Today is President's Day and we sat around working on juried art slides... it is like torture. We got a few applications finished but I had difficulty concentrating all day.

I posted a new Mixed Media Collage of Guiteau's that I tried on eBay since we didn't do a show this week. It is a cubist figure 18x36. So far we have one bid on it and it will end this week.

My artwork on eBay sometimes generates inquiries for custom orders and I am going to have to figure out a way to charge for these items as they always take longer than those I create with total freedom to do what I want. Most orders are gut wrenching to say the least.

Pray for peace....for all of us...for me too. (especially the last few days) God bless you,

Tour of Palm Beach

Today was bitter cold in Florida but had a wonderful visit with Beverly Delaney today. (She is old acquaintance -- from Houston ). She is living the good life in Florida and picked me up in her classy looking silver Corvette. She has a beautiful spacious apartment on Singer Island overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. While I should have been working on juried art slides, this visit was much more fun.

Because of the cold weather we had to eat indoors at a local restaurant on on the ocean, but we had a great view of the water. Actually the food was good too. Beverly and I go back many, many years and had lots of catching up. Guiteau stayed in our hotel and just rested up and got a break from me today.

The best part of the day was driving in and out of the small private roads of the mansions along the A1A in Palm Beach. The "Donald's" estate was beyond words to describe. I left my camera in the hotel but I couldn't have really captured the beauty of the homes (estates), the landscaping and the picture perfect neighborhoods (not a good word to describe this paradise).
I love the tall hedges around the estates that serve as privacy walls.

Even though I can't live in any of these mansions, they were stunning to look at and just imagine the dinners, events and parties that probably take place here.

Tomorrow I reallyyyyyyyy must get busy with my paperwork. But, for today, all is well and I had a perfect day. Goodbye and Goodnight.

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs and one which I would like to forget. The down was that we were waiting to see if we could exhibit at Artigras this year as we have the past 4 years and they were not taking names for last minute cancellations. This has always been a very good selling show for both Guiteau and me so it is costly to be sitting around spending money. It is disappointing that neither of us will be at this show.

I called on my South Miami show to find out the location of my booth and was told it would not be the large booth I had paid for. They had a lot of requests and said they sent letters telling me and others of this with refunds for the extra money paid. This is one week before the show and the letter they said they sent was never received. The good news is that after 4 phone calls they said they would make a larger space for me at the beginning of the show and I would pay the small difference. It costs more because it is actually 2 regular size booths rather than the one extra large. Regardless, it should work out okay.

See.....it is getting better. I have made it past another hurdle. Two challenges and I am still alive and breathing. I have been arguing with my emotions for the past hour and hate that these little daily ups and downs are keeping me down. It is such a girly girl thing isn't it?

Now to the better news....

I went online to check emails and found out that both Guiteau and I are accepted in the Omaha Summerfest this year. This is a nice good selling show and we have always done one booth until last year when I was wait listed. Since our work is so different now, we applied separately with our individual work and it will be interesting to see if it has any affect on sales. I know it won't be twice as much but an increase would be satisfying.

I had planned to spend the day yesterday working on my juried show applications and instead spent it driving by the Artigras show, working on my Miami booth and wallowing in self pity. I should have spent the afternoon on the beach visiting with Beverly Delaney who has moved down here from Houston. Because I had planned to work on Wednesday we didn't spend time. Now we are rescheduling for later in the week. She is always so positive and it would have been time better spent with her rather than in my Pity Party. Maybe I should refer to it as a Pitiful Party. I have capitalized it because I made it such a special event lately.

Today I am up before dawn having gone to sleep early. It is a new day and I have new energy to face the task of show applications... I don't know of any artist who loves doing these.

I put a few of Guiteau's new mixed media artwork on eBay just to get a response. Because they are at higher prices I am not sure how this will work. He doesn't really have any small items to test right now. I just put them up because we are spending money out of town and I thought if I could get some sales this way it might offset the costs.

This blog is getting boring so I am going to make a fresh pot of java. Bye.....God Bless You.

Today was uneventful. After a hectic weekend and drive down to Palm Beach, we just ordered room service and napped off and on. I worked on shipping a couple of my eBay orders and prepared my desk to work on art show applications this week.

The weather was pretty hot today but we are expecting to get down to 70 degrees this weekend. That probably seems wonderful for those of you in the upstate New York and midwest, but it is a little chilly for this area.

I posted a couple of new items today. The top few paintings will be offered for sale at my upcoming shows in Florida. I also decided to post my art schedule directly on this blog because I don't have my website complete. So...if any of you get to these shows please come by and say hello.

Back in Florida

Time really flies....It has been over a week since I have posted to this blog and I realize how easy it is to keep procrastinating.

We just finished a show in New Smyrna Beach, Florida this past weekend. We were so pleasantly surprised with our hotel. It is a newly remodeled Holiday Inn on the beach. When we got to the room we were blown away with the size of this mini apartment. It was spacious with a large bathroom, separate bedroom and living room with a refrigerator, microwave and a second TV.
It was just magical each morning and evening to look out and see the beautiful Atlantic and smooth sandy beach. The temperatures were very moderate reaching about 70 degrees each day and cooling at night to about 50 degrees.

The show itself went very smoothly. We had two separate booths as we both exhibited but the booths were a couple of long blocks apart. While initially we freaked out at the thought of how to accomplish this enormous task. It was unbelievable hor God worked all this out without a doubt. We went a little early and dropped Guiteau's tent and display and then went to my booth and dropped my tent, display and artwork. Then we returned to where Guiteau's booth was and parked the truck right behind the booth where we were able to leave it all weekend. What are the chances of that? That made it easy for Guiteau to load up the truck after the show and when he was done he came to my booth. I had dismantled most of the booth when he got there.

Sales at the show were about average for Florida this year. I received two Patron Purchase Awards totalling $2,000 so that was a nice touch. I also exhibited some new people paintings I just finished this month and sold one of those.

Yesterday we left the beautiful Holiday Inn and drove to Palm Beach to our new hotel. I bid on Priceline and got a 3 star hotel for $62 a night. We are at the Doubletree which is pretty nice. The reason they probably accepted our bid was that they are in the middle of rennovations. We didn't care because the rooms have already been refurbished and they are beautiful.

I am going on a wait list for my next show so I am praying for favor. Otherwise we will be one week without a show. Our show the following week will be in South Miami... I also got a good price on Homestead Village through Priceline for $50 per night. These are great prices especially for this time of year in Florida. Thanks to God.

I will keep this blog going more frequently the next couple of weeks. It is a good discipline for me. May God bless you all.

Joy Comes in the Morning

Today is Saturday and a new beginning. I was feeling down in the dumps yesterday regarding the skin lesions and I kept painting and stopping etc., etc. This morning I decided I could not afford to stay in the "pity party" as my issues are so miniscule compared to those that others had just experienced in Florida and elsewhere. Who am I to complain or feel sorry for myself?
I realize depression is a foul spirit and I would no longer obey to its call.

Let us all pray for those in Florida who have been injured, pray for those who's relatives have died the past day or so and for those who have had terrible financial hardships. I pray that they would sense the hand of God and feel the prayer of those around the country who lift them up.
May they see the good in God even during these very trying times.

I am writing today because I sense a new beginning....the old has passed away. Yesterday is just that - yesterday and today is a new beginning. There may be sorrow in the evening but joy comes in the morning...that is God's promise to all of us.

May God continue to richly bless your lives.. I have some new paintings but will post them at a later date as I must get back to painting. We leave for Florida again on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning so time is passing quickly. May God also bless those artists out there who are experiencing difficulties in their lives and for those who are travelling or exhibiting at outdoor shows this weekend.

Home in Houston

It is about 9pm in Houston and I feel I need to write in my journal because it has been about 4 days. After returning to Houston on Tuesday night it has been hectic in the studio. I have been busy shipping my orders out while Guiteau unpacks the truck with Michel, our part-time studio assistant. Michel usually sends me the mail when I am out of town but seems as if it has piled up...bills too. The last shipment of mail I got was about a week ago and it looks like 2 weeks of mail were left for me to open.

Now, among other things, I had to make some long past-due doctor's appointments. I have had some unhealed sores on my leg and back for longer than I want to say so today I had an appointment with a dermatologist. Not good to wait as skin cancers get worse with time. Somehow I have to try to schedule biopsies and surgery in between shows in March.
Monday I have an eye doctor's appointment...it never ends.

I will try to get some art photographed for eBay. I have some items that I clearance every year from my studio and bring to LaVillita for their fund-raising art show in April. I will first put them on eBay and whatever doesn't sell at a decent price I will bring to San Antonio, TX.

Also, I sold some of my very large canvas paintings in Florida and would like to get a couple of pieces done in the next week before going back to the east coast of Florida.

Paperwork, artwork, appointments........it is a lot this week. But, I am happy to be home. As you may know by now we are movie buffs. Just saw "Freedom Writers"...what an excellent and inspirational movie.

Saturday night we may go to see the Last King of Scotland. Since we are out of town so often, we try to catch up on movies with our dear Grand-son Aaron who is working and off a couple of nights so we can have family night.

God bless all of those of you who may take time to read this.....We are truly blessed. May God bless the troops, our leaders, our friends and of course our families.