Wishard Hospital Event - Indianapolis Art Museum

Whew! A job that has taken much of my spare time (what's that?) since February ended yesterday. I drove to Indianapolis to do final place cards and escort envelopes for the event and was able to do a mini tour of the museum's treasures too. I had no idea all of this was 2 hours from my house! Fabulous museum with fabulous holdings! The event was pretty fabulous too. Below are a few photos of the event decor and some of the notable pieces in the museum...and I only toured two exhibits very quickly.

The first five photos are of the lobby area. First an orchid display next to a staircase. The next two are close ups of that display, and the fourth is a view of that lobby from the second floor. The red carpet was there just for this event...it is not a typical part of the decor. It's hard to see, but the doorway shown has portraits from the invitation painted or screen-printed on it for the event. Its aqua and green colors set the theme for the event, thus the green orchids everywhere. My photos do not do justice. The vases of orchids had aqua and green swirly vine-type material circling inside them...subtle but beautiful.

Next are views of the dining room and table displays, which beautifully represent the colors presented in the invitation.

Unfortunately, I did not get a photo of a second floor lobby that was dripping with orchids. Orchid blooms were attached to wires/threads and were hanging from the tall ceiling making it look as though it were raining orchids...quite spectacular! I also did not get a good photo of the escalator and trees near it, which were adorned with sparkling aqua and green ribbons - and more orchids.

The Art: These photos of a Picasso oil on canvas, two Renoirs, a Turner, a Monet and a Van Gogh are only samples of what the museum holds. It took me back to the Louvre, the D'Orsay and the Picasso Museum. Being able to see those thick, emotional Van Gogh brushstrokes up close, the delicacy of the Monets, the rich color of the Renoirs, the realism of the Turners - just wonderful! And this is just a sample. There were so many beautiful works in this museum that I didn't even know existed.
Only two hours from my house, and I had no idea. I will return just for the exhibits, but not on Derby Day. Not the day before my husband's birthday. Not when I am so busy with other calligraphy work...but one day when I have time to really enjoy the works there. The gift shops were great, and I didn't see most of the exhibits, so there's lots left for me to discover.

Facebook and Jace the Face

Facebook - great tool for staying in touch. Facebook - time waster extraordinaire. Finding the balance is worthwhile. I use Facebook now mostly for quick updates on what friends are doing, learning about art events I'm interested in, staying in touch with my nieces and now seeing my new grandson between actual visits. His mommy is really good about taking photos and sharing them via Facebook. Here's my latest favorite photo of Jace at two months. Yes - Jace the Face is already two months old, and he's changed a lot. His once dark hair is coming in much lighter now. (His daddy's hair was dark at birth, fell out and at three months he began a new phase of life as a towhead.)

He's a very contented baby - just like his daddy was. Unlike his daddy, though, he likes to be awake at night and sleep all day. They were just beginning to turn that around, but a 'swing emergency' occurred that had his mommy about to tear her own hair out. The cradle swing they'd purchased - and which Jace had become firmly addicted to - stopped working. They bought a new one, put it together, and same thing. The motor wouldn't work. A few sleepless nights later they purchased a third swing (FisherPrice) and Jace is a happy, contented baby once again. The new fear is what they will do when he outgrows the swing. I guess he'll have to come live with Grandma then. : ) Don't you just love the "I am the King of my world" look on his little face?

I am still enmeshed in too much calligraphy to even think. Tomorrow I will be in Indianapolis instead of Louisville. Unheard of for me on Derby Day! I will be at the big event doing last minute changes and place cards, helping the event coordinator. I can't believe it, but as I've FedExed various parts of the job to her I have not even had time to take photos of them. I hope to get a chance to take some photos Saturday. I'm sure it is going to be tres elegante. As if that weren't enough, I sandwiched two smaller jobs into tiny breathing spaces in the ongoing projects that have otherwise taken all my 'spare' time. As soon as I get home Saturday night/Sunday morning I need to do everything I can to finish the very elegant wedding job I have been working on for months. I have two art workshops coming up in May too. Both out of town. I will be posting and sharing photos.

At work, I am happily entrenched in projects that hopefully will really make a difference to the company. I have been writing marketing materials and website articles and pushing a myriad of other projects forward. I have learned a lot about the publishing business since beginning this job last October. It suits me well. I am doing something different almost every day. I have played an integral part in the publishing of two books so far. It was really exciting to see the dummy books come back to us from the printer in various formats...one all white with blank pages just to show placement of various artifacts within the pages. Since I've been on board, we've probably worked with hundreds of clients including some very well known ones that I wish I could mention.

Every day brings new challenges and new fun. And hopefully new photos of 'swinging' Jace the Face on Facebook.

Jace the Face and work in progress

Had a great weekend! Babysat for Jace the Face while his mommy and daddy attended Derby Festival events. He is my heart's keeper for sure. I held him for hours. And hours. He laughs now and smiles a lot. What a great baby! Mommy and Daddy are pretty cool too. He looked like his mommy when he was born, but now looks just like his daddy did when he was a that age.

Here is a photo of Jace with his Grandaddy.



And lest you think I am all Jace, all the time, I did manage to work on some calligraphy jobs this past week too. I worked on a proclamation for my cousin who is being posthumously honored by his city for his wonderful work. Unfortunately I was sent a form that was much too small. I had hoped to hand letter everything in a nice size. As it turns out, I didn't have time for it anyway when it came down to it, so did what I could using the form I was sent, and will reduce it mechanically tomorrow and FedEx it to the Mayor's office Tuesday for the presentation on Thursday. No photo of that yet, but here is a photo of one of the other projects I've been working on, a menu for a major event in a distant city. This is 'in-progress', not finished. I have to do a scan of it tomorrow after work too and do some touch ups tomorrow night. (My new scanner is not large enough to accommodate the paper.)



I have a lot more calligraphy work for the next couple of weeks. Then a breather for some surgery. In the meantime, I finished the course from h-e-#-#, Quantitative Analysis. I got an A!!!!! Final grade was 99.11%. I'm so glad it's over. I switched to a Mac early in the class and course materials on CD were no longer available to me. These things compounded the frustrations and time constraints of an already super-difficult course. I was also involved in a life drawing class through early March. And calligraphy jobs and the new grandchild meant I had other things I wanted and needed to concentrate on. I won't be taking another class too soon. Except two art workshops I've already signed up for. (Right. I never seem to stop.)

Laughing Baby

Forgive me another photo of new grandson Jace. In this one his mother had him laughing. She shot this one with her telephone.


Though Jace is the very best thing happening, there is more. We hosted my family for Easter. The youngest was Jace at just one month old and the eldest was Aunt Chris - who will be 99 next month. Everyone brought great additions to the meal, and the weather was gorgeously cooperative.

I am still pursuing my MBA and am in the killer class Quantitative Analysis. Every person I have asked for help has been unable to help. It's been a horror and I hope to finish it by the end of this month. I have an A average, but it's only because of the time I am putting in to the study...40 hours one week! And as quickly as I 'learn' it, it flies out the window. (I'm thinking that's why others who work with QA to some degree have been unable to help, so in a weird way that makes me feel better.)

In addition, I am working on a lovely wedding job, a premiere event in Indianapolis and an invitation for a small dinner party. (One day turnaround on that rush job...each invitation was hand-lettered and each envelope required lettering the return address as well as the recipient's address.) I am going to letter a Proclamation this week/weekend to honor my cousin Doug Webb of Columbus, IN, who died earlier this year. The city is honoring him later this month with a Doug Webb Day and is naming a softball field in his honor for his dedication to the sport and to the fields he worked closely with the Parks Department to build and maintain which have brought the city visitors from around the country and Canada. I am honored to do this small part toward honoring his generous spirit.

And, yes, I still work full time. Life will be at a more manageable pace once this blankety-blank QA course ends! It will almost feel like I'm on vacation. Speaking of which, I had to turn down a vacation in Ireland to concentrate on coursework. Photos of some of the projects will come as soon as I have time to work with them.

Jace Christopher Hurst: personality = cuddly

Ah, little man Jace...three of my favorite pictures.

These were taken by Sandy Wright and Audrey Anderson.

His daddy always liked to sleep too. : )

Jace Christopher Hurst

I am a new grandmother. Can hardly stand the exciting news. I want to hold my son and his new son, Jace Christopher. Mother, Dad and baby are all happy and healthy and - wonderful!

Opportunity!

In my new position as Academic Services Director, I am going to head a group of company reps for our academic (and other) products. The base products are graduation related: diplomas, diploma and certificate covers, caps, gowns and tassels. It doesn't have to stick with schools though. Any business that could use certificate or presentation covers (think menus, photos, awards, retirements, etc.) could possibly select our products. Another branch of the company deals in high end specialty boxes, presentation cases and special books. We have done many exciting products for highly recognizable companies and entities. From the finest leathers to fabric, any price range can most likely be accommodated. Beauty schools, daycare centers, aeronautic and Bible colleges...any group that gives recognition is a potential client. I am going to be polling my friends to find people interested in repping our fine products.

Another part of the company, which also falls under my purview, is textbook rebinding. We can save schools a lot of money by rebinding rather than purchasing new textbooks to replace use-worn books.

Pay attention!

This is too funny to not share. For the past few weeks I included an Albert Einstein quote as part of my email signature. Recently I sent an email request to an online company. Today I received an email telling me - Albert - that my package would arrive in a few days. I am going to laugh out loud when the mail to Albert Einstein arrives. You must treat me with more respect! Heck - *I* must treat me with more respect.

Wonder what they'll do now that I've changed my email signature to a Goethe quote. Think they'll mistake me for him too?

Then there's the dental office sign I spotted earlier this week - "Free Child Cleaning." Really? Baths or showers, I wonder. And do they shampoo too?

On the Job Front

Wow! What a crazy few days at work! Crazy busy, crazy good. The photo I posted on January 5 of dash plaques I'd layed out on a mat board had to be re-done. The shape wasn't proportionate to the page it would be printed on. So, after the boss set up a 'field of green' paper for the background, I re-did the dash plaques, removing each one of them and starting over. One by one by one... This photo was needed for the publishing meetings this week. (Replete with group lunches of great sandwiches and homemade soups from my crockpot.)

I was happy with the finished layout. More importantly, the publishing team was happy with it. My boss made a prototype vault case for the book --- and a photo of 'my' dash plaques will be on the back of the case. It will also be on some pages in the book. There may even be a jigsaw puzzle made of it. (Funny that I used those very words in describing the layout on January 5.) Color me excited!

Today I worked with the team on the book itself, making inclusions for some pages. I definitely feel a part of this publication and can hardly wait to see it published this summer. Whoo woo! There was talk today of a launch party. Fun!

More fun - I asked for press credentials for the Derby. Have been told it 'could be arranged.'

I love my job!

Life Drawing - John

Last night's Life Drawing class began with several gestural drawings of 20 second poses. John, the model, was long and lean in physique with long red hair which he put up in a pony tail after the first several 20 second renderings. I found the longer body a bit easier to draw than last week's petite Caroline, though she was an excellent model too. These first two drawings of John were shadows only. They are not complete drawings, but only drawings of the contouring shadows on him. I think my first, partly due to the pose, was the more successful of the two. In the first one, though, you'll notice the left shoulder has an added shoulder off to the left...this is from a previous drawing and isn't a part of this one. The line for the left buttock I think was the instructor's pencil line to determine where it should be...it was bathed in light from my vantage point, therefore not to be drawn. It was interesting to see everyone's final drawings of 'shadow only'. Some obeyed, some did not, but all were fine work. It was difficult, but a worthwhile exercise.


















Hmmm. I thought this (below) was my best drawing, but now that I see it from this vantage point I can see all the flaws...not the least of which is John's small feet (not in real life, folks!), the oddly configured spade, and his less than accurate right calf. This was the end of the night, a 25 minute pose. Late in the session the instructor discussed proportion with me and suggested some changes. The torso was elongated and the legs were too short. He was not deformed, my drawing is. Why did I like it last night? I was very tired! My excuse for you tonight is that due to these changes, I didn't get everything corrected? Side note...John jokingly said he always does his farming in the nude.

Abstracted Dressing

My latest digital collage is a bit different for me. I may be the only one who likes it. : )













Here's an early stage of the piece. Doesn't look much like it ended up, does it?

Last of Christmas; First of Life Drawing Class

Clearing up some last Christmas photos...here is Max silhouetted against his first snow.


He loved the snow and wanted to play in it every minute! And he sleeps so well after playing outside!
















Another view of Christmas.

I'll bet my neighbors will be glad when Steve takes this mess down!
He promised he will on Thursday, when we'll have warmer temps.

















This is a snowy night view of the
Louisville Water Tower
on the Ohio River.
This is the setting for my life drawing classes. (Inside, thankfully!)












There must be fifteen to twenty students in my class.
Most of them are MUCH better than me. There are many professional artists in the group, many with MFAs, and a few who are just trying to get better at what they love to do.











Yikes! I have a LOT to learn. Fellow students a) had fantastic work, and b) were very encouraging. Proportion and learning to draw what I really see instead of what I think I see are the main issues here. These were very quick drawings (but that doesn't excuse my giving the poor girl a pinhead.) We began with 20 second gestural drawings...yes - 20 seconds! I was terrible at those. We progressed to 5 minutes. I think these may be in that range.













Just when I thought I had learned
something
...I opened up this snapshot of my final project
from last night and the first thing I see is how tiny I've made her foot.
I had a hard time drawing this petite woman. She was an excellent model, but drawing from life was a brand new experience for me. I am learning to see. She held this last pose of the night for a full thirty minutes.













Speaking of nudity - what? Here is a naked tree on my path to work this morning, its bare branches raised up to the blue sky. I don't think I could draw this guy very well either.

Lights in the Snow

I'd been wanting our Christmas lights taken down and stored away for another year, but today I was glad to be met by them when I got home. In the four inches we got today, the lights glowed so prettily. The lights will remain up a while longer. Temps are going to be sub zero this weekend.

Project Progress and Leftovers from 2009

The photo below represents a lot of work! This project (for work) began months ago...my first big assignment at Automobile Quarterly. I called so many wonderful people and persuaded them to send me their collectible plaques to be used in a montage as background pages in a very special 75th anniversary vault book for the Antique Automobile Club of America. Alas, I set them up as 'bleeding' to the edges instead of leaving a margin - I may have to re-do this tomorrow. No matter - the hardest part is done...until time to reorganize and mail the plaques back to the proper owners. Can anyone say 'jigsaw puzzle'?



Catching up on some 2009 activities I don't think I shared. Here are two photos from the extremely cool Children's Museum in Indianapolis. The dinosaur exhibit is primo! I believe these are life size. (I know they are humongous and much bigger than my life size.) The coolest part is that inside the building you could see the rest of the creature's bodies. So much fun! I know my kids would have loved this when they were young.





Actually, I think the photo below is from 2008. It was taken at night and was too dark to use, but I loved the idea of it and worked on it with Photoshop tonight. Not perfect, but it's readable now. I believe the building has been demolished. All the old department store windows may have been destroyed. I have dark photos of most of them and hope to make them usable for my artwork. Victoria Secret, anyone?



Just after Christmas we went to a holiday store. I bought nothing, but snapped this photo of a lifesized Old World Santa. Just because I like him, I am sharing him. Hmmm - he may be my 2010 Christmas card.




Here's my newest little piece. I made multiples I had so much fun with it. I haven't done collage in ages, though it's a favorite medium.



Calligraphy. A few end-of-year envelopes. I'm loving lettering again and want to do more! (I have just accepted a small volunteer job for a former student who works with the needy. A 'positive message' sign to hang in her office.)



My 2009 birthday card exchange offering. Different sizes and colors, but most were basically like this one.



Life at work and at home is getting busier. I have a wedding job coming right up, want to take a life drawing class beginning this month, will join some friends for a monthly greeting card class (also beginning this month), and have signed up for an out of town spring watercolor workshop. In addition I have to quickly determine if I can attend a week-long calligraphy retreat in September that I've been honored to be invited to, whether I'll attend Odyssey, the annual calligraphy conference and hardest of all - figure how I'll have enough vacation time to do everything I want to do - including entertain a friend from Argentina in the spring and visit him in the fall. Whew! At work, I've been assigned a few new projects. I'm digging in, working hard and enjoying every day. I'm also wondering about cloning.

Making lemonade

Mapquest sent me on a detour of gigantic proportion today when I searched for an out of town estate sale. I made it - an hour late - but took a photo of a cool looking old gingerbreaded house on the detour. Love the way the stars shadowed onto the old frame house. Had I not been in my car in the middle of the road I might have taken another photo with the sweet old dog guarding the front door. If the shadows were the same it would have been a better photo. I like these anyway.







Didn't buy anything at the estate sale, but bought a 'shabby chic' handmade blanket chest (complete with interior removable tray) at my favorite resale shop on my way home. It's Max-proof. I won't have to kill him if he harms it...which the almost pony Mr. Claws is sure to do. I'd been wanting a chest downstairs in front of the sofa to use as coffee table/footstool, but didn't want to have anything too precious to enjoy. I'm going to like this old piece. I'll clean it up a little and - store blankets in it!

Creative Matrix - I'm back!

Creative Matrix is an online group for digital artists that I've belonged to for several years. However, for the past two or three years I've been a lurker due to heavy demands on my time by my previous employer. (My time was never my own.) Now that I'm in a new job with a wonderful employer who is respectful of my personal time, I have jumped back into this great group with both feet. I created three digital collages today - a great way to start a new decade. Two of them have been entered with Creative Matrix, all three are entered here. (The third one doesn't yet qualify for CM because it only uses one of their images. I may do more with it. A minimum of two of the proffered images must be used to create a 'weave' or a digital collage.) It feels good to be creative again. (I've already finished all 12 of my birthday card exchange cards too. Waaaay ahead of schedule. Yay for me!)


Fanciful old truck.



Through a lace curtain.



Bird-view.