Christmas Past Is Past

Just a few early pictures of me with Santa.  At W&D's Department Store in No. Indiana. My mother really went crazy with the pink sponge curlers on me (I can remember trying to sleep in those damned things)...this was during the Shirley Temple years. As in, she had a desire for me to BE Shirley Temple. I have the tap shoes to prove it. These are the only Santa and Me photos I have. They stop in 1962 when I was 7. I don't know if I got too old to sit on his lap, if I stopped believing in him, or if those photos are still buried somewhere in my mother's house. The thing is, she saved everything...and the problem is, she saved EVERYTHING.  I have lots of artwork from elementary school that she archived. It seems I was very prolific even then. And as you can imagine, not very good. But still, I remember saying that I wanted to be a freelance artist, even though I'm sure I didn't really know what that was. Well, that and a plumber, both of which I have been and am.
I'm working on building the Cat Scratchin' kickstarter project, with the launch planned in January. It's all good, even though I'm going through a very restless time. Happy Happy, and Merry Merry y'all.

Compassion

Here's a little video that I look at when I'm feeling spiteful/hateful/angry/confused at the behavior of others. My dear friend Poet Miller Williams says it best.
Compassion and Serenity now please....Let's try and be decent to each other.
I'm busy shipping books like a little elf. If you are in the Austin area and you need a few more books to give as gifts Wally Workman Gallery has at least 7 of them available. They are open from 10-5 Tues-Sat. and located at 1202 W. 6th St. Austin. If you are in NW Arkansas, I will happily deliver. They are $25.00 each and this month I'm giving 10% of sales to PAWS in Beaumont, TX. Speaking of happy, one of my books is on it's way to Antarctica. Yes, that Antarctica! I think that is so wicked cool!
Working on the Cat book project for January launch on kickstarter...stay tuned.

East Prospect Event Fayetteville

This time tomorrow I'll be fixin' ta set up at Megan Chapman's house for a two day Holiday Sale event. You can read more about it here... http://eastprospect.blogspot.com/  I'll be with a bunch of fine art/artists, it's sure to be a sweet time!  I'll have Dog Scratchin' books, my fine art magnets and just a few of the vintage reclaimed wood "totes" I've been making. If you're in the area I hope you'll make it by either Thursday or Saturday.  After that? Don't know. The Holidays are just about here, I'm working on commissions (which better be done and shipped soon,) so I'll hunker down and continue to work on the Cat Scratchin' project video for the January kickstarter launch.
The Nov. events at Wally Workman Gallery and Eye of the Dog Art Center were very successful. I was happy to get in some good visits in Texas as well. I'll be back in TX in Feb. to teach some scratchbord classes...stay tuned.