Friday, December 21, 2012

Merry Christmas!

I'd like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Stationery card
View the entire collection of cards.



Saturday, December 15, 2012

Art for the Trees pt. 2

The Art for the Trees benefit was a success! Our local Channel 39 TV station came to cover the event, and two of my pieces are pictured on the news clip!


So far, $8,000 has been raised for the Memorial Park Conservancy. Our goal is $10,000 and we are almost there! All of the artwork at the event is now in an online gallery. Click on the individual artists' names to see their artwork.
My personal page is here.
Please check it out, and if you are so moved, you can make an art purchase and help reforest Memorial Park. Or you can just make a donation to the cause here
Thank you to everyone who came to the event, purchased art, or made a donation!
Happy Holidays!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Art for the Trees

Last year we had a terrible drought in Houston which killed half of our Memorial Park’s tree canopy. I was delighted to be asked to be part of “Art For the Trees If You Please” a benefit to raise money for the reforestation of Memorial Park. This event will take place on Tuesday, December 11th from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at Mixed Emotions Fine Art Gallery located at 95 Tuam Street in Houston. I’m honored to be one of the participating artists and will have work for sale at the benefit. Lots more information about the event can be found here:





Friday, November 30, 2012

December Art Events

I'm participating in two special events in December. The first is Lucia’s Garden Holiday Open House, this Sunday, December 2, from 1-5 p.m. Lucia will have her famous Christmas and Winter Potpourris, mulling spices, scented candles and oils, ornaments from around the world, and other treasures. Debbie Tubbs will be there with her luxurious handcrafted goat’s milk soaps and lotions. I will be there with angels, snowmen, holly leaf elves and other winter whimsies. If you are in the area I hope you'll stop by and enjoy refreshments and a cup of Holiday Tea.

 
Lucia’s Garden
2360 W. Alabama
Houston, TX  77098
713-523-6494

"Holly Harmony"  Janet Bodin ©2012

The next event will be an Art Benefit to raise money for the reforestation of Memorial Park in Houston. The 2011 drought killed half of Memorial Park’s beautiful tree canopy. “Art For the Trees If You Please” will take place on Tuesday, December 11th from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at

95 Tuam Street
Houston, TX  77006
713-861-9666  

I am one of the participating artists and will have work for sale at the benefit. You can find different ticket purchasing options and more information about the event here:









Saturday, November 17, 2012

Cemetery Tour

I took a little trip this week to South Central Texas to visit some of my ancestors’ graves (genealogy being my second passion, after doll making!). My first stop was Amphion Cemetery, 4 miles outside of Poteet.


Amphion, thought to have been named after a figure from Greek mythology, was located within the 17,000 acre ranch of Jose Antonio Navarro, a prominent local rancher and signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Amphion was at one time a thriving community with several general stores, a hotel, a post office, blacksmith shop, cotton gin, churches and school. When railroad lines were built that bypassed Amphion, business activity declined and the community eventually dissolved. Virtually all that remains of the former town is this cemetery.

My great grandmother, and her parents (and other family members) are buried here.

 
My next stop was Oak Island Cemetery.

The Oak Island Methodist Church was established here by circuit rider John Wesley DeVilbiss, during the time of the Republic of Texas.


 
My great great grandparents, great great great grandparents and 4X great grandmother are buried here with other family members. My 4X great grandmother has a plaque on her headstone that reads “Citizen of the Republic of Texas”. How cool is that?



Monday, November 12, 2012

A Night at the Opera

This past weekend Mr. B and I went to the opera: La Bohème.


This was fun and different for us, as we had not been to the opera in more years than we can count. Not being opera aficionados, we opted for the less expensive tickets in the balcony. But the muses were smiling on us: the day before the performance we received a complimentary upgrade and found ourselves sitting in orchestra seats that cost five time what we paid for our tickets! The music was gorgeous and familiar to us mainly from one of our all-time favorite movies: Moonstruck.


This is the opera that Loretta and Ronny go to see and the music from the opera is played in the background of key scenes in the movie. There are parallel themes in the opera and the movie which I never realized before and now I want to see the movie again (for the 50th or 60th time!).

 



Sunday, October 28, 2012

The Making of “Balancing Act”

 

The Body



Body parts waiting to be stuffed.




A stuffed leg




The attachment for the balancing pole




The body is stuffed and sewn together

The Head


After needle sculpting, the head is covered in a final layer of skin fabric. A mini iron helps to define the features.




The fabric is cut away to reveal the painted eyes




Sewing on the back of the head



Costuming


Fabrics are hand dyed for the costume




The collar has three layers



Trims are added to the collar and the head is attached



Trims are also added to the shoes



The hat is made in two parts: the brim and the crown. They are both needle felted and wet felted.


Shaping the brim on the head



Trim is added to the hat



The wooden base has a layer of suede on which are printed words such as home, family, work, etc.: things we hope to balance in our busy lives.




The finished figure










Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Fall Shows

Fall is in full swing! As one show closes, another opens. The Hanson Galleries show "Cutting a Fine Figure" will run through October 20 at the Memorial City location in Houston.



Opening October 20 is the Mixed Media Artists of Houston show "Innovations by Design" at Hollywood Frame Gallery, 2427 Bissonnet, Houston.

The opening reception is at 6 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 20. One of my pieces in this show, "Balancing Act", is pictured on the lower left of the postcard below.

 
If you are an International Quilt Festival goer, be sure to look for the doll exhibits. I will have three pieces in the exhibit this year. Quilt Festival preview night is on Halloween! The show will run through Sunday, November 4.

And if by chance you should find yourself in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, stop in at the Wisconsin Museum of Quilt and Fiber Arts. I have three dolls in a show there titled "A Thread Runs Through It", which runs from October 17, 2012 - January 6, 2013.


To close the year I will be participating in Lucia's Garden Holiday Open House on Sunday, December 2, 2360 W. Alabama in Houston, with angels, snowmen, and other winter whimsies. Much more information about that to come.

Happy Fall!





Monday, October 15, 2012

Fall Vacation

After a fabulous time at the NIADA convention (see previous post), we headed north to see some fall foliage.  Driving through the Litchfield Hills of Connecticut, we saw the beautiful Kent Falls.
A very beautiful and enjoyable walk through the wooded falls area.  Not a lot of fall foliage in Connecticut yet, so we kept driving north to Massachusets.  We arrived in Lenox, where we were to stay for two nights at the charming Birchwood Inn, built in 1766.
This is our gorgeous room - bigger than our room at home!
Lenox was lovely.  So many churches in the area.  I wish I had taken more photos of the churches.  Here are a few.

This one was right across the street from our inn.

Another one just down the street.

There were also some covered bridges in this area.

The foliage was just beginning to turn in Massachusetts, but we heard that it was already very beautiful in Vermont, so north we headed
and were rewarded!
Although the sky was very overcast, some of the prettiest views were of the lakes, with foliage reflected in the water.


On our last day in New England, we visited the Norman Rockwell Museum

and his studio
The Norman Rockwell Museum was outstanding - I highly recommend it!

And last, just before heading to the airport for home, the Mark Twain house in Hartford.


This was our first visit to New England, and we loved it.  This is beautiful country.  I hope we'll be back.