DOLL HOUSE

                                       

Where have I been?  Well, several weeks ago, my husband of 46 years complained of a stomachache, to make long story short, within a few hours he was in Septic Shock and wound up in the hospital for a week with not one but a combination of two bacterial infections that had entered his blood stream.  The doctors haven't been able to find a source for the infections, but he is finally better, but it was a huge scare for both of us.

Once he was on the mend I began helping my daughter get her house ready for sale.  We have spent countless hours painting and touching up wood work and walls, gardening, demossing,( the moss grows so green in the Northwest)  and packing up tons of stuff to get rid of any clutter, which are now housed in my garage  She lives in a very beautiful old neighborhood of Portland Oregon, called Eastmoreland with charming old homes.  If you are looking for a beauty of an older home check out the RMLS http://www.rmls.com/RC2/UI/Home.asp and in the MLS area type in  11174012

I always have trouble getting multiple pictures to post in a line on my blog, so I finally said this is taking too much time, just go with it!  One of my painting friends suggested I call the assemblage "The Doll House" at first I said ...no.. not what I intended, but the more I thought about it I guess that really is a good name for it. 

Dolls head assemblage

Another project I have been working on is this doll head. Several years ago, my son was visiting us in Portland and came across this doll head in an antique shop. He knows me so well and bought it for me thinking I could use her in an assemblage someday. Well, she has kicked around in my closet for several years and recently on a organizing expedition in my messy closet I came across her and felt it was time to tackle her. She originaly had quite a bit of very messy hair on her head, which I tore off. I have an assortment of old buttons and odd pieces of jewelry which I glued to her now bald dome. I also had a funky old wooden cheese box which I attached her head to, so now she is in limbo until I figure out what goes ni her box. Hopefully she will direct me and that will be my next post...until then, CREATE!

Pansy Painting (SOLD)

 

I believe I must be anxious for spring to arrive. While at my local grocery store I spotted these pansy's and was compelled to buy them to bring some spring into my studio. As they sat around looking so perky and springy I decided to attempt to do a painting of them.  At first I only had the three pots in the piece.  Then feeling the painting wasn't saying anything I thought to add the bird.  When I finished I felt like I had created a Hallmark greeting card.  So, I took the painting to my Thursday painting group for a critique and as I thought my fellow painters said 'take the bird out", but leave the flower lying on the bottom left.  I still feel I have to work on the flower pots.

Naples Museum of Art

http://www.thephil.org/museum/museum.html

My last posts was about attending the Blossom Exhibition in Naples Florida which was held at the Naples Museum and Philharmonic center.  If any of you ever get to Florida and want to see a first class museum this is a beauty.  I felt so honored to have my art being shown at this Museum.  I didn't have time to find out the history of the museum while in Florida, but on my trip home to Portland I had bought the magazine "Art News"to read on the plane..  There on page 48 under "news, spotlight" was an article on Myra Daniels, a former advertising executive, who was determined to bring culture to Naples Florida.  What I found very interesting in the article was the information about her husband; Draper Daniels, also a famous advertising executive and who was model for the character Don Draper on the TV series "Mad Men", one of my favorite television shows.  One of the most amazing pieces of art  in the museum is the last large piece of sculpture done by Louise Nevelson; http://www.louisenevelsonfoundation.org/, who is one of my all time favorite artists, It was a wonderful experience to get to see the piece in person and not just online or in a book. Myra Daniels according to the article has raised $400 million dollars for the center, so if you get to Naples Fl, it's a must see.