Switching Lanes

Today is a perfect summer day. Warm and sunny with a breeze blowing the scent of honeysuckle across the land.

I'm getting ready for tomorrow night's show with Tim Keller and Karyna Cragin. Karyna is coming up from Santa Fe to share her wonderful musicianship with us. She plays the African balafone, marimbas, piano, guitar and her lovely voice. It's her first show as the lead act and I am honored to have her grace our ArtSpace with her talents. It's always a great evening with wonderful stories told, laughter shared and sometimes even tears shed. I invite you to come on out with a friend or two.... Sign up for the open mike and tell us what you did for Fathers' Day or how your family celebrated last week.

It's looking like the fancy colored corn seeds that friend Tom brought me are doing well here at Studio C! Knee high by the fourth of July is looking good!

I've cut mint and am about to brew some tea for the iced mint tea that I'll have out tomorrow evening... I love the smell of mint tea as it brews... it is so uplifting!

I've also got some empty walls to fill! Yvonne O'Brien came to pick up her show leaving three pieces for the gallery. We had a nice visit while she waited for the light to get lower in the sky... she was looking forward to driving across Johnson Mesa and taking pictures on her way home.

So, that's what I mean by switching lanes! We've got change all around and love to make it all good.

Hope we see you here soon, or hear from you soon. Drop an email, come by and read tomorrow evening during our open mike, or just come on by to enjoy the gallery.

Good Road!

Christina

Finding Flow

Happy Fathers Day!

It's a lovely summer day here in northeastern New Mexico. The smell of BBQ wafts in the gentle breeze telling of fathers all around celebrating their day.

I'm working on the blog when I want to be outside working on the landscaping, or painting, or kicking back with my love who is a wonderful father to a very special daughter. We'd make a toast to my father and the life he gave me and my siblings. Speaking of siblings, my sister just had a very successful reception for the artist, she being the artist, down in Santa Fe. Mom threw the reception at El Museo Cultural Center where her show Blue is hanging. The work was made in part to help her mourn the passing of dad. Karyna will be here next weekend as our featured act for Live @ Studio C! and I would love to have the house filled for her performance. The theme will be Dear Dad for the open mike. It will be a great chance to honor and share your thoughts on fatherhood, your dad, and life in general.

I've got a lot of new items to put into the gallery so that keeps me busy too.

I'm switching out artists in the gallery over the next ten days. Yvonne O'Brien's show ends officially today. She'll pick up her work Thursday or Friday so you have a chance to meet her. Give me a call and I'll let you know when to be here. We'll be keeping some of her work and her cards as she becomes one of the gallery "regulars".

Nathaniel Franklin, local sculptor and painter, will be bringing his work the next week. His show is titled Facing West. I am pleased to be able to show his work and look forward to what he has to bring.... he's still working on new pieces so I'm not sure exactly what we will be getting! We've decided on Saturday August 7th for his reception. Check back for more details as it gets closer.

I'll be headed south to deliver artwork created this spring at Des Moines Schools in the Art Plays Its Part! program for display in the 48th annual New Mexico Arts & Crafts Fair next weekend in Albuquerque. If you can see the show please do!

Have a great day and a wonderful week. Find your flow. Share your Joy!

Christina

Skipping Across Streams

Convergence and conjunctions abound as I figure out how to balance my ambitions with my aspirations and inclinations. My cousin Debbie sent me this YouTube video of an amazing young pianist... watching him play inspires me.

The gallery is vibrating with Yvonne O'Brien's photography show: light, structure, space. Her work hangs through June 22nd. If you've not seen the show please come by to see these images. I know you will be glad you did.

We'll be hanging a new show next week: Facing West. Local artist Nathaniel Franklin brings his sculpture and paintings into the gallery. We're still discussing the date for his artist's reception and I'll let you know what date to put aside as soon as I can.

I'm really proud of the work I've been doing with Des Moines Schools. We're working on funding efforts and just completed an application to the NEA for Learning In the Arts funds. The grant reads well and the program samples look great. I'm impressed with how much we've progressed since our first attempt last year. The NEA is looking at receiving an increase in it's budget of $15 million which would be very helpful. Please support the arts and let your legislators know that you are making arts your priority.

I want to thank Russ Ballew and Karen Anderson for coming out to entertain us last Live @ Studio C! The theme was Compassion and we enjoyed a great show which left everyone talking about the roll of faith in their lives and also celebrating our many blessings. Thank you too to everyone who came out to hear these wonderful musicians. If you've not heard Karen play her harps you simply must plan on coming to our show in November when Karen will be our featured act.

Our June theme is Dear Dad. The date is June 28th and the show starts at 5:30. My sister Karyna Cragin is the featured act and returns with her African balafone, her marimba, and hopefully a guitar and some songs for our piano. Tim Keller is in the spotlight singing his songs and reading poetry or stories from his growing collection. Bring your stories of and for your fathers or father figures in your life and sign up for our open mike. Remember there is a piano here and we welcome all forms of creative expression. It will be a fine summer night to bring a friend with you too. I'm making some nut breads and will have great coffee freshly perked and iced-mint tea. Should be a great evening! Come on out.

Summer Art! class schedule is now available. Next week we will be working with pastel on paper.... this is one of my favorite mediums. Some of my current "in-progress" work can be seen on my Flickr site here. I like to call my pastel work painting since the chalk moves so well on paper and is easily blended. Working with the sticks of pastel usually leads to smudging with my fingers. Edges are places to explore as colors meld or bounce off of each other depending on the desired effect. Call 575-278-3517 or email to enroll or to ask questions.

Chocolate is back in stock. We've got 77% humidity and a 21% chance of rain so we are getting on our rain dancing shoes and looking forward to a prime rib dinner at our annual EMS FunFest dinner & dance tonight.

Life is Beautiful!

Christina