ART LOFT

The art loft was created for one reason and one reason only

and you might find this hard to believe, but art was only the afterthought

The old garage apartment was about 15 feet away from the house

and it needed to be connected if that old garage apartment was to become the master bed/bath

so...we built a space

a space to connect the original house to the old efficiency apartment

and because of the roof line, it had to be two story

(actually it is 3 stories...we will complete the 3rd bonus room someday?)

an office (man cave) downstairs and an art loft upstairs

perfect plan!

I painted this for my grandmother when I was about 8

it became my inspiration for the loft

a wall of flowers

all of these paintings are from local artists...long gone (except me)

bouquets of flowers

in pretty colors

on the street side..there are double stain glass windows

to act as "curtains"

these windows fill the room with the most beautiful light and it's just as pretty on the outside

I will also move my "HPO OFFICE" up here

I'm thinking this will be my view out of this window

or this...it's like a tree house

not quite ready to move the computer upstairs as we still have to trim out windows and floors

I might move the HPO OFFICE around from time to time

maybe into the turret?  except those beveled windows might be hard on the eyes!

but change stimulates the brain!

stuck in the tower

typing the news in the wee morning hours

I have lots of art and garden books

my latest read

this old buffet will be my sink and I think it will be painted 

raspberry..so all this will be put somewhere else

lots of great light for plants

still some things to tweak but getting closer all the time

I told cute carpenter Chad last night

"I remember sitting up here this summer when all it was was an open space...watching the summer storms approach and the cool breeze blowing through...I will never forget that...I must be more of a tree house kind of girl..because I liked it better that way."

KADER BOLY

is. in. the. 

HOUSE

1st Annual Barkley Street Art Walk October 20

Kader and my friend Miss Paula

About 10 years ago, Mr. PV and I were on a trip to Sante Fe and had wandered out to the 

Sante Fe Opera where they have lots of artists' exhibits

This intriguing young man had some interesting things laid out and we went over for a look

and that began our enduring friendship.  

I do believe I said to him

"hey, wanna do an art show in Spearman Texas?"

he said yes

Kader demonstrates how he paints at an art show at Zulu Art Gallery

You see...Kader is from Africa...Burkina Faso to be exact and his style of painting is quite wonderful

he tears his canvas so that the edges are frayed, he mixes his own pigments and dyes

from things found in his village

clay

soil

leaves

sticks

all very natural and earthy

he then mixes that with ??? and some H20

and applies it with his hands

and then adds sticks and stones and other found natural objects to his mountains and bulls and village people

When we met him, he was 22, not much English (though he speaks 6 languages that now include fluent English....so make that 7)

his art was rolled up in a back pack and he had traveled to America 

flying by the seat of his artsy pants and ended up in 

Sante Fe

and now

Spearman Texas and Facebook on a regular basis

We love us some Kader!

I do believe there was a time when our Mattie wanted to marry him

and I don't blame her

but Kader is a wanderer, an artist, not a tinge of fear in his soul

the kind of personality that allows him to go about the world

creating and sharing art..the kind he sees and touches and tastes...with folks like us

and besides...I think Coach Been might have been somewhere in the picture

Yep...Kader is 

IN.THE.HOUSE.

MO ART

1st Annual Barkley Street Art Walk

In addition to Marilyn

we are also hosting

Doug Ricketts

Amy Winton PSA

They are two of the nicest artists you could ever want to know

When my dad passed away in his belongings was a nude

signed by A.Gormley

Many years later, I was showing an artist friend, Len Slesick, the piece and he said,

"why, that's Amy Winton"

(Gormley was a former name)

What a treasure I had and didn't even know it!

When I first encountered Doug,

he was being featured for his work that included old love letters he had found in the walls of home in Lipscomb County between a Texas woman and her French soldier...

"He was just looking to gather antique wood from a forgotten farmhouse, but he found so much more."

When I saw them pull up to 822 today, I could scarcely contain myself!

Oh man...I gotta feelin' this art walk is gonna be good!

we've also been practicing our Hors d'Oeuvres

woooooohooooo!

HE DOES HAVE A NICE SMILE

STREAKER AT TEXAS TECH GAME

Brent Smith, 20, was arrested at Saturday’s Texas Tech football game after streaking the field

Smith, who is not a Tech student, removed his shirt and pants to reveal a pair of shorts while on the field

(click link for full story)

Now that's funny but the really funny thing about this story?

AS ALWAYS

the 

COMMENTS

see below for a chuckle

Ok, can it really be

Ok, can it really be considered streaking if you half-[filtered word] it and leave your undies on?
It's a shame when even the streaker’s aren't showing a decent level of dedication and work ethic.

Slacker!

Kids these days ;)

Finally!

Streakers used to have standards.
I'll bet this guy gets drummed out of the USOA (United Streakers of America).

crazy

Criminal trespassing? should be dropped to mishisdongbyameter trespassing if he still had his undies on.

Hardly worth...

the arrest. Like everyone else, I am disgusted at his lack of commitment to the undies-free streaker community across our great country.
True streakers understand the importance in fully displaying the sausage and meatballs...hold the sauce and tossed salad, please.

No streak

I guess there wouldn't be much attention if they actually used a non-sensationalized headline. Man wearing shorts runs onto field during game.
There is the possibility that the person who titled this article didn't understand the meaning of the term.

he has a nice smile! :)

he has a nice smile! :)

I HAVE MARILYN

BARKLEY STREET ART WALK

The art walk is ON

perfect weather is in store for this first ever event 

I couldn't be more excited

At 822 there will be 3 artists and yesterday

Marilyn Yanke

brought her art to our home

So I get to live with it for a week or so and am 

pretty sure I have already fallen in love with (all of) it!

Because this room is sort of a
MUSIC

room

we kind of went with that theme

I will let her art speak for itself

but I'm only giving a sneak peak

don't the colors look fabulous against our pink walls?

This is what a most generous artist (Marilyn) 

DONATED as a raffle prize

it's value is $900

the money we earn on this day is to begin

The Art Alliance of Hansford County

to benefit the arts and students of the arts in our area

We are big Marilyn Fans

this painting hangs in our den

(she painted it while on a trip to Italy)

she is quite versatile in her work

This painting is in our living room, hard to tell the size but is is

very large...at our old house it was on purple walls

This hangs in our guest bedroom and is my favorite

the very first time I met her and visited her studio I asked her if I could purchase it

she said 

"It is not for sale"

Later, she gave it to me

It's very true..we have quite a connection and I feel so very fortunate 

to know this

talented and generous artist 

and to call her my friend

hmmmm...wonder which musician will stay here on these walls?

KOKO LOVE

KoKo's Website

Yesterday my neighbor friend and fellow art lover popped in for a visit.

I was giving her a tour of our nearly completed art loft and showing her the paintings I had so far selected to hang there

Even though 822 is much bigger in square footage from our last home, there is less wall space because it is so open.  This leaves me the difficult task of hanging less art that B and I have collected over our years together

As she asked about this painting, it made me fondly remember giving it to B 

Valentine's Day several years ago

It is painted by

A Gorilla...KoKo the gorilla

This is not just any gorilla..she has been taught sign language by Drs. Penny Patterson, Ron Cohn and the late Barbara Hiller, via a grant from the National Geographic Society. 

This picture is a numbered print, painted 

and signed by Koko when she was asked to paint 

"LOVE"

it made the A list

because I 

LOVE 

it!

LIEBSTER AWARD

Thank you my friend

Marina

for this wonderful award!

I can not believe, but it seems to be true followers of my blog  have nominated me, tell me that is a way to make ourselves known and is nominated blogs that have less than 200 followers, I think a great idea 

thus creating a chain and we get to know and finding new artists of the blogosphere....
from Marina Perez

11 things about Pura Vida

1.  I first saw this in Costa Rica..it is their motto and I like it --PURE LIFE

2.  I write about real life stories in our small little town
3. I have lived in this town my entire life
4.  I have lived in 4 houses on this same street
5.  This one is my last
6.  I am left handed
7.  I am the editor of online news in 4 towns/areas
8.  I am an artist and (8.5) I am not scared of stuff
9.  I collect heart rocks...they are everywhere
10.  My motto is a giver is a liver...a taker is a spleen
11.  I have about 20 mottos that sometime I will list

I also think this is a great idea to pass along

Instructions:
Thank the person who chose you
Follow their blog
Select 5 to award...with less than 200 followers
say 11 things about yourself

And finally here are my nominees:
Embrace the Grace
I Heart Galveston
Powell Brower Home
Random Thoughts of TLR
An Affection for Staging

COLUMBUS DAY

While some were celebrating Columbus Day with a day out of school

or a day off of work 

others were...

facing the daunting task of railing the stairs

tools drills saws

wood bolts glue

saw horses sucker rod varnish

lots of sucker rod

(this is what is used to drill water wells)

coming along

making some progress..just like Columbus

and speaking of having the day off

the bank might have been closed

but no rest for those that know how to wire a light fixture!

FALL'S FIRST FIRE 2012

We have been celebrating Fall's First Fire for many seasons now and today is the day

This fire has been in waiting since last April

for such as a day like today

TEMPERATURES

 plummet

FERNS

rescued

MAIZE AND CORN

gathered

SOUP

on

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

indeed

MUGS

freezing

oh yes indeed!

PORCH

adorned

MUMS

bursting

DEAD SQUIRREL AND GHOST

united

FIRE

oh yeah!

CHEERS!

CHEERS!

Here's wishing you the warmth and glow of

YOUR

FALL'S FIRST FIRE

JOE T

In our part of the world it's not uncommon to see a truck, with a horse trailer, with a horse in it, and maybe a cow or two, pulled up to the local cafe for lunch....

Let me introduce you to one of those kind of guys...

Joe T

He and his family are living on a ranch that has been in their family for over 100 Years

He is a cowboy, a Texan, a foodie and a cattle man through and through

raising hormone free beef and selling it across America

3J BEEF

The best part about him?

My bff, his wife

Linda

She is one classy lady and my idol!

We travel with them quite a bit

Santa Fe, Charleston, Las Vegas, Hawaii, the Kentucky Derby

and can you imagine when we had planned a trip to Martha's Vineyard how excited we were?

B is always the travel planner, his Type A personality allows him to be very good at that

B to me:  I'm kind of curious why all the hotels are so booked

Me:  wonder if there's something special going on?

B:  I'll do some checking

Fantasia Fair

oopsie

now, we all know that Linda, and me and B can live with this little secret

but the big

?

do we tell Joe T before we get there or after

???

He really really might not go and we have planes and hotels and all kinds of plans

like...to eat at the Lobster Pot

So...you guessed it, in all fairness

yes, we told him before and yes he went anyway

and in talking to one of the locals, all kinds of  people like to cross dress

hey...I do it every day of my life

and they, like me, want you to tell them how pretty they look

This year's Fantasia Fair is October 14-21

Fantasia Fair is unique amongst transgender events as it takes place in beautiful Provincetown - a wonderfully accepting community where anyone can mingle in the streets in friendship, safety, and acceptance. Yes, you really are welcome and free in all of Provincetown, and, yes, you will make friends at Fantasia Fair that you will keep forever

These feet are 

NOT

Joe T's

or mine

and in the unforgettable words of my friend Linda

"Dahling....YOU. LOOK. MAAAAVELOUS!"

I can't wait to go back!