July 5, 2012

Went to the gallery at Otis College of Arts & Design  to see “Meticulosity”- had a curators tour and lunch with Meg Linton.  We became facebook friends after a tour of their show for Pacific Standard Time.  Facebook really does improve relationships, it creates a familiarity that could not otherwise exist.

Meg is a very accessible arts person, like Doug McCulloh and Andi Campognone – not pretentious. Enjoyed getting to know her better. 

The show was excellent – artists that were very obsessive about their art – the talent was impressive.  The show was well worth the long drive.

June 24, 2012

Just published (self-published) OUTRAGE.

I had a couple of people say they’d love a copy or copies for gifts. Steve, my cousin, even suggested that I could do something with this which I took as a tremendous compliment since he is the graphics king.  Will be good to have at my RCAA spotlight artist show. Ralph suggested e-pub. I could sell for a $5 or $10 donation to President Obama’s reelection!!

(UPDATE…ended up selling 125 copies at $20 each and donated over $2000 to help reelect President Obama)

June 21, 2012

We’re back from my college roommate’s daughter’s wedding in Toledo …so great to spend time with David and our Toledo family. The wedding was perfect in every way. The rain waited to pour until Sunday at noon…by then it was ok. Went to the Toledo Art Museum and the glass museum.

Time to buckle down…

• Kathy’s promotion and reception
• Get ready for RCAA show – MAKE ART!!
• Get reception / 60th ready
• Syllabus for sabbatical
• Selling OUTRAGE to raise money for Obama

June 8, 2012

Last night was amazing. I met up with Jan Harvey and had a nice lite dinner and visit. She & John are good people. Talked health mostly – a little on the project. She is being so supportive.

We walked over to RAM and Drew, the new director, came up to me and said that she heard about my proposal and thought it was amazing. So obviously Kathryn had presented it positively. Then Kathryn came up and said she had been wanting to email me about the interest. They were busy with artwalk so we only talked for 2 minutes but I stood there in shock – I THINK THIS IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!! We were talking right outside of the Powell/DeVean Gallery so I went in and sat down and just stared into space – once again visualizing my show.  Then I called Doug and whispered what happened and my excitement! It was hard to walk around artwalk all night because I was so jazzed.

WOW! BOY DO I HAVE MY WORK CUT OUT FOR ME…BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

June 5, 2012 …

The new director has been hired so it was time to start talking…Met at Back To the Grind with Doug and Kathryn,from the Riverside Art Museum, for 1 1/2 hours. Doug’s analysis – “it couldn’t have gone any better”.    She said she was busy with upcoming shows and it might take awhile for her to get back to me.  I walked home IN TOTAL SILENCE. I needed to be mindless for awhile. This is so exciting but is going to alter my life for the next 16 months in a big way.

I’ll keep you posted…

June 4, 2012

Happy to report the mother is looking good and four babies have survived. [9/15 update…3 1/2 months later two babies have survived and are getting quite big…I’ll try to get a picture.}

I did not sleep well last night – anxious about my meeting with RAM’s curator, Kathryn, to present my proposal – “52”.  I’ve decided on 52 because that number seems to be so intertwined with this project…52 weeks, 52 Trees, I was born in 52. There’s more but that gives you some idea of why I decided to go with 52.

June 2, 2012

Baby Muscovy’s haven’t been seen in a few days. The pros and cons of walking everyday – you get to watch the babies grow but you also realize how many don’t make it.  If you just came down on a Saturday and saw the Mama Muscovy and her three chicks you would ooh and aah and not know 10 of them died.

My lake is looking good, the big lake…Lake Evans… especially the 52 tree section. The boathouse lake is awful. I wish Ralph Nunez could find a supervisor that LOVES the park and has incredible pride in keeping it clean.  I understand budgets, lack of staff, apathy of court crews, wind and animals pulling trash out of cans and chronic litterers but with caring supervision the trash issue could be managed way better.  I want this job!

June 1, 2012

Turning point – HOPE SO! Doug has set up a meeting with Kathy Poindexter for Monday. I’m excited – I feel positive, might just be me being naive regarding the art world.

May 14, 2012

Muscovy is down to 5 chicks. She was probably attacked by a raccoon.

May 13, 2012

The painter/gardener HIRTAKA taught that stones should never be placed carelessly. 

Went to Huntington Library & Gardens today. Thanks to Sharon and Terry’s membership gift we go to the Huntington several times a year.  Beautiful day – perfect weather. The Japanese Garden renovation is done. Love the bonsai and the rocks. They have a bonsai of the Montezuma Bald Cypress, the trees I am basing my art project on at Fairmount Park.

 May 7, 2012

I FEEL LOST, not sad or depressed, just out of control on what I need to do.  I’m not following any routines or getting anything on my “TO DO” list done. I feel paralyzed about my project.

May 4, 2012

So painful, nature!  Found this big white bird hung in fishing line. Possibly an egret.

May 3, 2012

Saw a muscovy and 13 chicks…what a sight – took 167 pictures.  I’ve never seen so many babies.  It was quite a morning as they came to the shoreline and I got lots of good pictures.

May 1, 2012

Spent the last two weeks of April mourning the swan, Anneli’s, departure.  She had such a presence that the lake felt so empty. I knew that the start of baby ducks and goslings would help me through and sure enough…

 April 30, 2012

Another month gone, what was accomplished?

• www.suemitchellart.com secured
• Met team 52 to strategize presenting my proposal
• Totally organized studio
• GLEE for the day
• Film festival in Riverside
• Paulden’s home & studio
• “My Story Thru Rock Collecting” RCAA
• “I Wonder Where She Sleeps Now?” RCAA
• Made “love song” play list for Lauren & Mike

5 MONTHS TO GO!

• RCAA show… need 15 pieces of art
• sabattical…I have a schedule/syllabus of what I will study each month

April 13th & 16th, 2012

I took a Fri – Mon off and spent about 20 hours in my studio. I completely rearranged the room – set up for serious printmaking, collage work, press area and cutting, clean out, organized and labeled.

It might have just been more procrastination but I did get lots done. NOW ON TO MAKING ART!

April 10, 2012

It has been 4 days since I’ve seen the swan. Sunday, when she went missing, was Easter so it was the first time the swan had to deal with a crowd. It is mating season so it might have gone off to find a partner. They mate for life and grieve when they lose their mate.

I had 5 1/2 months with Anneli, named her that because it means loner. I visited her almost everyday and took over 1000 pictures of her. What a beautiful bird. This was my second favorite shot….my favorite was the very first picture of the swan posted in October 2011.

I hope he/she comes back.

April 8, 2012

THE SWAN IS GONE – I FEEL SAD!

April 4, 2012

Spent 12 hours on the set of GLEE…I love the show.

Fun to see behind the scenes

• Not very glamorous for the extras – lots of waiting
• Food was great!
• Nice to visit with Robin
• Visited with Jane Lynch, took a pic, put my arm around her waist – she has lost a lot of weight! Lauren introduced me to everyone

The set is very secure and they don’t take too kindly to strangers…they don’t want any pictures or spoilers to get out so I actually was quite shy. The only reason I got on the set was because I was in training to be a back-up driver if Robin needed help getting Lauren to the set.