ODACA 2012

The Original Doll Artist Council of America (ODACA) Conference was set in New Orleans this year, so attending was a no-brainer! The theme and program given by Maryanne Oldenburg was Bal Masque.

 

We had three wonderful new artists inducted this year:

Lillian Alberti

Sarah Maldonado

Wendy Rinehart

Outgoing president Christine Shively was honored for her years of service to ODACA.

The sales room was lively….

The luncheon on Monday had table centerpieces made by

Angela Jarecki


Christine Shively


Marilynn Huston


Marsha Krohn



Gloria "Mimi" Winer

One lucky winner from each table got to take home a centerpiece doll.

And many dolls were donated by ODACA artists for raffle. Here are just a few…


Here's the little guy I donated:

 

Winner of my doll

The highlight of the luncheon of course is the souvenir doll, which each luncheon attendee receives. This year’s souvenir dolls were made by our incoming president, Adele Sciortino. Here they are waiting for the great unveiling. 

 The excitement builds as the boxes with the dolls are distributed.  Everyone waits for the signal to open the boxes all at once.

Happy luncheon patrons with their souvenir dolls.

 

Adele outdid herself with her creations – each one is individually made and unique!

 

I love surprises!

I just got my copy of the latest Art Doll Quarterly magazine. 

 I sat down and immediately read it cover to cover this afternoon.  When I got to the end....

SURPRISE!

Here is an ad for the magazine featuring my "Balancing Act".  What a great surprise!  Thank you ADQ!

Art Doll Book on Sale

I just heard that barnesandnoble.com is having a sale on all Lark books, including the 500 Handmade series.

If you don't have a copy of 500 Handmade Dolls, now is the time to get it!

I have two dolls in this book, but I would be touting this even if I didn't. It's full of hundreds (well, five hundred!) fantastic art dolls and belongs in the collection of anyone who is interested in the art of the doll.

Happy Fourth of July!

 

We just got back from Washington DC and had the best time! We saw old friends, took in the sights, visited museums, ate at wonderful restaurants…..

 

I was honored on Wednesday to receive a First Place Award for my “All-American Bathing Beauties” from the DAR American Heritage Contest.

 

We had dinner that evening with some old friends from Houston.

Thursday we visited Mount Vernon – spectacular! We were there for 6 hours and still didn’t see everything.

That night we had the most amazing seven course “tasting” dinner at Plume.

just some of the "tastings".....

Friday we had lunch with more friends, went to the Spy Museum and Ford Theater, then that evening we had a wonderful opportunity to hear retired General and current CIA director David Petraeus speak.

(Cute story: there were a number of kids at the Spy Museum when we were there. One little boy, after seeing several of the exhibits, went up to a museum employee and said, “Excuse me sir, I don’t think I want to be a spy.” The employee said, “Ok, no pressure.”)

Saturday Bob went fishing with friends. I went to the Library of Congress where I got to read a book written by my great great grandfather, South Preston: Shadow of the King. That was very special. It’s an out of print book so this was a rare opportunity.

I also visited the Phillips Collection Museum, where the highlight for me was seeing Renoir’s gorgeous, luminous “The Boating Party”.

LOVE these faces.....

Sunday we went to church at the National Cathedral. Built like a Gothic cathedral, it was truly amazing. So interesting and a complete surprise: a friend of a friend from college days is now the vicar there and led the service.

Later that afternoon we went to the National Portrait Gallery. It was all wonderful and not enough time.

more wonderful faces

 

Looking back on the week, the theme seems to be “Service to Country”. Both sets of friends we visited in Washington are there because of their service to our country. The DAR is all about service to country: Historic Preservation, Education and Patriotism. Visiting Mount Vernon, we were reminded of George Washington’s lifelong service to our country. Certainly Director Petraeus is a shining example, and also in her way so is the Vicar of the National Cathedral.

 

It’s very fitting today to reflect on the service of these and so many others who have given of themselves to make our country great.

From my home to yours, Happy Independence Day!

God Bless America!