fun for all... Por la Mar 4

Smithsonian Postal Museum in Washington D.C.  --a neat online exhibit of stamps!  

Hello friend.  Or perhaps two friends... Anyway answered prayers today.  Two friends going through possible trials have been spared thus far.  Thank you God.  

This weekend is the Visual Aids show in NYC.  My first minor flash of art in the big apple... it blows my mind.  Even to think that I'm one of 1500 artists is kind of cool to me.  I'm happy to be a minnow in a sea of tunas.  Or perhaps I'm a sperm in the middle of a sea of whales... anyway you get the picture.  All too vividly I'm sure.  Sorry.  

It's been an exciting week for me.  I finished Por la Mar Zine #4 this week.  It's a little zine I write just for the fun of it and sell it on Etsy.  Perhaps I have another outlet to sell it in... maybe... I'm not sure what I want to do.  

Next weekend is the opening of the Miniature Art Society show in Dunedin, FL... Dunedin Art Center me thinks...  We also signed up to meet Peter Max at the Arts Center in St. Petersburg... so it will be a booked weekend.  My two miniature pieces are not that thrilling... but hey a show is a show... ??? The piece that I really liked wasn't even accepted! Thus is life.

I think I'll stick to mail art... everyone loves a mail artist... ha.  Hey, I got my first add and pass today... I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do... ??? HELP! 

Nighty night. 

If Test Tower was a burger...

Launchball, learn and have fun!!

 http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/launchpad/launchball

This is a fun little game that will help you learn about motion, cause and effect and 

physics.  It's somewhat addicting... and of course the 10 year old crumbcake finished every

game on the website in less than an hour... ugh. 

Go see the Christopher Still exhibit

Christopher Still at the Gulf Coast Museum of Art... The crumbcakes and I went to the show today. It was fabulous. He is a magnificent artist... And hard to believe that January 25th--the last day of his show will also be the last day that the Gulf Coast Museum of Art will be open. They will be closing their doors--perhaps opening in a "better location". We hope so. How could we let this art museum go?? How could it of happened? What makes or breaks a museum? We've driven a number of times from South St. Pete to Largo to see shows there... we've paid the fees for tickets, we've bought the programs... we've couldn't of been the only ones... I hope all of you go to this show... take time see the museum one last time, take the journey into the mind of Christopher Still.

ARTISTAMP 2008: Wackystuff

A little present in today's mail delivery... a stamp swap I participated in! I guess I was most enthralled by the Canadian stamp of Audry Hepburn... I so love her beauty and grace.  All of the stamps are super cool and I'm told that I have to use them... no saving them away in a secret stash...how bout in a sketch book project? Thank you Wackystuff for putting together such a fun swap!! For those of you who don't know what any of this is about... Artistamps are stamps that are homemade and are used as faux postage to add some life, style, class, statement to our mailings... Anything goes--make your own stamps!!!!  And join the underworld of weird art stamp people... hee hee. 

Mail art to be sent out tomorrow!

Tangerine jelly and chocolate chip cookies

My last day of freedom and I'm spending it cooking and cleaning. Ben and I have been working on some joint projects... he picks and juices the tangerines and I make the jelly. It's quite easy once you have the juice. Here is the recipe... I found it on the Kraft Sure Jell webpage... you won't find it in the box directions.
3 cups citrus juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 box Sure Jell fruit pectin
1/2 tsp. butter
4 1/2 cups sugar measured in a separate bowl
Prepare your jars and lids as usual in box directions (boiling...)
Stir pectin into juices in sauce pot. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring mixture to a FULL ROLLING BOIL on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, skim off foam with metal spoon.
Ladle immediately into prepared jars.
Process 5 minutes
Cool completely, then store, give away, eat!!
Then after that mess was cleaned up we started making mini chocolate chip cookies... just for the fun of it. Ben wanted to make them for his friends. He's a sweetheart!
Here's to the last day of winter break!

My first day of 2009

It was a good day.  

Sunny, cool breeze, rough waves at times,

Freedom, nature and a girl who refused to take her mask off all day.

I wish the mail was running today.

Every day we don't get mail is kind of a sad day for me.  I am somewhat obsessed with mail.  I always have been.  It gave me no greater joy as a child to go out and "get the mail."  I'm not sure what I was looking for in that bundle of ads and bills--perhaps a letter from a distant friend or relative or later... a college acceptance letter. Back in my day kids, if you had a friend who lived far away--like someone you met at camp or on a vacation... you had to write letters to keep in touch or make phone calls... Of course phone calls could get pricey so letter writing was the thing.  I wonder if kids these days still pass notes... or is it all about the texting?  

 I ran across this pic yesterday.  Too funny--I'm the round face girl on the left.  Time flies when you are growing old. 

Flora Raducan: Mail art call for pieces about LOVE

I'm mailing this today... it's a pretty small piece so I wanted to post it here just in case it never makes it to Romania!  It's about the size of a artist trading card. (playing card)  Do you think it will make it?? We'll see! 

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Love on a stick is what I call this creation by Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory... it is their Snickers apple.  You take a nice green apple, dip it into carmel, dip it into nuts, drizzle chocolate all over it... That's a lot of love for $5.50.  Pricey treat, but oh, so worth it.  If you ever get on my bad side... you know what to do.  Bad side, what bad side? It's hard to type with my fingers all gooey.  

Ted is working late again... and I'm ready for a crumbcake break.  

Steve Rack, Divine Health, Paul and JO!

Internet acquaintance Steve Rack was interviewed by a sweet online magazine called  New Sugar

Download it for free here .  

I got a wonderful selection of organic produce delivered today... delivered.  Yes, I said delivered. (for free) Divine Health Nutritionals in Seminole, FL.  Check them out... they carry everything your heart could desire. (that's found in a grocery/health food store)  So if you haven't already looked them up to place an order... do it! (That is... if you live near me...)  

3 cheers for new friends Paul and Jo who are sailing to Marathon, FL Keys and then on to the Bahamas.  Their boat is a blue water vessel and has already circumnavigated... sailed around the globe... around this Earth of ours.  They weren't sailing her at that time... but hey, they know she is sea worthy.  They set sail today from Anna Maria island, FL... with some oranges and homemade chocolate chip cookies from us.  (we had to give them something!!!)  Both are Vets and a big thank-U to all those serving in our Armed forces!  

All is well in biting animal land...

Spent all morning cleaning... Ted has this idea of selling all that we own, buying a boat and sailing around... I'm not sure I'm up for it... I like space.  I like alone time.  I like all my art junk.  I like the mac and the sewing machine and the printer and the refrigerator and the washing machine... How could I send mailart from the middle of the ocean?  

Accident Prone week

I've had a weird week. See what happens when you get out of your schedule... your whole life goes to hell in a hand basket. What is a hand basket and why do people ride to hell in them?? I wish I knew. First of all while making the fish dinner on Sunday night... I burned my arm while putting potatoes into the oven... duh--it left a nice one inch mark that now is dark red looking and blistery. Then this week I was painting a chandelier to hang in the kitchen. (And I love it and it looks really cool) After a couple coats of red, gold and yellow paint... we sprayed it with some gloss and let it hang outside on our porch overhang. Well I went out to gloss the other part of the chandelier when I turned to go into the house--hitting my head on the chandelier and then falling down the 3 steps to the stone pavement. That was fun and embarrassing. I waited until I went inside and upstairs to my bedroom before I cried. And today I am still SORE. DUH. Then today I thought it would be a good idea to give the kitten a flea bath since that WILD CAT that we adopted is so full of fleas. I had him outside and everything was going really well until our dog Charlie decided to inspect this kitten. The kitten spat, clawed and in the end bit down into my right hand pointer finger. I didn't cry right away but I had this horrible sinking feeling... like oh my, am I going to die? After Ben's run in with the guinea pig bite... I'm thinking I don't want to spend 5 days on IV antibiotics in the hospital. So if I don't write for the next week--you'll know I ended up really sick. And if I die--know that I love you all dearly. Seriously, I'm starting the antibiotic tonight. I will probably go for a tetanus shot tomorrow or Friday depending on who is open. My bite didn't bleed anywhere near the amount that Ben's did. I'm nervous. Everything is going to be okay, right? I just can't believe how immensely stupid that I am.

Zine swap in the mail today!

I'm excited to start reading all the zines that were delivered today! I entered a zine swap called, "Generic Zine exchange." 50 artists from 4 countries and 19 states participated. Abbey Hendrickson and Geoff Krawczyk from University at Buffalo were the master minds. The zine I submitted was on Mail art. It was more of a how-to zine or info about...

Good Fishing Day

On with the new, off with the old...

I was fretting over whether to cut the hair or not... So I went this morning to my favorite place in the world to have my hair cut... the Aveda teaching salon. I've never gotten a bad haircut... and usually really like my time there... Photo on the bottom is me this morning and two photos on the top is me now. It's gotten a little hotter out so I've shed the cardigan. I like the bottom photo better... maybe is the necklace and the make up... and the longer hair!!! Arghhhhhh! Oh well. It's nice to have a morning to yourself and for some time of the day to be about me. (instead of crumbcakes and everyone else!) And now I must go iron. FUN stuff...

It's a girl!

Well... it's official... they get the pink quilt! We only need one more girl to even up the team of grand kids... my parent's grand kids that is! 4 girls and 5 boys. Any volunteers to have another baby? Well it probably won't be me. I found grey hairs at the the top of my head this week. They are kinky and coarse and unmanageable. I've been toying with the idea of growing my hair out for the past few months... and I'm in desperate need of a hair cut now. Now that the grey is coming in... no need to dream of long locks of blond hair... I'll stick with a short style... HA! I never thought I'd be this old. And I know some 65 year old is reading this blog saying, "Honey, you got your whole life in front of you." And I guess I do but it seems to be happening so fast like a carousel that has been put into hyper drive--spinning out of control. As an artist and mom this is the time that a majority of my life work must get done. I must establish myself as mom, teacher and artist with style and focus... now. If not now--then never for the crumb cakes will not wait to be taught multiplication and manners. And if I do not take hold of some niche of arthood... that will fall by the wayside too. Thus is the 30s... time to get something done.

St. Augustine and turkey pot pie

It's been a busy Sunday. I'm waiting for the turkey pot pie to be done already and arguing with Lulu about why she needs to take a shower... I hate making pie crusts... I also am not fond of clay. But, I found a new crust recipe that calls for 1/4 cup of vodka and that makes it much more manageable. The vodka burns off so no one is buzzing after dinner... really a 1/4 cup divided by 10 would probably not do much.

St. Augustine was a lovely city. The drive through Orlando was a monster and the traffic added almost 2 hours to my drive time! UGH. Thankfully the kids were watching Wall-E. Lulu only said, "Are we there yet?" three times. My friend Teri graduated from Flagler's graphic design program. She came in second in her class. I think she should of been first! The girl that got first place touted her paint chip mini-booklets. Really Richard Canard has been using paint chips in his art for years. See the mail art blog if you don't believe me! HA! Friday morning we got up early, packed up our things, checked out, had a HORRIBLE breakfast at the Ramada in the historical district of St. Augustine. It was so gross. How can you screw up hash browns and eggs?? We met with some of our friends and headed to the more historical--historical district of St. Augustine. I think it was 40 degrees outside and the wind was chilling me to the bone. Still I thought the kids must see the oldest house in America, the oldest school and the Castillo de San Marcos. We found a cute cafe called the Bunnery where the kids sipped on hot chocolate and nibbled on a cinnamon roll.

I'm really into the whole National Park Passport book. Everywhere you visit that is a National Park you can get a stamp to commemorate your visit. This trip we got the Castillo de San Marcos stamp and then 14 miles south, the Fort Mantanzas. Both are National Monuments. Both built by the Spanish. We have been studying American history in our homeschool and have learned all about the Spanish explorers and settlers. This was a nice "bring history to life" trip.
We had a lovely lunch with friends at a restaurant that was named something about... Mayans... The food was delicious. I had the black bean soup and soft bread. I also got a smoothie to go for the car ride home... Lulu got the guacamole, Tommy and Ben shared a cheese quesadilla. Seemed like mexican fare but nothing deep fried and they also had organic options on the menu. It was quaint and I really liked it... so you'd think I would of wrote down the name??!!

Leo Laporte is giving all his tech guy advice on the radio. I like listening even if I have no idea what he is talking about.

Friday night... two bowls of soup later, I was still chilled to the bone! I'm such a cold weather wimp. I'd never make it in Alaska or North Dakota... MN... Canada, eh?!

I went on a search today for turtle neck shirts for the boys. Last year I bought them at Target but this year I have not seen them. I also looked at Penney's, Kohl's, Burlington Coat Factory, Children's Place and the Gap... NO boy turtlenecks! I did find a few girl turtlenecks at the the Gapkids... but that's it!

I need to go check the turkey pot pie...

quilts and eggs

My brother and his wife are going to have a baby. If it's a girl they get the top quilt--pinks and oranges. If they have a boy they get quilt number 3--blues and greens. The quilt in the middle is a fun crazy quilt I did last year.

Our chicken had her first egg Sunday. Lulu is holding it in the bottom picture... notice her paint stained hands... this girl is always into something.

CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITY: 200 - Jennifer Zoellner

CONCEPTUAL CONTINUITY: 200 - Jennifer Zoellner

What a grand weekend...

Had a lovely weekend where I got to do several of my favorite things... exist in freedom being my first favorite thing. Thank you to all of our veterans and especially those vets who were alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked--today being the anniversary of that attack.

Saturday evening I enjoyed a beautiful sunset with a plethora of shells for the picking. There was an encroaching rain storm and it wasn't long before the rain started coming down--just after we got in the car after our ritual ice cream. Today I enjoyed the Museum of Fine Arts. It was free today. And I met a few people who I spread the mail art love to... gotta really like that!

Tonight we are going out for a French dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday. I'll let you know how it goes!

I"M INVITED!

My friend Terri is graduating from FLagler this week! She is having her own Graphic Design Portfolio show! I'm seriously considering going!

Mail art show in Greece--If you happen to be there!

Part of my mail art piece for this show is on the top row--second one from the left. "Don't Be a Monster." I'm thrilled that my little mail arty made it to the poster. Show will be Dec. 8-19th and the theme is, "Elimination of Violence Against Women." 70 artists participated from 28 countries! Mail art... may be the one art form that connects so many people from so many different places. And all are saying something--making a statement via their mail art. It's all about making human connections.

Charm bracelet! Very Charming!

A recent charm bracelet made... for sale at the Arts Center. (St. Petersburg, FL) Have a wonderful weekend!

nuri bilge ceylan

http://www.nuribilgeceylan.com/photography/formyfather1.php?sid=1

Here is an awesome photographer. I especially like the series: For my father. This photo is from that series. You should take a look at his website--very talented. Reminds me of Andrew Wyeth's paintings.

When I was a little girl there were my friends at church who were in their 70s or so... maybe older... and they used to tell me, "Never grow up Jennifer." So with the wisdom and the memories gained over time--also comes suffering in many forms. I would of liked to have never grown up.