Avampato!

“Hey, y’all! Watch me juggle!” Okay, so Jon’s not really juggling, but it is cool that I caught a ball in mid-flight, on the left. I meant to do that. Really.

I have to admit, I let my family membership to the Clay Center/ Avampato Discovery Museum expire, and I really wish I hadn’t. Living in Spencer, I didn’t think I would go there enough to merit getting the pass, but we’ve been there a few times this summer, and would probably go there more often if we had the pass. So, I think I might renew it soon.

I’m just thrilled that we have the Clay Center. Yeah, it’s expensive, and blah, blah, blah, but I think it’s definitely worth it to have a nice museum/concert hall/planetarium/science center right here in the city to take the kids to. We’ve been to many museums just like this one in other cities and have paid higher prices to get in, so I personally think it’s a bargain. It’s especially nice when the kids are working on homework about soil erosion for science class and one of them says, “hey, I remember this from the Clay Center!”

I do miss the view from Sunrise, though. I remember sneaking out to the big portico on the back of the museum with my boyfriend after my high school prom, just to watch the city lights come alive. I wish Sunrise was still something public that people could visit. It would make a killer gallery for local art!

New Art — My oldest son

Isaac

9″ X 11″
oil pastel on black paper

I did this first as a quick sketch using white prismacolor pencil on black paper, and it evolved into this portrait. I wanted the portrait bigger than the paper because I want the focus to be on Isaac’s eyes. He is a very introspective, mature kid for his age, and he was just sitting there in the car with me, waiting for his grandma, asking me a million and one questions about making art. I went right to the art store and bought the boy a good sketch book and a pack of Prismacolors, and he’s about got the sketchbook filled up, already. That’s my boy!

I love this picture because it really captures his spirit. It’s one thing to do a portrait of someone and say “oh, okay, that’s so-and-so.” But when you can draw a picture of a person and just imagine the picture coming alive and saying something that person would say or doing something that person would do, you’ve really done a portrait and not just a drawing.

This is my first serious portrait. I think I need to do more. Not sure I love the oil pastel on black paper, but it has a neat texture I want to experiment with further, at least.

Standing In The Shadows of Music

Charlie Tee stopped by and left a comment and I checked out his blogs — what a wealth of info about the local music scene!

See for yourself:

Standing in the Shadows of Music
Standing in the Shadows of Music Too

I’ve added these two great blogs to my blogroll, as well. (Now I just gotta get my butt on out to the clubs and here some of this music live!)

More new art

Eye Fish
9″ X 11″ Prismacolor

Some whimsical fun from my AP training. It’s art lite, I know, but I had this crazy idea and couldn’t get the Spongebob scenery out of my head so I had to run with it. Art snobs would eat it for lunch but I don’t care. Sometimes I just want eye candy.

I started the big commissioned project from the Diocese. This is my first big project and I’m a little nervous about it all, but it’s going well, at least. We did get booted out of the studio yesterday — Taylor Books double-booked the clay studio since we really only needed the slab roller and one table, but the instructor for the wheel-throwing class wasn’t cool with sharing so I graciously bowed out. It’s all good — the clay tile blanks were still wetter than I like them to be before I start carving, so they ought to be the way I want them to be when we go back there this evening. Plus, this gives me some time to rework my sketches.

New Art

‘Til You’re Blue In The Face
23″ X 17″, mixed media on canvas

Blogroll updated

Hey, check out Artie, the Sock Monkey’s blog. Artie is the unofficial mascot of Tamarack, and he posts about art happenings at the Tamarack. And, he’s kind of cute. I think I need a hug.

Chili Lime Tostitos

Okay, so does anyone in the Charleston area know where I can find these:
These chips are instantly addictive… kind of like crack, but with a chili-lime twist. I had some on the 4th, and now I’m tearing through every store to try and find some. Even Wal-Mart, with it’s endless aisles and aisles of snackage, had none. I’ll have to try the Ashton Place Kroger next. If they don’t have it, they’re not to be found.

I do have a serious chip addiction. I need to check myself into snack rehab or something. Since Mr. Bees changed their recipe, I’ve been looking for a new drug of choice. I have to admit, these chili-lime chips could be it.

Vacation and Other Photos — Slide Show

Bargain Alert!

Everyone who knows me knows how much I love Gabe’s for bargains. I usually go there to look for clothes for the kids because you get the best bargains on kids’ clothes, but I also love to scope out the kitchenware (and, um… the shoes. *g*)

I found THE BEST skillet. It’s a Lumenflon SpA, which I’ve never heard of, but apparently, it’s an Italian brand that is considered to be a pretty good brand by gourmet cooks. But who cares about that, it’s a really good pan! It’s a 12″ skillet, nonstick, and is a good, heavy pan. It conducts heat very evenly and has a slight waffle pattern on the bottom — something I’ve only seen in a few pans, but I like it because it keeps your food from sliding around on the nonstick surface.

And the price? Get this — $12.99!

I didn’t get to give it a good test drive until this morning, but I just made the best veggie omlette for breakfast, and it cooked very evenly, without burning in spots. After I flipped the omlette out onto my plate, you could barely tell I had cooked anything at all in the pan because nothing stuck.

I would love to find more of this brand! I’ll have to go back and see if they have other pans, too. I just saw the huge stack of 12″ skillets, but I would love to find a small skillet and maybe a saucepan or two.

Sumer Fun

Olivia at Saluda Splash, near Columbia, S.C.