried in, you will see it locally come November. But go to Akron starting Saturday (their art walk) on a Thurs –Sat 5 – 10 pm until the first Sat in October and vote. Google the Akron Arts Prize for more detailed info on this whole process.

A second time consuming project is now over, the BSA Float for the H of F Grand Parade. Six grand prize awards in a row has been wonderful for a team of dedicated people. We figured about 650+ volunteer hours went into this one. Except for a temperamental bubble machine, all went well. Nobody fell off, nothing broke down and the boys had a blast despite their initial reluctance to participate. Try telling a young man he has to push a 10 foot canoe along a 30 foot channel for over an hour, using wooded blocks and a makeshift “paddle” while smiling for the camera…oh, and he was from Brazil so the language barrier to explain all this worked in my favor. Not sure if we will return next year, but thanks to all who cheered us on!

Project three has been helping Su N to re-purpose the Journey Classroom. What fun! My roots (not the gray ones thank you very much) but my professional ones were called upon to assist in the transformation. Not my place to tell what happened in there, but come First Friday, you all can stop by and see for yourself. The result of one of those conversations where someone says  “what if?” and the other says “why not?”  followed by “where would and how could?”  met with “right here and with help” so we did. So many new possibilities have opened up now….damn it. A brain already overflowing with ideas now has to go rent space in an imaginary storage locker. 

Project four….joining the 21^st century of online shopping. Sad in a way, because I realize how much of my own work is lost forever because we did not have the technology to record it at the time. High resolution as I am learning is not what our old cameras were able to do. Slides are just junk now. Kodak prints are faded and transparencies are worthless. Basically the first 20 to 25 years of my own work will exist only in some uploaded digital files that are not really salvageable for any sort of production purposes. Multiple transfers between computers, outdated technology and corruption of files have left my legacy in the limbo of cyber space someplace. Sort of like the one guy on Star Trek who never fully beamed back to the transporter room… just sort of all glittery in a lost dimension of time and space. However….some of my things are usable, so I have joined one of those online sites where you can purchase my images as things! Yes, I could walk into a bathroom someday and see my art on a shower curtain! Maybe my work will be on somebody’s tote-bag ( I promise not to accost you on the street and offer to sign it), or a phone case, or my favorite, the pillow!  I am being serious here, I think this is pretty cool…just because everybody has been doing it for years….this old dog has learned a new trick. So go to judi-krew.fineartamerica.com and check it out. I am trying to add new images every so often to get started. If you have a personal favorite from years past (the “Women” series is retired now ) I may be able to dig up a usable image for a one time production of a greeting card or small print.

Hmmmm… I suppose I could go on about some other projects going on, but now is not the time. Many thanks to Jamie W for helping translate the language of technology  not only for me, but also to set up the online shopping program at Journey Art Gallery. Now we can all sit around in our pajamas and buy art! Christmas is only a few months away so ho ho ho, it is time to go (to the internet!)

PS: First Friday is almost here and we have 160 medicine bottles filled with secrets and pieces of a larger puzzle. Stop by and claim one to be a part of the art and leave your mark!