Arts in the Family: A Family of Artists Just Trying to Make a Living in the Wilds of Texas

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Saturday, September 24, 2011

Halloween Marionettes


Sorry I haven't posted much today. I've been working on Halloween marionettes all day so all other non-essential activities are on hold for a while. They're for a variety show I'll be a part of at Seaworld starting next weekend and running through October. Performing with scary puppets isn't something I've done before so it should be an interesting experience. The photo above is my first ever scary clown who will juggle for the audience's entertainment. He's almost done. All that's needed is his other hand as well as the juggling balls and viola! A puppet is born.

The World of Jim Henson (1994)

























Jim Henson's 75th Birthday!



This year Jim Henson would have been 75 years old. To honor of one of the most influential artist of the last fifty years I'll be posting some fun Jim Henson stuff over the weekend. There's some interesting links below to get things started.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Henson

http://henson.com/

http://www.jimhensonlegacy.org/


http://www.creatureshop.com/

Friday, September 23, 2011

Laredo Sky


That would be a perfect photo were it not for that Jack in the Box sign. I took that photo on the way out of Laredo yesterday. One thing about Laredo is that it has plenty of sky.

Laredo Public Library Visit

Now that I've gotten some sleep I can write a bit more on my visit to the main branch of the Laredo Public Library yesterday afternoon. The presentation I did was about creating the illustrations for the book "The Miracle of Monterrey", published by Raining Popcorn Media which is a locally owned educational publishing company here in San Antonio.



I had fun talking the to kids after the presentation. They made some pretty impressive drawings that I got to check out. Maybe next time I'll have a more hands-on approach to my presentation by bringing in some supplies for the kids to try.



Talking to a hometown audience really recharged the ol' batteries at a time when they were a little low. Thanks again to Ms. Irma Gonzalez and the staff of the library for making me feel welcome and allowing me to spend some time chatting about the work I do.

Laredo has some very creative citizens that have a lot of talent and imagination and I was glad to be in their company. There was a multi-talented young lady there that was taking pictures and she is the person that puts together the newsletter and the nifty flyer announcing my visit. I think her name was Nic. Thanks for the great promo. Cool stuff! There was also some unexpected networking that occurred which is always a good thing. I can't wait for my next visit.

Happy Autumn!

http://ewintblog.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/fall-festival.jpg

Thursday, September 22, 2011

From Way Back When: Meatloaf- Bat Out of Hell (1977)











http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_Out_of_Hell


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Loaf
Link

There and Back Again



I just got back from Laredo where I did a presentation on illustrating a children's book, in this case "The Milagro de Monterrey". I met a lot of nice people there and I'll post more tomorrow.
One thing I will mention before I go to bed is that driving back in the dark is kind of like being in an isolation tank and I listened to the "Bat Out of Hell" album, excuse me, cd, to create an 1970's altered state of mind. Channeling Meatloaf can be exhausting.

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Doc Ed on the Go!


Here's a quick update for Doc Edwards shows:

Friday, September 23rd, Wanke Elementary
Thursday, September 29th, Crestview Elementary

That is all. Over and out.


Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Peace and Justice Mural

In December of 1988 the Community Cultural Arts Organization assisted a group of school children in painting a mural of their own design at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center on North Flores, which was it's old location. Assisting the kids were Juan Hernandez, Alex Rubio and myself. It was at this mural that we met Vincent Valdez for the first time. He was a student at Collins Gardens Elementary whose drawing was part of the collage of images drawn by various children and selected for the mural. I think this was the year before Alex and I were hired to paint the Virgen de Guadalupe paintings at San Fernando Cathedral though it could have been the same year. I don't think so because it would have next to impossible to do both projects simultaneously.

Circus Memories- Pammy RBBBC 2001

This is Christy McDonald (Pammy's clown College roommate) and Pammy at Winter Quarters. Christy came in to lend a hand a hand with costumes for the clowns. Among her many talents she's a top notch seamstress and costume designer. We hadn't seem in her in a long time and it was good to hang out when she wasn't super busy,which in Winter Quarters, wasn't often.


That's Pammy presenting the ol' bed of nails "walkaround" where she lies down on the bed and then drinks some water that squirts out from her torso.


During Winter Quarters there was a lot of material that was tried then cut from the show. Sometimes we had to present other people's ideas and when they were weak it was always good news when they were nixed. This one bit had Pammy dressed in a tiger outfit and playing golf. I know. Pammy wasn't looking forward to wearing that costume seven to eight times a week. Thankfully it was cut the same day it was rehearsed.



This was a gag that did make it into the show but was one that we never liked. It was a parody of the reality show "Survivor" and at least half the Alley was in it.. The show's director came up with the idea and he really wanted it included. That's show biz. That's Pammy slapping away in the spotlight with gusto.
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