The Winter Blah's

This time of year is rather uneventful. Oh, we're creating items daily in anticipation of spring shows, but with the gray skies and cold temperatures there's just not much going on. This is when we start feeling the "road trip itch".

We'll be scratching that itch in a few weeks. We'll be in Dallas for Artscape at the Arboretum in March. In fact, I just learned that several Missouri artists will be there! Check it out at http://www.dallasarboretum.org/Learn/artists.htm. Skip and Racheal Matthews create wonderful copper art that comes to life with colors created by heat. Steve and Susie Hoskinson create amazing hot air balloons from lightbulbs. And Suzette Nesbitt creates stunning jewelry. We're looking forward to seeing these friends and fellow artists in Dallas.

Hummingbird fact for today: Despite their diminutive size and high metabolism, hummingbirds can have surprisingly long life spans. Three to five years is average but some banded birds have lived as long as twelve years.

Our Winter Un-Feathered Friends

The view from my side window just now.....

Our Winter Feathered Friends

While hummingbirds are definitely my favorite bird followed closely by orioles, I also enjoy the birds of winter. I make my own suet and have several feeders with different kinds of seed as well. With the outside temperature just a few degrees above zero, the activity at the feeders has certainly picked up. Some of these guys are almost as colorful as the summertime birds-the bright red of the cardinals and the stunning blue of the jays. We also have several different kinds of woodpeckers, and each species is a colorful delight. The cats' window seat allows them a good view of all the activity at the feeders; they chirp and chatter at the birds while the birds are oblivious to the cats. We call it kitty tv.

Just got the word today that I will be at Silver Dollar City in Branson for the entire fall craft festival that runs September 11 through October 30. We really like it there. The staff is extremely helpful and visitors to the park seem to be truly interested in the work of the artisans. It also gives us the opportunity to get better acquainted with other Best of Missouri Hands artists. It does make life a little difficult for Terrie, though, because the place we stay doesn't have the best internet access and she's taking on-line classes working toward her BA. Luckily there's a nice little bar close by with wifi. Apparently she can tune out the bar noise when doing her class work because her GPA is 4.0.

I need to get serious about making art for our March run to Texas. We were accepted into the Artscape Show at the Dallas Arboretum March 20-21. All work in this show has to be nature related. My functional copper art should fit right in.

Hummingbird fact for today: A hummingbird's iridescent colors are artifacts of the moment, changing with the relative positions of feather, viewer, and light source. This is especially true of the highly specialized metallic colors.