La Calavera

To celebrate the season we decorated skulls, calaveras. Calavera's are a common image associated with dia de los muertos, nov 1. my daughter and her friend sadie painted these wonerful paper mache calaveras.

The Pirate Pig

ROOTS 'N' BLUES 'N' BBQ

Columbia, MO October 3,4

The Pirate Pig - miracle BBQ

While Gretchen and I were in the hospital, the whole family came together to work at our BBQ booth at the Blues Festival. Friday night was a bomb, and it looked like our ship was sinking, but with prayers and a lot of hard work-thank you Patrick, Whitney, Renate, Ben J., Tim, and Polly, we pulled it off. Saturday was amazing, people were taking pictures of the pirate flags and wanted shirts. We bounced back with a vengeance and had the best pulled pork at the festival. This was one of the coolest things we've ever done as a family. I think it will become a tradition. Over this next year we will build our own smoker. YO HO the Pirate Pig a Pirates life for us!

New Addition

Welcome Gretchen,
Born October 1 at 5:46 pm
7 lbs 1 oz

a healthy baby girl

We are so happy and thankful for her, she is an awesome new addition to our family. One Dad and three amazing ladies, a wonderful and new experience for us all.

the Pirate Pig

This weekend is the Roots'n'Blues'n'BBQ Festival in Columbia MO. This year our family is doing its own food vending booth, the Pirate Pig. I have spent the last few weeks working on flags and other signage for our booth. I wanted to give our booth a real authentic pirate feeling. We are serving BBQ nachos aka Pig'n'chips and Chocolate covered Bananas aka Monkey Tails. It should be a lot of fun.

9 months pregnant

Here is me just a couple days away from my due date walking an alpaca. This is a full grown alpaca. Hannah and I visited Sycamore Creek Alpaca Farm which is NW of Columbia.
I have always been partial to this Dromedary.

In the Cards

The opening for the "la loteria" show was this weekend at the Mattie Rhodes Gallery in Kansas City, MO. I did interpretations of two cards. La Garza, the Heron, and El Musico, the Musician. I used a mix of paper, wire, and reed forms on top of acrylic on wood. I was happy with the final result.

my daughters mermaid

Hannah has begun to open up her pictorial vocabulary by realizing she can draw what ever she wants to. It inspired me to get her an artist sketch book and some quality drawing materials. I have used the sketch book to also paste small scraps that she has used for drawing so that we have a space to save all of her ideas. I shared my old painting journal with her so she could see how multimedia her sketch book could be. I love to see some of her conclusions for different drawings, though I could never duplicate her style, it is so inspiring to me.

creative family

we are a creative family. this is my husband, the tall guy, as a presenting chef for a Columbia Farmers market event. 10 or so local restaurants created dishes with the donated products from local farmers. Dennis created a heirloom tomato basil and goat cheese tart. it was the defiantly one of the best items presented at this event.

yard ornaments

La Loteria

I was just asked to participate in the La Loteria show at the Mattie Rhodes Gallery in Kansas City MO. This is a show I have done for the last two years. Artists pick a card from the deck of 54 la loteria images and interpret the card into an art piece. I love this show, it has always been a lot of fun for me.

spirit house

I have been interested in spirit houses for a long time. it is a topic i like to explore in my art. I found this photo while creating a post about a spirit house installation i had done with a large group of 6-7 yr old children. This is a cemetery on the NW coast. The small huts and bright colors are so inspiring to me. my current painting themes are dealing with maps, i think however that this image will influence my aesthetic during this planning time.

corn tortillas

i love simple authentic tacos. Corn tortilla, meat or beans, onions, cilantro. After being turned on to such a simple taco we decided to try making home made corn tortillas.

Ingredients-
masa
water
a really hot skillet

Add the appropriate proportion of water to the corn flour.
create small balls of dough
press dough with a tortilla press or with a heavy
pot/pan between two sheets of plastic wrap.
place in hot skillet and brown on each side.

ta da
delicioso!! home made corn tortillas

begining

the fireflyjar is my new painting journal. in the past, my painting journal has been a place to put all of my whims, ideas, and beauty i find in everyday life.