May Day 2016: What price joy?

"Members of the North Olympic Watercolorists (NOW) will have an Artist's Reception at the Fifth Avenue, 500 W. Hendrickson St., to open the month-long showing of their work from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, May 1.
Free and open to the public, the show will continue until May 31." (Peninsula Daily News online calendar May 1.)

"Sunset in Sequim" is a misnomer. At the last moment I was
not happy with that submission, but the label was already
made up. This really has the title "Hot Summer Sunset in
New Hampshire," done from memory, thinking of my
days near those lakes and ponds.

And I am a member.
And I have three pieces in the show.
And I was ecstatic to be included!!

The photos of my watercolors are not very good because there is light from the room reflected in some of them.

But the colors are at least true with this Sony camera I was using.

The Canon tends to wash out some of my photos and then I am faced with trying to reconstitute the photo with an unsatisfactory software.

My goal this next week is to make sure that I have a checklist prior to framing that I go through to make sure that getting a good, sharp photo is the first thing I do before it is sealed up in a frame.

That's what we learn as we go along, I guess.

Following are some shots of folks looking at the works of others and one of someone looking at this one above. 

This was not my first show, but the first in the U.S. The level
of excitement is the same for me, though... thrilling!

Reception guest looking more closely at my piece.

Guests and artists mingle at our NOW reception.

The crowd was largest about 1:30 p.m., but I was occupied greeting some friends and so could not take any photos of them. (Thank you John Brewer and Barbara for making the effort to come and see what I've been doing.)

Carol Joy brings light and laughter to all my adventures!
She's carrying in the cake that we worked on together.

Thanks also goes to my friend Carol Joy who drove over from Bellingham to help me prepare (this time it was a cake, not a sleeping bag - LOL) and to Jenna Rose who left the dance floor to come and admire work she had seen in progress... without my special friends cheering me on, it would be far less enjoyable!

Deni Young, one of the artists, studies the work of another
member. We all learn from each other.

Sixteen artists each had three pieces hanging and the NOW hanging team did a great job of keeping a thread of colors and patterns going around the gallery space for an appealing balance for viewing.

The other artists are: Sandy Placek, Katie Carlson, Marcia Lyn Barrett, Beverly Beighle, John Wilkinson, Janet Beers, LeRoy Beers, Lyn Smith, Jolee Sanborn, Jim Gift, Pat Donlin, Janet Flatley, Deni Young and Rita Heywood.

Some of the comments overheard: 
"This seems a lot more professional than stuff I've seen in some of the galleries that are agents." 
"I love how this artist has captured the feeling of water."
"Each artist has such a unique and special way of conveying what seems important to them."

"Dew on the Leaves" is done on clayboard. It was also
framed by Gregg Elwood of Port Angeles.

"Sunset in Barichara" was framed by Gregg Elwood
from Port Angeles. This photo doesn't show off his
great work as well as I would have liked.

Several members brought food for the reception. The top photo
shows my Fannie Farmer pound cake with a buttercream
frosting made with stevia instead of sugar. Most folks liked it.

What I've learned so far... showing your art work is a lot like trotting out the kids to see if strangers think they are well-dressed and mannerly. In one way you really don't care what those folks think, but in another way, you don't want to come up short when everyone else's kids are being displayed also.

Another aspect is putting a price on those 'children.'

If someone wants to take them off my hands, they will have to pay a good price... I love them enough to spend the money for framing and so am happy to display them in my own home.

And after the cost of framing, there is the evaluation of my time... I was asked "How long did it take you to do this one?" (the "Dew" work) I replied, "I really have no idea. I wasn't clocking in every time I put some additional work in on it... it was all joy." 

What price do you put on joy? (Even Carol will admit she is priceless!!)

Cold... isn't news

But me writing novel during the month of November is, and even more impressive is that my ten-year old granddaughter is also writing as well.

I suspect she is making better progress than I am... according to the statistics, I should be generating something like 1,675 words a day. I can just about do that over the weekend.

I haven't talked to her about her plot, but mine is about two teen-aged boys who get kidnapped by their bi-polar father and how the journey of lifetime takes a lifetime to forget.

Based on a true story told to me awhile ago, I tried to find the storyteller again and last I heard he was possibly in Tennessee, but attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. If my story gets optioned, I'll let the publishing house hire a detective to track him down.

Learning that a salmon patty is NOT gluten-free... sigh.

The other bit of news for me is that I've pretty well determined that I am gluten-intolerant.

I'm intolerant of other things, too - people who justify all their behaviors as being God-directed, waiting in long lines, too-early Christmas messages presented as "holiday" messages, public radio and television stations masking advertising as 'donors,' service people at stores who are unable to give clear directions on the phone on how to drive to the place where they work, seniors who act proud of not being able to use computers or smart phones and mechanics who don't bother to ask me if I know anything about the internal combustion engine before they start talking down to me about what they think is wrong with my car.

That's only a partial list... LOL! Seriously, after a week of eliminating ALL wheat products from my food sources (and that stuff is hidden in a lot of crazy places!) I am feeling better, sleeping better and - finally - losing weight. My final clue was a flour-based chocolate chip cookie - just one - which left me feeling bloated, thirsty and gave me a headache an hour later.

And the next day someone asked if I'd read "Wheat Belly" by William Davis, M.D. when I was complaining about not being able to enjoy that cookie. So I got it, and surprise! All my complaints and others were outlined as being a "wheat addict." I'd even told a friend recently that if I could only have two things on my menu one would be warm French bread with butter and chocolate cake with real vanilla buttercream frosting.

Chicken Almond salad with green onions and celery... yum!

So, interesting observation.... no more wheat, no more cravings after five days being wheat-free. Who'da thunk it? I've been learning a lot about how the wheat of the past, the wheat that was in my early life, is NOT the same wheat today. Did you know that scientists, in their effort to create faster-growing, more cost-effective acreage yield, have created a strain of wheat that is smaller but it is also truly incompatible with many human digestive systems?

Get this book and read it for yourself. If you are pre-diabetic, diabetic, having digestive problems, arthritis symptoms, craving sugars, feeling depressed or feeling like you can't think clearly (to name a few issues created by wheat allergies) you may be gluten-sensitive, too.

I think that when I was living in Colombia I didn't eat much food with flour in it and I was walking a lot, so it was healthier for me. But as soon as I came back to the U.S. I started eating all those things I couldn't get further south. And it didn't help that my adrenal glands were struggling as well.

So I cleaned out my pantry of everything containing wheat... crackers, flours, pastas, salad dressings with blue cheese and bread mold in them (used to ferment cheese), sausages, soups, any ingredients in seasoning mixes that might have barley malt, barley extract, dextrin and maltodextrin, corn chips and trail mixes. I'm still discovering foods and ingredients that are truly gluten-free.

I'll check back in with y'all in a week, but based on my personal research, I'm pretty sure that at the least this is going to be a healthier option for me.

First Friday Art Walk

An old barn in Sequim at the edge of a strip mall.

By the time you read this the First Friday Art Walk for March will be over and done with. This was the second Art Walk for me, and it was a little more interesting since I actually met a couple of people from my art classes and the Episcopal church as I wandered from gallery and art shop and museum, sampling the treats and looking at the displays.

I also found a wonderful shop for clothes if I ever want to have something a little more upscale than Wally World or recycled jeans. But as an artist, (hopefully never a starving one, although my recent Social Security debacle makes me wonder...) I don't have much of a requirement in that regard these days. I am enjoying my new watercolor instructor and looking forward to more time learning this new form of expression.

There are a number of reasons why I must stay in Sequim at present, not the least of which is my financial status. Social Security did not issue my distribution last month on time, making no explanation as to why this occurred, only sending me two letters announcing the 'new' schedule which is the same as the last one. This whimsical action on their part created havoc with my planning, and caused other disruptions. I am more than a little excised about threats to the Social Security 'bank' by those who think they have any rights to it at all.

So it was a discouraging month to say the least, as it required several trips to the nearest (25 miles away) Social Security office since they had basically shut me off and I could not even get information on line. There were no notes in my files giving any explanation for this abrupt change, and in spite of the efforts of the very kind team in the local office, it still took the better part of a week to get them to 'turn me back on' again. It appears that everything is back on schedule now, but living on a fixed income, these hiccups reverberate for more than just a few weeks.

However, I am moving on from these upsets and found the Art Walk uplifting... The RainShadow Coffee House was featuring a collaborative of musicians playing Irish jigs and reels, which always warms my heart. Their coffee is pretty warming as well!

The Museum was featuring local student artists and I was quite impressed with the level of their work and I guess I wasn't the only one... it was still pretty crowded with onlookers when I arrived after spending a fair amount of time in the coffee house.

These two wild cats pieces were done by seniors. I did not get a chance to get their names because right after I took the photos, their families were standing around to take shots of the youths in front of the work.

My granddaughter is a wonderful artist, too, and I wished she might have had a chance to see some of the work her peers are doing here in Sequim.

I am quite taken by this duplication of Beatrix Potter
with the rabbits in the garden. Quite detailed up close.
And the black & grey head is equally impressive.

These are done by students in the lower grades.

It is quite delightful to walk about in the evening and have so many people out and about, darting into various shops for a tidbit of cheese and cracker or some wine or even a cupcake. There is a fabulous baker here who makes many of the local wedding cakes. She and her husband operate "That Takes The Cake" and the cupcakes are sooooo good! She told me that last August they were so busy they could not do all the weddings asked of them.

Well, I have to say I am grateful to be here, if I am having to be anywhere. The level of artists' performance is remarkable; something for me to strive to achieve. And today it was above 45 degrees! Spring is coming, but I enjoyed seeing the snow far away....

Highway 101 runs all the way to the end of the Olympic Peninsula.
I wonder if this is the same 101 that runs through my home town?