Where have I been?

Well- I think the question is where haven't I been lately? School is in session for the girls and myself. Hubby is starting a new job. I've worked and worried myself into an upset stomach attack that lasted 2-weeks- there's no way to say gall bladder delicately but I'm trying! Chinamommy knows my issues with words that are well- less than delicate! So to put it bluntly- blogging fell way down the list of important things to do. You know what- I'm just going to re-name that organ. From now on it will be called.....hmmm, I'll take suggestions....
But what are these pictures you ask?

Well, thank you for asking. For quite some time I have been withholding (I do that, I'm a Scorpio and we withhold) secret information on an exciting project. Friends Barb and Kristi and I are starting up Navigator ARTisans.
Navigator ARTisans is a learning studio/art gallery. The idea is that we will create a local community of artists who will share their knowledge with others wanting to learn an art form or technique. (We have a website in progress and are on FB)


Beyond art classes we want to hold "art activity nights" where a group of people can get together, have fun and do art. We have our first one scheduled for Oct. 10th.



As our opening event we decided to host a craft supply surplus sale at Navigator (also a drivers training academy- hence the images of roads on the wall)last Saturday.


I don't have a lot of art supplies that I care to part with so I volunteered to do a demo of what someone might see in an art class. Kristi and I must have moved this litte lady in and out of this room six times as we decided if we had room after a rainstorm forced us to be inside. Now I have to tell you, it can be nervewracking to attempt such a feat as an organized sale- let alone starting up a learning studio. This project has been in the works for 9 months or so with a few false starts. It wasn't until I introduced Kristi into the mix that things started to click, and click along they did.



Kristi is the one with the black berry and burgundy hair. She has a blog- CheekyGreenDesigns- go visit it and leave comments about how she needs to update it more often, say with pictures of her recent trip to Ireland to work with a needle-felting artist. Yeah, that's a hard life!


I'd like to say it was a raging success (we prepared ourselves with a bottle of wine in the fridge in case it was a horrible failure) but sales wise it was a little slow. What was amazing was the laughter we heard coming out of that room- all day long. Not being tied to a table I did little show and tells of art work we had in the gallery. We met new people and to give an indication of the level of fun one lady made the statement "I think I just found a new group to hang out with!" We started packing up a little early and Kristi started to make a general apology that things had been slow but one lady interrupted her "What are you talking about? I'd do this again in a heart beat!" And the other ladies piped up and said the same. So next time we'll have a better idea of how to handle it, how much room we need and what to expect. The reward of this event was knowing that all those ladies had a good time! And much interest in art classes- teaching and partaking!



You may recognize this character as Chinamommy. She popped in to partake of the activities. Some people noticed a slight resemblance to my sculpture. Height and parts were of similar sizing! It was good to see her for the minute that I had to share with her. We also made a new friend, Michelle Embs, who is a local artist participating in ART PRIZE, in Grand Rapids, MI this year. She had a 5' mosaic sculpture of our planet in last years competition. I can't wait to see her work this year-it is a mixed media piece. Check out Art Prize on the web- it is quite an event. I am toying with the idea of entering Big Little Lady if she turns out well enough. There are categories and monetary prizes and I like both prizes and money....hmmm.
Now, I have to ask for patience from you all. I am so busy at the start of the semester that I won't be able to post much. I will try for once a week but honest I feel like I am on a hamsters exercise wheel that was put into warp speed. I have so much to tell you- like the when the 'lady' in the parking lot criticized my parking abilities, or the overly long laborious conversation that I started and couldn't end with my Chinese student (Thanks, Kristi) and speaking of Chinese, how I started a fire today at work by absentmindedly putting a container of Chinese take out in the micro or even my daughter who can't get up the nerve to pull that, hanging by a thread, tooth out not even for the five spot plus the dollar she gets from the tooth fairy- that's half a webkin, by George! So please hang in there with me. I'll be back the very next time I get all het up and with all this lack of sleep, I get "het up" a lot!