And The Results Are In!

Well first of all my computer is on the blink and is in the shop so I am posting this at work which I am not supposed to do, but I did come in early.

I posted earlier about the two shows/contests I was going to enter this summer. I entered two works in the Central Carolina Fair. They were the same two works that were entered in the spring at the Randolph Arts Guild show. They did not place there, nor did they even take an honorable mention, but this time I received a second place prize for the drawing "Ready to Work" in the category of Pencil and I received a third place prize for the double portrait of my husband and son in the category of Portraits, Other medium. The money prizes were not that much but I do get to keep the ribbons which will be my first but hopefully not my last!

I was extremely pleased! I am so glad I did not let myself get discouraged by not placing at the other show. I had researched the judge of that show and she was an abstract artist. I noticed all of the ones that won, placed or received honorable mentions, with the exception of three works were all abstract. Just goes to show that art is in the eye of the beholder. I have learned not to be discouraged because the judge may just not like my type of art and to try again if I believe in myself. So..... if you are thinking about entering shows and contests please do and don't become discouraged!

The other contest was for a postmark cancellation. We have a town not too far from where I live called Star. This is a designated Christmas Town by the Post Office and they have a contest for local artists to enter a design. There is no money prize, just recognition and this will be the 23rd year they have had the contest. The requirements were: simple line drawing, black and white only, and certain words required in the design which were the address of the Post Office there.

I came up with a design and rendered it in pen and ink and got it ready to send off. I had not read the rules close enough because I remembered it saying must be postmarked Sept. 10. When I re-read the rules prior to mailing it actually said must be received by Sept. 10. I mailed mine on Sept. 10 anyway but I don't know if it will be considered.

I have been reading everyone's blog and I hope to get back into my art soon. I noticed I am not the only one that has slowed down in posting. I guess it is just the summer and having lots of other things to do.

Sorry no pictures! I had some but my computer is on the blink!

Weekend Trip / Update

My son in the Tweetsie "Jail"

My husband and son in the "crooked house" at Mystery Hill

Practice sketch with pastel pencils

Well I know I haven't posted in quite a while and I haven't been doing any art in quite some time but I thought I would just do an update in case someone is wondering where I've been.

My husband decided that we needed to take our son to the mountains of North Carolina to visit Tweetsie Railroad before he got much older. Tweetsie is located in Boone, NC and in case anyone is not familiar with it, it is a Western type theme park. There is a train ride that lasts around 20 minutes and cowboys and indians have a mock fight. All the kids on the train that have cap pistols they have purchased in the gift shops are invited to fire them at the indians as quickly as possible and make as much noise as they can. There are rides, shows, restaurants, gift stores with different themes, gem mining, gold panning and an arcade. In other words an exhausting day of fun!

Now, I have been to Tweetsie when I was a kid (and no, I won't say how many years ago that was). However, then it was only a train ride and some shops so it has really grown. My mother's ancestors came down from the mountains ages ago, I believe from around Banner Elk and my parents were always dragging the family to the mountains for weekend trips, etc. There are not a whole lot of tourist attractions in the mountains of NC or Tennessee that I haven't visited at least once. They also used to love to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway which is a very twisty, narrow road with lots of scenery. I personally just do not like traveling in the mountains. I would get car sick on the Parkway and my ears would constantly pop. I was reminded of this when my ears began to pop as we ascended into Boone. I told my husband, "This is not my country."

I don't mean to run the mountains down, if you like them that is great. They are just not for me. I would much rather travel to the ocean any day even though it is a longer drive.

Anyway I am glad we took my son to see Tweetsie. We should have taken him two years ago when he would have enjoyed it more and if we had waited two more years I don't think he would have enjoyed it at all. And you know what? I was downloading the photos I took at Tweetsie and I didn't even take one of the train! Well, I'm not going back just to get a picture of the train, I'll tell you that!

On the art scene I have done one small thing with my pastel pencils for practice. I saw a photo on the blog Nikon Sniper and I though it was great so I tried it in pastel. It only took around 10 minutes. Steven I hope you don't mind, it was just for practice. Steven has lots of wonderful photos on his blog.

I am also looking at submitting an entry for an art contest. No prize, just recognition if your drawing is selected. So I am trying to get ideas for that. I am looking at entering another art show with the pieces I had entered for the last one. I've read the rules and it doesn't say the work cannot ever have been in a show before just not in this show before.

Anyway, I hope to be back in full soon, and hopefully will be back checking in and reading your blogs soon as well as posting!

Until next time!