Gallery Visit!

 

I made a visit to the gallery on Friday to deliver The Flying Ford and thought you might want to tag along.  This is the lovely Courtney harassing Joseph with a pair of antlers I brought to her.

Joseph is a writer.  He comes to the gallery for inspiration and to visit with Courtney, Karen and whatever  artist may be around.  I took this picture as Joseph was lamenting about his love life. I raised the camera to shoot and Courtney adorned him with the horns! Perfect! Sorry, Joseph. I couldn't resist.

Notice that red sign in the background?

GALLERY

STORE

It's full of great stuff by local craftsmen and artists.  

You should stop in sometime.

Arts Clayton Gallery

136 S. Main Street

Jonesboro, GA 30236

Get Directions

phone: (770) 473-5457

Tues - Fri: 9 AM - 5 PM 

Sat 10 AM - 4 PM.

Closed Sun, Mon, holidays

Their website:
http://www.artsclayton.org/gallery/

  

The work of young artists fills the gallery this month. Here are some examples. 

It's the 13th District Congressional Student Art Competition.  On display in the gallery March 3 - March 26.  

Click the pics for a closer look.

        

 Pretty impressive don't you think!?

FYI: "Congress created the Congressional Art Competition in 1982 as a way to showcase the artistic talents of young people throughout the country. The top three winners of the local competition win thousands of dollars in scholarships to Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) and the Atlanta Art Institute. In addition to receiving a scholarship, the first place winner is invited to attend an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. and will have his or her artwork displayed for one year in the Cannon Tunnel leading to the U.S. Capitol".

More examples of the great student art

 

It's hard to focus with these two around! Here's Joseph practicing a pose for his next book jacket photo. Courtney is brushing up on her River Dance technique.  Of course, more student art in the background.

As for the Flying Ford...

It will be on display at the National Archives at Atlanta along with lots more local art, March 16 - May 15, 2010.  The theme,  1920's: The Golden Age

Come on out for a look see...

Exhibition displayed at National Archives, 5780 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia 30260.

Be inspired by the beginnings of "Modern America"!

 Shifting gears...

Whenever I visit the gallery I enjoy seeing what Richard has produced. These wooden angels are examples.  Don't go looking for him on the web. He's exclusive to the gallery. 

So you'll have to come get one! 

These are Richard's birds on branches.  Aren't they sweet? He carves each little bird.

Check out these crazy lamps by another local artist. Way to recycle! 

 

And this one.

 

I guess it's time to skate on out of here. It's a beautiful day outside and there is a lot to do! Have a really good week, you all.

Love and all good things, 

Ronnie

aka Joe's stove operator

Whew!

 

You CAN do it 
with a little help from 
your 
blogger friends!

Thanks, y'all. 

Finally I got this one done. Have a fun weekend.
I plan to!

XO,  Ronnie

F-O-R-D Found On Road Dead

I'm painting again. This time the gallery gave me a theme. 
How nice.
The 1920's.  
Okay! I'll paint a 1929 Ford. 

I had fun with Ben's car!  : D

Things were going well.  
Then for some hair brained reason I thought "it needs more". 
So, I added wings.

Okay. Now it has become a BEE CAR! 
We have a theme going. Let's throw some honeycomb on the radiator! 

Great! Now what?  Fill the cockpit with bees? One bee? Why? 
I've lost it.  
When will I ever learn that I can't wing it (ha).
If I don't plan things out in detail, on paper, I run into a truck (car) load of frustration.
It goes something like this....
I'm working happily...(add some whistling)
go-o-o-oing with the flo-o-o-ho-ho-ho...
la la la...
then BLAM, it all starts looking like crapula.   Maybe I'm not as right brained as I'd like to be.
Now I have a Bee Car with wings with an empty cockpit. Shall I add Felix the Cat as the driver (1920's)?  Betty Boop?   Poop.

I decide to get all symbolic on myself trying to make sense from what I've created.
So I add a four leafed clover.  Why? For good luck of course! Because I'm going to need it if I'm ever going to finish this project. 

How about Lucky Lindy, 1927, first solo trans Atlantic flight by Charles Lindbergh.  THIS makes no sense whatsoever!!
Should I paint over the dang clover?
Where's Felix when you need him?
Yours truly,
Ronnie
aka The Whiner

One More Family Face

Way back in history, about a year ago, I did a series of paintings that featured family faces.
http://biddybrain.blogspot.com/2009/01/third-victim-in-family-faces-series.html

This is the latest, perhaps last, of the Family Faces Series. This one's for Ben.
And that's Ben's face in the driver's seat!

He loves rhinos! He also loves Formula 1 auto racing. His favorite driver, Michael Schumacher, will be driving a Mercedes this race season, hence Ben is in a Mercedes with a rhino!

Ben also loves ice hockey! When I present this to Ben, I'll ask if he'd like a hockey stick sticking out of the backseat. I have a feeling I may be painting a bit more on Sunday. ; )

Every once in a blue moon I will become so entranced by another artist's style that I can't stand it until I give that style a try. Ben's painting is the result of discovering Ed van der Hoek, an artist from the Netherlands.
I fell head over heels for Ed's whimsical happy art.
Find out why! Enjoy Ed's art here >>>> http://www.edart.nl/new/


To view my initial sketch and beginnings of Ben's painting see my previous post... http://biddybrain.blogspot.com/2010/02/something-for-special-boy.html

Have a super duper weekend, bloggers!

LOve,
Ronnie

Something for a Special Boy

I'm hoping to have this finished today.

I'll post the finished product tomorrow!

Have an exceptional day,
Ronnie

Our 29th St. Valentine's Day together

Me and JOe
the young version.

Me and JOe
the old version!

Or is it the 30th? Time flies when you're having fun!
Here's wishing you a happy Valentine's Day.
Love and all good things,
Ronnie
aka JOe's stove operator

I Made Shoes with my ART

I know this is shameless self promotion, but I can't help myself. Making these was plan ole fun. You do it in parts. This is made from chunks of my painting called "Champion"

"Wiener National Faceoff " When you wear them the dachshunds face each other.

"Chicks Night Out" The original was a 30" x 40" canvas.

"Dad's Garden" A mandala I did for my dad. He loved gardening.

"Go Shoes!" From a painting I did for Auto racing friends.

"Just Bee" shoes.

And "Snake Boy Racer".

Now, who else has shoes like this?!
I wonder what they'd say on "What not to Wear"!??!
I don't care. I'm waiting patiently for my Wiener National shoes to arrive.
Actually, I CAN'T WAIT!!!
Get 'em while they're hot!  
http://www.zazzle.com/biddybrain*
Later,
Ronnie

Hamming it up in South Georgia

Ed Hose

I'm always looking for inspiration.
I've been slogging through artistic concrete lately.
That is, until I found Ed Hose. Gazing upon her amazing menu of art has my brain basting in creative juices!

Ed Hose is Fabuliscious!
I discovered her (yes, her) yesterday through Camille Ronay , owner of Georgia Made Georgia Grown.
I couldn't wait to share with you her crazy wild parties on paper.
She's promoting a show at Gallery 209 in Brunswick, Georgia.
Click the pic to get the full view and once there, click "press to play".
I've said enough. Enjoy the song!!!

Bacon Wrapped Double Happiness—The Song!
Composed by Ed Hose, Mike Dyche and Pilliard Dickle
Performed by Pilliard Dickle

Press to Play!

Go get 'em Ed!
Catch ya later fellow bloggers,
Ronnie

TIME

I can't believe it's the 19th of January already. Time seems to be evaporating. The older I get, time picks up speed.

The Gunns around 1960 Augsburg, Germany
me, mom, turtle, dad, andi

This is a picture of us taken 50 years ago. 50 YEARS!!!! That's Mom and Dad, me and my two sisters, me on the left. Check out that big hair. I would walk with my girlfriends every Friday to a nearby village to get my hair done for one German mark, which translated to 25 cents a pop! Those were the days. Where did all that time go?

A clock I have in my living room

made by the great artist, Sandy Mastroni

This month, much of our time has been spent caring for our mothers. Watching them age and needing more of our care has me a bit melancholy and reflective. I spent last week, along with my sisters, in a hospital, watching over our 82 year old mom who has pneumonia. She came home on Saturday accompanied by an oxygen machine. She is in good spirits and slowly recovering.

Our moms (mine on the right, Joe's on the left) at our house on Thanksgiving.

No, not that goofy guy on the left.

Joe and I gave this (see below) to each other for Christmas. We found it in an antique shop in St. Marys on Christmas Eve. We hung it on a nail in the back of a closet to give it a test, excited to see if it worked and to wait for the cuckoo to pop out.
It became a ritual by Christmas Day. As the top of the hour approached, Joe would yell through the house, "It's CUCKOO TIME!" Then we'd run to the closet to watch with great ceremony and delight as the cuckoo popped out to announce the new hour. A celebration.
I need to properly hang that clock today. Perhaps in the living room near the other two clocks. It's time to celebrate again.

CUCKOO!!!!!

Love and all good things,
Ronnie
the cuckoo time keeper

Power to the Poppet!

Skye Poppet

by Mercy

Blogging takes you places and connects you with people you would never expect in your three dimensional life. Take Mercy for instance. She is one of the most courageous people I've ever met. She appeared on my radar screen back in February 2009...

Mercy said...

Hi, i just randomly stumbled across your blog from my own.
your art is so inspiering, everything you have created that i can see makes me happy.
what are your influences?
i want a studio like yours and just wanted to let you know im gonna be your online stalker from now on.... peculiar of stalkers to introduce themselves but i thought it would be polite.
you have an eye for a differnt kind of beauty.

February 25, 2009 7:10 PM

The stalker line got me!

So I clicked to see what Mercy, this little duckie, was all about.

Here's a hint...

And Boy did she talk.
I read and I read and I read about things I'd never heard anyone express. What she wrote was startling and sad and brilliant and harsh and hopeful and she stole my heart.
I've been following Mercy's blog for nearly a year now. It has been an uphill climb for her. I am amazed at her progress and I find myself feeling so proud of this girl who lives thousands of miles away.

Self Portrait at 20
by Mercy

She stole my heart again this week, when she showed me Skye (see the poppet above).
"I made a poppet", she said.
"What's a poppet?", I asked.
"It's like a Voodoo doll, but good", she said, "You send hugs through him."

Do a Google search and you'll find lots of poppet info, but none as good, in my opinion, as Mercy's idea.

Skye is a real guy. He has leukemia.
Mercy's response to the news of his illness was to make a poppet version of Skye to send to his mother.
Skye's mom is too far away and unable to be with her son.
Thanks to Mercy, Skye's mom can now hug her poppet son and send immediate hugs his way.

I LOVE Mercy's idea.

What do you think?
I want to know!

POWER TO THE POPPETS!

Love and all good things,
Ronnie

Get Going!

Let Go Go On

by Mary Engelbreit

As the new year begins I always find myself inspired. A clean slate! That OLD YEAR is GONE!

G-O-N-E gone!

Out comes the legal pad and pen and the list begins. At the top...

Fitness:

Dust off the Elliptical trainer,

the Yoga mat,

and set the Tivo to record Gilad and his merry band of skinny Hawaiian girls sweatlessly exerting themselves on the beaches of Oahu!

It's January 4th.

So far, I have Tivoed several installments of "Total Body Sculpt with Gilad", moved the suitcases (left there after our Summer trip to Hawaii) which blocked my path to the Elliptical trainer, and literally (cough) blew off the dust from my Yoga mat.

All righty then!

As soon as I finish my first blog post of 2010, I will turn on the Food Network and do 30 minutes on the Elliptical. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Love and all good things,

Ronnie

aka Joe's stove operator