AMBUS reception was great! I'm stuck at home with TWISTED ankle.

Apparently, the reception for our AMBUS show, The Shape of Memory, at the Rogue Gallery and Art Center was well attended, and a fun time. Check out the pictures. Thanks to Di, our ever vigilant, diligent, and computer saavy president for getting those posted promptly!

Unfortunately, I was unable to make the trip over the mountains for the reception and a weekend getaway. First, Plan A fell through, then so did my back-up plan.... and by then it was too late to make arrangements for this busy Father's Day weekend. What really cinched the deal was twisting my ankle during Friday morning's run! BUMMER! I was planning on a long run, and was feeling good, but 40 minutes in, over a rocky, twisty part of the trail, my left foot caught something, and I went DOWN. OUCH! Often I can shake off these twists, but this one was more severe. Pain radiated up through my leg when I tried to jog, not dissipating, so I knew my run was over....although I did half jog, half walk back home, cuz I was 3 - 4 miles from home!

Note that lovely swelling on my left ankle. This time around, I have been diligently icing, elevating, and resting my ankle! It is early summer, so I want to have a healthy body to enjoy summer running and bicycle riding! If nothing else, this time off my feet allows some computer time, reading, sketching, thinking, and dreaming.....

School is OUT for the summer. TIME for ART!

It's JUNE, and summertime! (Although, it doesn't yet feel like summer....not nearly warm enough for my taste... but that's another matter!) OBVIOUSLY, I let my blog slide! Other stuff fills up my life, and I didn't make this a priority. I have been creating some artwork all along, much of it experimenting with paper mache' collage.

This piece I call "White Holes". I began a bunch of collages using bits of decorated papers I cut up in tiny squares. As my life is constantly changing, I am enamored with visual transitions, often with color.

During Thanksgiving Break, I wanted to create a collage a day....
I started strong, inspired to have a week off, had lots of ideas floating on my brain, and thumbnail sketches all over. A collage-a-day may have been too ambitious, but I was happy with the few that I did complete.

Happy with my new experiments in collage, I decided I would show these in my AMBUS group show. Our first show, since closing our gallery and pursuing other exhibiting possibilities, was at the Glenn & Viola Walters Cultural Center in Hillsboro, OR during February and March of 2010. As I hadn't worried about framing for my previous work, I was in somewhat of a tizzy figuring out how to best frame my new work! Framing can be considered an artform all by itself! And, can be an expensive one at that!

I managed to artfully frame 5 pieces for the show in Hillsboro, but the time, expense, and worry of framing was not worthwhile for me, so I decided to try other surfaces on which to paste my collages.

Now, I am pasting my collages on canvas frames! So far, I am happy with the result.

I created several collages for The Shape of Memory Show now showing at the Rogue Gallery in Medford with my AMBUS group. This show will be up through June 2010.

My big goal for the summer is to list my paper mache' creations on my etsy site. Over the years, as an artist, I have created, then accumulated, a wealth of fun, whimsical, colorful paper mache' artwork. As I am not presently exhibiting on the summer art festival circuit, I want the online world to play a bigger part in exposure, and sales! This means I will be spending more time on the computer (thankfully, my desk is in front of a large picture window, so I can gaze outside....), and maybe even keep more up-to-date on this blog!