Sorry for Delay

With all the activity around the holiday season it is very difficult to remember to do this. Tonight I get to take The Woman to the East Peoria City Council meeting to receive our "Major Award" ( It is a pewter plate, I hope they have a salad bar ) Spent part of the weekend remodling my studio, I hope it makes me even more productive. It can't hurt to get some of the many papers, photos, and supplies arranged in an orderly file system. At some point in January I need to tackle the closet and the shoe issue that is in there.

Major Award Winner

Yes although it appears that my fifteen minutes may be up, I did receive a letter today that I won a residential display award from the City of East Peoria. ( according to the letter a pewter plate - to be given at the December 19th city council meeting ) I get to deliver "U S Cellular" tonight to the new owner of the painting , hopefully the photos that I took will be good enough to get a workable print of it.

WEEK TV

Last night I was interviewed again, this time by the NBC affiliate WEEK. Still waiting for the national news teams to arrive. Started "Castle" a small painting of a theater marqee in Bloomington. You can veiw the video at http://www.week.com/Story.aspx?type=ln&NStoryID=55870

Hectic Weekend

As with most weekends this last one was a blur of activity. Friday at lunch dropped off some paintings at The Clubs at RiverCity. My friend Dan O'Connell renovated his lobby and invited members of the Bohemian Art Society to hang things. That evening went to a members appreciation party at the same club, I got some good comments and praise for the pieces. ( I went with the sport pieces - after all it's a health club ) Stopped by Juntion City to see my friend Linda at Exhibit A Gallery, then took my best fiend to dinner at Basta. Saturday finished "Eagles" then another interview and off to Amy's new place in Bartonville - Something Unique - then off for the best pizza on the planet at Jimmy's house in Tremont. Church and lunch with my daughter Charlie and son-in -law Tom on Sunday, then a nap. Sort of glad to be back at work so I can re-group.

Lincoln, IL

This whole blog thing came about because of an art show in Lincoln,IL. I sat in the rain and read an article in the paper about "a painting a day" and the artist blog about his efforts. So I came back home and started my own. Well it seems that in Tuesdays Lincoln Courier on the second page under the heading "Electric Sex" a bigger photo than in the Journal Star. Still waiting for national press to pick up on the story, but it is still out there.

Somewhat Normal

The schools are all opened, the person in charge of city services lost her job at the city council meeting last night, and most importantly both of our docks at work are now open. The problem with the snow removal in Peoria seems be numbers- in all the surrounding areas the miles of road per plow is around 30, ( in Peoria Heights it is 22) in Peoria the number climbs to 52. Also five of the cities trucks fell to mechanical problems bumping up the miles for each truck to around 60 or twice the miles of all the other communities. No wonder it took them five days to get the job done. Started a painting "Eagles" last night should finish tonight, here is an image of one of the two I finished this weekend "Riverfront"

The White Out Continues

The iron man of school districts -District 150- has closed again for the third staight day. That is like Cal Ripkin missing a home stand for the Orioles, I don't think it has ever happened. The snow fell on Friday Dec. 1, almost shutting down the entire city. We haven't got this much snow in 29 years, roofs are collapsing on some buildings, including the new Super Wal-mart on Allen Road. Have taken advantage of the outside conditions( which now include temps in the Teens most of the time) to finish a couple of small paintings. Dropped off six of them for the Art Guilds Crimson Door Sale that starts this week, if people can make it out. Got my new camera and can't wait to try it out.

Winter Wonderland

Woke up this morning at 5:00 when The Woman's Principal called to let her know school was closed. I got up briefly to look at other closings and saw that all the schools in the area were closed so I retired to my bed to get a little bit more sleep before braving the elements to go to work. The alarm went off at the usual time and I got up for my shower, dreading the drive and cleaning off the truck. The phone rings and it was the Vice President of the company calling to inform me to contact my guys, Mitchell Fabrics was closed, for the first time in the 29 years. So we all had a snow day, gave us time to clear the drive and go and clear my dads drive too. This morning noticed that Fox and Friends were asking for house decoration photos, so I e-mailed the photo of the Leg Lamp......it would be extremely cool to get some national buzz.