April in Dallas

What more can I say! Heather managed a few days off and flew to Dallas where Great grandparents, Great uncle, aunt and cousins reside. It was easy to fly in and join the fun.

Grandma Karryl





Great Grandma love.

Great Uncle Jan and Great aunt Cindy have a Portuguese Water Dog, Hannah who thought Isaiah was delicious.

Isaiah helped Great Grandpa read the papers
and did some reading on his own as well.


The visit was all too short, but there was sculpture to be done at home so we reluctantly hugged our goodbyes



Peace!

A Sneak Peek at Spring

The winters in Pittsburgh can seem very long. Just when I thought I'd had about enough gray and cold the Phipps (Pitts' botanical gardens) held a special members evening. Their spring groupings of tulips, pansies, hyacinths and more were the perfect medication for the winter blues.The orchid room is magical with it's lovely variety of delicate plants. Some look like special little creatures. It was a magical evening. I guess with all that gray I just needed a dose of color to lift me up!

Gone to the Dogs

At the end of March was the AKC all breed dog show in Pittsburgh. I love going to the show where I can enjoy everything from the itty bitty chihuahua to the giant, elegant Irish Wolfhound. I find something wonderful with each one. Both conformation and obedience were featured over two days.We each have our favorites and Vic was quick to make friends with a Clumber Spaniel. It is one of the breeds on our list of possibilities to add to our family.
One of the pleasures of going to an all breed show is getting to know what I'm not familiar with. The Tibetan Mastif is an ancient breed, but new to AKC. I had never met a Tibetan Mastif puppy before and this little girl was a charming teddy bear.

Although I wouldn't choose to live with one, I love the spunk of both the Border Terrier and the PBGV

How's this for a face! The Neopolitan Mastif has the greatest wrinkles. I got to feed him a cookie and he has a velvet muzzle.



Finally by the end of two days we were dog tired. The breed that stole Vic's heart was the Cavelier King Charles Spaniel. We made some wonderful friends and I got some great ideas for sculptures to come.

Ellies go home

In March I headed to Virginia to visit my friend Michelle who just happens to have a kiln. Perfect for firing the quick sculpt elephants. Spring was beginning to show her colors. Daffies, forsythias, flowering pears lots of wonderful colors. I love the new spring green leaves popping up on the trees. Virginia is ahead of Pennsylvania in the coming of spring so it was a treat to soak up the spring there.

We fired the elephants and mounted them on the wood base. Off they went to their new home.

SEWE continued

Thursday was a special preview for collectors. It was a wonderful time to talk to some old friends and make some new ones. It was a relaxed afternoon. Evening was the big opening event. Great food and drink. The "belle of the ball" was Rachelle Siegrist looking beautiful in a dress her mom had worn and made for herself many years ago. It seemed like it was made just for Rachelle.
One of the highlights of the show was the sale of "Uno" , my wolf sculpture. This is the last one available in the edition and the mold will be destroyed.

Friday afternoon was the exciting "quick draw", actually a quick paint and sculpt. Some of the artists came with material in hand and at the signal we had 1 hour to create a piece. We each created at our booth so people could walk around and see the artists at work. I chose to work in a paper clay that will need to be fired. This gave me the freedom of control of the piece from start to finish. It's material I enjoy working quickly in.Three little elephants emerged in clay on my sculpture stand. Behind me in the photo frame we had pictures of the 2 baby elephants that where born in the Pittsburgh zoo this summer. Watching them play with each other was the inspiration for the piece.
When all was done an auction was held of all the pieces created in that hour. One by one artists were put on the spot with their pieces held up for all to see and bid on. A great auctioneer kept things going at a fun pace. My little "ellies" I named "Playmates" caused quite a stir. I couldn't believe all the people bidding on my little group!

Thank you to all who participated. it seemed that everyone was having an amazingly good time! My little elephants will be fired in a kiln the end of March and mounted on a wood base and sent off to it's new home. I had so much fun creating this piece. Working in front of everyone was a thrill. I sure hope we get to do it again next year.

Charleston, SEWE continued

Wednesday morning is work time. I so enjoy catching up with my sculptor friends. Hugs all around. We worked hard getting all the stands, lights sculptures and whatever else we need up to our space upstairs in the historic hotel. Part way through the process, Vic wisely gets me out of the booth for lunch. This gets me back to see things with a fresh eye. Actually he plans it so we don't miss having a meal at Hyman's, yummy seafood. We shared some fried green tomatoes. He had scallops and I had shrimp and grits. Yum. All too soon it was back to work. I think the booth looked good!Wednesday night we stopped by Mills House for the opening there and to visit our carver friends. Thursday morning we had a little free time. Wind was blowing and it was a little chilly, but nothing like Pittsburgh. There's a lovely walk we like to take. We see lots of birds and you can look across the water to Charleston.

The bridge from Mt Pleasant to Charleston is beautiful!
One year along our walk we saw otters, but this year we were mostly entertained by the birds. I was quite taken by this little one.
As we started our drive away from our little morning treasure, I spotted some white birds splashing about in a lovely area protected by some bushes. I couldn't resist just a little more time. Leaving vic in the car I crouched down to catch a group of ibis having their morning bath.I guess Vic couldn't resist one more picture either.No more time to diddle about now. We changed into our meeting the people clothes and headed into Charleston to the show. (to be continued)

Charleston in February

Once again we headed to Charleston, SC to participate in the Southeastern Wildlife Exhibition. We started our drive after Vic got home from work on Monday making our stop for the night in Bekely, WV. Just in time to catch the Westminster Dog show. Tuesday we set off early for our first destination, Isle of Palms. It's our tradition to arrive in time for a late lunch at Coconut Joes and this year was no exception. After all the cold and gray of Pittsburgh I was craving some warmth and a walk on the beach.
Coconut Joes was waiting for us with all it's funky splendor. I ate yummy coconut shrimp and fish tacos...
and I drank a frozen pina colada (with coconut on top) with "Rhett Butler".

The weather was spectacular and the ocean was calling, so off we went for an incredible afternoon.
Birds as usual were a treat. The gulls are so habituated to people I got some great shots up close and personal with the camera (thank you again, Terry for lending me the lens).
I think my favorite was catching the pelicans as they skimmed along over the ocean.
This sand dollar was so perfect in the sand. I found that I loved looking at the shells where they were, lying together or partially buried in the sand. Their color is never quite the same when you take them from their home.

Our afternoon was over all too soon and we needed to head to Mt Pleasant to check in at the hotel. I almost lost it that night when I pushed the wrong buttons and somehow lost the signal on the TV just before the 2nd half of the Westminster dog show was to begin. I'm a little technically challenged. Vic saved the day and we cheered as Stump, the Sussex spaniel had a very special win at 10 years of age. (to be continued)