Happy New Year!

I guess I should be able to look back at the receding 52 weeks and say I discovered a better understanding of life, found the true meaning of happiness or at least a better recipe for stuffed chicken...... but I am only looking forward to what awaits me next....what does 2010 have in store for me? I am forging blindly and happily into the new year. Good luck to everyone!!! Oh and don't drink and drive!

Blue Winter Moon

The sirens sing

songs of longing to

the blue moon of winter,

blue-hearted drum

of the seas.

They offer it pearls,minute moons,

votive images wrapped

in blue seaweed& dance it the dizzy

dance of the tides.

Rafael Jesus Gonzalez

A Man Named Pearl

Just watched a wonderful documentary about man in Bishopville SC who created a wonderful visionary topiary garden. No gardening experience and no art experience, just hard work and a deep desire to have a beautiful yard, and share it and his personal wisdom with others.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the warm and wonderful Florida Keys! Check the weather channel out tomorrow for the first ever white Christmas in the Florida keys. http://www.weather.com/multimedia/videoplayer.html?clip=15912&from=tv_whitechristmasstreaming_promo1

This a local family living on Summerland key just a few islands down form me. It should be a wild day and great publicity for the Keys and Howard Livingston who is a local singer much like Jimmy Buffett. I actually did an album cover for him a few years ago. Any way, I hope each of my 2 readers have a wonderful day and a bright prosperous new year!!!!!

Kandinsky

Color provokes a psychic vibration. Color hides a power still unknown but real, which acts on every part of the human body. (Wassily Kandinsky)

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

On my walk to my car I passed Fran and Bobs house all decked out. Who says it has to be cold and snowy and grey for it to feel like Xmas. I got such a holiday feeling watching the palms sway and the light warm breeze shift the orchids in their trees. This is my idea for a real Christmas. Haven't had a northern cold Xmas in years and certainly don't miss it. We did go to Maine to be with family several years ago and my kids got their first chance to see snow, highly overrated if you have to go outside!

Watched my favorite Xmas movie, "White Christmas" and still got a little teary when they open the barn doors and its snowing outside with a Currier and Ives scene. They certainly don't make movies like that anymore. I always liked Danny Kaye and thought he was goofy not wanting to kiss the girls but now realize he was a gay man being squeamish about the whole idea!

Oh by the way , Fran and Bob won the annual house lighting contest put on by the electric company, hope they won a free moths of electric but I doubt it!

Pallette challenge

Someone challenged me to paint with a new palette. An Italian earth palette. Think ochre, Sienna, umber and mars black. So outside my comfort zone. Painted today with the Sugarloaf group and stuck with it kicking and moaning but I am pretty pleased with the outcome. Definitely a challenge and took some mixing , not so sure the colors vibrate, but maybe they are just meditating. I will use it again and have already thought of some new ways of using the colors, maybe grounding the canvas in a red oxide? All the paintings in today's session were about pattern and more pattern. SOLD

New little painitng

8"x10" "Green Bowl"

Snail Mail update

I'm heading to the post office after finally finishing the snail mail project with Maggie Ruley. Check out the before http://maggieruley.blogspot.com/2009/10/snail-mail-project.html and here is the after. Also check out Kate Millers blog http://circularspace.blogspot.com/

New Painting

Here is a new painting this week. Even with Thanksgiving and a house full of people I was able to finish this one. It is a gallery wrap so no frame and I believe it will be called "key West Morning"

Glitter

Christmas has snuck up on me and I am terribly unprepared. I have been decorating ornaments though and my studio is covered with glitter. We have a tree at the gallery and everyone is bringing in ornament to sell.

Adios 2009 Hurricane Season

Celebrations were held in Key West for the end of this unusually quiet hurricane season. Yeah! Here is a link to the story in the Key West citizen. http://keysnews.com/node/18951

Thanksgiving

What an amazing week. So many people in my little house! Hope every one had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I spent the week with this vivacious group. So interesting and interested. It is always so nice to share the Keys with folks who have never been here.We packed it all in, swimming on Thanksgiving morning before the cold front came through. The water was flat calm and warm. Because we knew we were not having turkey for dinner we instead picked up all the turkey wing shells we could find in our beachcombing. Then we came home and started cooking, roasted veggies...

Grilled octopus.....

Pan fried and grilled fish ........and of course mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry and fried squid.

We were able to eat outside under the bright moon and under the travelers palms with the tiki torches going.

I worked in the gallery on black Friday and it was a joy with loads of my tourist friends flocking in to buy Xmas gifts. Everyone was in a jovial mood and wallets were opened and money was flying. Thanks to that nice local couple who bought paintings of mine for their family! Saturday was My daughters 18th birthday so we had to party yet again. Taco bar and pinata! Even a little hot tubing because the water was so warm. Had to squeeze in 2 gallery openings this weekend also, which were great fun. Add to that some snorkeling and green parrot dancing and it was a full and wonderful weekend.



Also joined my friend Nancy and friends for her early turkey dinner, so yes I did have turkey. Great fun and love her burnt orange wall.

Pie and coffee.....
In the end this is all I am left with a almost eaten birthday cake and loads of laundry. but it sure was fun. I am back in my studio and working away to make more fun things for all my fans.


No one wanted to leave, especially with the thought of 18 hours to Asheville and they had to stop and put real clothes on half way there.

iF TODDLERS RAN THE WORLD, THE FUTURE OF iRAQ WOULD BE SETTLED BY THE WORLD SERIES OF HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS.

Walking on Glass

My old friend Scott Kenan has written a book about the time he spent working for Tennessee Williams. I remember the time as he and I had been working at the same restaurant, Tux. I also remember meeting Tennessee at the bar on the pier of the Reach one drinking night. Wow I guess that was more then 27 years ago!..........Any way, Scott has been working on this book for quite a while and he sent me bits and pieces to read, should be good. Here is a link to his new web site. http://www.walkingonglass.net/ The book comes out next year.

Radio rant

So driving home yesterday , from northern Florida, was of course a bore, but the radio helps. Having satellite radio is a must, but when a signal fades, I had to rely on terrestrial radio. Why oh why do only the Jesus and Spanish stations come in clear and loud and why oh why are they playing..."get it on , bang a gong....." and "really like your peaches , gonna shake your tree......" and what ever happened to Bachman Turner Overdrive? ........Come on really, there is so much good music out there, why could I only find mediocre music. OK, I feel better now. Oh and one more thing...... People actually were out there in the real world putting up Christmas decorations and I actually found a station playing Xmas music already. What ever happened to waiting till December 1st or at least after Thanksgiving.

Bumpy Road citrus grove

Just back from Bumpy Road, my retreat in Melrose Florida. My niece and my Mother came down for a visit. It is citrus season now. My little grove was filled with juicy sweet fruit. After arriving late and in the dark, woke to a peak out the window and the trees full of ripe fruit.

Got the juicer out and squeezed and squeezed. Fresh juice every morning and a very healthy screw driver every evening. No scurvy here.

Three kinds of fruit made for a wonderful combo. Sweet little brilliant tangerines, regular navels and red navels. Picked the trees clean with the help of my niece. Also have a cumquat tree but they were not ripe yet.



Sent loads up to my sister and still had the back of the car loaded.

Lovely IDA

The Coast Guard on Friday issued a warning to Florida Keys boaters to monitor Tropical Depression Ida before deciding whether to get on the water.

Its a windy windy day in the Keys, The windows are open and the humidity has dropped. Doubt that Ida will bother us in the keys too much but looks like it will follow me up to Northern Florida for my family get together at Bumpy Road. I am looking for umbrellas.

Snail Mail Art project

I have been participating in a snail mail art project with an interesting group. One person starts a piece and mails it to another artist or writer. They then collaborate and embellish the mail and send it back. Above is what I received from Kate Miller and below is what i sent back to her. It was fun and I am doing one with Maggie Ruley. Here is her blog about it http://maggieruley.blogspot.com/2009/10/snail-mail-project.html I will add to it and send it on to Kate as she is the curator of the ultimate show next year. If anyone is interested send me your address and we can get one going. This sounds right up your alley Patsy! click on the pictures for a closer look.

New Paintings

Sunset Palm and Night Palm These are 8"x16" $200.00 each.

Sunset Palm Island and Night Palm island 5"x7" $125.00 each. I sold the last two to a cute honeymoon couple.

Jack

One last vestige of Halloween. Our snaggle tooth pumpkin this year.

Key Limes

Now that Fantasy Fest is over I am going to catch up on some blogs I put off. The key lime trees in my neighborhood including mine have been prolific. I finally decided I had too many to put in my cocktails or I was going to have to drink faster and more and that was not too good of an option, but they are good in a tall vodka club soda. I was going to Greg's birthday and decided to make a key lime tart with a chocolate crust. I used Nellie and Joe's recipe and just made a graham cracker crust except with chocolate graham crackers. Must have been a success as I brought home an empty plate. http://keylimejuice.com/recipes/nellie-joes-key-lime-pie.htm

Warning nudity !!! Fantasy Fest!

Halloween and Fantasy Fest are over, for another year! We had such fun last night greeting our trick or treaters. Michael Jackson stopped by and did a little dance as well as Flo the progressive insurance salleslady. Loads of ninjas and fairy princesses, lady bugs and brides. We handed out bags and bags of candy and I surveyed the neighborhood this morning and only saw a few scraps but loads of shaving cream. We will need a good rain to wash it away. Below are some photos from Friday night, Fantasy Fest on Duval Street. Be fore warned its not all pretty! These Cruellas were wonderful. Its sad that the creative costumes have evolved into just how little clothes you can wear!

Lots of masks.

Loads of businesses were decorated.

Hi Jennifer!

Lots of near naked men and woman.

Some you don't really want to see!

This was a really interesting paint job.

Hi Ladies

HI Mister! nice sock

Loved these guys!

The Parrot was decked out

Ricks was really cool

So was Sloppy Joe's.

A cruise ship arrived about 6:00 and it was a clothing optional ship.... so 2000 barely clad people dropped into Duval Street .

Loved her high healed sneakers.

Morticia and Gomez, they even had Thing with them.

Traffic cones