Island (Fest) Girl

Davis Islands, a neighborhood in Tampa, has a yearly Islands Fest celebration and this year they are having an art show too. I am going to have a display at the show so if you are in Tampa the last Saturday in April, come by and say howdy.

Knock, knock. Who's there? Shoppers?

You've got to be kidding me. Two garage sale junkies knocked at my door today to see what I would be selling at Saturday's garage sale. Dogs freaked, I complained about leaving my computer, Girlie (well, she didn't notice) but this is exactly the kind of thing I hate about garage sales. NEVER AGAIN. Now, with my rant over, feel free to come by my house on Saturday and relieve me of some junk.

Something Exciting

I swore to myself that I would respect Girlie's privacy and not blog about her but let's face it, she's more interesting than me and has so much more to offer my blog. The latest: she wrote a letter to her Nana (my mom) and it started with a paragraph about how excited she is to move to Miami and after that she wrote that there was something else exciting! In a year or two, she's going to start puberty! Then, without further explanation, she returned to the subject of Miami. My mom is going to crack up when she gets that letter. By the way, Girlie is nine. Let's hope that it's more than a year or two (please, please, please...).

Myspace

I have recently updated my Myspace page with a nice photobucket slideshow. Check it out at: www.myspace.com/wendyboucher.

Yard Sale

www.wendyboucher.com I'm doing something I have always sworn I wouldn't ever do again. I'm having a sale at my house of junk that we are not going to move with us to Miami. Anybody need a footbath thingy that's only been used once? I can't imagine that anybody will want our junk but it's worth it for a few bucks that we can use to get our house ready to sell. I might be able to buy a plant for the front yard. So my week will be spent alternating between doing artwork, preparing for the sale, and working on the house. And playing Toontown. Don't know Toontown? Ask your ten year old. I don't have a new art piece to show you today but just to decorate the post, here's an old one. I'm donating this piece to a cancer charity fundraiser. Ciao for now.

Funny how it is

I used to be funny on my blog. Here's proof. Lately I've been art-centric and admittedly quite boring. I blame the fact that in the next two months I am: traveling to New York, traveling to California, having a garage sale, moving to Miami, bridesmaiding in a category 5 wedding (it's a society wedding that will be covered in a magazine), losing 10 pounds (see last list item), and there is still a little girl around here somewhere who likes me to feed her occasionally. So I'm busy in unusual ways and it's sapping my ability to blog correctly. But I will persevere! My art creativity (luckily) is not suffering. I'll just channel a smidge to the blog in the near future. Why the sudden perk-up? Somebody commented on my Market post and it reminded me that blogs are in fact public and somebody might actually look at it. So already you see improvement. See the linkies? Have a great day.

Artfully Yours

Friday night, we at at Six Tables Tampa, one of the finest culinary experiences one can have. Saturday night I went to the opening of Dominique Labauvie's sculpture exhibit in Tampa and tonight, we're going to hear the Baker's Dozen, an a capella group from Yale that my husband sang with when he was an undergraduate. Weekends don't get much more cultural around here. Yay!

Market

Here is my very latest piece, Market. I started it a couple of months ago and just finished it this week. I love it and if history is any indicator, it will sell right away. So far every image I've made from my trip to Africa has sold. It really was the trip of a lifetime in some ways and I guess my passion for travel shows when I work on Africa-based artwork. The top image is the piece and I threw in three detail shots too. Enjoy. If you want to see a larger image of this piece, go to my website at www.WendyBoucher.com.

Thing One and Thing Two

Such cute little babies. Bella on the left, Marty on the right. Wouldn't they be cuter without the giant "don't bark or I'll zap you collars?" Before you call in PETA, I'll tell you that they are made for little bitty doggies and I have them set at the lowest setting. I had to do it because the crankiest old bat in the universe lives nearby and has left all kinds of nasty messages on our machine about our dogs barking. The funny thing is, half the time she's complained, our dogs weren't even at home - they were being boarded while we were on vacation. I think it has taken her a long time to cotton on to the fact that there are about twelve dogs in the immediate neighborhood and many of them have barking habits and - here's the really funny part - her own little precious canine has been known to bark up a storm. But I want to be sure that my dogs are not contributing to the problem and thus the collars which work pretty well so long as the collar is fitted exactly right. Sometimes I think Marty just keeps on barking anyway: "Bark" "zap" "urch", "Bark" "zap" "urch" and so on. He's a little toughie. So what's this got to do with art or anything? Not much but I may turn that photo into an piece of art someday to commemorate Thing One and Thing Two.

Addendum to the Previous Post

Detail shot of Coach & Horses Coach & Horses I just posted about the above piece of artwork, Coach & Horses, but it occurred to me that I should throw in a detail photo so you can see the texture in the piece (which I love and is why I use paper instead of paint.)

Those who know me well, know that I'm a hopeless Anglophile. So it should come as no surprise that I am working on a London Series of artwork. The piece pictured here is my latest work in the series entitled, (surprise) Coach & Horses. Nobody loves a busy London pub more than I. So I had to capture one in my art. All paper and glue, as usual. It's pretty big, 36x30". I'm focusing on larger work lately both because I prefer it and it sells really well. This London Series will be featured in my September/October solo show at the Kotler Gallery in downtown Tampa. Want to see another? Okay. This one is called Covent Garden, London. It's 40x30" and it took me forever to complete. See all those railings? Phew. Now I'm working on a smaller piece that will be a wedding gift to my bestest friend in Tampa, H. She's British and happens to be the blond shopper in the Covent Garden piece above. That brunette is moi. After that I'm thinking of tackling a view of the parliamentary buildings as viewed from the South Bank. Stay tuned.

Ciao Art

My latest two pieces to sell are on their way to their new home in Venice, Italy. How nice to say that my art is collected internationally. And imagine someone from Italy coming to Florida and buying art. Usually it's the other way around. I suspect that the weak dollar might explain why buying art here in the US is attractive to foreign collectors. Whatever the case - I am delighted to have made the sale. One of the pieces is pictured above. It's called January Cote d'Azur. (We went to the Riviera in the off season when a family of three can afford to stay near the beach.) Ciao Art. Ciao nice art collector.

What Are You Doing This Saturday, March 8th?

Come to the art mixer at Tampa Artist Emporium -- I'll be there too. It's from 5 to 9 and you can drop in any time for a glass of wine and a nibble of food. Meet artists and fellow art appreciators. Tampa Artist Emporium is located on the main drag in Old Hyde Park Village in Tampa, right across the street from Restaurant B.T.

Rest in Peace, Cleo

On Wednesday, I had to take my 17 year old kitty to the vet to be put to sleep. (Long, dramatic pause). I blubbered like a baby even though I knew it was going to happen sooner rather than later. Girlie was sad too. Besides fish, she's never lost a pet before. She wrote an essay, made a memory basket, and fashioned a little room for Cleo's spirit out of a shoebox (it's now in one of Cleo's favorite spots). So cute. Luckily, I made a picture last year of Cleo and Max, my two cats. Cleo is the prominent one in the center. You only see Max's rear end because she was a feral cat and to this day (she's 12), she doesn't like to be held or pet, unless you are petting her right above the tail. Cleo was a lover (to me and Girlie) and till her dying day, Cleo was the boss pet of the house. The dogs recognized her alpha-ness and gave her plenty of space even when she weighed all of 2 pounds in her last weeks. Rest in peace, Cleo, and have fun bossing around the others in kitty heaven or wherever you are.

New! The Piece of the Month

I'm going to start something new at my website, www.wendyboucher.com. In an effort to make my website more interesting and to give people a reason to come back - every month or two I will be offering "The Piece of the Month" - a 12x12" piece at a substantial discount. I picked this size because it's easy to ship, makes a good gift, and can usually be incorporated into any household or office. So without further ado, here is March, 2008's Piece of the Month: Big Pot. Like all my work, it is a mixed media/paper on canvas piece. It normally sells for $200 but I am offering it this month only for $140 (plus tax in Florida). Shipping the piece adds $14 and I take credit cards via Paypal at my website. So if you are interested, check it out. It's first come, first served!