Although I named her Valentina Marcella-she is dedicated to my friend Shelia-the true “Queen of the night”.

i over dyed an vintage 1940’s tablecloth, embellishing with beading & embroidery and she is in an early circa 1900’s woodframe.

she’ll be at the  Icons, Legends & Nortorius figures exhibit at the Cactus Gallery in Eagle Rock. visit their website:  http://www.eclecticcactus.com/

for those of you who know me-you  are aware of my “collections”.i have tried to be quite stern with myself-i’m at a point in my life i should use what i have-sadly that is not quite working out.  

i was at a flea market (not the best place for one who is trying to resist temptation-ah well) & couldn’t resist a bundle of old books. one of my very near furture projects is an altered book so i rationalized.

i’m reading the arabian nights, a lifelong favorite, enchantingly illustrated by rene bull. i’m keeping tradition and reading one story each night. (see-i do have a soupscon  of willpower.)

http://www.whimzical.com/Bull.html

René Bull (1870? - 1942) had a wild imagination and a bold style. We had not heard of him until recently, but we’re immensely glad we did. Frankly, we think he’s a genius. His mind could grasp any concept and find a way to express it in a lively and humorous style. Check it ouT:what immediately springs to mind is comic book illustration—and this in the early 1900s. Born in Ireland, Bull did not come upon illustration till he was studying engineering in London. He was inspired to become an artist, and was eventually sent to cover several wars for Black and White magazine. Speaking of which, in addition to his amazing color illustrations, his version of The Arabian Nights also features humorous line drawings (see below). This is truly one of the most wonderous versions available, long overdue for reprinting.

it’s hard to think about christmas in 90 degree heat. i’ve been having alot of fun with these angels-here’s the christmas girl.

i’ve put a somewhat acceptable dent of the not so fun  “must do’s”-shopping, cleaning, paperwork, ect-i’ve decided to spend the rest of the day having fun. 

not necessarily in this order, but heres my list

give the girls (dogs) a bath. it’s going to be HOT-so they will dry quickly. 

work on my quilt square for the saqa auction  (visit  www.saqa.com  for more info)

get my workshop materials ready for tomorrow ( ten  workshops are starting tomorrow-visit my website for details)

work on a few assemblage pieces-my new favorite thing-i just finished “the swan.”

definately last on the list and maybe a “to do” for another day is to see

what i can do about my messy studio for a possible upcoming photo shoot.

please join me at another wonderful show at the folk tree gallery-

i’ll be there for the opening reception Saturday May 31st from 4-6pm 

I can’t wait for summer ! I have workshops scheduled at the gallery in Venice during June & July. I was going to take the month of August off-change of plans,  i’ve been invited to exhibit & teach at the Pasadena Bead & Design Show. I’m very excited! for more information and a complete schedule visit my website www.turkeyred.com

today is much better than last tuesday-however my car is ailing.  it sustained ”serious injury” ( it blew a spark plug through the cylinder head) according to my wonderful, honest & talented mechanic.  the good news is that it will be covered under my extended warrenty which ends this august-whew! more good news is that i didn’t get stranded yesterday driving all over town- the garment district downtown la in the morning-then betty ( busy/bad dog) & i went to the folktree gallery in pasadena to drop of my piece for the upcoming “anything goes” show - complete information on my website or www.folktree.com.

i was able to get to the library this morning to pick up a book recommended by a customer-infinite variety-the life and times of the marchasa casati. i’ve only had time to skim-but it looks delicious!

i also finished this assemblage piece “winged” -and i’m dedicating it to “the merciful powers that be” who had didn’t leave me stranded on the 405 during rush hour traffic-my car conveniently died a block from home-what more could i ask?

as usual my tuesday morning  started out at a fast pace-the  usual walk the dogs, feed dogs, cats, bird,chickens, feed men (in that order. do other various chores-out the door by 7:30 to hit the swapmeet and market-planning on being back at 10 to get some work done.

naturally it’s rush hour traffic- we have about 6 schools in our immediate neighborhood-it is a real zoo. i was stopped at a redlight at a major intersection , 2nd in line to make a left hand turn- i was not looking ahead at the intersection-i was getting gum out of my purse - and ka boom-an accident right in front of me.  a bad collision- a small suv going straight  and a BIG schoolbus making the left-no contest.  i did call 911 to request an ambulance-but i have to have to be honest- since i didn’t  actually witness the crash-i was not going to stop.  there always seem to be people who are calm and competant and step right up in an emergency-they know exactly what to do, i am not one of those people.  sadly out of  50 plus cars around (  i do not exaggerate)  NO ONE-NOT ONE PERSON got out to help.  so- i pulled over, stepped up to the plate and pretended to be one of those calm competent people. i got to the drivers side i could see that the driver was ok-the air bags  naturally went off -but she was conscious if somewhat hysterical. her main concern was her 2 year old in the backseat- who was thankfully safely strapped in her carseat and fine.

to sum up- the ambulance, firetruck, police, chp eventually  all came and took charge. the kids on the bus were all ok-the bus driver is ok-the 2 year old is ok- and i think the driver of the suv is lucky to have escaped with seemingly minimal injuries. 

i can only speculate that all those other drivers around were in a hurry-not wanting  get”involved”-but reguardless-it doesn’t really have any bearing on my actions.  as i said-i did not want to stop- but thankfully  i did.  i learned a lesson today- i won’t wait to see if the other person is going to do the right thing-i’ll just do it myself.

does mother’s day have a special meaning? a question that might give some pause- naturally all the veteran mom’s out there know the answer-it’s just another day. don’t misunderstand- in my mind that’s not a bad thing and after 29 yrs of being a mom-i still am enjoying my”momhood”.

i’ll close by sharing a story from an aquaintance of mine-we’ll call her”miss b”.  she was a child of “sixties parents” who brought up their children in a most definate alternative lifestyle.  miss b’s mother forbade any celebration of mothers day-sighting it was clearly a hallmark conspiracy.  words of wisdom-true or false?

reguardless-it’s just another great day.

i was feeling very sorry for myself-i had one of “those shows”.  Perhaps it was the record heat, the fire a few miles away, the laker game who knows-whatever the reason there was hardly anyone there except alot of unhappy hot vendors. 

 a very low point was when a woman dropped one of my new favorite’s, a very

fragile assemblage piece and took off. 

 And I have only one comment on that the promoter advertised “all handmade, no imports”-HA!

ah well-live and learn.  the good news is the assemblage piece can be repaired-thankfully the major damage was to parts that can be replaced. And special thanks to those friends, loyal customers, and acquaintances who braved the hot weather to drop by-you know who you are!

this morning i sent my summer workshop schedule to my fabulous webmistress & fellow artist michelle verbeeck.  i am such a slacker-had i read her current blog-i would have known that she broke her wrist-in not just one but in three places-michelle, i’m soooo sorry.  so i now have put my “little unimportant bad show weekend” gripe away in it’s proper place-at the bottom of the list. thank you michelle for helping me regain perspective. (Visit michelle at http://www.redbird-studio.com/ and view her wonderful work at  http://www.studio-259.com/studioblog1/