The most interesting thing about the Via Colori experience this year was how much extra attention the art got because Saint Arnold was the sponsor of my square.

Plus, there was a tent that had Christmas Ale on tap. Draw your own conclusions.

It’s not very often that I actually pay to have my hair cut. (I usually cut it myself.) But with Via Colori this weekend, my 48th birthday on Sunday, and family in town for Thanksgiving next week, I though it high time to treat myself to a professional cut. I made an appointment for today at noon.

At noon on the dot, I knocked on the door, which might seem unusual except for the fact that I get my hair cut at the hairdresser’s house. She’s quite wonderful, creative, full of exuberance, and very much a free spirit. From inside the house, I hear a stream of expletives as she stumbled her way to the door. Another expletive as she opened the door, and a quick apology. She had forgotten our appointment. On top of that, she had had a very bad day, and looked it. It was only noon.

She suggested that her highly charged emotional state might not be in my best interest as far as a hair cut was concerned. Would I mind coming back tomorrow? Same time? I halfway thought that it would be fine if she cut my hair anyway. After all, I had scheduled my day accordingly. Then I asked what had happened that morning that was so distressing. She told me. It’s seriously messed up and complicated. Her idea of rescheduling seemed both good and bad. Do I really want to go back tomorrow? Will she be able to pull herself together? When she’s at the top of her game, she’s awesome. But there are several extenuating circumstances in her life right now that might not make getting a hair cut from her at this moment such a good idea….

Thinking back on the handful of times she’s cut my hair and it looked great, I’m actually considering it. Bless her heart. Mine, too.

Next weekend is Via Colori, the street painting festival for the Center for Hearing and Speech. Yesterday, I picked up the artist packet and found out that the sponsor for my square is Saint Arnold, which is a huge thrill, as I’m a big fan of the Saint.

The Amazing Reese is helping me by overlaying a grid on the image of the painting I’ll use this year. Not on the actual painting, on a photo of the painting, which we will then get laminated at Kinko’s, which I just found out is not Kinko’s, it’s now Fed Ex. How do I miss these things?

The last few years of Via Colori, I’ve worn the same pair of stretchy jeans, which in anticipation of this event, I tried on the other day. They no longer fit. This is an eternal dilemma — do I go buy the next size up? For this event, with all of the bending involved, it’s imperative to be in comfortable, movable clothes. I had debated going to Goodwill to buy some old scrubs — those would be comfortable — but who are we kidding, they are NOT attractive. And by golly, since I’ll be on display all day, I want to look good. Ah, what to do what to do?

The last things to gather for next weekend are a chalk line, tape measure, masking tape, non latex gloves, baby wipes, a hat, sunscreen, a small whisk broom, and a back brace.

I’m still debating whether or not to paint a practice square in the driveway….

For some unknown reason, I’m in creativity limbo.

It’s a poor excuse, but instead of going to a hardware store to buy plywood for the new mosaic project, I’ve been looking at construction sites around the neighborhood hoping to find leftover scraps. Well, that’s not entirely true. I’ve gone to two hardware stores looking for various supplies so that this project can get rolling, yet have bought nothing.

And honestly, my brain can’t think of another thing to say.

Tilly and I go for a walk every morning while it’s still dark. It’s actually more of a stumble than a walk. If I look sleepy, it’s because I am. On this morning, I’m overdressed, but Houston had a cold (high 50’s) morning the day before and I don’t do well with cold. The sweatshirt is an old one from University of Hawaii days.

After we get home, I make myself a cup (bowl) of cappuccino. Mmmmm, coffee. Reese buys the beans from Lola Savannah. After careful and studied consideration, my favorite roast is espresso dolce. Hmm, I usually watch the Today show and check e-mails (and facebook) while enjoying my coffee.

Because the dishwasher is broken, I hand wash the dishes — some of which are leftover from the night before. There are ALWAYS dishes to wash.

On this day, I meet a friend at the museum. After touring the exhibit on etching, Alison and I look around for some museum favorites. In all my years of going to museums, I’ve never seen a gallery in this state. So cool. I wonder what amazing artworks are in all those crates.

An upcoming art project will be a mosaic. It took several days to sort these glass tiles. There was so much tile to sort that I suffered from decision fatigue for several days afterward. It was the nuances of color that did me in — dark blue, turquoise-y blue, light blue, etc. Silly, but toward the end of sorting my brain really was fried. This was only one table top full. There were three table fulls altogether. In the end, they were sorted into 15 different colors, of which the small bag of periwinkle (not seen here) might be my favorite.

Another chore. The vacuum cleaner is held together with duct tape. Even so, nothing sucks like an Electrolux. (Somebody has to do it.)

There’s always time in the day to visit neighbors. This cutie (and his mom) is an adorable three year old full of a contagious amiable personality. Sadly this day, we were all outside because one of our other neighbors had a health emergency. (See the ambulance in the background?) Maybe Tilly and I can visit that neighbor on our next pet therapy trip to Methodist.

Tilly and I go on an afternoon/early evening walk. On this walk we hear a rousing outdoor concert at Rice University. So fun. In the crowd surrounding the band, we see a lady holding a monkey AND a man juggling while riding a unicycle. True story.

After supper, the Amazing Reese and I go meet our friends brand new baby. This baby is beautiful. And, believe me, Danger is his middle name. It really is. Danger. His middle name.

Lawndale Art Center‘s retablo exhibit is the first time daughter Anna and I have shown our artwork in the same gallery space. It was super exciting for me. I loved introducing Anna to some of my art buddies and bragging on her piece.

This is a photo of Anna and me posing in front of my retablo at Lawndale Art Center. My piece is between us on the bottom row.

And here is Anna posing with her retablo — the one in the middle row. (Yes, I’m a proud mama. Look how cute she is — just adorable.)

Thank you, Anna, for being such a fun date at the opening event.

Look what I found (next to a sign that said FREE) on my walk with Tilly yesterday! There are enough one inch glass tiles here for several art projects.

First things first — clean and sort by color…..and then I get to design a new mosaic.

The Amazing Reese and I are very pleased to announce that we, along with Reese’s older brother, are godparents to our new baby nephew, Gabriel. We are very honored AND very excited.

By the grace of God, it just so happened that Reese and I were in the room when this sweet baby was born. It was….magical. It really was. Reese and I already felt blessed to have been part of such a beautiful event.

Now we feel doubly (very very) blessed to be Gabriel’s godparents.

“With God’s help, we will so order our lives by the example of Christ, that this precious one, Gabriel, surrounded by steadfast love, may be established in the faith, and confirmed and strengthened in the way that leads to eternal life.”

At the Menil Collection, this bright canvas is the first thing that one sees when entering the main reception area. There’s a large pouf ottoman in the middle of the expansive foyer. It was on this pouf, while obscuring the camera from an exceedingly friendly receptionist, that someone enthusiastically and covertly snapped an unauthorized photo of the painting with me in front. The painting is called Yellow Painting/The Color Men Use When They Attack the Earth by Walter De Maria.

Yellow is my favorite color.

“Shadows of Childhood” is the title of my finished retablo for Lawndale Art Center‘s Dia de los Muertos exhibit. Without undue influence from the artist, it IS a particular memory (for me) but one that I hope is universal as well. It’s 12″ x 9 and 3 quarters” and is made of sheet metal, oils, and hardboard. Come to the event on October 21st and support Lawndale! Even if this is not your style, there will be a variety of retablos from which to choose — there always is. The opening bid for this piece is $50.

Also, the Center for Hearing and Speech had a photography contest after last years Via Colori event. A photograph that featured my sidewalk painting and the shoes that inspired it was one of the winners. Though the camera flash is shining on the glass of the photo, here I am posing with the photographer, Michael Matthews last night at Wade Wilson Art Gallery.

At Via Colori last year, after the street painting was done, Reese noticed Michael taking a photo of my pink chucks painting and coincidentally, I just so happened to be wearing my pink chucks at the time. Reese lifted me over a fence so that I could pose next to the street art. Apparently I kept saying, “They’re the same pair!”, which totally sounds like something I would do, and hence the title of the photo is “Same Pair”. This photo will be auctioned off at this years Via Colori event on November 19th and 20th. (November 20th = my 48th birthday.)