The Hearts Have it!

Thanks to Pam and Abigail's Mom!!

RITA-PEPPER HAS A RASH!!!

This rash started when we were in Kansas City. I figured it was from the heat but we have been in Frisco almost 4 days and it's cool here and the rash seems to be getting worse... any sugestions???? She is not in any pain and it doesn't itch and she's still eating, playing and barking or I would have taken her to the vet already...Poor Rita P!!!

Breckenridge and Frisco...ahhhhh, it's heaven here

Debbie and I went hiking on the trail beside the campground
The wildflowers were going crazy all over the place and I was sorry I left my Colorado Wildflowers book at home.
This is the view from the trail of the campground and the mountains. The dew on the grass in the morning light was so beautiful.
















This river runs through Tiger Run and today we saw 4 big trout swimming in it.










If you encounter a bear: Speak softly to the bear and try not to show fear. umm, sure, I can do that.















Columbine with morning dew.




Huge red Poppy in Breck, cute storefront and the view of the mountains from Main street



It seems like every other store in Breckenridge has some sort of really big, really hairy and very sleepy dog in it...

Finally We are in Colorado!!!

After Dallas we headed up to St. Louis where we did a new show at the Forum. We had two really big strikes against us- one was the location; we were on asphalt in a parking lot of the mall but off to the side where we were easily missed. The other thing was the heat... oh my God I have never been so hot in my life as I've been these last two shows. I don't know about other artists but when the temperature gets over 90 degrees people stop buying my art! Despite a really light crowd some people got lucky and made some sales. Not us though...
After breakdown we headed straight to Kansas City and got settled at a campground 20 miles outside of town where we met up with our friends Tom and Debbie who also do the shows. Like us they travel in a fun-mover, have Harley-Davidsons and two dogs! deb and I had fun and got quite the workout riding bikes around town looking for the thrift shops. Then on Friday we went into town and set up the show in the Power and Light District, a really cool area of downtown KC. we boon-docked in the parking lot next to the show. Unfortunately the heat wave followed us from St. Louis and Saturday was just miserably hot with very few sales. debbie and I took off on our bikes and found THE BEST SHOE STORE!!! Bob Jones shoes where they had row after row of size 11 shoes- cool, beautiful shoes, and THE MOST COMFORTABLE PAIR OF SHOES I've ever had on my feet Alegria was the brand name- must not forget. I was incredibly strong and didn't buy a thing after my ardvark antique store purchase of a great pair of Dan Post cowboy boots and the most amazing pair of Clown shows that I plan to make paintings from.
Sunday was much cooler and bearable and we found a few customers but still not what I've been hoping for. Still waiting for that...
We left the parking lot at 3AM and headed to Frisco. My mood seemed to instantly rise when we crossed the Colorado border. I adore this state. Every time I come here I start to fantasize about living here part of the year. We are staying at the Tiger Run resort, still the nicest campground I've ever been in. This morning Debbie and I rode our bikes into Breckenridge uphill all the way!!! I took some good pictures and I'll post them later.

On The Road Again

We left Orlando a week ago today and headed to Dallas Texas for our first show on a seven show tour that will take us to St. louis, Kansas City and four shows in Colorado. We drove twelve hours the first day to make it to Slidell LA where we dropped of some artwork.
We arrived in Dallas Thursday evening and set up the show Friday morning. The weekend was swelteringly hot. The locals said the humidity was so high because of a bad storm they had just had and the moisture was evaporating out of the ground. It was miserable. Amazingly, I saw no people collapsing from heat stroke.
The show went until 10pm so we had lights and the booth looked really good. The turnout was not huge because of the heat but we managed to make some money anyway
and I WON BEST OF SHOW!!!
This guy was driving his RatCar around the show. We decided to stay in Dallas for the week because the campground was nice and the dogs had a big dog park to play in. The week was spent hanging out in the RV making big salads and watching movies. Now we are all rested up and ready to hit the road for St. Louis in the morning...

No whining allowed on HotArtNow but here it comes...

I decided to take the day off and spend the day back at the motor home with the dogs and the bills and the dirty clothes... sounds like fun, huh? Coming into week 8 of the Celebration of Fine Arts I've found myself on an emotional roller coaster ride bumpier than my usual one. One minute I'm up, the next minutes I'm hiding behind the tent crying my eyes out. And then one positive comment from a patron or a fellow artist and I'm back flying high. What is this, high school? Menopause? What?
Yesterday at the Friday meeting one of the things that Susan said is that "attitude is the only thing we can control" and I thought here comes my terminal uniqueness because I think I'm the exception to that rule. Sometimes the ONLY thing I can do to change my attitude is go home, crawl under the covers and sleep until the next day. Was I born with the negative gene? It's like my emotional steering is out of alignment, if I take my hands off the wheel for a minute I start to slide towards gloom and doom... Enough!!! I have so much to be grateful for!
here's my gratitude list:
my health and my family's health
friends that I can lean on and who continue to forgive me for being a Dork
a profession that I love
dogs, dogs, dogs.
wild wild mother nature
the ability to recognize beauty
enough cash to eat and paint for another day
Ok I did my gratitude list. Do I feel better? Um...yes.

What I did on my two days off....

I went to the Carefree Art Festival in Carefree, Arizona. The show is located on Easy street, of course... I saw lots of cool stuff I've never seen before. I drove through a little town called Cave Creek on the way and it looked like a fun place to visit- funky shops and restaurants, lots of people on motorcycles cruising through.
Paul and I went to a party hosted by artist Diane Barbee whose husband has mad Bar-B-Q skills. We dined on wings and the best shrimp I've had in years... We were entertained by a couple of cowboy artist musicians by the fireside and under the stars... Heaven! Diane is one of those amazing women who is able to juggle full time career as an artist along with a family that includes five beautiful kids, three horses, two dogs and bunch of chickens- How DOES she do it??? Oh, and she still has time to curl her hair every day! check out her paintings at www.dianebarbee.com
I visited the Arts district on Main Street in downtown Scottsdale where I was able to watch this Navaho woman and her daughter working on the loom. I and was blown away by the sheer amount, variety and quality of art there was on Main Sreet. For my friends back home it was like Park Avenue only all the stores were galleries. I felt like I was on a street in Manhattan with a sprinkling of Southwest flavoring.
I took a trip to Desert Botanical Garden which I had been eagerly looking forward too. Dale Chihuly glass was on display throughout the garden and it was all really good, especially the butterfly exhibit but I have to say that my beloved Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami still wins by a long shot. Tropical flowers will always be the show stoppers of the botanical world for me...