The last three weeks...

have been very busy for me. I mean the holidays are always busy and stressful. That's not even mentioning all of the birthdays of friends and family. Anyway, I just thought I would share a few of the things I've been up to this month.

At the beginning of the month I did some test shoots for a wonderful film project Ruth's Locket. I'm so exciting to be a part of it. :-)
Here is a photo still from it:

I've also spent the past month in dance and play rehearsals for the Eighth Annual Wassail, of which this was my fourth year. I think it went well, and it was a lot of fun. :) I've only gotten one picture back so far, and actually, that's plenty! haha I love to perform, but I am NOT the type that likes to watch themselves on film, so...

Here's a shot of our 'Laurel and Hardy' inspired Morris dance:
(in the illustrious words of my friend, Heather: "Man, those are some big pants!" Yep, it was a good thing those suspenders held up. :-P)




Here's a couple of photos of the always super fun and silly group of mummer's I perform with. This year's play was 'Prince George and the Secret Agent' so I played Miss Moneypenny. Ahh... good times...




Last week I mailed this little guy to Australia!

Today I am finishing up a little horse pin (portrait) commissioned for someone who recently lost their horse.
What's next? Ice skating, I hope. I'm happy. Two weeks off, lots of fun times, more to come, and I already got my Christmas wish! :-D Happy Holidays, everyone!

Bowls!

Here are some pics of the bowls after they were painted, and the Empty Bowl Project soup day.

Added this little fellow to my Etsy shop this morning

www.mistypoe.etsy.com

Sweet Little Pomeranian Pin

Here's a scan of a little pin that I was commissioned to make for an owner, who's little boy "Riley," had recently passed. This is before I glittered the wings. He was such an adorable little guy. He looked a lot like my little "Tiger." <3

Ok, so...

Some of the beautiful examples.

Tamara with me, early in the morning with no makeup... oh well... :)

Art teachers in the workshop!

My weekend was really great.

I attended the Texas Art Educator's Association conference and the class I helped to teach with my friend Tamara went really well. We got great feedback, and Tamara's lesson plans and examples were fantastic! The vendor booths are also always fun, because you get to meet with the sales people, editors, and business owners and talk about art products and their uses and get all sorts of new ideas. (very inspiring) Oh, and all the swag is pretty awesome too. ;-)

The Austin Comic Con was also going on right next door! I actually had some time to go over and check it out. It was my first Comic Con, and even though I hear it was much smaller than the average ones, I had a great time. I got to meet so many fun actors and they were all very nice. Of course, the main draw for me was to meet Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris from 'Buffy') but I enjoyed meeting, Clare Kramer (Glory from 'Buffy') and James Leary (Clem from 'Buffy' - I heart Clem) and many others, including my namesake Lee Majors too! I had the chance to meet them and then I rushed back over to the art teacher convention to take a forensic art workshop.

The forensic workshop was taught by a woman named Lois Gibson (check her out, she's amazing!) I LOVED it! I absolutely loved it. I love drawing faces anyway, so it was fun and exciting workshop. I was told by several people that I was one of the ones that came to closest to having my drawing look like the "criminal." Well, it did kind of look like him, but since I had just met Nicholas... well... the drawing kind of came out looking like him too. LOL! Anyway, long story short, my friend told me I should go back to the convention to show him the drawing, and how it had turned out looking more like him.

When the class was over, I tried to go back but the comic con had closed already. So, I figured, it just wasn't meant to be.

This morning I drove back downtown to the Hilton to hear her keynote speech about her work. Again, it was very inspiring, and her stories, and examples were fantastic. After I got an autographed copy of her book, I headed to the elevators to go back downstairs. I had my drawings out again, thinking about the night before. I was kind of chuckling to myself about the resemblance to Nicholas, and as I walked out the front door of the Hilton, guess who was sitting by himself on a bench waiting for a car!? Yep, that's right, Mr. Xander Harris! So I said Hey, and told him the story and showed him the pics and my drawing... haha. He thought it was funny. Anyway... weird how this synchronicity thing works. Good Weekend.... Good Night. :-)

PS...I want more silly dance songs from Arcade Fire - haha

and God bless you, Win Butler, for keeping this girl's New Wave heart happy!

All I have to say for today is...

YAY!!!

Convention Center

Woo-hoo!! Texas Art Educator's Association and Comic Con at the same time!?! Match made in heaven! :-D Yay!!! Over and Out, hopefully pics to come, if my phone cooperates! (That's a lot of exclamation points)

So smitten...

Oh, Arcade Fire... You keep me so smitten! :-D

My Happy Thought For The Day

This album has really creeped in and grown on me more and more. :-)

They say a watched pot will never boil...

I am waiting... till, I don't know when, 'cause I'm sure it's... gonna happen then.





so I'm going to sleep and wishing for good dreams and answers...Good Night.

Bowl Painters and Art Teacher Night!

Here are a few pictures from last night's gathering of bowl painters in my art room. Whew! We got a lot of bowls painted! Plus it was a lot of fun, even if I was a little delirious from being at work all day. :-)

Tonight, is Art Teacher Night at the newly renovated Arthouse at the Jones Center on Congress. I'm looking forward to find out what they have planned for us and also to see what the space looks like now.

Hope everyone is have a great week. Yay, for tomorrow being Friday AND for Halloween weekend!

Bowls ready for paintin'

Here's a little peek at some of some of the fantastic bowl that were made in my classroom last Wednesday night. Can't wait to see everyone back in my room this coming Wednesday for painting! :-D

Bowl Makers/ Empty Bowl Project 2010

Cecilia's gorgeous bowl with pea pods!


Jenifer and her bowls!


Couldn't leave out pics of the snacks. :-) (and the most memorable quote of the evening goes to Steve Powers: "This candy sucks!" -talking about my bucket of colored beads. hahaha)





Christina smoothing out her bowl (she's a perfectionist) :-)


Holly's got a lot of balls!


Jeff and Heather making bowls in record time!

Just sharing

I need to go to sleep. I just spent the past few hours out on the town visiting with a friend that I haven't seen in four years. So much fun!

Now I just want to post this little video, which is so simple and so cute. I just have to share it again.. I heart it!!!

http://vimeo.com/14190306

Ok, now I'm gonna go to sleep.

Oh, October...

So...here's a little bit of what's been going on around here... We carved pumpkins at my friend Carin's house. We also made little votive candle holders out of baby food jars, tissue paper and glue, and Dia de los Muertos masks. Not to mention the snacks, I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them! Mmm... cheeseball, and cupcakes... hahaha! I think October just might be my favorite month. :-)

My little pumpkin

All of our pumpkins!

Holly, glueing down her mask on construction paper, and looking very lovely, I might add. :-)

Sofia, Christina, and Carin at the spooky craft table.


My little votives

Quote stuck in my head ...

I've loved this quote since the first time I heard it:

“When I say, "I love you," it's not because I want you or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are..." - Joss Whedon BTVS

(big suprise where it came from, haha)

She's painting again!

Well, I am that she who is painting again. Here is the one I am working on today (in progress). It may look a lot different by tonight. It is 30 inches by 40 inches. I am also sipping 'Happy Belly Tea' (mmm...) and memorizing my scene for class tomorrow night. Today has been a nice relaxing day. Hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend.

Happy Feet

Don't have anything to blog about, but I just thought I'd post a pic of my free and happy feet. I am SO looking forward to this coming weekend and week. (so many amazing things are gonna happen!) Have a great weekend, everyone!

Gratitude and Banned Books Week!

I've spent the past few days writing down all of the things in my life that I am currently grateful for, and focusing on gratitude for all I have and all that is coming to me. Being such a curious person, one thing I am grateful for is the fact that I can read any book that interests me. This week is 'Banned Books Week,' so if you feel so inclined, pick a book that has been on the banned list and give it a read. There are some amazing books on the list.

Here's a link for a list of banned classics: http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm

Here is a small list of some of the other things I am so grateful for this morning:

• My curiosity about the world I live in
  
• A career that allows me to spend my day sharing my love and knowledge of art
• My Family
• My spirituality
  
• My sweet fuzzy little Tiger, and stinky Dolly
• Living in Austin
• Starting Meisner classes soon
• October is almost here, and fall already is
• My supportive, silly, loyal, talented, and amazing friends
• My heart, which has the ability to love deeply and unconditionally, and forgive
  
• I'm a girl, and I get to wear pretty shoes! So many shoes!
  
• It's Saturday morning, and I have weekends off!
  
• Buffy is playing on my dvd player, Buffy TVS makes me happy
  
• My memories, I have so many that make me giggle
• Air conditioning, it's a wonderful thing
• Running Water, it's also a wonderful thing
  
• My washer and dryer - clean crisp sheets are delightful to fall asleep and to wake up in
• My ability to draw and paint
• Music
• Food- tasty, healthy, delicious food. Mmmm....

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I am going to get some grading done, do some painting, and do plenty of relaxing! :-)

Ruth's Locket

A message from writer/director Gene Burns:

$1, $5 , $10 or more any amount helps...
Friends... filmmaking is a costly business. Even through everyone’s generous donation of time and talent, there are costs involved in making a film. In order to make this a high quality production and further spread the word about Alzheimer’s disease, we desperately require spons...orship. All money gained through sponsorship will be used for this production. All monies left over once the production is completed will be donated to the Alzheimer’s Association in hopes of helping families and victims of this disease as well as the advancement of a cure one day.

If you would like to see this amazing script come to fruition, please consider supporting us by becoming a sponsor. Any dollar amount will help.

If you have any questions or have an alternate proposal, please contact us at ruthslocket@gmail.com. To contribute, please make your donation via the secure PayPal link on our website. Thank you for your support.

www.ruths-locket.com

Indie Gogo Site

My latest pet portrait - double portrait

Next/Now, I am working on a large portrait on canvas! :-)

Free Museum Sunday 2010

I really can't believe it's almost been a year since the last one. I plan on getting my day started as early as I can for this. Last year, I had a great time, but my partner in crime and I got off to a slow start, because we had a lot of catching up to do. So this year, whoever goes with me (if anyone) will have to keep up with me. Yay for art museums, inspiration, and free stuff! :-D Hopefully, I will have some fun pics of my day up soon.

Go to this website for more info: http://www.kxan.com/dpp/entertainment/free-museum-day-this-weekend

Oh, and don't forget to pick up your Museum Passport!

Cable Free and Portrait Fun with Hipstamatic

Ok, I've only been cable free since Thursday afternoon, but I've felt an incredible amount of awareness and creative energy welling up in me since it was disconnected. I suspected it had been eating up my creative energy, and I think I was right. I also finally added the Hipstamatic app to my phone. I guess I had held back on getting it because so many friends and acquaintences had told me they loved it. I can be stubborn that way. It is in fact delightful and creates some really cool images, and it didn't cost me a thing... {I'm still stretching out the use of the iTunes card I won from my friend, Carin's Oscar party, haha} Anyway, I am hoping that without the distraction of television that I will be able to get a lot accomplished, and continue to be a calm, happy me.

Hee-hee, Tiger is cute. :-)

Dolly is bossy with getting my attention. I might need to change her name to Bossy McGhee.

My hair looks kind of crazy in some of these. I love it! :-D