Painting at Anderson Ranch

I survived my first day of encaustic painting. Am ready to hit the sack and start all over again tomorrow.  Learned some great new techniques. I completed 4 small paintings that I'm happy with. They are all just experiments though. 

Hives

I came home from work yesterday, scratching all the way. As I peeled off my clothes, I discovered that I was infested with hives!! I could just watch them popping out. Bizarre! Applied cortozone cream and took Benadryl. I was out of it all day today also as that drug really wipes me out. The hives are gone though now.

Anderson Ranch Arts Center

I'm trying to get ready to head off to Anderson Ranch Arts Center at the end of next week. I have lots of things to pack up. Last year George and I drove his little Miata and I ended up riding home with a box of my artwork squeezed beneath my feet. This year we're taking my car. I had to borrow supplies from fellow artists also last year. This year I'll be prepared. Besides taking a heat gun and electric pancake griddle, I'll take the usual supply of glue, paints, brushes and collage materials.

Check out this video of Anderson Ranch. Parts of this were shot last year while we were at the ranch. There are a few glimpses of George on it.

B & B weekend

George and I drove to Burlington, Wisconsin the last weekend in May to spend time at the Hillcrest Inn and Carriage House bed and breakfast. This photo is from our first breakfast there. We took an interim bed & breakfast innkeepers workshop throughout the weekend. Mike & Gaye were wonderful hosts/instructors. We throughly enjoyed ourselves and learned lots of information. Stopped at Shake Rag Alley arts center in Mineral Point, WI on the way home. I had originally signed up for a class there that weekend but have postponed that.

Des Moines flooding

George and I went to the ArtDive for a gallery opening last night then because we were so close to the river, drove around to check out the flooding. We hadn't heard that the levy had broken near Birdland Park so were quite surprised to see all the water there. Surprisingly though very few sightseers. I learned my lesson after the flood of '93 and got my basement waterproofed and 2 sump pumps installed. So far, so good. No water in my area.

NBA Biplane Expo

George and I took 4-day weekend last weekend and drove to the NBA Biplane Expo in Bartlesville, OK . We had planned to fly in his classic Cessna but with all the bad weather we've been having in the midwest, that was not an option.

There were very few planes at the Expo but we kept busy on the drive to and from by stopping by the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum in Chanute, Kansas, the Little House on the Prairie homestead site near Indepenence, Kansas and Woolaroc Ranch, Museum and Wildlife Preserve outside Bartlesville. This is the country estate of the former Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum Company. I especially enjoyed Laura Ingles homestead and the Safari Museum.

Sex and the City

Just saw Sex and the City with my good friend, Susan. Makes me really miss my old group of 4 friends.

Something that had never happened to me before happened tonight. As I was giving the theater cashier my money, she said, "We have a senior discount for people 55 and older." I was so caught off guard that I said, "Oh thanks, I'll remember that in a few years." I kept thinking about this throughout the movie though as I watched all the glamour and glitz. I know I don't look anything like those girls!!! but I just had my hair done this week and didn't think I looked that bad!!! The other part of me though wanted to revel in the fact that I was close to reaching the age where I could get a discount!!