My first Ever Art Show...terrifying, exhilarating, super fun. When I  first decided to have an art show everything I drew was a study in heinousness.  It was like when I had my breast reduction surgery, I couldn't draw for weeks, I thought all the power was in my boobs and that now I was just some defunct boobless artist.  With the art show , the knowledge that I could create whatever I wanted somehow coagulated the creative juices. I was stymied.  But I kept at it. Woke up every day and drew till my hand went numb.  And then a switch flipped ,I could see clearly that drawing the stuff in your head releases brain tension ( I assume that's what happens) It just feels really good.  If I could draw whatever comes to mind, all day  and then have a party about it , that's the job I want FULL TIME.  
     This is the sticker you walked away with if you came to the show. That's a stack of ice cream, candy and olive pancakes. I'm not pregnant, but I think that's the way pancakes should be.





There were a few things that made this show really special to me. It had a theme song....
cause whats an art show without a theme song ?  written by Pilliard Dickle, Mike Dyche and Me too.  listen to it live  Bacon Wrapped Double Happiness Band Performs our one and only song Bacon Wrapped Double Happiness   Another great thing about the night was that unbeknownst to me an underground movement was drawn into action and a whole lot of people showed up dressed like me, from the ears up. It was a bandanna & pigtail extravaganza.  Pretty much a dream come true .(obviously I didn't get the memo, or I would have looked more like myself.) A few Notes about the pigtail and bandana combo: No I am not in a gang  or displaying my coastal  gang preference. Yes I do wash my hair sometimes. Yes I consider it a super hero cape for my head. No I don't think I can fly.. Yes I have heard  that you should not where pigtails or overalls over the age of 7 .  Yes I do  get better reception that way.  No you can not use my pigtails like handlebars.  Yes you may have a matching set of dinnerware napkins. Yes occasionally they are from Pier One.  No that does not make it any less cool.

 

Another beautiful twist in this adventure ,  I was invited to  show my work in the Permanent Gallery and be represented by www. Art Downtown Gallery 209.com .  SO now, if you want to see my art work, you don't have to have to follow me home or hope something falls out of my car. You can visit the Gallery
209 Glocuester Street Brunswick, Georgia
Tuesday through Friday 11 - 5:30pm and Saturday 10 - 4 or by appointment 912.262.0628

From the very first moment I laid eyes on the giant Fiberglass Cows of Cow Parade in NY
I have wanted to be a part of a community art project and paint a giant fiberglass animal. When I heard that The Humane Society of Coastal GA was doing " Dawgs Unleashed" as a fundraiser, I did a triple back handspring at the opportunity. I said sign me up and then I waited.  I waited and waited and no one asked me to paint one.  A year passed ....nothing and then One day about 4 weeks ago I received the call. I was gonna paint a dog...I felt like I had just gotten a new liver . 


 The first of my good fortune  was that My Dog was Sponsored by the Friends of  Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation, They has chosen me as the painter and the minute I began talking with them I Knew it was meant to be. But I was still trepidatious  ( can you back-flip trepidatiously )  I had some preconceived notions of a plantation and frankly none of them were funny. I did not know how on earth to tackle the project responsibly, while still maintaining a sense of  levity.  After many talks with the Dear friends of the Hofwyl Plantation, I em"Barked" on the venture. I explored the plantation site with my newest friends and visited over coffee, hearing the most fascinating stories about our past. I realized I had been missing the point completely. This dog was about preserving history. The importance of maintaining a historical site like Hofwyl is paramount to our understanding of time and people and progress. I was psyched. We would create the OFFICIAL HOFWYL- BROADFIELD PLANTATION WATCHDOG. replete with a pocket watch dog tag .and we would name her Hilde"Gaurd" I was in word play heaven... And all was right in the Universe.
And then.






I Started Painting.
Lets start with this.I am not a painter. and then lets move on to, what the heck was I thinking.
Here I am scaring a class of third graders.



I am not sure ,but I think this is the moment I started crying.
I had painted the first official drag queen bulldog boyscout with a yarmulke . Did I mention I am not a painter.
Did I mention that I wanted to paint one of these so bad I pulled a hamstring in acrobatic excitement. and Now I am crying on the floor under the hind quarters of a fiberglass dog. 




And here is my gripe. I thought to myself, maybe these lips look like..uhhh..lady parts.




Once I fixed the offending lips, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, and the next thing I knew she was done.
Hilde"Gaurd" The Official Hofwyl- Broadfield Plantation Watchdog. Preserving History throughout time.
She is dressed in Antebellum period clothing decoupaged with old photographs and letters. The photos are actually hand illustrated with dogs depicting plantation life when Hofwyl served as a rice plantation and then after the war, as a dairy farm.  I learned SO much from this project,Not only did I have the pleasure of learning about Hofwyl Plantation, rice production, Malaria, War, Fine China, Hoop Skirts, Artesian wells, lost gardens and strong women. I also made the most wonderful friends and I learned a lot about myself in the process.  






I must thank The Friends of Hofwyl - Broadfield Plantation for entrusting me with their
Dawg and allowing me to fulfill my dream of painting one.
And a special thanks to Lynda Dalton-Gallagher for so warmly and bravely allowing me to
paint Hide"Gaurd"  at Art Downtown/Gallery209
 Note*  I didn't spill any paint, or step in any paint, or step in any paint and track it all around the gallery.



Please visit Hofwyl-Broadfield Plantation and Say hi to her for me.


*photos by Troup Nightengale