In August, the daughter of a friend of mine was involved in a very bad head on collision. During her recovery, I spent time hooking a small wall hanging. I included a star shape because her mom had said how down she was about her injuries, which included compound fractures in an arm and a leg, and breaks in the other arm and leg as well...she was unable to walk and take care of the simplest things herself, and it was really hard for such an independent young woman. But I wanted her to remember how lucky she was (as in "thank your lucky stars"), that there had been no head trama, that all her injuries would eventually heal and that she was still here...with us. I added a small felt heart bc of all the love I saw from family and friends who gathered at the hospital and afterwards to hold her up, to remind her of good times ahead.
She's already doing much, much better and is able to walk on her own, attend classes and be a teenager again. Thursday she has what I hope will be her final surgery to repair injuries that happened as a result of the accident. I know she's feeling better and staying positive bc that's the kind of kid she is. And bc of the kind of kid she is, I know she will turn this all around and use it to help others...and I can't wait to see all that she does!!
Yes, I know...I said I'd be back "soon" in my last update, and that was April. Well, there's just a lot going on here, plus I'm lazy~~I'll cop to that. But I'm started to get fired up about ArtFest 2012~~wOOt, booking this and that and getting my plane ticket all squared away (no, I haven't started packing yet!). I also have a huge amount of pictures on this rickety old laptop so I thought I better get them off and into safe storage before a crash...and, of course I had to do a quick scroll through before they went into their little electronic book. I didn't want them to get away so here they are. Some of them. Timely...maybe not. Enjoyable...I hope so! ;)
I arrived in Seattle to meet, for the first time in person, Angela!! We had been in a round robin together and this was her first time to attend ArtFest. It was really neat to show someone around, especially someone as sweet as Angela is! This is us at a beautiful yummy restaurant in Seattle called Dahlia's.
I don't think I've ever written a blog entry about traveling to ArtFest without also posting a picture~~at least one~~of flowers from the Pike's Place...they are hypnotizing and I love them seeing them all together in a row like a giant bouquet!
Goofing around at Pike's Place... 
Riding the ferry, getting closer to PT! 
One of my many favorite things about Port Townsend is that you see deer everywhere. They're in town, in people's yards, at the fort, just all over...I love seeing and photgraphing them!! 
Lana Guerra, artist and wig maker extraordinaire! She is such a cool lady and a fabulous teacher! I had so much fun in this class. It had a smaller count than all the other classes I've been in at ArtFest and it was GREAT~~fewer classmates meant more one on one time with the teacher, more interaction with the other folks...I had such a good time! 
Ms. Lana, doing her thang! 
My classmates from Let's Wig Out...wow! 
The view from my front porch. 
My favorite beach anywhere, first thing in the morning! 
My santos from Santibelli Santos...I loved, loved, loved this class. Tory Brokenshire is a gem of a teacher!! It was an easy project to make but I didn't get finished during the class which (sometimes, okay most times) drives me crazy! 
Heads in the oven. 
One of Tory's awesome pieces
Classmate Mary's santos. 
Another dear deer. 
The awesome Lana and Jesse!
Officer's houses from the back...I love them all in a row like they are
Did I mention the deer??
I was so, so happy to be in Mary Stanely's Little Hooked Houses class...she is the nicest lady and a wonderfully kind teacher!!
Here are some of the beautiful treasures she creates...mine are coming along, slowly but surely!
Francie and me, having fun in Mary's class. Francie was definitely my favorite ArtFester of 2011!
I didn't go to the Common's at all this trip so Show and Tell was the only crowd I had to get through...as you can see, it get's thick!
Bird, Angela, and Kathy AKA Oklahoma celebrating after hours.
My super cool roomies, Anne and Nancy...I was a little nervous, not having my usual ArtFest peeps with me and instead of my usual off-campus abode, I stayed in the officer's housing. My roomies were great tho, felt like I had known them forever~~very funny ladies! I think this is one of those magical things about AF...being together with folks you have never met before and instantly hitting it off!
One last stop at the beach to pick up beach glass and special pebbles.
I didn't want to leave!
Diner stop while waiting for the ferry!
Big Star is also one of my recent favorites for music too.
See you soon!!
Check out this sweet little flower doll! She could be yours (or mine! hahaha)! Just leave a comment here by April 23rd!!
Today was the opening reception for the Book Arts Exhibition at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies. Thanks to a little help from my friends, I have three books on display in this exhibition, my first ever to participate in. I was pretty nervous but managed not to think too much about it before hand, and kind of let it sneak up on me so it was only marginally uncomfortable (denial CAN be a wonderful thing)! After we got there, and friends started showing up, it was a lot of fun!
"Five"
All three books were made using techniques learned from sooper teacher Tracy Moore during the PLAY retreat this January (man, what a good choice it was to go to that). The books are coptic bound, with mixed media/polymer clay covers and watercolor-weight pages.
"Charm"
"Hugs And Kisses"
The view from the gallery where the book exhibit was...
More view (I had the kids taking pictures for me)...
Colin, Art Administrator; Beth, extraordinary pottery teacher and fellow exhibitor; and Darcy, beautiful daughter and sometime photographer.
Friends trying to dodge the camera but were back lit anyway!
Michael and Mom.
Me and one of my oldest buds, Chris.
I have funny friends but I'm glad--they make life so much more interesting!!!
More of the gallery.
Doug and Dar. SO glad they were there.
What an experience!!!!
Lana Guerra
