"Cutting Edge" Submissions, time & tea, lost keys, and a message from Ringo.

Secrets /Yellow Moon Series © Susan Morrison Sims.com

Ink Wash/mixed medium on paper (click on image twice to zoom)

Well, another week begins…thank goodness…eh?  I am about 95% well from my cold now…thank goodness for that too. :)  This piece Secrets is from the Yellow Moon Series which I am sure some of you remember from a previous post.  I submitted it and Masked Mime to a show entitled Cutting Edge. The gallery describes it as a “show that stretches the imagination”, and I think that sums it up nicely. Here is the Masked Mime again:

Masked Mime (collage / mixed media)

click on image twice to zoom

Anyway, I thought I would share some of the show experience with you. The gallery is not local so I had to drive to St Augustine (in Florida..for my international friends) to submit the pieces, and while in the area I was to have a cup of tea with a friend.

It was so nice to get out of the house, and I love that drive. It is literally over the river and through the woods. Actually, I  live on an island during the week too…only this one, unlike Drayton, has bridges. So I cross two bridges, and one is a little scary. It is a very high very narrow two lane bridge called the Shands bridge. Yet, it is wonderful when you reach the top because it is so narrow that you feel like you are flying up above the St John’s River. It sort of has that Chitty, Chitty Bang, Bang feel..some of you will know what I mean by that.

It was a gorgeous perfect day so the view was stunning as far as the eye could see. I needed to feel like a winged creature after being cooped in for two weeks. After you cross the river the narrow two lane road continues on winding through cow pastures and thick forests (which I find so peaceful..usually).

I submitted the pieces and looked around a bit to see some of the other works already there. A lot of submissions, and some really nice pieces including some 3D and sculpture.  I left with a good feeling that both pieces had a fair chance of being juried in.  It always feels a little strange when you leave behind your work…like a piece of you remains. Not only remains, but remains to be judged by someone that knows nothing of you.

As I have said before…you learn to not take it personal, for it is all subjective.  I always remind myself of the advice my most favorite teacher gave me… an artist is about hard work, more hard work, and having thick skin. The hard work part came naturally for me (’tis a Capricorn trait), but the thick skin I had to work on…and at times, still do.  You know that old saying “you wear your heart on your sleeve”…sometimes that applies to me.  Though the older I get the less  that application fits (another good thing about getting older).

My friend, Michelle lives on a little narrow street (’twas  a day of narrow things) right in the center of St Augustine.  If any of you art and history lovers have not been to St Augustine I highly recommend it. It is all about history and art!

Michelle is a wonderful person and artist, and her home is story book magical. It is a cottage type house with a picket fence and a front porch that has columns wrapped in jasmine. The real magic begins when you step inside. It is whimsical with her touch everywhere…beautiful murals and surprises in every nook and cranny. She is a very petite slender woman with striking white hair which she keeps cut very short and sassy. I find her to be intelligent, super creative, filled with energy, and quick witted (a dry wit, which I so identify with). I also consider her to be one of the power people in my life. So it was not simply tea that I stopped by for……

We carried our cups of tea out to her studio behind her house. It is not a large backyard or studio, but as you would expect, both are much like her cottage…whimsical and wonderful places to just be.  I chose a chair right across from one of the little windows, seeking the sun rays that were spilling through.  We had our tea and some special little cookies that Michelle had received as a Christmas gift. We talked of people, places, art, and we laughed.  Time passed quickly, yet it seemed just long enough. I had a most lovely visit…as expected. How very healing for body and soul…how very magical. So thank you Michelle for your time and tea!

Michelle’s site (you might like to take a peak) http://www.robideauxstudios.com/MRP/index.html

Later: Friday morning I returned home from errands to find a message from the gallery on my answering machine. Seems they wanted me to come to the opening on Sunday for both pieces were juried in, and one was to receive an award. So you just never know…as I said it is all subjective. I must admit I was curious about which piece won the award.  Masked Mime has been in other shows and featured in an article. Here is the article, but I am not sure if you will be able to read it.

Masked Mime Interview (click on image to enlarge)

Secrets was in a show along with three other pieces from that series.  The show was Night Moves, and I posted about it a while back. In fact, I just picked it up last week, and I almost did not enter it in this show.  Which one do you think received the award? If you guessed Secrets you are right. Secrets is a personal narrative piece, which is probably not surprising to some of you.

Well, I did go to the opening, but I had a fiasco before leaving my home, and it involves my car keys. I was all set to go, and running perfectly on time. I was carrying four things….my purse, my sweater, a fruit smoothie, and my car keys. I stopped in my garage to move some boxes and things around to clear the path a little. That was a big mistake! Somehow within a few seconds the garage swallowed up my car keys….not the smoothie, not the sweater that I could do without, but my freaking car keys!!  I have already written a book here so I will not go into another long story. I will tell you this…I have as yet to find the damn things! My husband had to drive home from the office to bring me his set. Needless to say, he was not too thrilled, because he just arrived there. His office is not just around the block (it’s not even in the same town).  I jumped in my car and took off , and I drove fast. Somehow on this trip the long narrow roads, deep forests, and even the cows irritated me. Of course, I was late. I may tell you the whole story later or I may just bury it along with some other stories in “am I going insane” category in my mind.

After I returned home I searched for hours for my keys, and my husband helped look too. No keys. They must be dwelling in the twilight zone somewhere. I know what you are thinking…did you look inside in the crazy places…..as in, maybe you never really had them in your hand to start with. Yes, I even looked in the freezer where I had returned the frozen fruit after making my smoothie (don’t even ask me why I thought they may be in the freezer).  I also looked in my smoothie thinking maybe unbeknownst to me I dropped them in there…all to no avail.  Where are the keys? When I find them (and I will) I’ll tell you where they were no matter how embarrassed I am.

Note to self:

#  Always have spare keys on hand (at least three or four sets)

# Once you are headed out the door for an event/ appointment never stop to do stupid unnecessary things.

# See if garage is haunted…other strange things have been happening in there.

Well enough from me…a few words from Ringo:

He thanks all of you for the nice encouraging comments concerning him. He is bugging me for his own blog….or at a least his own post now and then. He thinks it might be the perfect educational platform to promote safe animal shelters and some other issues. I told him I will consider a post now and then, but another blog is out of the question.

He thinks he may have some clout because if you google Ringo…he comes up with Ringo Starr. Of course, he said Ringo who???  Hee, hee.

Ringo, the real star

Well, we really will hush for now (much to your relief).

Sending all of you love & light from my circle and beyond…

~gypsy-he♥rt (quite possibly going insane…that too, is subjective)