Mother Courage for the Sojourner Truth Gallery Exhibit

My latest project was to design two dolls for an exhibit for Black History Month for the Sojourner Truth Gallery in Sacramento. The concept was to choose two paintings from two African American Artists Charles White and Charles Alston and to recreate a work of art of our own inspired by their work. The exhibit will debut at the Sojourner Truth Gallery, 2251 Florin Rd., Sacramento CA, on February 1st and then reopen at the Brickhouse Art Gallery on February 17th and run until March 16th.

I am a doll artist so I thought it would be interesting to take the subject of a two dimensional painting and recreate it in a three dimensional soft sculpture. It was kind of like working in reverses since most painters paint three dimensional objects and turn them into two dimensional paintings.

I chose Charles White's "Mother Courage" because she makes me think of working women from the past. When I was a little girl I used to see these ladies all waiting at the bus stop ready to leave their own homes to go and take care of someone else's home. My mother got up five days a week and caught the bus rain or shine and went to work. She put in long and hard hours. I was inspired by my mother because she made the decision to change her life so that she didn't have to clean other people's houses and went back to school and got her degree and became a nutritionist.

This is my "three dimensional" interpretation of "Mother Courage".

 
 

Victoria Secret and Coconut Cream Pie

Every year before Christmas I take a deep breath, drive to one of the large malls in my area and I head for Victoria Secret for my annual shopping trip to buy the beautiful lotions, bubble baths and fragrances they carry for friends and the ladies in my family. 

I hate mall shopping and I avoid malls like the plague, especially at Christmas time.

I was in the store trying to focus on what I wanted to buy and I had to laugh at a conversation I overheard between the sales clerk and a man who was trying to buy something for his wife or girlfriend. The clerk showed him how to spray the sample fragrance on the little blotter sticks they provided so that he could decide on what he was looking for. The clerk asked him a number of questions about his lady's personality and what she liked. That didn't seem to help him decide. The clerk then tried spraying the sample fragrances on the blotter sticks and described each fragrance in detail. One she described as sporty and outdoorsy, the next she said was sexy and seductive, another she called sophisticated. The man still couldn't decide. The clerk sprayed another fragrance called 'Coconut Passion' on a blotter and waved it gently in front of the man's nose. 

She described it as tropical with a little hint of vanilla. She said it would make his lady smell like a coconut cream pie. He looked at her with disgust and said he didn't want his lady to smell like food, especially coconut cream pie because he hated coconut cream pie. I could see the frustration in the clerk's face and felt for her but I had to agree with the man I don't want to smell like food either. Anyway, it gave me something to laugh about on my dreaded trip to the mall. 

Pre-Kwanzaa

Last Saturday I got a chance to attend a pre-Kwanzaa celebration for the Black Social Workers of Sacramento. I have been working or going to school for the last few years and have been out of touch with community celebrations so attending this one was very joyful.  

There was a wonderful storyteller who made us all begin to think about ourselves in a different way. So many of our young people have gotten caught up in this fast paced, high tech world and so many of us, young and old alike have put so much importance on our superficial images and have neglected the person within, the person we really are. It's become so much about what other people think of us and not enough about what we think of ourselves.

The food was deliciously prepared by volunteers who made sure that everyone had a good meal. There were African dancers and praise dancers to lift everyone's spirits and a powerful drum group that got everyone else dancing.

 Usually Kwanzaa celebrations begin the day after Christmas but this Pre-Kwanzaa celebration seemed so appropriate because it put us all in a celebration mood and gave us all a sense of community and connection to each other.

The Brickhouse Gallery Quilt Show

I am proud to be a part of the Brickhouse Gallery's first annual quilt show. I entered the two pieces shown in the middle of this photograph. The top piece is called "Plum Blossoms"

and the bottom one is called "Moon Watcher".

I was very humbled to be among so many extremely talented quilters. These artists are very serious quilters who devote their creative spirits and many long, long hours to these extraordinary works of art.

I am happy to share some of their work with you here.

If you are in the Sacramento area, this show runs until February 29th.

The Brickhouse Gallery

2837 36th Street

Sacramento CA 95817

Thursday & Friday 12:00pm to 6:00pm

Saturday 12:00pm to 7:00pm

Living In Sacramento: An Injured Coyote

I am still amazed at some of the things that I see since I've been living in Sacramento. I grew up in the South Bay Area, San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale areas. Most of the areas there are city and suburbs. I saw your ordinary cranky squirrels, raccoons would often raid my trash cans and now and then I might have to drive around a stubborn opossum who didn't want to get out of the middle of the road.

But since I've been in Sacramento I have had close and personal experiences with wild turkeys, snowy egrets, sand hill cranes, turtles in the park, a snake coming through the front door at work, huge jack rabbits on the front lawn and 'herds' of Canadian geese flying over head. Most of these experiences, less than a block away from my apartment.

On my way to work this morning I came out of my street and in the field just before I got on the freeway I thought I saw a cougar or some kind of large cat. I parked the car and grabbed my camera to take some pictures. After I took a few photos I decided that it was just a dog. When I got to work, I loaded the pictures on to my computer and the woman standing next to my desk said 'oh my God, it's a coyote'. The pictures showed that he wasn't doing so well. You can see that he's been hurt, possibly, by the hawk that was dive bombing him. The field has been the local buffet for the birds of prey because there are so many jack rabbits. The coyote was digging to try to get at the rabbits.

It was very strange to see the animal out in the open at 11:00 in the morning in such a populated area. He was just yards away from the local Starbucks, the gas station and the grocery store. He wasn't walking well and he seemed to be disoriented. Not good for the coyote or for the kids that would be walking home from school in just a few hours. The animal was obviously sick and might charge a small child.

I called the Sacramento Wildlife Rescue to report this poor guy but got caught in a sea of recordings, voice mails and referrals. I almost gave up, but on the last call, I was in the process of leaving a message on one of the volunteer's voicemail. I explained that I thought it was pretty urgent and fortunately, the volunteer picked up the phone. I didn't realize that she was in Nevada but she knew how to get in touch with the right people without going through all of the recordings. Hope Mr. Coyote can be helped. I'll let you know if I get a call back from the Wildlife Rescue.