Ending 2015

As we go into 2016 I thought I would do a little recap of 2015. It was an eventful year.

In November, my dad celebrated his 90th birthday and we had a family reunion in Miami. I struggled with a gift for him because he is a man who has everything. So I made him a sculpture! He loves playing the piano so this rabbit emerged from my imagination (inspired, of course, by the fabulous Kate Church who taught us more sculpting techniques at her workshop - and who, I'm excited to say, will be returning for more workshops in 2017).

Christmas found Ed and I in Crested Butte, Colorado with my daughter, her husband, and my adorable grandbaby Josephine. No sooner did we arrive home from that trip (through lots of snow) than my girlfriend Cynde and I took off for Las Vegas where we saw Maroon 5 in concert!

We got back to Albuquerque in time for New Year's Eve, and I did manage to stay awake long enough to watch the ball drop, but then it was off to bed to dream about good things to come for 2016.

Wishing you all the best year ever!

  

Upcoming workshop and continuing surprise

The exciting news that I promised is that I am working with some fellow artists to open a teaching studio and small gallery..............hopefully. We have been trying to find just the right space at just the right price in just the right location. Hasn't been an easy task, but I think we might be close, so you'll have to stay tuned just a little while longer.

In the meantime, after having my position cut at the university due to budget issues last June, I have found a new job - back the the university working with the School of Medicine and its wonderful students! I am thrilled to be working with "the kids" again and my new colleagues are awesome.

And more good news.............I am organizing on the workshop schedule for next year's classes in Albuquerque. So far I have Kathleen Dustin coming in June teaching "Integrated Earrings" and "Hollow Beads"...........

In September, Lisa Renner will be teaching "About Face"



and I am also working with Carol Simmons & Maureen Carlson co-teaching "Floral Dreamscapes" and Julie Picarello, Jane Spakowsky and Sunny Carvalho.

So keep staying tuned!!

Annie

Exciting news

I promised you some exciting news in August. It's been a long time coming, but it is actually going to happen! What is it that is so exciting you ask? Well, you'll have to wait just a little while longer. But trust me when I say it IS exciting. What? You want a hint? Ok. It has to do with art.

Stay tuned!!!

Hello again

I have tried SO many times this year to update my blog. Too many times to count. To no avail. Sitting late at night before going to sleep trying yet again to make updates. To no avail. Frustrated. Mad at the computer when it wasn't her fault (my computer is a female!). Then someone (much more tech savvy than I) suggested I try to log in through a different browser. Do you want to know how un-savvy I am? I couldn't even think of the word browser. Had to talk to Siri (who actually speaks with an Australian male accent) who reminded me of what a browser was. Maybe I really knew, but I had some kind of a mental block.

Anyway, here I am again. I am going to try and post this, and if a miracle happens and it works, I will:
1) jump for joy
2) take a nap
3) catch you all up on what has been happening lately

I've got some exciting ideas running around in my brain. Some big plans if I can figure things out.

Maybe that's why I couldn't think of the word "broswer".

Later..........

This is just a test

I decided to jump back into blogging but after writing a Pulitzer Prize-worthy post, I lost it......so this is a test to try and figure out what the heck happened. Guess my Pulitzer just flew out the window. Boo hoo.

I can't always remember everything.................

........no matter how wonderful and fun and exciting and fabulous it was.

I was reading back through my blog (that I FINALLY was able to update) and I realized that I totally forgot to mention that I brought the talented Laurie Mika to Albuquerque in February to teach her Gothic Triptych workshop. What a wonderful weekend we all had making works of art.

I haven't quite finished my piece yet, but so far I am thrilled how it is turning out!

Two weekends ago we drove up to Crested Butte to visit my daughter Jennie, her husband Tim and my gorgeous, adorable, perfect grand daughter Josephine!! She loves her Grannie Annie!!

Then last weekend we flew to Chicago to celebrate the 90th birthday of my remarkable Uncle John. A devoted family man, an inspiring (now retired) coach and an all around great man. I also got to hang out with his three daughters Becky, Mary and Nancy - my cousins that I had not seen in almost THIRTY years!! My mom and two of my brothers, Tom and Tim (and two of his daughters) also were able to attend.

Next month we will be welcoming two new furry babies into our home. Meet Koko and Pearl, our new Burmese kittens. Our beloved Burmese, Muffin, passed away exactly one year ago and we decided it was time to welcome some new kitties into our lives. We are very excited!!

 Thanks for stopping by. Lots of exciting things coming up in the near future. Please come back again and I'll share some more with you!!

It's been a long time comin'

Here is what I wrote a little while ago that I thought I lost................(it was just hiding)

Well. Well. Well. Long time since I've posted. Not that I haven't tried. I've tried and tried and tried. But all I could ever do was type in a title and then Mr. Blogspot refused to let me write inside the text box. I kept getting an error message and frustration set in until I finally gave up. (Have you guessed that I'm not much of a techie?) Tonight I decided to try one more time and SUCCESS!!

So I'll give you a brief update.

The most wonderful thing that happened to me since my last post in March (really? a year ago?) was that on May 29th my grandbaby Josephine was born. I am over the moon with happiness since my daughter, my only child, swore to me she was never having children. I accepted that no one would ever call me Grannie Annie, but that is no longer the case. Josephine is a joy and I'm very excited that this coming weekend I'll be going to Colorado to hug and kiss and cuddle and spoil her. This photo was from last Christmas and my husband Ed played Santa.

Last summer Ed and I took a trip to Europe. We spent five glorious days in Paris where we met up with Judy Belcher and Julie Eakes. How exciting is THAT? Catching up with old friends in Gay Paree?

Then Ed and I took the train to Toulouse where we met up with my friend Jane and some other artists to attend a workshop with Dayle Doroshow at La Cascade in Durfort. What a marvelous time we had. We created art, went on excursions (don't get me started on how fabulous the flea markets were) and we got to see the Tour de France. Ed spent several years as a cycling coach so he was over the moon.

(That is Ed in the red shirt taking photos as the cyclists zoomed by.)

From there we went to Lausanne, Switzerland, where I lived for 14 years. The view from our rented apartment was spectacular!

(That is Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) in the background)

In September I hosted a workshop with Tracy Verdugo and it was fabulous. Tracy is a wonderful, inspiring teacher and a gentle spirit. We had lots of fun hanging out together. When the workshop was over, she gifted me with her demo piece "The Owl and the Pussycat". What a thrill. It now hangs over our fireplace and the piece I painted now hangs over my mom's bed.

The end of the year was here before we knew it (time passes more and more quickly it seems) and I have lots of fun things planned for the coming months. Just this past weekend I attended "An Artful Journey" in Los Gatos, California - a wonderful three days in Danielle Daniel and Mindy Lacefield's workshop. Here I am holding the doll I made and one of the pages I created in my new journal.

Lots more to come. Now that I've discovered how to post again there may be no stopping me!!!