Lucky number 7

ART REVIEW!!
Site Santa Fe is having it's seventh biennial exhibit. Now these things are experiential, experimental and sometimes so modern it's beyond my comprehension. So I went to the public opening with skepticism in my heart. I only skimmed through the various articles written about what it was supposed to be about and came away from the reading with the notion that it's about creating a community. OK, whatever.
I have to tell you, OMG it was so dang fun I can't believe it. I'll be going again and again to try and get more out of the thing. They have built a ramp that winds up and around inside the building so you see the various bits from several different angles, and part of the experience is watching others having the experience. There's this movie of people walking along projected onto this long wall. If you touch one of the people walking they turn and talk to you! (there are a couple that sing) Once you let go they turn back and continue walking. It's so surprising and wild!
OK now to the personality test part... You are winding about along the ramp, way up at the top of the building and you come to a place where a decision has to be made. You can either make a left and go back down a ramp to the floor area, or turn right and jump. Its probably an 8 foot jump onto a stunt pad. A significant drop for sure. In the last couple days I've had a couple women tell me they are going out with a guy and wonder if it's going to be a thing, or not.. so I suggested go straight down to Site Santa Fe do not pass go. Without talking too much about what's about to happen see how the man responds to the various pieces, but especially to the jump.
Does he without hesitation fly off the thing?, Does he offer to hold your belongings while you jump? Does he suggest jumping together? Does he make a quick left and avoid the jump all together? and MOST IMPORTANTLY, how do you feel about his response to the situation? As you can see, you could tell a lot about a person by their response to the jump.
After this experience I have to admit I'm a little bit ruined for the gallery scene, where one is supposed to talk quietly, and look, don't touch the art. I almost got kicked out of a gallery the other night for fooling with the reostat light control. It made the painting look so cool though!!! (the artist was there and into it too, but the owner was less than amused....) I'll get a grip on myself again I'm sure, but now I don't want to just look, I want to experience the thing.

the big one

So I'm now the big 50. It just seems impossible. However, I was at the bank the other day and thought to myself,"it seems odd all these kids are running the bank..." well, they aren't exactly kids, I'm just older. Think about it, a guy younger than myself might be the president soon (I hope). Holy buckets, that can freak a person out.
We had a huge party in celebration, and in the course of discussing being 50, my friend who is 45, last year diagnosed with brain cancer and a poor prognosis, said simply, "you're lucky". Well that's the truth now isn't it.
Here's what comes to mind in thinking about how lucky I truly am, no particular order and certainly not complete.
1. duh, I have ponies!! How many gals can say that!
2. I have great ponies. well behaved, and talented. and they love me.yay
3. I'm surrounded by fascinating, generous and kind people. These people seem to love me back despite my faults.
4. I get to live in a great town. It is a place where there's room for all sorts. I love that.
5. I have a great job. I love to complain about it, but the fact is, I pretty much dig what I do, and have minimal irritation, few meetings and a flexible schedule.
6. I have always had enough. plenty to eat, a nice place to live, wonderful friends, enough dough to do what I want, but not so much that I take it for granted or get bored. This has been true my whole life, so I feel as though I always will. That's a lucky thing right there.
7. I feel good physically most of the time.
8. OMG, can't forget Sparky, my dog, and the kitties. I just love the kitties. nothing more relaxing than seeing a cat draped over the windowsill. And Sparky is a dang fine dog, with a huge fan club of her own.
I could go on and on, as I lead a charmed life. I know that in seconds it can all change but right now, for this minute, I'm so so fortunate. I'm grateful.

steel, oh yeah

OMG I discovered I can make black steel earrings with bailing wire. I was so happy to figure this out. I told my pal winslow, the blacksmith about it, and he said the technique I used was rather toxic... (I got it red hot and doused it in liver of sulphur)He went on into a rather lengthy explanation, something about ferrous metal, migration of carbon inside of molecules and lost me in a quick hurry. Kind of a buzz kill. He did say he'd show me a safer way which i'll share with you when I get it. Remember however, this is one of the men who DIDN'T say "oh let me run and get my drill" when my car was in obvious need of manly attention. Anyway, I did blacken steel and lived to tell about it. And dang if it isn't just the look I was going for....

Here we go again....

I am persistent in my attempts at better photography. I am onto this idea of yucca blossoms lately. This one is not quite right, so I think I'll zoom in a bit. (wait for delay...get the frame just right, although it's hard to see in the screen on a sunny day....

Mr. curiosity wonders why this plant is getting so much attention....

I love this time of year, don't you?

It's morning and so me, Keno, and the chief of ranch security, Sparky are out for a survey of the kingdom, or queendom as it were. It's glorious out weather wise, but a little dry and dusty. On a side note, Keno, the horse, and Sparky, the dog, have a funny relationship. They both want to be in charge of each other... Sparky is forever running behind Keno and giving him a little nip on the heels. Keno feels he's way too good to be herded by a dang dog so refuses to budge! Later when Sparky is nosing around at god only knows what kind of putrefaction, Keno sneaks up on her and gives her a little nudge with his nose which she finds quite aggravating indeed. anyhoo, back to the dry and dusty , but glorious day...

in the midst of the dry and dusty is a splash of red, lets see what that is, shall we?

Oh man, it's the end of may isn't it!! Hello gorgeous!!

Later that same day, it's time to check out the art... It just so happens that we all want to go. Here is Bee goofing off with outdoor sculpture..

Bonnie and Bee trying to make off with the outdoor sculpture...

Margaret and I have decided to make a point of talking to the featured artist at these things this year. Margaret was quite disconcerted by a series of paintings and sculpture the artist, Greg Lomayesva did of shoes for this show. She thinks it's a trivial and "frivolous" subject for an artist with his obvious talent. Now I frankly disagreed with her and was shocked by this opinion, being a serious fan of shoes and all they represent!! Here she is preparing her question, and how to word it so that she doesn't instantly piss him off...

She got the question out brilliantly, something to the effect of what was the symbolism in the subject of shoes for him? anyway, he had a little line about "the missing", but then revealed that he had a significant other who was obsessed with a particular shoe designer. Greg didn't get it, so decided to paint and sculpt shoes designed by this guy and felt after he did this he understood this designer and his art form. It kind of sounded like he broke up with the significant other however....
All this in one day, what could be better???

Pony Pics

I am a disaster at photography as you may have noticed. It doesn't help when my subject is less than cooperative. I took this first picture then realized I needed to zoom out a tad.

So while I'm boogering around with the dang camera, Keno gets it in his head that the camera might actually be a piece of peppermint candy, his greatest weakness:

It goes from bad to worse:

She likes it!

I made this necklace for my pal Kim Nickens. As you can see it's a bit odd,and peculiar too, for that matter.You can't tell from the photo but the bezel is a shotgun shell, and behind the laborodite stone is text from an old book. I wasn't sure how she'd feel about it. But as it turns out she digs it! It was one of those pieces that makes itself and it wanted to look just like it does. You just shouldn't get in the way of the process when it goes like that.
Tonight is art show night and promises to be good at least in the snack department. So stay tuned for the next review.