(ARTKC365) Tales Told in Paint: Jenna Tomlin

"Self on the Event Horizon," Oil on Canvas.

Jenna Tomlin
Visual Expressions
(Group Show)

Noon-6 p.m.

Gas Light Gallery and Studio
12 E. Peoria, Suite 200
Paola, KS
913.963.4201

Hours: Noon-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Runs through: Feb 26.

Artist's site: http://reflectionsink.t4p.net

A random sampling of Jenna Tomlin's favorite authors reads like a fantasy/sci-fi Who's Who: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Terry Pratchett, Ursula K. LeGuin, Douglas Adams ... and the list goes on.

That bent toward the fanciful and othertimely shows up in Tomlin's personal style and in her art, too ... particularly in her drawings and oil paintings. (Tomlin is also a jewelry designer and an art photographer; she wears a lot of hats both literally and metaphorically.)

Tomlin has three oils in the Visual Expressions group show, the inaugural exhibition at Paola's new Gas Light Gallery and Studio. And even if you saw the paintings at Tomlin's December show at Red Door Studios in KCK, a trek southward from the metro area would be a good thing.

(If a weekday trip to Miami County isn't in the cards, no worries. From 6-9 p.m. on Saturday, Gas Light and D'Marie Gallery and Espresso Bar will host Paola's first Art & Wine Crawl.)

Tomlin's art is worth the drive. It's introspective and expressive, heartfelt and thoughtful, calming and challenging all at once. And Amanda Martin, Gas Light's owner and director, has used one of Tomlin's painting to pull off one of the best presentations I've seen in a while.

The piece in question is Self on the Event Horizon, pictured above. It's displayed in a way that reflects both the enigmatic, fourth-wall-testing visual impact of the work itself and Tomlin's comments on the painting:

Viewing and perceiving life is influenced by our genetics, our upbringing, our culture and so many other things, but it all starts with each one of us as an individual and how we choose to react and process every event that occurs in our life.  This painting is about one such event, an Event Horizon.  It's the unknown and how do you expect anyone to react to any one thing they might encounter.  You have no idea what this Self is experiencing, you can only judge by her expression and body language what she has come across in life.

Tomlin's work (all of her paintings, not only this one) embodies that truth: While each viewer is free to make up his or her own work, only the artist knows what's real ... and what is fantasy.

                                                Saturday the 23rd of January, 2010

 I intended my KCPT (BBC on local PBS) first High Tea on Saturday.  I wore my best outfit complete with lace and and crochet.  The theme was British comedy and that there was even pup trivia.  My table got several incorrect, but we had so much fun but it didn't even matter.

Directly afterwards I attended Gas Lights Studio's Grand Opening with three of my oil paintings in attendance. 

                                                    Saturday the 2nd of January, 2010

Farmer's Market was slim to bare today, but there were two kid goats in a play pen being babysat.  Born 6 days before Christmas and full of fantastic baby goat energy and little bleats.  I played with them for awhile while arranging to set up a goat milk pick up time.

  My awesome new boots from NativEarth.  Custom crafted from a cast of my feet and legs.

                                                    Thursday the 31st of December, 2009

My first Kansas City show went very well for a cold, winter, everyone already has obligations and plans event.  I had a great time.

Snow started falling on Christmas Eve and fell through to Christmas morning.  It was beautiful to watch through the window with the cats and I delighted in the glowing Christmas lights we had around the window and living room.  Large, soft, and very cold, snowflakes kept drifting and blowing around the darkened treetops and eves of the rooftop.  Next morning everything was white and bright and unmoving; until the 4-wheel truck with the snow shovel attachment came through, then with some careful maneuvers, the rest of us could move about.  Presents were opened and oatmeal was made (and one large bowl presented to a cold father who had finished shoveling the walk), then a frantic Christmas dinner dish was made and a salad tossed in a small tornado of rush as the noon hour approached and the drive to Uncle Mike's and Aunt Jayme's still had to be done.  Dressed and laden, I and my mother made the surreal drive down the highway, where dry snow swirled and circled the wheels of my car.  My tank of petrol was low on fuel and despite my best efforts at a local station, the pumps were all froze.  So to the merry house of family we did continue, and drink, food, laughter and story thus ensued.  Birds danced and pecked happily at the feeder outside, as the people inside piled high their own plates.  As the darkness grew, one by one, we took our leave of the bright house of family and dear friends to brave once again the cold and the snow.  The daunting hills took shape in the dark and gave no forgiveness for any hemming or hawing.   Too slow was my progress the first time around, and fearful of sliding into my mother who was trying to give my car a push, I went back down and started over.  With the little light softly glowing that warned of no petrol, I zoomed up the hill in secondary position.  Safely home and warming up, I reflected how quite pleased I was with this family tradition of celebration and reunion and how glad I was to be home to enjoy it again.

Also, I love that my new HP Pavilion has a glowing console and touch controls.  awesome!!

Hammond really likes his new Christmas toy .

Posted new drawing from two weeks ago:  Long Pose - Nude Reclining

                                                    Monday the 30th of November, 2009

Check out my Drawings page for new drawings of my Long Pose sessions at Red Door Studio!

Also:

You are most cordially invited to attend my first ever

Kansas City Art Showing!

Second Friday Art Walk at Red Door Studio.

738 Armstrong Suite 200

Kansas City, KS, 66101

Look forward to seeing you there and tell all your friends who like art to come by as well!!!!  There’s several other amazing artists who will be showing as well.

Easy directions:

I-35 to 7^th Street Exit,

Take 7^th Street all the way down to Armstrong (you’ll be driving for about 5 miles) and turn left.

Building 738 will be on your right.  Look for the bright red door and then go up the stairs!

Reception from 6pm-8pm December 11^th, 2009

There is street parking, and the meters are free after 6pm

                                                    Friday the 27th of November, 2009

Thanksgiving was awesome and I love being close to my family again. 

Passed my Property and Casualty Insurance test the first time.  yay!  Now there's more I can do and learn at work. 

Dad and I went to see Wicked on the 17th.  I really loved the relationship between Elphaba and Galinda (later known as Glinda) in the play and there was some fantastic singing.  However, there were some interesting adaptations from the novel that had me bulking in places.  Having read all three novels in the series from Gregory Maguire, I probably knew too much going in.  Still, I'm so glad we went, I love going to the theater.

Went to a really nice Gem and Mineral show with Linda and got some awesome beads!!  Made some new necklaces:

I have a show next month - Second Friday Art Walk! Finished my self portrait this afternoon to be included in the show.

                                                   Sunday the 1st of November, 2009

Weekly live model sessions are really helping me focus and improve my sense of proportion and contrast.  Check out my Drawings Page for some of my new drawings from those sessions.

Mom and I went to see a production of Into the Woods at Spencer Theater and while I kind of remembered what the play was about, I was so enthralled by the entire performance that every moment was new and exciting.  The witch was my favorite.  On the 17th, dad and I are going to see Wicked and I am so... very... very...excited about that. 

Last weekend I went to this event called WaterFire that was first stated in Rhode Island (I believe) and is now also being done here on the Plaza in Brush Creek.

  It is bonfires lit on water - a half mile of river has bonfires down the middle, fire dancers, opera singers, jazz being played, Circ de Soule type performers and dancers.  It was really surreal and beautifully eerie.

Otherwise, I'm working on three new paintings and working at getting my insurance license.  I'm planning on taking my test this week.

                                                   Monday the 7th of September, 2009

A few weeks ago I visited the Kansas City Toy and Miniature Museum.  Wild and crazy detail.  Really, super impressive skills involved at every turn. 

Small town parades are awesome, especially when at the very end of the parade is a little carnival setup.  The Parkville parade was everything anyone could hope for in a small town parade with lots of pride and love.  Endless Shiners, two high school marching bands with cheerleader squads, dogs, clowns, fire engines, motorcycles and about 15 minutes of speeches.  Loved it.

Friday evening dad and I went to First Friday Artwalk down on the Crossroads and looked into a few galleries.  The most important task however, was working our way into the Irish Festival to get Comedy Club tickets to Saturday's 8pm show featuring live all the way from Ireland: Ardal O'Hanlon!!!!  If you aren't a BBC nut like myself, you likely will not recognize the name.  Rest assured he is a very famous Irish actor and comedian and I think he's just fantastic.

  Three things to remember.  1) Don't be afraid to ask.  2) Always have a Plan B. 3) Bring your own pen. 

He did a really funny hour-ish long set and then afterwards I talked my way into an autograph (about 4 of us did actually.)  Happy dance commences in three....two...one...

.  The vertical shower has a sense of dark humor.  The fountains were foaming green water over the weekend in honor.

Sunday I dressed myself all up in garb and took myself off to opening weekend of the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.  This weekend's theme was pirates.  There were several purchases to enhance my garb and overall a brilliant time was had with the stories, the musicians, the magicians and the jokes and everything else. 

<-- everything else....   Next weekend I'm going to take my mom and the theme is Joker's Court. 

Today is all about art projects.  Several bits and bobs have already been made and crafted.  I have a new painting I'm working on.  It has a library theme. 

                                                   Friday the 14th of August, 2009

Third week of my new job and I still like it.  The people are nice, the work is decent and I'm learning something new everyday.   Hammond is still breaking out of his shell: loves this house with all the windows, loves that my dad is usually up around 4:30am and is eternally fascinated by the little black cat that wants nothing to do with him. 

I'm off to the Kansas City, KS 2nd Friday Artwalk.  First Friday at the Kansas City, MO Crossroads was so much fun last week - street dancing, techno and live painting, live bands everywhere, little hallways filled with artwork off side streets (there was a series done with tea, coffee and paints that I really liked) and people everywhere. 

                                                   Sunday the 9th of August, 2009

I have lots of photos for you. 

New Paintings

Tulip Forever - first inspired by my friend Sara'a tulips and then the historical influence of the tulip.

Turquoise, Purple and Gold Part 1

Turquoise, Purple and Gold Part 2

  they hang together like so

Thomas Hart Benton's house and art studio that we toured.  I just love his studio space.

Weekend trip to Amarillo, TX to help a friend scout out his new job site and future residence.

High Art TX style??        Got to have the tank.... Revitalization.    Car show!        Little saying signs were everywhere - hidden like a game.        This is where he gets to work now.

Watkin's Mill that we went to on Saturday after a morning spent at the Liberty, MO Farmer's Market.

The Museum              Main Pathway       Sheep!!!                     Back of the house    Chicken coop and garden   Side of house and outside kitchen     Inside of the textile mill

Boiler           An 8 Horse Power Engine (can you guess how many horses could turn this engine?)

                                                   Sunday the 2nd of August, 2009

Painted both paintings last night and by the end was covered in paint and gold.  Will post pictures next week once they dry enough to be moved and photographed. 

                                                   Saturday the 1st of August, 2009

Fist week of new job at the Insurance Agency went really well.  I think I'm going to continue to fit in and have a decent job.  Have a new painting in mind - actually two.  Very similar to each other in Royal Purple, Phthalo Turquoise and Gold and this time they will be abstracts which is a departure from my normal. 

Dad and I have been doing a different Farmer's Market every Saturday since I got back and there have been some fantastic Markets in some lovely little towns and some dinky little Markets with not much to offer.  However, I have now fallen in love with the town of Parkville and dad and I have found wonderful little gems and moments in our travels.  We found one today called the Red Apple Barn with the most amazing view of hills, trees, green and fields and they sold sweet, sweet peaches.  I also now know what a tobacco plant looks like and have discovered they are a very beautiful plant indeed.

                                                    Friday the 10th of July, 2009

I just finished my painting.

This painting is more then just Sea Turtles are at risk because of nets and gourmet dining.  Her environment - her ocean and land masses - are also something else: us.  We have our routes we take, our unknowns we face and our traps that sometimes we run into with no knowledge that they are there, but sometimes we do know.  They can be pretty even.  Pretty little traps that give us small odds of escaping.  The world of this painting is topographic.  We have our islands and coasts with deep waters; it is also a place setting with a bowl, napkin, spoon, wine glass (with white wine) and a candle in its glass casing.  Our struggles and traps are not quite the same as hers, but there are many common threads if you take the time to reflect.  This painting isn't just about her plight - it's about everyone's.  Whatever net you got trapped in, whatever holds you back, whatever got you lost or stole your breath from you this is about that too.

                                                     Monday the 29th of June, 2009

I am now on Facebook.

Bought my paints and am underway for a new painting called Turtle Soup .  It's a commentary on all sea turtles that are endangered and threatened not only because of pollution, demolition of hatching beaches for commercial pursuits and discarded fishing nets but also because there are countries out there to whom sea turtle flesh is still consumed delicacy.  The turtle swims in the open sea through the topographic map that is also a table setting and is now caught in a (still to come) net and a soup bowl. 

My Uncle Russ's 60 and 1/2 birthday was on the 20th - there was a scrapbook that we all helped add to and this was my contribution:

Went to The Kansas City Union Station Narnia exhibit.  This is from the website: "Step through the wardrobe and into the wintry world of Narnia where in the midst of summer, you'll feel the snow on your face and experience the chill of the witch's ice throne first-hand. Based on the C.S. Lewis classic books and Disney blockbuster movies, the exhibition includes more than 150 original costumes, set dressings and props from The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, as well as newly created educational hands-on activities and videos."  Saw first edition Lord of the Rings book in the recreated C.S Lewis office.  wow! 3500 copies of each were ever printed.  These were on loan from someone; I don't remember their names.  The books weren't reprinted until 1965.  you first have to wait in a little room while the lights dim and then the wardrobe doors open and it 'snows' on you when you walk though.  The exhibit was great, lots of movie props and costumes- it was really well done.  There was a combination of science and the themes from the books/movies to bring the relevance across. 

                                                       Monday the 15th of June, 2009

I need to buy some new colors of paint - small tubes and some linseed oil.  I have a new painting that's all sketched out on my new canvas.  Hammond helped of course.  He's very good at that.  He watches for hours and then offers his advice.  His advice usually starts with you need to rub my ears now and ends with tummy rubs with the inevitable cat fur all over everything. 

First Friday Art Walk over at The Crossroads was intensely fabulous - went with mom and dad - saw lots of really cool galleries and artwork.  My desire now is to have a work space rental so I can work there and then open my space on First Friday's so I can sweat buckets and smile with fright as thousands of people stare at my cherished work and offer critiques and criticisms.  Maybe one day someone would even buy a piece!  I would have to like them first though.  I got lots of ideas and had lots of fun.  We walked quite a bit; more then I thought it looked on the map, but we saw so much. 

Dad and I went to a Scottish Highland Festival on Saturday after our run to the Farmer's Market (we're doing a different one every Saturday.  We explored the Liberty Farmer's Market this week.)  The Caber Toss was our first event and we watched intently as men under 190 lb tried their best to pick up and toss end over end a long wooden pole.  It was fairly exciting and very interesting for 30 minutes.  We cheered when one would succeed and groan when one came close.  Many didn't come close.  Other's tossed hammers, stones and bales of hay .  There was Clydesdale Horses and two Highland calves not doing much of anything, plenty of vendors and clan tents.   A glass of cold Oatmeal Stout accompanied a nice sit and listen to music on stage for awhile before one last walk around.

                                                        Monday the 1st of June, 2009

My list of things I'm doing today:  Buying Rufus his very specific canned dog food, going to the gym to use my free pass and then joining, calling my beloved comic store in Tacoma (Comic Book Ink) and having them ship my last folder of new comics and scanning in my list of comic issues I have that I don't need to e-mail to Jennifer (I promised her my double issues of Strangers In Paradise and the Volume 1 PB of The Maxx).  Hopefully internet will fix and stop being squidgy so I can download my car insurance form I need to fill out and I can go to The Pitch online and figure out what's what with the Crossroads Art Fair in Downtown KC this Friday. 

                                                        Thursday the 21st of May, 2009

What is matter made of?  Atoms.  Neutrons, protons and electrons (to start with anyway; I won't be going into quarks here).  Electrons are the fluff of negatively charged particles surrounding the protons (positive charge) and neutrons (neutral charge), but most of the atom is empty space just like the Galaxy.  The negative charge of the electrons is what prevents objects from passing through each other (why we are able to walk across the floor but not through the wall).  If you have one proton, you have one electron, your atomic number is 1 and you are hydrogen on up to 92 protons and electrons in which you are now uranium (leaving out the other man made atoms).   So once you have your hydrogen, how does one get helium and so on?  In the deep of a star at 40 million degrees, hydrogen atoms come together so fast that the repulsive force does not have time to act the and the short range nuclear forces are engaged to make a helium atom (now with an atomic number of 2) and when that star has gone though all the hydrogen atoms (barring whatever matter has not escaped into space) we come to the next stage in the star's life which now depends on how much initial mass there was in the beginning of it's life.  In some stars (like our Sun in 5 billion years) the helium rich core will actually begin a second round of reactions and we'll get carbon and oxygen atoms but then those reactions will be depleted and the star will expand  and pulsate expelling matter into space and slowly heating up one last time and cooling into a small white dwarf massively dense cooling into space.  Atoms made in the interior of stars are often ejected back into the interstellar gases from whence they came.  The life span and life path of a star depends on the initial mass of the star when it formed.  Stars that go through red giant phases  have most of their outer atmosphere blown away back into space, supernova explodes most of their mass and from those atoms returned to space, the next cycle emerges.  The death of a star gives birth to a new batch of stars and with it, a new batch of stars.  In the massive stars, the successive addition of further nuclei build on successive layers and we have iron and silicon atoms emerge which are swept up in elemental interstellar gas clouds and collapse into planets and stars.  Our DNA, a miracle of atom formation, is made up of star stuff.  Intelligent life on this planet recognizes that we are made up of DNA and atoms, we have learned this and passed it on in books and stories.  This story has been in my head for quite awhile and the past few months a painting emerged that I finally got painted on Tuesday.  I call it StarCreatures.  It's all about atoms, stars and the miracle of intelligent life. 

                                                        Sunday the 17th of May, 2009

Updated my Comics Page for Emerald City ComicCon 2009.

                                                        Thursday the 14th of May, 2009

I live in Kansas now.  I grew up in Kansas, and now I'm back; back even in the room I lived in when I went to High School.  A lot has changed in those years, but it's still an odd sensation being back and knowing this isn't a vacation.  All my stuff is here, and that's a big cue for my brain...and Hammond is here.  He likes it.  Not to sure about the small black cat that runs around sometimes and says the most vulgar things about his inhabiting the house as well.  Holmes will just have to learn to deal.  The elderly Rufus doesn't really seem to remember and when they did meet, it wasn't a big deal for either of them.

I would like to say a few things about the drive - we will call it a drive for now, but it was more like an endurance trial - Wyoming is excruciating.  Scrub everywhere you looked and not a tree in sight.  There were some freakishly immense wind catchers at one point. 

Otherwise the drive was drivable.  Hammond demanded the AC on the second day for several hours before I realized what it was he was demanding.  Drivers on the open road are almost impeccably polite.  Turn signal to pass on the left and turn signal to pull back into the right lane, people switch lanes to give merging people plenty of space; as soon as city view comes into sight all that lovely polite goes to the rubbish heap.  This would have been Omaha, Nebraska which is when we got cell phone coverage back as well.  I believe we lost cell phones somewhere in Idaho which means we didn't have coverage for about 1500 miles out of 2000.  However, I did love all the hawks that flew overhead and we passed though the Cascades and the Rockies which offered fantastic panoramics at points.  There were some wonderfully deep canyons, steep tilted rock formations, multihued rocks and rushing rivers and creeks.  That part was nice. 

Leaving Washington was an interesting experience.  I don't mean the boarder down into Oregon, which did lend an odd sensation, but the weeks and months leading up to my departure.  At first it was all just about packing and the almost theoretical time table of leaving with friends and co-workers.  Then last weeks were jam packed with leaving parties and last dinners or dances.  I actually think things started to come to a finale around my birthday with the anti-climax being the 5am driving away from the Prospect house on the 6th of May.  There's several people I really miss and they were the hardest to leave.  However, this move does afford me lots of new opportunities and I plan to take advantage.  I want to take some classes, paint a new series and I have this weird children's book in my head I want to get out, cook to my heart's content (which I've already started doing to my parent's delight) and I don't know what else. 

                                                        Sunday the 22nd of February, 2009

Sara and I went to the Port Orchard Pythian Installation meeting on Saturday.  It was something neither of us really wanted to do, but I went for her, and I think she went for me and we both felt we ought to go and support another temple because they did the same for us... well, after arriving and a several hour delay, and lots of chatting with everyone and most of our Sisters showed up, we had the ceremony and then proceeded to picnic indoors.  Frothy punch with ice cream (that tasted purple) two kinds of potato salad (one with pickles and such, one with a mustard base, neither of which kinds mom or I make when we make potato salad) and well, sandwich stuff and pasta.  We had a nice time and when we left we both expressed to each other how intensely we realized how important diet and lifelong exercise is.  Really important.  Cause... wow.

And you totally need to check out Zoë Keating on You Tube.  She's a whole cello orchestra in one woman and a MacBook.  If you watch the videos, you'll see her sampling herself and it's just mind blowing and awesome.

                                                            Friday the 20th of February, 2009

I was standing there looking at sandwiches, morning the lack of mozzarella and tomato, and turning to look at potential cucumber sushi, I had this sudden thought of experiencing new foods with my dad and maybe making our own curds and whey just months from now and I smiled all they way home thinking of all the great stuff we're going to get to do together. 

Then I got home and turned on a documentary on the Nazi Concentration Camps and that was that.... Actually, I think I appreciated the fact that I get to go home and see my father and family and having dinner within easy reach more even though I had tears in my eyes listening to the stories of the survivors thinking how sometimes the fragile balance becomes broken and how insulated I am.  And how grateful. 

Did I forget to mention my housemate thinks it's outrageously unfair that I made her live-in boyfriend pay 1/3 of the utility bill?  Yes.  Apparently when he turns on a light or water tap, it comes from beyond the mortal realm and not the power company.  I believe my response was somewhere in the vicinity of "that's crap, he pays 1/3 so stop complaining".  She tried to get sympathy at work and got laughed at by every single person there.  Since he has no money, or income, she got to pay for him again.  Yup. 

                                                             Sunday the 15th of February, 2009

Noticed for the first time that Hammond actually seem to like looking at my David Mack ink sketches not just batting at the frame (which he does a lot).  I was watching NUMB3RS this morning and looked up to find him staring intently at the Tigerlily sketch.  I expected him to start trying to life the frame from the wall which is what he seems to like to do after staring at it, but I think he actually likes what he sees. 

Saw Jonathan last weekend and we generally caught up over dinner.  Spent about 3 hours over dinner and sitting in my car.  I had a nice time and I believe he did as well.  He said he did and I'll take him at his word.   I'll call it bitter-sweet.  I think I can call us friends again, but I know there's still hurt there. 

Have been packing some more - have quite a few stacks piled high which the cats explore at every opportunity, leaping and sneaking and sometimes put into time out.   I want to get as much as possible organized and stored ASAP just because I have the feeling like if I don't, something will go badly wrong.  This is besides wanting to do the perfect pack, which I thinking I'm doing a pretty good job with- shelves are empty and walls fairly bare.  Glass vases waited for a cold storage container lined with Styrofoam- score!  Sara and Phil already said they wanted my pretty bricks and hand painted flower pots since I don't really have the desire to pack them. 

Last Saturday Sara had a Red Dwarf season 1 marathon with a slurry of curry.  I brought some Thai curry and she brought some Indian curry and wine, then about 7 of us flopped (some gracefully and some not) in front of the television set for 5 hours of laughs.  I don't think I realized just how much Guppy loves curry until he popped into the kitchen every 5 minutes to ask if we could eat the curry yet.  I went to Le Le's Thai and Vietnamese and Sara called into Gateway to India.  So yum-tastic.  I ate a little too much, but it was spread out over about 6 hours, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  Leftovers were devoured later in the week and inspected by Hammond and the newest addition to the house, Jack, a little white Sphynx kitten.

                                        Saturday the 17th of January, 2009

Changed up my Jewelry page - realized it was outdated looking. 

This weekend, fixed a bracelet that's needed fixing for 8 years, finished a necklace, and have continued with packing.  Work provides pretty much everything I need (boxes, packing and wrapping material), which is awesome.  Gone though most of my books and nick-knacks and then I'll start on other stuff, but this is going to give me pretty good idea of what I have to work with in terms of volume.  I have several more months, but since this is a 2000 mile trip, I'd like to get it done as efficiently as possible.

Casper (Jenn's youngest cat) passed away this week and so we've been dealing with that loss.  The others have been more cuddly and frisky since then. 

                                        Sunday the 4th of January, 2009

Christmas was quiet and New Year's odd.  Christmas I spent by myself but went to a Christmas party the Monday before and another party the weekend after.  New Year's I went to the Elks; ended up meeting some new friends and had one nutter of a guy come up to me as he was leaving to inform me that he had taken a photo of me and it was very beautiful as was I.  He was a little drunk. 

I've also make the decision to move back to Kansas to be close to my family.  I've always missed them, but now seems the right time to move back and be with them again.  Work already knows and I've started figuring out what and how to take everything back.  I've already told work and Sara (and Jenn is co-worker and housemate).  Hammond will have to endure the pack, drive and then Kansas. 

Finished re-reading the Harry Potter series.  Started on Christmas Eve and finished on the 3rd then moved on to read Beowulf on Sunday.  Jennifer got me a most excellent version for Christmas.  I'm still in the middle of 3 other books and I really should finish those before I move on to The Dead Sea Scrolls, but it looks so interesting.  Of course, now that I've started to pack up some of my books, I get distracted by every other book.  At least I've given myself time to account for all the distractions.  Sometimes I bring a good to the gym so I can read on the bike.  An hour seems to go by much quicker that way.  Sara wants to get me into the pool and I think next Friday we're meeting up.  I just haven't felt ready to get back in a suit.  But all the weights and cardio have made a difference, and I know swimming is a great workout, plus lots of fun.  I just need to get a cap for my hair and make sure my goggles are still good. 

                                        Monday the 15th of December, 2008

Dec 9th:  Came home to find a father safely arrived in the room all prepared for him.  Dinner was had at Silk Thai where we laid out thoughts and potential plans for the week.  Looking forward to father time because work is crazy this week with the remodel project.  The lobby wall is being taken out and redone and the outside is eagerly saying it's hellos.

Dec 10th: Early morning rise for a walk though Point Defiance trees and a breakfast of waffle at Antique Sandwich Co.  Landscape was obscured in fog and wreathed in the tendrils of little clouds.  It's been so long since I had an early morning winter walk I had forgotten what it was like.  Lots of little birds flitted around and sang their early morning songs.  Fantastic way to start the day.  Dinner wasn't put on any pedestal tonight.  Too hungry to change out of scrubs so we decided to go to Shari's.  It worked out just fine because they don't care what you wear really, they are open 24/7 and serve pretty much everything even if it isn't great food. 

Dec 11: Had breakfast at a little cafe I've driven past but never been in: The Old Milwaukee Cafe where they serve only breakfast and are only open until 2pm.  Really nice breakfast and good coffee.  When I got home from work we went out to Europa Bistro for some yummy Italian food and the headed over to The Mandolin Cafe for some hot chocolate.

Dec 12:  Vacation Day! Dad and I took a wind whipped bus trip up to The Museum of Flight in order to wander around and do all the Flight Simulators.  When we first walked in we decided to follow a Docent who gave a 20 minute talk about DaVinci and the Wright Brothers mostly and from there we headed over to the simulators.  The X-Flight Simulation was really fun but we couldn't figure out who was actually the pilot and we crashed only a few minutes into the full on simulation and that was the end of our flight.  The big pod WW2 Simulation was a story flight; all pre-programmed.  We flew over Iwo Jima and let our ship know coordinates and battle moves.  The glasses we wore made it 3-D and the pod moved according to the way our plane was flying.  I liked it because we actually got to 'fly' longer then we did when we were actually flying in the other simulator.  Went up to the WW1 and WW2 rooms.  Very interesting stuff, but I liked the WW1 room the best.  I loved all the interactive stuff.  There was a lunar landing room and a station where you could try to land your pod.  Dad and I both crashed.  Fell asleep on the bus ride back.  Stopped off the The Black Water Cafe for coffee and a cookie before heading home to finish warming up. 

Dec 13th:  Took the bus to Seattle.  Walked up and down the new and really awesome Seattle Public Library, walked across the street for hot drinks to keep out hands warm while walking to the Seattle Art Museum.  I always like walking around SAM.  Always something going on, some new little exhibit and dad and I had a great time exploring.  I pointed out several of my favorites but couldn't show him the surreal paintings I love because a really good Edward Hopper exhibit was using those rooms instead.  Then we had lunch, tried to take the MonoRail to Seattle Center, but it wasn't working.  Dad has never seen it working all the times he has been up there.  It's a jinx.  So we walked over to Pacific Science Center where we took took a confused route to the Lucy/Ethiopian Exhibit.  Once we got in however, wow.  I realized that none of my classes or really anything else I've read covered anything about Ethiopia and it's rich history and historical importance.  I think this isn't limited to my experience however and that this exhibit is really important for getting people to recognize the people and history of Ethiopia.   Then we got to see Lucy.  I got a little teary eyed for a second.  They also have a recreation of what she probably looked like. She's very pretty. 

Here's an interesting website: eLucy. You can 'meet' Lucy here and take a look at the bones and why she's so important.

Dec 14th:  A day to decompress, finish laundry, and see a movie.  After de-snowing the car we took lunch at Pomodoro's, then walked Proctor looking inside shops and debating if we wanted hot chocolate.  Eventually we decided against and came home to print out dad's boarding pass.  We ventured out into the snow once again to go see The Secret Life of Bees at the Blue Mouse Theater. 

Dec 15th: Got up for a coffee and light breakfast at Starbuck's before heading to the bus depot so dad could catch a bus to the airport.  A very, very early bus apparently.

                                        Saturday the 6th of December, 2008

Thanksgiving Weekend:

Drove to Shelton Friday after work and waited for the caravan to arrive to guide us to the cabin.  Listened to NPR talk about Fantasy/Sci-Fi and Philosophy for an hour.  It was a great hour.  Night time. Got to the cabin and made my hellos.    Eventually we got around to playing Pictionary.  Saturday after a big breakfast I took Barnacle  for a walk around some of the property .  A shed that's said the be haaaaaunted  -->  A stream that runs just to the side of the cabin  -->.  One snail -->. 

Lots of ferns and trees  -->.  Evidence of beavers, but no actual sightings.  Thanksgiving feast was later that afternoon followed by some of us watching movies and others playing Risk.  Pumpkin pie was made from a real pumpkin that once was canvas to a painting of Charlie the Unicorn from Halloween.  It was tasty.  Sunday was just a few people - most everyone else had gone home.  Came home Sunday night.  I had a lot of fun, but it was also very stressful.  I think a lot of that was catching and absorbing the family undercurrents. 

I've finished making up my studio for dad's arrival.  Hammond's approved it.  So I think we're set.                 

                                        Sunday the 22nd of November, 2008

Picture of the day:

  Hammond bringing me the ball to throw again.

                                            Friday the 21st of November, 2008

I joined the Elks Lodge Tacoma Temple #174 on the 12th.  I can't say much of anything about the ceremony, but I would like to say that it was really very nice and especially that it was incredibly eloquent.  So I have a lodge/club for drinks and networking and a gym attached, a bowling alley and a swimming pool ect.  It's nice.  I bought running shoes so I can go work out on treadmills and weight machines.  I already know several members and realized I probably know more.  Plus, lots of historical context and stuff.  Much stuff.

I have been cleaning out and rearranging my studio for my dad's visit so he has a room to sleep in.  The shoes he left here are very excited.  I'm pretty sure we both have lists of activities.  I took a Friday off so more could be added to the schedule. 

So next week is a short week because of Thanksgiving.  The actual day I'm spending in tranquil me time and Friday after work I'm driving up to Sara and Phil's cabin to spend a Thanksgiving holiday weekend with their family.  I'm looking forward to this.  I'm also realizing I need directions because I don't really know where it is.   At all. 

Last Friday I went to a Bead Show at the Tacoma Dome.  Pretty shiny happy.  Afterwards, I drove to the Python Temple to sell bottled water and cookies to people waiting to see a concert which we then went up and watched as well.  The group was called Uncle Bonsai.  I would akin them to Lullaby Baxter Trio for type of music sung.  I enjoyed it. 

                                            Saturday the 1st of November, 2008

Ok, so I've been busy with work and beading projects.  I've also been considering the fact that Christmas is coming up sooner then last I thought about it.  Halloween came and went with costume fun and friends.  I did upbeat gothic witch for work and all in black witch for the party. 

Hammond has really bad chin acne and consequently some ointment gel to help clear it up.  He hates it.  I asked Jennifer to shave his chin it got so bad.  The defurred chin takes the gel better and so it's starting to clear up again.  He still hates it. 

Spent several hours at SAM last weekend sitting in the surreal paintings room and going through the Beads from Around the World exhibit.  Lots of inspiration.  In the Modern Art room there's this on painting dedicated to Picasso called "On the Wall" by Sean Landers.  There's a letter written to him from the artist in the painting and the last two lines read "Never let me take for granted my good fortune and help me every day I live and every canvas I stretch to better myself and my art.  I so want to be what I know I can be that I will, in fact, die trying."  I like those words. The surreal room is still my favorite featuring several: Morris Graves, Mark Toby, Leo Kenny & John Covert.  It's not cozy like several of the rooms at the Nelson that I love so much, but it works. 

                                            Sunday the 28th of September, 2008

Went to a re-opening of a doggie boutique yesterday with Sara and Guppy.  New doggie fashions on display along with provided Mojito's and Pomegranate Martini's.  Saw lots of dogs and several of our clients.  Then we wandered down to a fantastic little cafe that I've been wanting to go to for awhile and it completely met my cafe desires.  We had several lovely cheese plates and  glasses of delicious wine.  Thought of my dad when we sat down.  I'll have to take him next time he visits. 

Also, there's nothing like a good hand wrestle with a little squirrel to brighten a grumpy day.  Jennifer is rehabilitating him - we've had him since he was about a week old so I would say he's about a month old now.  One of our clients found him and kept him for two days; he was very weak when he came to us.  As soon as he is big enough to deal with other squirrels, he will be released.  Right now he is learning about the wind and grass in his outdoor cage, but he comes in for most of the day and nights. 

**note*We actually do know how to care and deal with baby squirrels.  This is NOT a job to be taken lightly or easily.**

                                            Sunday the 21st of September. 2008

Took Sara to Seattle Art Museum yesterday - we walked and talked, had lunch, saw the art works, had a snack and took the bus back.  We had a really great day and I totally need to take Sara to SAM more often.  When she actually has time in her insane schedule, I will.  She's a lot of fun to go to the museum with.  I also introduced her to the concept of gelato.  She had a scoop of mango and blueberry.  I decided to go with a latte. 

                                            Sunday the 14th of September, 2008

Pythian meeting was had on the 8th - first one since summer break.  I'm also working on joining The Elks so I can make connections and join the gym.  Resume is also updated and being sent out.  I'm working on the assumption that a better paycheck will make life just that much easier to live.

Otherwise, there has been cheese, tea and the watching of DVDs while I work on the computer because there really isn't on TV anymore but I've heard that House is new this week and Jennifer and I are pretty interested in that. 

Still working on figuring out how I want to do my tulip flower - I pretty much know, but not entirely.  Also I figured out the tool I need for another painting - a ruler.  Who would have guessed?  The ability to draw a straight line - very helpful.

                                            Sunday the 7th of September, 2008

Yesterday saw the cutting of some of my hairs.  Sara, Karen and I went to Left of Center in Auburn to have trims and styles done to our hair.  Afterward there was some munching of luncheon.  Later on that night Sara, Phil and I went to Hell's Kitchen to see a band called The Petting Zu because they both know the lead singer and lead guitar (we were on the Guest List).  It's hard for most girls to pull of funky metal, but Jamie did a great job and the rest of the band was really awesome. 

Today I got up and decided I needed some new books to read, so I headed over to Tacoma Bookstore and browsed.  Am now enjoying a new Asimov and have actual other books to read that I haven't already read twice over.  Then I decided to hop on a bus and go up to Seattle to see SAM's Impressionist exhibit.  Really well researched and put together.   It was all about the connections between the modern Impressionists looking to move forward and set their own style and the connections they had with past European masters - the inspirations and the rebellions, the criticisms against the Impressionist and the admiration for them and vice versa.  There were Renoir's, Manet's, Velazquez's, Monet's, Cezanne's, Fragonard's, a Aert van der Neer (Skaters on a Frozen Canal by a Village), ect.  There were easily 100 pieces.  The earliest piece being a Raphael Santi sketch from 1510 and the most recent being a Renoir; Nude on a Couch from 1915.  Wandered around the rest of the museum for a little while afterwards looking for old favorites (some of while had been taken down) and discovering some new favorites and glowering at such things as White Canvas with just a little Yellow around the Edge. 

Then I wandered down to Pioneer Square, bought lunch and a coffee - drank the coffee while window looking and was standing looking at some wicked boots when one of the guys came out to eat his ice cream and we got to talking about boots and clothes.  The store sells men's utilikilts and men's boots with lots of steel and straps, and I wanted to try on a pair just because.  I stomped about like a five year old girl in daddy's steel toed boots for a minute.  The guys and I talked jobs and schools and he saw the book I was reading (Asimov) and I started talking Science Fiction and we started taking geek.  I tried on a heavy black utilikilt and it looked really awesome.  Did not buy anything, but had a lot of fun.  Left there and found a little secluded spot to eat my lunch and then I rode the bus home.   

                                            Saturday the 16th of August, 2008

Have been doing quite a bit of painting today.  Feel very good about it.  Working on two paintings now.  One is the Tulip painting and one is At World's End.  That last one was one that I rushed to get to some kind of finish and was never happy about.  It's been worked on to some end, but I kind of just needed to almost totally redo it while keeping the spirit of it alive.  I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to become pleased with the results; now the paint dries.  The Tulip painting is nearing some completion;  the leaves, stem and bulb are looking good.  The paint again needs to dry before I will work on the petals or roots.  

Have started rereading Watchmen.  Finished watching The Deep End.  What in the world does the woman say to her husband at the end?   But I like seeing the lead actress in something that leaves her vulnerable.  She's interesting to watch and all I've known her in have been Powerful characters (The White Witch for example).    

Tomorrow I'm going to Hemp Fest in Seattle with Jennifer and several of her friends.  I think the plan is to drive to Bremerton and then take the Ferry over.  Have never been, but it should be fun and I'm looking forward to the Ferry ride. 

                                            Wednesday the 13th of August, 2008

My friend's/co-worker's daughter Brianna tuned 14 on the 2nd and Jennifer and I went to her birthday party.  Went out to lunch with Gary beforehand and we had the worst food ever prepared at this beautiful little Chinese buffet restaurant.  We left after an hour having barely touched any of our food, hungry and nauseous at the same time.  Arrived at Bri's house just a little, but I don't think it mattered much.  We spent time inside and outside at a picnic table chatting and eventually opening presents and having burgers ect.  Had lots of fun hanging out with everyone and no, there wasn't anyone her age, just us old people.  ^_^

<-- earrings I made for Bri

Busy week at work last week and this week we are interviewing for one of out Assistant positions that just opened up a few weeks ago - our going away party for Kendra was last Wednesday at Guadie's.  Dr J was awesome and picked up the tab for everyone.  I spilled salsa on myself twice before my Margarita had even shown up so I swore off the salsa for the rest of the night.  Dr Moore's last day ever is going to be this Monday because she's filling in for Dr J as he takes a quick break from work work and then she leave forever off to Virginia.  Really going to miss her, but at least for the sanity of Dr J and the rest of us, we have a really awesome relief Dr coming in quite a few Tuesdays and Fridays.  She's very cool and very good.

Keep trying to take Sara to the Seattle Art Museum for the Impressionism Exhibit, but the women keeps being insanely busy.  However, I am determined at some point.  I made more headway in the painting her tulips inspired though over the weekend.  Once the paint dries again, I will be working more on the final piece of the painting.  Sara had me watch The Hours a few weeks ago and then asked me what I felt at the end.  My answer was, I cried at the end for their grief and relief but I felt happy at the same time.  Now she has we watching The Deep End.  I'm about 20 into the movie but broke away to watch some swimming. 

Really into watching the Olympics, and I keep trying to work on other things at the same time so I don't just get glued to the TV.  It's hard sometimes.  Very distracting. 

                                            Monday the 28th of July, 2008

Linda and Popo came to Seattle on the 5th to catch their cruise ship to Alaska, but it so happened that they had an evening to hang around in Seattle, so I got to go up and hang out with them for a bit.  Showed them around Pike's Place where we caught a bite to eat and found some yummy ice cream in a little chocolate shop in Post Alley. 

<-- Popo and me

Jennifer (housemate) went down to California for a 10 day visit and the cats became very, very needy.  They need more then one human in the household I think.

Jennifer (old roommate) came and visited me from California this last week.  We hung out, went out to eat with our old friend Carl one night, went out to see Dark Knight another night and caught up with each other's life in general.  On Friday after work, we started our drive to Mt Hood down in Oregon.  On the way, we stopped off in Olympia for dinner and coffee.  Our visit to random Starbucks yielded my friend Gary, who while does live in Olympia, there should be no reason for him to be in random Starbucks at the same time as me.  So yay, I got to introduce him to Jennifer and we stopped and chatted.  Happy chance encounter.  Go universe.  Mt Hood is beautiful.  After dropping Jennifer off at her family reunion in the middle of nowhere that had a suspicious number of people populating it, I drove back down and stopped off on the side of the road for a quick walk in the woods.  Found a perfect little spot with lots of tiny little trees that were quickly repopulating a clearing.  I had my perfect moment of wind, sun, birds and insects and nothing else.  No other sounds - no sounds of people, only wings and wind.  Beautiful. 

                                            Saturday the 22nd of June, 2008

awwww, hey look, it's me!!                                            

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3026534/

Last night was Jennifer's birthday and we all spent it at City Lights playing really bad games of pool eating fries and drinking Spider Bites with Sour. 

                                             Tuesday the 17th of June, 2008

Night of June 17th was my friend Mike's Birthday Roast and was a real Dean Martin zinger.  It was held at Guadalajara's an hour later then intended because we couldn't stop talking long enough to go sit down and then someone needed to go get a drink and didn't that just sound like a good idea to someone else too.  It works only because we love. The Roast lasted about 2 hours I think and Joe started the dance off with some awesomeness I didn't expect and it just got better with each subsequent Roaster (except at one point where there were watermelons in Equator and mice involved, unfortunately I just didn't understand where the guys story was going.  Or where it had been.) Shared stories with people, met Mike's mom and hung out with Joe and Gary.  Gary knew my Charlie the Unicorn comment which made me so happy.  It was cute.  After the Roast was complete, I decided to not close down the bar as I had to work the next morning up in Seattle.  

That Sunday after work, drove over to Joe's to watch Really Bad Movie Night.  Hell Goes to Frogtown was the title and it was really bad.  It was something like a lame porno plot with mutant frog people, only the actual having sex on screen has been left out.  An experience was had by all.

Finally used my O&Co giftcards this last Sunday at work and bought a nice bag size of delicious product.  I'm planning an hors d'oeuvre kick back on the front porch with a glass of wine and several good friends.  So far I've heard lots of "Yes!, when can we do this?".

To my dad: glad you got my song ^_^  I may not always call, but I think about you every day.

                                              Saturday the 7th of June, 2008

Sara lent me season 2 of Deadwood and I have to say it's all very exciting and full of hoopla. 

I took Guppy to go see Prince Caspian last week and I loved it, loved it, loved it.  Guppy and I talked Narnia all the way home.

Updated my Comics Page to include the Convention report (now with pictures).

Last Saturday I walked around the Seattle Art Museum for a few hours to see some of the new rotations and old favorites.

Had an interesting week at work; got bitten and scratched, but I feel no ill will - Kobe the cat was in quite a bit of pain and I was there holding him, a baby pigmy goat named Billy came in with an umbilical hernia and we spoiled that baby with all our attentions, lots of puppies and two very cute white rats named Josh and Jeremy.

Last night Sara, Mary, Jennifer and I got dressed up and played pool all night at the Temple and then Jennifer and I proceeded to have fun running around taking photos.

                                              Monday the 26th of May, 2008

The Comic Convention was awesome and wonderful.  I met Brian Haberlin (amazing writer), 'Moritat' Norman (ElephantMen artist), Tim Sale (the talent behind Heros paintings), Richard Starking (ElephantMen writer), J.Michael Straczynski (amazing writer!), Bill Willingham (Fables), Jamie Bamber (Apollo from BattleStar), Wil Wheaton (yay!), Julie Benz (Darla from Buffy/Angel), Andy Ownes (artist on Buffy Season 8/Fray) The clown behind Angus Oblong (who was wearing fantastic clown makeup) and the guys at Konsequential Studios (again). 

I got autographs from Wil, Julie and Jamie and heard them speak at the Q & A's.  Really enjoyable.  Wil talked about his childhood, blogging, being a geek and loving it.  Julie talked about her recent movies (Rambo for example) and mentioned how she is now wanted by the Burmese government. Jamie of course was asked all about the final episodes of BattleStar Galactica and and had the audience cracking up the whole time.

Brian Haberlin signed my Man Hunter issues and Trade.  Tim Sale did a really quick sketch of Hiro with his sword for me.  Richard and Moritat signed ElephantMen for me and Moritat did another sketch for me (and he remembered me from Comic Book Ink 2007).  JMS signed my Midnight Nation Trade, Rising Stars Trades and my Book of Lost Souls issues, plus then I also went to his Q & A panel.

Bill Willingham was fun to talk to while I was standing in line, now, I don't read Fables, but I was getting several signed for Jennifer and he loved that I was doing that.  Andy Ownes signed my Buffy Season 8 and Fray issues and then pointed out the guy who did the coloring (Dave Stewart) on the issues as well, so I got them signed by him as well. 

Jennifer (housemate) was really excited over the Oblongs when she saw they were on my program guide, so I picked up a little piece of original signed artwork for her.  The guys at Konsequential Studios had 2 new issues out since last year and I picked those up.  Picked up at lot of free posters, comics and bookmarks around the room and from promotional booths.  Most of it I made into a present package for Stephanie's three kids.  I also bought them each 3 little prints signed by the artist from Artists Alley.  They featured animals - one was birds, another was lizards and the third was cats with a silhouette of a mouse in top hat in front.  The artist lady was wearing a huge demonie looking bird head costume. 

2 days of geek and I had such a blast.

The following weekend saw me flying back to Kansas for my cousin Shannon's wedding.  It took place at The Elms Spa and Resort in Excelsior Springs, MO.  I was bad about taking pictures of the wedding, but I got pictures of Rufus and Holmes while I was home! It was entirely too short a visit, but I got to see almost all of my cousins and my aunts and uncles, plus there was lots of dancing and talking.  Mom and I went swimming before the ceremony - a hot springs tub and a lap pool (that was over chlorinated by a half).  Had a quick lunch at The Mills where my mom, dad and I had flashbacks to our own small town and farmhouse; realized mom left her outfit at home, and then there was a quick shopping frenzy at a little consignment shop that was highly geared towards the 15-25 crowd. However, mom and I picked out a really cute outfit for her and we made it back in plenty of time for a drink or two.  The ceremony was stunning and bubbles were blown after the couple - colors in white, red and black.  The reception was lovely and there was lots of mingling and chatting all night.

This weekend, bought a few pieces of basics for my wardrobe, went out with friends to play pool, did laundry and on Monday caught the tail end of a BBQ. 

                                              Saturday the 3rd of May, 2008

Ok, so nothing written for the month of April. 

• I'm working on a new painting. Part of my inspiration is one of Sara's tulips. 

• Pinky died and I'm planning to buy her a tulip for her grave that we dig in the garden. 

• New cat adopted named Spot.

• Hermilie is close to finding a real home, but for now is staying at Jones and everyone is happier for it.

• Finished making the 3 necklaces and earring sets that I bought the beads for in March. 

• Need to buy more rechargeable batteries so I can take pictures of everything and post them (my batteries just died for real last week after 4 years of reliable recharging)

• Congratulations to Shannon and her upcoming wedding which I will be attending ^_^  Can't wait to see everyone!!!!  I miss you guys!

• Congratulations to Andee and Scott!!!  Lucky kid indeed. 

• Several happy birthday's, but then I also saw them at their birthday parties so it's ok.

• Lent Sara my boxset of Serenity in exchange for her 1st season boxset of DeadWood.

 So for this month for far-

• Had a very good date last night with a guy I met at work.  Good end to a bad day - with sad news this morning as to the outcome. 

• Emerald City Comic Con is next weekend!!!!  Much happiness and delight.

• Prince Caspian the movie is just about out.  I'm excited.  I've already told mom we have to go see it while I'm home.

                                              Saturday the 29th of March, 2008

Last night Gary and I went to Bento and ate a whole table top full of food - it was all very fun and very yummy.  Showed him my studio/gallery and we watched TV out of the corner of our eye while talking to Jenn.  Then tonight Jenn is taking me out to a drag show that her ex-girlfriend is singing at.

Let's see... work is going well.  Studio is all set up and I'm back to painting.  Have some new beads I bought at a recent bead show last Sunday and am designing several new necklace/earring sets and I have those set out to work on.  I have a stack of books I'm reading though.  And I'm slowly working on updating my wardrobe - my first step was a really cute Easter dress for my birthday and a new pair of shoes.   I figure one new thing a month and keep weeding the old stuff that doesn't it well out for GoodWill.  When I go to interview for positions, I want to be able to present myself and then have something to wear other then scrubs to work.

                                              Thursday the 27th of March, 2008

So last night had me at a 100th Monkey party with a really tight band inside a church that reminded me more of a 18th century English manor.  Very in the spiffy end of things. 

Last weekend had me at my friend Joe's birthday party (another band was playing that one) and the theme was White Trash which I didn't know about.  I brought Jennifer with me so she could meet my friends.  I think she had a good time despite only knowing me.  I have good friends, I don't think she was lying.  Odd yes, but good mates. 

I got two of my easels back finally and now have the studio all set up.  In fact I have a drinking buddy of mine coming over tomorrow to take a look - we've talked about my paintings before and he keeps asking to see them, so at the party last week we exchanged numbers and I called him Tuesday to invite him to the 100th Monkey.  He couldn't come due to work (nurse w/ 12hours shifts) but he asked if he could come over this Friday instead. 

                                              Sunday the 16th of March, 2008

So the show up around 3pm party started off as the lamest thing ever - it was at least 5pm before anyone showed (people kept calling to say they were sorry they couldn't make it: death in family, broke up with boyfriend and moving out of shared apartment...ect) and then it was just 2 people.  All the effort of the last month seemed wasted and all the food we prepared was going to waste!   Joe called and said sorry he had moved his party back a week so it wasn't a shared party after all and everyone wanted to come but they were still at work.  So to make up for it, he was going to come by later and take me out for a drink at Guadalajara's that night when he got off work.  ok.  An half an hour later a third person showed up.  We started up the BBQ and started to eat and have some drinks.  About 6:30pm about 10 people arrived and then it became a party - mostly Jennifer's friends.  Joe came by about 8pm and it turned out the about 30 people showed up at Guadalajara's for my birthday.  There was food, yummy fruity drinks and Karaoke.  Mike signed me up to sing Peggy Lee's Fever and I got much applause and many cat calls.  A lot of people got up to sing and there was even some really hysterical dancing.  I laughed so hard the entire night; I had so much fun.  I even got some presents and balloons!  Jennifer had fun here at the house and I called and told her the one drink had turned into something much more.  Mike drove me home around 1:30am and I just crawled into bed with Jennifer so I didn't have to climb the stairs.  Very tired.  And we still have lots of food left over.

                                              Sunday the 9th of March, 2008

Had our Open House yesterday at Jones Animal Hospital and I suppose it was a good success.  I thought there would be more people showing up, but apparently the 75 people we did have showing was a good number.  It was a carnival theme, so there was a popcorn maker (which I was in charge of and now have a nice little burn shaped like a leaf on my right hand), lots o games with prizes, a freak show room, and a general showing off of our rooms and equipment.  Afterwards a group of us went out for dinner cause it was a long day and it's my birthday on Monday.

Phil and Sara are working on our backyard right now - they left all their junk (chicken coop, recycling, garbage, dog crap, wood piles, brick piles ect) there when they left with the promise of getting it cleaned up so we could have the backyard to actually go out into.  Well, Jennifer and I are planning a party on the 15th for a house warming/spring celebration/Ides of March/several birthdays and I gave them an invitation to the BBQ.  Since we had been promised our backyard by the end of February, they are now working on it for us, for our party and while they do that, we are getting the insides of the house ready.

Also, I broke up with Jonathan. He's a great guy, I wish him very well with lots of love, but there was too much unsaid and without realizing it, we grew apart and communication fell behind. That's all I'll say about it. 

                                              Monday the 18th of February, 2008

Got back from Las Vegas last night.  Spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday celebrating Jonathan's 30th birthday with his family and some close friends.  I think the next time I go, I want to see some shows, but for my first time in Vegas, it was beyond awesome.  (But I have to admit, watching someone play Black Jack isn't very exciting.)  We stayed at the Venetian, but we also explored Harrah's (mostly in search of the $10 Black Jack table), Circus Circus (to play some arcade games plus I watched some cool trapeze artists),  Caesar's for shopping and a peek in the casino and The Mirage for a look at their fish tanks.  I was so all about the food - I think I gained 10 pounds in pastry, coffee and all the other food we had, but oh... it was so good. The dinner we had Saturday night for Jonathan's birthday was fabulous; we had a private room at a really wonderful Italian restaurant inside the Venetian overlooking the plaza and the Grand Canal where there were Opera singers and other performers.  Oh, and did I mention how scrumptious our room was?  Very, very wow.

                                             Sunday the 3rd of February, 2008

Went to a wine party in Olympia to celebrate my friend Gary's graduation from nursing school last night.   Good times, lots of wine. 

Have spent today doing more organizing.  Brought my filing cabinet upstairs - finally - and in doing so also finally got all those papers I need to keep all in one place.   Looks so much better. Art Studio is almost finished!  Now I just have to get my 3 easels back from the movie set.

Pinky and her tumor  Abby, our hospital cat loves coffee (she really does love coffee).

                                              Wednesday the 23rd of January, 2008

My darling friend Steph went in yesterday to be spayed and Jennifer and I went over to see her in the hospital last night to see how she was doing.  I think the answer was: hungry!!  In other news we are adopting a little rat named Pinky.  Pinky had a tumor removed today and no one wanted to take him home, so Jennifer and I are.  She is very sweet and adorable.  The tumor looks like a brain (a very smooth one though) and Jennifer named it Brain.  dadadum...ting!

Went up to Vancouver, BC over the weekend to see my long lost friend Danielle.  Julie, Stephanie and I all went out to dinner with her and we laughed ourselves silly.  It's been five and a half years since the four of us have been together.  I missed her so much and could never figure out what happened that we drifted apart and lost contact with her.  Well, we got busy and stuff was happening, but that's all crap and we found each other again!!

                                              Wednesday the 16th of January, 2008

Saturday Jonathan and I went out or the first time in almost a month since he's been in Denver for several weeks and then right after he went home, Jennifer and I got a call from Sara and we all went out to the SilverStone for drinks and dancing.  Strange, yet fun night out. 

Monday was all about playing and cuddling with a bobcat kitten and the death of a beloved patient.  All before 9am. 

This weekend is going to be all about going up to Vancouver BC and reuniting with an old friend. 

                                              Tuesday the 1st of January, 2008

Congratulations to all those who made it to a New Year.  I personally wandered around First Night Tacoma with Sara and Guppy where there was lots of open houses and shows.  Fireworks went off at midnight.  I was pleased with the whole shebang.  Had today off from work and I just slept in and relaxed and did laundry. 

                                              Thursday the 27th of December, 2007

It snowed here on Christmas Day (smile).  I watched the big, fluffy flakes float down from the sky with Hammond for about 30 minutes out the upstairs window.  Later that day I went over to Sara's new house for dinner and the eventual meeting of Phil's long lost son and new grandbaby.  Good times.

                                              Monday the 24th of December, 2007

My Seconds party was so wonderful and full of love and laughter.  3 paintings have sold so far.  yay!!!

Work is going well - around the holidays everything gets nuts, but it's going just fine.  We had our office Christmas party on the 18th.  Wasn't expecting much, but it turned out to be fun and we all got really nice gifts besides our Secret Santa gifts. Finally also my O&Co gift card which was really nice.  I finished up my Christmas shopping last night! Sorry to those people I'm shipping presents off to - I love you and so you're all getting New Year's presents instead of Christmas presents.

The house is still slowly being unpacked, but it will probably be another few months before everything is unpacked. There's just so much stuff between the two of us!

Saturday was Joe's Solstice Party - the theme was Wear the Worst Christmas Sweater You Can Find (mine was a really bad oversized black sweater with an embroidered snowman who had a halo) and our White Elephant gift exchange theme was Bring a Really Bad Gag Gift (I brought a cowboy statue).

                                              Saturday the 15th of December, 2007

New heaters are being installed by Sara and her father and I'm doing my part by staying out of the way and supplying coffee.  I offered eggs, but everyone passed.  We have so many eggs right now.  I think the darling chickens have supplied us with at least 3 dozen eggs at the moment and that's with us trying to eat a lot and me giving some away.

The Seconds wrap party is tonight and I'm excited about that.  I may or may not be getting my art supplies back - there still needs to be a montage shot of my hand painting apparently.  I'm not sure when this is going to happen but I'll be needing my stuff back before that happens - I don't even know which painting they want me working on or if they want a variety of paintings.  They just need someone who knows how to paint...painting.

In the mist of work and other stuff I have some kind of sore throat crap thing that's got me all croaky and achy.  It sucks.  I have a headache from all my coughing. 

The new house (well, technically old since it is over 100 years old) is coming along and so far it's really nice living in a house.  I do miss having a bathroom right around the corner from my bedroom though.  oh well, it's a good house.  I'm enjoying living here.  Plus it is nice to have someone else to talk to at night if I want to and Hammond loves chasing the other cats around the house.  That's amusing to watch.

                                              Thursday the 13th of December, 2007

Work has been going and doing its thing.  We are still unpacking the remnants; not much left, but there's still a few boxes and organizing that we haven't gotten to yet.  It's just so nice to not have to in order to function, that we're kind of letting the rest go for now so we can rest. 

                                               Tuesday the 27th of November, 2007

Everyone go see the trailers to the movie Seconds that I worked on (my paintings and some sketches):  http://www.roachsrealm.com/seconds/

They are up on YouTube, but the link there on the right hand sidebar.

                                               Monday the 19th of November, 2007

Last night I took Jonathan to see the movie set of Seconds.  It was so much more then I had hoped and I was so happy and proud of everyone.  We watched several pickups being shot, and wow was I blown away.  I'm very excited to see the full film!  And evidently my paintings are going over very well and several of them now have price tags.  The idea of which utterly shocks me.  I wasn't expecting to have to think about pricing for a few months.  Also, the concept of selling one of my paintings is so strange; I understand the concept and agree that this is the end goal of my work, but, the actual agreeing to sell is totally different.  There is a large part of me that doesn't want to sell; it's very hard to sell something that you love and put so much blood, sweat and tears into.  However, this is apparently, what I am going to do.  There are 4 paintings that prices have been asked of and at least 3 will sell before the film unveiling.  This is something I will deal with for every piece I sell, but that's what children do - they grow up and leave you to become part of the larger world and that's my hope for my paintings as well.

Now all I have left to do is pack and move a few blocks.  Then I have several paintings I want to paint.

                                               Sunday the 18th of November, 2007

The movie is shooting and my paintings are going over quite well.  My dad and I had a wonderful time while he was here; we went to Point Defiance for walks, Fort Nisqually on their free day to poke around, climb a tower and watch the smithy, The Antique Sandwich Company for several meals and cider, the Recycle Plant because I had intense amounts of recycling to be taken in and sorted, Jones Animal Hospital to see where I work and meet Jennifer and dinner with Sara, Phil and Guppy.  There was lots of play time with Hammond and the two of them bonded over early morning window watching.  We didn't really 'do' a whole lot, but we did spend a lot of time together and that's the really important part - we had a really wonderful time together.  We even swapped mystery books!  My Rule of Four for his Still Life.

                                            Tuesday the 6th of November, 2007

You should check out my Mixed Media Page and see what I've been working on like a mad woman for the past many weeks. 

Just in time for my deadline is my producer picking everything up and taking them to the set and my dad's all set to arrive for a visit!!  Yay visit!

                                            Friday the 19th of October, 2007

Hammond is munching on my toes, so I figured what better time to update my blog.  Mostly, there has been work and painting.  Jonathan took me art supply shopping at Danial Smith and made me a very happy girl.  My deadline is the 5th of November.  This is me freaking out just a little.  Which is one reason I haven't been updating.  Late nights and with work being busy I've had to come home and sleep off massive headaches or try to paint as much as possible and my time is running out!  meep meep meep.  Also, it's very probable that a friend and I will be moving into a house together come December.  

My dad's going to be visiting me too!!! Right after my deadline - so maybe I'll be able to clean up my apartment again ^_^  just for him ^_^

                                            Thursday the 27th of September, 2007

100th Monkey Party last night was so amazing.  Sara and I had way too much fun.  We were very pleased.

I can now say that I've shown my artwork at The Tacoma Art Museum.  (there is much glee)

I showed my Ascension and it was very well received - several cards were given and several received. 

                                            Saturday the 22nd of September, 2007

Tacoma to Heron Island: Our Trip

Started off at The Ram Dock Point Defiance Park: Rounding the Point  Tacoma Narrows Bridge Karen!

Passing under Tacoma Narrows: The Two Bridges (Old and New)

Putting Up the Sails Island in the Sound: Actually Fox Island

Sea Lions and Some Herons on a Buoy: A female lion swam after us for a little bit and that's her in the last photo - upper right. 

Guppy reading gaming reviews to us The Island Prison Seals Napping across from the prison island

Zittles: Or Where We Stopped for Lunch Sara and Guppy landing the buoy for a tie off.  We reached Heron Island where Sara was given a buoy to tie her boat to for free, hence the sailing trip. 

Karen and I had been set ashore with all the stuff we were packing out.  We see the Ferry we have to take to get to the Mainland.

Oh look!  A young buck nibbling on someone's lawn. We get a ride. We all get to ride.  Thank you Malcom! 

The Pink Princess Mary So pretty; what a fabulous day on the boat.  We take the ferry back to the mainland.

We wait to be picked up and taken home by Phil. We make Water Art with sticks.

We finally go home.

                                            Friday the 21st of September, 2007

Sara just invited me to come on a sailing adventure with her!  We're going to take her boat to it's new mooring home about 5 hours south (by sail boat) and I'm packing a bag ^_^ 

I was warned that anything could happen - like running out of gas - so I should be prepared.  Very exciting.  I should also bring some food. 

                                            Saturday the 15th of September, 2007

Feed Sara's chickens this morning (I got 3 fresh eggs out of the deal this morning) and then had a two hour breakfast with Jani.  She also gave me some books she didn't want to move, but didn't want to just 'give away'.  I now also have a cool spice rack. 

Last night I went over to Joe's and watched Ghostbusters I and II with him and a bunch of friends.  Hysterics ensued.

                                            Wednesday the 12th of September, 2007

Apartment clean and getting cleaner.  Landry is done.   Dishes are done.

Hammond is wearing his halter pretty well now --> Pretty in pink and about to tackle a twisty pipe cleaner.

the CloseUp  I am So Cat Normal Kitty Pounce Face

Went sailing with Sara, Jenn, Melissa and Stacy from work last night.  Lots of fun and we even had about 20 minutes of wind! Real sailing time! 

Planted some catnip seeds, so we'll see if they grow.  Hammond doesn't seem to keen on catnip.  I bought him some dried catnip and he ignored it. odd.

In sad news, Jani is moving to Texas.  Good news for her, but I'm sad to see her go - I'm going to miss her.  We're getting together this Saturday for coffee and catching up. 

                                            Sunday the 9th of September, 2007

Went to Bumbershoot last Saturday which was claustrophobic with crowding at first and then as it thinned out got much more fun.  Was able to get a Mainstage pass (limited supply due to capacity)  and went to see Gym Class Heroes and Panic! At the Disco.  Also saw this amazing band I had never heard of (which is why I love Bumbershoot) called Gogol Bordello.  They do a wicked gypsy two-step rhythm infused with ska, punk, rap, reggae and twang and the whole crowd was jumping around and dancing wildly.  Much fun.  (some photos to come in the near future)

Yesterday saw a cleaning frenzy in my apartment including 4 loads of laundry.  There is much improvement and Hammond is pleased.  You know the mess is getting out of hand when your cat starts to try to scoop the mess into one pile instead of many. Now all that is left is some winter laundry for storage, moping and vacuuming.  He hates it when I vacuum.  The DVD player is inhabited by genies to be played with and the vacuum by demons to run away from in terror.

I bought him a harness and leash because he wants to go outside so badly.  It's going to be a very slow process, happily he's very nice about letting me put on the harness.  It's the whole leash thing he doesn't get yet.  It doesn't help that I live on the second floor and navigating the stairs are terrifying right now.  I get that.

                                            Wednesday the 29th of August, 2007

There was a happy day of Renaissance Festival over in Gig Harbor with Jonathan (bought a feather for my hat too!). 

Sara and Phil had a ring blessing ceremony last Friday which was pretty cool and then here was a party afterwards in which there were lots of people, drinks and dancing at a local bar/club.  Good times.  Jonathan even managed to come down for the last leg and so met some of my friends (and co-workers) which was also very cool.  Did I mention there was dancing?  Oh yes, quite a bit of dancing and Jonathan even managed to do a bit of leg limbo (I give credit for the 3 minutes of trying).  Quite the revelry.

Haven't yet decided which day I'm going to Bumbershoot - I have Saturday and Monday off, but oh! which to choose!  I'm thinking Saturday actually because Monday Sara might have her boat in the water and I'm invited!!

Am in dire need to doing laundry. I fear there is danger of being overrun by dirty clothes.  Nothing new there - really. 

Pursued one of my favorite bookstores the other day with a friend of mine - one of Sara's sons - Guppy.  He needed some new reading material and I happily stepped in for the chance to start several new chapters of my own for a bargain price.

                                            Friday the 3rd of August 2007

The Simpson's Movie is hysterical and I was singing Spider Pig all the next day.

Work is busy, I still love it even when it bugs me.  I actually get to learn information and pass it on to people instead of having to always turn it over to an assistant or tech.  This means of course that I'm having to learn a lot and learn it fast. 

Went to The Highland Games over at the King County Fairgrounds with Jonathan last Sunday.  That was fun.  We watched log tosses and all sorts of Scottish dogs were running around doggie courses.  There were lots of bagpipes and drummers, kilts and clan tents. 

  Wicked Tinkers!!!!!!!  Highlight.    Just about to toss the log end over end.

                                            Monday the 23rd of July2007

July 4th weekend: Flew to Bethesda, Maryland for the 4th and stayed till that Sunday visiting Jonathan's brothers (Ben & Justin) and their wives (Janet & Megan) for a fun holiday weekend walking around Washington DC.  We also took a day trip to Annapolis for a sailing tour which was really awesome. 

Went to the National Gallery of Art, The American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery Took pictures in front of The National Archives, but didn't have a chance to go in On our way to the Lincoln Memorial we walked though this little part with - this is a World War memorial Lincoln Memorial was crowed as usual We walked though the Vietnam Memorial  Looked over at the Jefferson Memorial  Ben and Janet took us all up to Annapolis for a sailing trip on the WindWood II      .  On our last day Jonathan and I went back to Georgetown for one last walk around and we walked down to the Potomac to watch the rowers  This is the very last stop - it's an old stone house with a really nice garden in the back.

This last week at work has been a long one.  Monday was terrible (started my day off with an accidentally murdered dog by police raid where they got the wrong house) and ended with me going home to a glass of wine.  The week ended pretty well though.  Jonathan brought me my very own copy of the new Harry Potter at lunch on Saturday.  Sunday I unexpectedly had nothing to do and so started to read my shiny new book at 12:30pm; I realized at 10:30pm that I had been reading all day and decided to finish.  I finished at 12:30am twelve hours after starting.  It's just a darn good read and I couldn't stop reading.

Tonight I had a lovely dinner at Pomodoro with my long time friend Mary Messell (who is not a Messell anymore, but still a Mary) who is visiting Washington/Tacoma on a short vacation trip. I met her husband, Ken, and she met my cat, Hammond. We talked about old times and got caught up a little on old friends and family.  We had fun.

Jonathan took me to a Rush concert Friday night (traffic was so bad we missed the first hour of the three hour concert - one hour to get the last 7 miles) and followed them down to LA to see their concert down there.  He and Jennifer FINALLY we able to have lunch and they left me several rather adorable messages while I was at work today.  Rush puts on a really amazing concert - I had such a good time.  The music was just phenomenal and the video and lasers accompanying were brilliantly well done.  He bought me a tour shirt afterwards too.  It's cool.

                                            Friday the 29th of June, 2007

I love my new job.  I fit in very well and even though it's really busy and I'm learning a whole new system, so far it's really good.  Plus I love seeing all the puppies come in.  Dr Jones (who owns the practice) is getting married this Saturday and everyone is going to the reception and that should be lots of fun.  I have no idea what I'm wearing. 

My friend Julie also asked me to do a bunch of paintings for her debut movie (she wrote the script and is part of the production staff).  The movie is about a young painter/artist and I'm in charge of painting a hella lota paintings to fill up her walls Narnia style. uff

Life is not quite so crazy busy, which is just a farce, because it's still really busy, but there's just more of a schedule to it.  eh.  This is still good.  Right now, I'm happy.

                                            Thursday the 14th of June, 2007

A lot has happened, but at the same time, not much has really been happening. 

Highlights:  NEW JOB!!!  A job that I think will be fulfilling, and is a nice easy commute.  Jones Animal Hospital.  I'll be working the front desk like I was at MetVet, but this place is really busy and has been around for 50 years.  It's very much a family environment - plus my very good friend Sara works there too.

Actually I have a really nice part time thing going as well up in Seattle working at O&Co - which Jennifer recommended me for the position as she works at the same company just down in LA.

Police Concert!  June 7th at the Key Arena.  They decided to do 2 Seattle shows, which turned out to be really awesome for the thousands who didn't get first concert tickets.  3 encores to boot.  Played all the songs I wanted to hear (Message In a Bottle, Roxanne, Don't Stand So Close To Me, Do Do Do-Da Da Da and Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic) and played them damn good too.  Sting sounds great and Andy and Steward were amazing.   Walking In Your Footsteps had a lazar light show of dinosaur skeletons walking around all the walls and Roxanne had everything lit up in red lights.  Really cool stuff.

Prom is going on all over the place.  Every weekend I see dressed up teenagers walking the streets of Seattle.  I remember Prom.  It was fun.

Otherwise, lots of work.  Not much laundry.  I keep getting quarters earmarked for the occasion, but then I inevitability end up using them as bus fare because I refuse to drive to Seattle for work. 

Hammond is full of bounce and keeps secreting all this toys away.

Jonathan is taking me away to Maryland for July 4th to visit family (his - more specifically his brothers and their lovely wives).

I keep generating a list of stuff from O&Co that I want to buy.  For myself and friends.  I keep having to stop myself.  It's just so yummy.   But first I need to build up my cash supply. 

Saw Oceans 13 - funny movie, enjoyable stuff.  Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - also fun and slightly strange. A fourth movie is SO being made, my goodness the cliff hanger.  Spiderman 3 - really good special effects it had a good conclusion. 

                                            Sunday the 27th of May, 2007

My art show is down as of the 15th. 

Flew to Kansas on the 5th for a weekend visit for a visit and took Jonathan with me.  First thing we did was say hello to Rufus (who had just gotten a shave) after we got back from the airport and dinner (dinner with Uncle Mike and Aunt Jayme - yay!).  Thunderstorm arrived that night and it was really nice to got to sleep with thunder and lightening.

The next day there was a big Family Party and almost everyone was able to come!  It was so great.  ^_^  That was Sunday.  Another thunderstorm that night. 

Monday I took Jonathan out to visit my old farm in Gardner, KS.

  The farm is now owned by a really nice woman (with husband and small child) who is dedicated to reviving the farm (after a decade or so of neglect) and making it into a working Organic Farm.  She even has goats!  I was very pleased with the way things were going.  The barn is now a barely standing shell of a thing, but that isn't surprising.  It's old and not repaired.  The pasture is still mostly grown over, but about 7 years ago there was a pasture fire and that helped get rid of many of the weedy trees that had overtaken everything.  She has about 5 horses, chickens, cats and a really awesome shaggy dog.  There's several small gardens and I'm sure she'll expand those later.  She's really into the history of the farm and has done lots of research - our house and farm is an original Homestead farm and house and there's lots of history to be had.  Even our trees are rare and old.  I love my old farm.  I'm really happy there's someone who lives there who loves it even more then I do.  

Drove into Gardner proper for a quick look since I hadn't driven through town in well over 15 years.  The outskirts are really built up, but the small little town of red brick buildings I remember along Main Street is quite intact. 

For dinner that night, mom, dad, Jonathan and I went out to The Plaza and a walk about. Since the Nelson was closed, we just walked around it and I got my first view of the newly completed addition to the museum.  I'm not crazy about how it looks next to the old world looking stone monument that is the original Nelson-Atkins Museum.  We all decided it should have been build across the street (on land also owned by the museum) and have housed modern works of art with tunnels connecting the two buildings. 

We flew back early that next morning.  Hammond was not amused that I had been gone even though my friend Sara and her son Guppie had done a wonderful job of coming over and looking after him.  He was a bit clingy for a few days but seems to have gotten over it. 

So, I've been interviewing at several places in Fife and Tacoma, some sound really quite nice and some sound only ok.  At the moment I'm working in Seattle at O&Co's Pacific Place store (their sister store is L'Occitane).  I really like the shop, I love what we sell and the people I work with are pretty cool, but I'm not crazy about the commute (even taking the bus).

                                            Saturday the 28th of April, 2007

Alright, have a virtual gander at my show. 

                    ``   

                                            Sunday the 22nd of April, 2007

Just in case you were interested.  This is my showing.

Orca

Oils on canvas

22x28

When I was in high school, I had the opportunity to study our resident Orca pods with Ken Balcomb on San Juan Island.  One of the young and frisky males of J pod was the inspiration for this piece.

$300

Moose

Oils on canvas

24x24

Homage to the huge and wonderful (and very temperamental) bull moose who used to live at Northwest Trek, but who sadly died several years ago during the huge storm when a tree fell on his head. 

$300

Raccoon

Oils on canvas

12x18

Intelligent and interesting, if not slightly destructive to your garbage can at night, raccoons are full of quirky personality. 

$250

Bison Bull

Oils on canvas

24 x 24

The big boulders of the grassy plains; once they roamed so far and wide they were even to be found here in the Pacific Northwest.

$300

Wolves

Oils on canvas

36x24

Wolves are a controversial species – are they a threat to your livestock and are your children going to be eaten on their way to school?  Or are they beautiful and powerful hunters with a very important impact on their environment?  I prefer the later argument to their preservation and re-introduction into the wild.

$300

Ghost Dog

Acrylics on canvas

18x24

An illustration cover for a short story about a beloved dog who comes back from the beyond to watch over his family and protect them from harm. 

$175

Lambs at Play

Ink drawing with nib on paper

11x17

My cat Hammond also helped me draw this – he added in the grass in the right corner. 

$40

Grizzly Bear at Rest

Ink brush with touch of watercolor on paper

11x17

Relaxing on a warm and sunny day against a handy tree.

$35

Tiger Sniffing a Flower

Ink brush with touch of watercolor on paper

11x17

Smells good, wonder what kind of flower it is or how tasty it is?

$35

Dragon on the Wing

Ink brush with a touch of watercolor on paper

11x17

Catching a delicious updraft of wind, dragon loops about for a 360 view.

$35

Lynx at a Puddle

Ink brush with a touch of watercolor on paper

11x17

I know I look soft and cuddly, but really, I’m not. 

$35

Dragon Bonsai for Earrings

Copper and polymer clay shaped and designed – capable of holding several pairs of *earrings. Functional Artwork.

$250

*Earrings (also made by artist) displayed on Dragon Bonsai are $20 each.

Dragon Seahorse Sculpture

Copper and polymer clay make up this ethereal creature floating through a bed of citrine and peridot seaweed.  Moonstone accents.  Hangs on a strand of light and airy seaweed or you can choose to sit it on a table or shelf.

$250

Coyote Spirit

Ink on paper

16x20

There’s always some mischief to get into.

$40

Elk in Wooded Abstract

Watercolor and Pastel on paper

16x20

My antlers are better then yours.

$40

                                            Saturday the 21st of April, 2007

Night On The Town Celebrates Spring!

Met Vet welcomes emerging Tacoma artist Jenna Tomlin. Jenna moved out here from Kansas a few years ago to attend college, but the wheat fields have never beckoned her back! Her love of the Northwest is evident in her work, and is sure to please. Join us Thursday evening, April 19^th, between 6-8pm. For those of you treating yourselves to the Night On The Town festivities, we will be featuring a surprise gift for your garden!

Metropolitan Veterinary Hospital

My reception was small, but there was a lot of great feedback and some rave reviews.  There's 15 pieces in total, but I didn't have time to take pictures, so unless you were at the reception, there's 8 pieces that haven't been seen on this site. 

                                            Tuesday the 17th of April, 2007

My show is hanging tomorrow!!!  Thursday evening is the open and reception at MetVet.  6-8pm.  Hardware is install for the canvas paintings and my other pieces on paper have frames so that they can hang properly. 

                                            Saturday the 7th of April, 2007

I have been painting this week - finishing paintings actually.

Moose    Ascension    Orca

I have a pointillism piece in mind to start on now.  My first show is the 19th!!!  I have 2 pieces I want to finish for it and then I have to install the hardware so everything can be hung properly. 

                                            Monday the 2nd of April, 2007

The Emerald City ComicCon 2007 made me a happy person.  For a full review and lots of pictures >> Comics Page.  Top of the page.  After the convention on Sunday, I called up Jonathan to make dinner plans and we headed over to Bellevue for dinner and a showing of Blades of Glory which made us both laugh so hard my sides hurt.

                                           Monday the 26th of March, 2007

The Alaskan Way Viaduct Tour photos as promised.  9:30 am Saturday morning (coffee provided) - a bunch of us civilians put on hard hats and vests and off we went on short educational walking tour with 3 stops starting at 1st and Columbia. 

Link to some Bodies (in Seattle) photos

                                           Saturday the 24th of March, 2007

Last week Jonathan and I went to see the Seattle Bodies...The Exhibition Exhibit.  Really well done, not an Art Display at all, but a really respectful, elegant and educational display of human anatomy.  I recommend anyone go and see it if you can.

Got my shiny laptop back from Gateway Friday.  New keyboard and new whatever else - it works and that's all I care about. 

Today we both had tours of the Seattle Viaduct.  It's closed every 6 months for a full inspection and they give public tours you can sign up for (if you know about it).  It's really cool to hear all about the maintenance and the earthquake damage and future plans.  Photos will be uploaded tomorrow when I'm more awake, it's too late tonight for a full on photo mull.  After the Viaduct tours (we had separate times) we headed over to Pike's Place for lunch and then Pacific Science Center to have a look at the Grossology display.  We were mobbed by kids so didn't stay long.  Plus my meter was running out and I wasn't interested in getting a ticket.  I think we're planning on a long Thursday lunch of the science of gas and snot. 

After dinner, I took Jonathan to my friend Joe's birthday gathering.  So he got to meet some of my long time friends - I haven't seen most of them in 2 years and that's just not right.  Good day. 

                                           Tuesday the 20th of March, 2007

Promised pictures!

                      Birthday at The Melting Pot - eaten dinner and desert.

    Hammond watching me type on the backup laptop.

    Moose (bad picture - sorry)

    Ascension (need to get a better shot in better light -again sorry)

                                           Tuesday the 13th of March, 2007

So, my birthday over the weekend was fun; as mentioned, Jonathan and I went to The Melting Pot and ate lots and lots of food.  There was cheese fondue with apples and bread, then salad and immense amounts of veggies (plus meat for Jonathan and tofu for me) for cooking in the broth fondue.  We decided that even though we had just eaten about 5 pounds of food, we needed the chocolate fondue as well so we ordered a white/dark chocolate fondue with fruit, brownies and cheesecake to cover with yummy melted chocolate.  I took pictures - I'll have to get them up soon.  Dinner lasted 3 hours. Apparently having a 4pm reservation was a good thing.  After digesting for an hour, we went over to Chopsticks where not many people actually showed up, but where we still had fun for awhile anyway.  Didn't think to ask if there was a cover on the weekends and it turns out there is.  Also, it was REALLY loud.  So after a few hours, we walked over to O'Malley's to have beer and an actual conversation everyone could hear. 

Also, I finished Ascension and I'll be downloading a picture of that tomorrow and put it up.  I've been working on a painting of a Moose as well and I'll put up a photo of that too.

Have a 2nd interview with SCS, the company I interviewed with two weeks ago, lined up for this Thursday as well.   

                                                Friday the 9th of March, 2007

I'm a mean, mean person because I forgot that Jonathan was awesome and got us tickets to this really amazing play last week called Proof at Tacoma Actors Guild (which announced suddenly Thursday that they had to close permanently because of cash shortage) about a brilliant math Professor's daughter who is dealing with her father's recent death, living in the shadow of his genius and trying to prove her own worth as a mathematician while trying to take back the years she had to give up University (and life) to care for him while he deteriorated mentally.  It was really good.

Last night, Jonathan and I went up to see his housemate Jeremy perform at Tula in Seattle (where we saw him last time). 

Tomorrow we go to dinner at The Melting Pot - I just made reservations and managed to get us in at 4pm.  Good thing I called tonight! 

                                                Wednesday the 7th of March, 2007

Hammond is now neutered!  He took it pretty well actually.  I brought him home Tuesday afternoon and the first thing he did was play with his jingle ball toy - I think he might have still been high on medication.  As Roo can attest to, I found the evening highly amusing. 

I've been planning out my birthday party for this Saturday - Jonathan and I are going out to dinner and then I've been telling everyone to meet me at Chopsticks on 6th Ave at 8:30 for drinks and general shenanigans. 

I don't really remember anything eventful that's happened since last I wrote - I've been mostly obsessing over the ComicCon that's coming at the end of this month.  Then I went shopping with Jani the other day because I wanted to buy a birthday dress and platform boots for this Saturday.  I did a good job in the end - I'll have to remember to bring a camera.  Prom dresses were my inspiration for the event.  Went to see Ghost Rider for the hell of it and I had fun watching it.  It isn't anything special, but I did have fun watching it, which is what I wanted.  I'm waiting for The 300 to come out and I'm very excited. 

Oh! My friend Jani told me what my birthday present is from her - she actually managed to get several tickets to their second show here in Seattle (sold out in 15 minutes) and she is taking me with her!  woohooo!!!!!

                                                Tuesday the 27th of February, 2007

Missed my interview at the Humane Society by a hair which annoys me - they placed the position right before my temp agency hoop jumping, darn them.  I have an interview with some refrigeration company for a position at their head office this Wednesday though. 

Went out to try my first batch of jewelry consignments to retailers on 6th Ave, but they either weren't open or weren't interested.  I have several other places I want to try, but other then that I'll have to do more research and find out who actually does consignments that I don't know about yet. 

                                                Wednesday the 21st of February, 2007

Had my eyes checked out last week - everything looks good and I have the same prescription as last year.  I like that.  Have to remember to go and pick up my contacts though - I keep forgetting. 

Monday was our 2 year anniversary and it was a strange day.  We both had those long, annoying days at work that really suck and the gray rain didn't help me any.  Plus I discovered my cat really did mess up my laptop by overheating it - he slept on it all night the night before and I woke up to the alarm going off.  My