it's 7:30. i am still at work. i suppose i could complain about that... but really i am very excited. i have the rare curse and gift that comes with running a small business... you are married to your job... which at times makes you want to tear your hair out and at others makes you very happy. today has been a combination of those two things... but tomorrow morning i will be on the road to new orleans... and all will be right with the world again. this is my third trip to the crescent city... and someone once told me ... that on the 3rd trip to town... you just decide to stay... i think i decided i left part of my heart in town on my first trip... so i expect no less from this adventure. i subscribe to the the adage " a picture's worth a thousand words" ... so i'll shut up

forgot one... and forgot to mention how excited i am to be heading back to new orleans next week!!!! photos and adventure reports forthcoming. 

Last night's benefit for Matt Call was an amazing display of love... and caring by hundreds of people... it was extremely uplifting to be surrounded by all of that concentrated giving... and good energy... and it was the best dance party I have been to in forever! Bravo Mpls.

These are some images that corroborate by story: http://www.citypages.com/slideshow/matt-call-benefit-party-37389071/#1_

This morning I finally had a chance to photograph some of the newer paintings hanging at the Freight House... I was in such a rush when those all went up... I didn't stop to take photos. That show is up through the 30th of the month. So... if you're in the neighborhood stop in for an iced mocha... nice baristas... nice space... nice art :)

July 7th - August 1st,  2012: The Freight House - Dunn Bros 201 3rd Ave S - Mpls
http://freighthouse.dunnbros.com/   

I have also recently made the decision to get back on etsy... I used etsy as a resource for years with great response... but once I started doing numerous shows around the cities it got to be confusing at times... things would sell and I would have to track them down across down. Well... I think I have a new system in place... and I have started uploading items this past week... I have literally hundreds of pieces... and they take some time to index but that will be happening in the coming weeks so check back if you're interested in something...

I have also been adding shows and special events for the fall/winter months to my schedule. So check here for more details: UPCOMING SHOWS

In particular I am very excited for this event for the Guerilla Girls at Cult Status Gallery...

http://www.facebook.com/events/402084226518564/ 

I haven't had a lot of time for painting the last couple of weeks.... work has been insanely busy... I had the pleasure of interviewing an amazing lady for a short feature... check it out...  http://whyharrelson.weebly.com/18/post/2012/07/angeleisha-rodgers-interview-072412.html

and last... and also probably least... i heard this flaming lips song on the radio today... and it drove me crazy... WHAT DOES THAT SOUND LIKE... i kept wondering... i think i finally figured it out...

am i nuts or do these sound eerily similar?

pps. the flaming lips show at sommerset last year was a combination of crazy and amazing... one of those shows you watch and feel weirded out and also moved... i wonder if cat stevens ever made someone feel like that?

i do know one thing... at the end of the night... i felt really happy... because sometimes in life you have to just throw confetti and balloons and roll around in a human sized hampster ball... because you can... and it's fun... i left wishing that everyone... would try to give that much fun to everyone else... every day... the world really is a giant playground... we just forget how much control we have over what we do... remember all those things you wished you could do when you were a kid? guess what... now you can.

some last minute finds for adding to the show... 

i remember one of my first days in advertising school... the teacher said... what you're going to want to do... is start collecting ads... if you see something in a magazine that interests you... rip it out... and put it in a file folder in your desk... file them by subject matter... or by type of advertising... after many years you will have a collection you can draw on for inspiration... i laughed a little... because i already had one... several actually... but mine aren't organized... they're in giant boxes and bins... thrown all together... i found one such cache while pulling out paintings for the show... i think it's neat how something that spoke to me for whatever reason 10 years ago... still does now... i find that most of the things are still worthwhile... i tried throwing a bunch of things out last night... but instead just kept putting them in the "this is still really cool" pile... humpf... oh well... 

some people compete for your affections
... and others for your time... 

some boys just want your attention... 
multitudes could just drink your wine.... 

a few are satisfied with your laughter... 
or filled up by your smile... 

but what happens then after.. 
because after isn't such a long while... 

one thing i have learned in my travels... it's easy to be possessed... 
but that which i want most completely... is the one  that makes me my best

I just finalized plans for a show in December at the Pizza Luce in St. Paul. 

1183 Selby Ave
St. Paul ... 55104

A great space... GREAT PIZZA! (the Athena is my favorite!)

Anyway... throwing tools into my trunk for hanging The Wine Market show tomorrow morning... but excited about things popping up for this fall and winter! 

... and a couple more favorite photos from Madison... 

In prep for hanging my show tomorrow... I was on a ladder for much of yesterday... pulling down boxes of carefully packed paintings... sorting... organizing... selecting and remembering. 

Friday, June 13th - The Wine Market - 720 Main St., Suite 101 - Mendota Heights, MN 55118  -  5-8pm 
 Fabulous wine (& a few beers) with live music by Xibaba (Brazilian, World, Jazz music)
www.miratomkehoe.com  - Also showing that night is photographer Paul Winger www.paulwinger.zenfolio.com 

There is also a facebook invite... for those of you that do that sort of thing...
http://www.facebook.com/events/419097711474490/ 

This show will feature a lot of my shoe paintings... I've never done an all shoes show before... so why not :)

painting this afternoon and evening to prepare for hanging everything downtown tomorrow morning... 

July 7th - August 1st,  2012: The Freight House - Dunn Bros 201 3rd Ave S - Mpls
http://freighthouse.dunnbros.com/  

Everything should be up and presentable by midday :) stop in for an iced coffee!

I also stopped by Covet today to finalize plans for that show. It's going to be a solo show with the opening on Thursday, October 11th. 5-9pm. I will be making fliers and such for that in the coming weeks... but this will give you an idea of what Covet is all about... a great space! Lots of neat finds and furnishings... excited for that show.

Covet Consign & Design ... they're on facebook too... http://www.facebook.com/pages/Covet-Consign-Design/141096282573740 

I have another little reception set up for next friday here: July 13th - August 18th,  2012: The Wine Market - 720 Main St., Suite 101 - Mendota Heights, MN 55118  

Details forthcoming as well. 

Whew!

random photographs from madison and hayward... 

this afternoon cedric turned to me after tony dove into the pool and said... wait... what's the past tense of glide... glid i said... and it's stuck since...

i spent a week in the woods... with tony and his family. the fact that the only photographs i have are the few i will share here... speaks to how it made me feel. welcome and relaxed... and as if i had escaped all of life from beginning to end. i am very "connected" on a daily basis. my job and my art require me to be online almost constantly... i log on to facebook for work the moment i arrive... i have a daily reminder set to alert me to log on to a live chat help for clients with questions... i keep tabs on all of our clients... high profile and low profile all day every day... during this time my phone is always at the ready... next to my keyboard... and this is "normal" for me... 

my show last week was an overwhelming success... i was so happy to see everyone that came out... but it's been building... along with all of life... for months... we hit the road saturday... and once i left hayward and glanced at my phone... "no service" felt like a rainstorm after a drought... have you seen that commercial? the one where a jeep full of dudes rolls around from one secluded locale to the next... one man stands up at the highest spot on a nearby rock or up a tree... and says.... no.... and again... no... and finally... yes... "no signal" ... and that's where they set up camp?... whew. how is it that no signal... is our new escape? my brain finally had a rest... 

i discovered a few things this week. 

1. it really means a lot to me when people take an interest in what i do... and ask questions about it. i think painting can be really lonely sometimes... i make it public often... but by public i mean via the internet... it's not often people sit by my side and watch me paint... this week they did... and they asked a lot of questions... where, how, why... etc... the opening last week did the same for me... it's been a long time since i did a show... it felt good to be surrounded by curiosity in my work... both at the cabin and at the show

2. i live life in fast forward most of the time. i have a lot of energy. i like that about myself. but... i feel like the last week was a gift in self discovery in many ways... the most obvious being that one of the greatest gifts anyone can give you is a "pause" ... or at the very least slow motion... a feeling that you don't have to decide anything. you don't have to act or describe or create anything... you don't have to do anything... but "be"... 

3. as mentioned above... most of my art "work" ends up crammed in between work, social activities, exercise, eating, sleeping and life in general... anything i have created in the last 2 or 3 years has been on little sleep... and in low light... after a day of work or before rushing off to somewhere else... this week... i painted for hours... with no end or beginning in mind... just sitting and working... and i found something out... when i paint without time constraints... i notice a lot more. lines and colors... it was truly calming to work on several pieces and let them dry... and come back to them over breakfast... next to the lake... 

4. i also discovered that i am brave... i like driving small fishing boats without a steering wheel... jumping in the lake on a hot july afternoon just because i'm sweaty... elking with a spot light on a dark road can be scary and fun at the same time... i like tennis... i suck at big buck hunter... i am a lot less shy than most people... spiders don't scare me... ghost lake doesn't have any ghosts at all... (nice try ceddy) ... s'more bars are delicious and easy to make... age is easy to defy with energy... home can be found ... far from home... 

5. a family with love in it... looks much like another family with love in it... that's not making it any less special or unique... but that love is universal... and forgiving... and fun

6. this is something i already knew... but was reminded of... people are the most amazingly confusing gift in this life we have. getting to know people... having the chance to understand them... is the best puzzle on the planet! hooray for the time to do that. for the pauses and the shouts that are telling. i will never tire of the people i have met this week or in all the weeks before ...