garden wine tasting - round 1

So this was the line up: 1. Maipe Torrontes 2008 2. Alta Vista Torrontes 2006 3. Maipe Malbec 2008 4. Viejo Isaisas 2007 5.Punto Final 2007
And the winners were...#1Maipe Torrontes and #4 Viejo Isaisas! ..Alta Vista didn't do so well, but we did not have a problem polishing that one off did we...

"Le Boulanger" of Dehart Street. Fresh Bread and none left over.

And the matching cheeses: Cashel Blue , Herbed Chevre, Chevre with olives and spicy peppers, Spanish Manchego, goes with this and goes with that, blah blah blah...

Checking out the wine selection.

A garden view, so lovely!

so proper!

oh my! -so distinguished!!!

so full..

The children and the lightning bugs, what a sight!

Later in the evening...

and on and on...

My bayba Keo not feeling so good, but still so cute!

and much much later in the evening... The Airport Acres Poker Posse enjoying the midnight air, and that one left over wine.

~Thanks Ginger for all your help and everyone for all the food and company! Thanks Sarah for the photos!!!

pizza pizza

Delisiouso! Jim and his oven in their own world. You can just hear the conversation between the two.

Working hands, hard at work. You can hear the mixing of that, the sprinkling of this and the tearing of these here too!

Simple as this.

And amazing as that!

Muchisimas Gracias for letting us be your pizza testers!

summer days...

Kenji went on his first overnight camp at Smith Mountain, Virginia. It was strange seeing him off but saying goodbye wasn't so bad. He signed up for activities such as canoeing, kayaking, fishing and woodworking. He was gone for a whole week...I packed him a gift that he could open every single morning, little things like a ball, some gummy bears, fun tattoos. I also sent him a package that Monday morning after we dropped him off so that he'd get it by Wednesday...JM says I went over board, but I don't think I did :) I don't know how much he appreciated it though...never said much about it. But he did come home with a new "big" counselor friend above named "Jello" It seems as though they really got along, she said he was so sweet. I keep asking me what he liked about her, and all he ever says is" I dunno"...
My mom made Kenji a welcome home sign there on the post :) Kenji was happy to be home to find sticks and bugs.

My mom winding down from the fast paced week we just had. She found Blacksburg lovely and we had such a wonderful time together. We met so many people while she was here and did so many things. Thanks mama for the beautiful basket there you bought us!


The view from Jo and Gildas house.

And - I sold two paintings at my show. You can actually see them below at my opening show. I'm standing with Veronica in one of them, and Yoko with the other. They were purchased by people I don't even know who were not at the opening show. Funny huh? These people just walked into Mish Mish, browsed around the store, went to the gallery and then said to themselves "ah, yes, I like THIS one! "I don't know who these people were but I do have their names...I don't have there contact info, but...I would like to. One guy named Tom Gordon bought my "an evening in London" - one of my favorites. And the other guy named Harold Jones bought " Vanity Fair" Men bought my work. Both men! Kenji was there when I picked up my check from the gallery. It was such a funny feeling. I was sad first to know they were gone. Gone forever somewhere, somewhere out there in Blacksburg. Kenji and I stood there gazing out into the town and all I kept saying was"Kenji , can you believe my artwork is out there somewhere?, in someones house right now....gone forever!!!" He just smiled with excitment only a 9 year old would have and said "yeah...like in a museum somewhere!" :)

opening night!!!!

Tada! Here it is. Opening night, 19 pieces total, 6 -ish or so in the evening and people showed up! I was so happy. It turned out so well. It meant so much to me that friends showed up. On the ride home from Michigan that same day I was starting to feel nervous about how late we would be arriving in Blacksburg. But my mom and I made it with the kids 2 hours before the show! It was such a nice thing to not have to really do anything to prepare except show up! Noreen said "it was kinda like your wedding!" It was a funny feeling indeed. Preperations were all made, all was set up, and all I had to do was come and greet my visitors. But here JM caught a quick pic of me secretly showing my excitement!

In this picture above ....I am trying to....explain, something, with my hands to John. Definitely using my hands here. As you can see I'm not really sure what Im trying to explain, it happens often actually. So here John waits patiently as I try to convey something about a piece of art. What could it be that I was trying to say? I have no clue. Maybe he asked my process? and I said something like "well, I mix paint and then get all these colors that I didn't plan on getting and then realize I made too much so I had to use them up quickly before they dried up. Or maybe I said " I cut out paper and glue it together to make an image....kinda like cut and paste in kindergarten...." And John is like "huh, ok."


My mom and I in front of "Love me, love me not" To the right is a cut-out titled " Berry Pickers" It is actually inspired by one of my first days out with Zoe, Zane and Keo together to a berry picking field. In the picture here they are holding their berries in the basket, that day though when I took a picture of them, they were standing exactly like that but with the berry baskets on their head! I have to post the picture its really cute. The cut-out to the left of the canvas one is "Home" It is self portrait of the house we live in. I have the cutest picture of Martha and Neal Crawford looking at it. It was so much fun to make.
I think my mom really liked this green one though. Its the colors I think.

Our wonderful and fun playgroup! Annsophie with Jayme on the left, Noreen , Kyooyoung, me, Ryan and Jeoungwoo in front. Behind us are two more cut outs framed in bleached wooden frames, the ornate gold frame is 'The Little Prince'The other four on the left are part of the "faces" series.
Amy, Jim, Leigh, JM and I and half of Kenji's face. Thanks Jim and Amy for the strawberries and grapes. They were fresh from our garden I could taste!

Veronica and I in front of her favorite piece! I thought it was so sweet that everyone had there favorite and told me so. The one there is "Evening in London". To the right is a garden plot cut out, and now I know whose it is! It's Susie's! She recognized it, or was it Jim who recognized it?

My mom and Keo above and a glimpse of Kenji and his friend Caitlyn to the right. Caitlyn said "I really like your art gisa!" I think it's the best when a child compliments anything on an adult. Whether it's art, what your wearing or your cooking!

Noel came early to help me, she took pictures and mingled with everyone.
Behind her you can see "Phoenix Rises" in the rectangular frame along with four others. Two of them were custom framed, two were not. I'm not sure which ones looked better..
Yoko and I in front of her favorite piece in the show :)
The night came and went, after show drinks came and conquered! We had a fun night out afterwards at Boudreauxs - sans kids. I'm glad my mom was there to share it all with me.

And finally, A picture of me before the show. I love the scenery in the back. It's very Blacksburg. It reminds me of why I enjoyed doing the cut-outs. feel as though I'm standing in one of my own pictures, the green color, the shape of the tree. And also, I'm standing is in such a way that only happens when my mother visits. A very " Gisa! Stand properly" kind of moment.

invitations!!!

FINAL PREPARATIONS!
My art show postcards! These will be out at the show, still waiting for them to arrive. They will have my name at the bottom in black and the details on the back. Fun!

my signature my dear

Just liked the way it looked. I almost want to take a bit out of it.

and in the beginning...

Faced with a show in less than 4 weeks and a few empty canvases!






To see the work in progress from step 1, scroll with your eyes closed!- to the bottom of the page!

preparation phase - DONE!

All done!
Here they are. The next time I will post is after the art exhibit. I managed to change the date from the 12th of June to the 5th of June.
Enjoy!!!
This one above turned out sweet and simple after all that turmoil I had with it. Like a 2 year old going through it's tantrums.

And this one also turned out nice. A bit busy for my taste, but I do like the mood again. You can almost hear the...crowd at a soccer game. Why a soccer ball up there? Because I was so desperate at one point that I got up from my desk and started digging through the kids craft drawers. It's the colors that caught my eye, the black and white.

And my little prince. The mat does wonders for it. And the frame was one I got at a thrift shop. I tried to dry brush some blue on the gold.....didn't work out so well, had to wipe it right off. But you can see a few speckles here and there.I called this one Shattered. She looks stunned, surprised, taken back...like she just discovered a little mouse in her house!"Oh darling..." She looks heavy eyed, glamorous and ready for a cocktail on her fancy sofa.

A sneak peak above. ....It looks ok right????It;s not all of them, just some of the new ones.


Keo was also inspired to paint. So serious!

art preparation - phase. "almost there"-

At this point I had gone over that hump of no return and pieces were well under way. I knew which ones where coming with me and my framing situation was finalized. I got some framed properly and it cost a good amount and also got some ready made frames at Michaels and that seemed to be just as good for looks. My canvas pieces were not framed and that saved money and time. I learned SO much about framing and mats. Thanks Jess for your tips along the way...
Here they are almost done!Bright and colorful one really gave me a headache. Finished it just today. Whew!
The cut paper ones were fun to make and required me to go into the "field" for inspiration. Watching the kids play and swing on trees was really fun cause I got to think about how I would go about making just that scene, so I was really attentive.



I thought these old ornate frames would look good, but then thought they made the picture a bit dark? So I opted for unfinished wooden frames from Michaels. At least for the 5 cut paper pieces I did they all have the same frame. Unity, unity, unity. whatever...

The final steps! Retracing an eye with pen and ink, adding a jewel to the headpiece. How glamorous indeed!