Birthdays, Masterpieces and a Space Dog

"60 Years of Peppers"

"Oceans Tridents Submarines"

First of all, I'd like to wish Jim Kirk, of Captain Jim's Sauces, a local hot sauce maker, a happy 60th birthday!  I was amazed, about a year ago, when "Captain Jim Kirk" signed my guest book at the Art Bank.  His wife, Kate, secretly bought "Oceans Tridents Submarines" from me for Jim's Christmas present, last year.  He was thrilled, declared my style to be reminiscent of 70's underground pop art, which caused me to go on a massive Google search to figure out what that was. This year, Kate commissioned me to paint a logo for Captain Jim, using their chili pepper pirate character. This was in the middle of my recovery from Ramsay-Hunt, so I used it as a welcome therapy opportunity. I'm pretty proud of the result.

"Postcard Masterpiece"

I was also dead-set on completing this painting, because I wanted/needed the art work-out so that I could be in 'shape' for the Masterpiece In A Day competition at this year's Art Squared, the Fountain Square Art Festival. This year, for me, has been nuts. ...Well, the last 2 years have been pretty nuts, but this summer has been exceptionally trying. I was crazy looking forward to MIAD, really really excited. I think I just needed the release. It was a great day, I created something I'm really proud of. It was really windy, and my aerosol finishing bit, the black lines in the painting, started to seem like not such a good idea, but I pulled it off. It's called "Postcard Masterpiece" and it's of the fountain that puts the "fountain" in Fountain Square. (It was also so windy that I was across the street and 4 doors down and I could still feel some of the spray from the fountain!).  I got to see a lot of good art friends, a posse of folks from my hometown (Kewanee, represent!), and meet some new artists, or at least new to me, folks that I hope I get to work with in the future.

After MIAD, I collected Remy and we marched in the Art Parade. She was an astronaut, a costume that got her the judges award at the Hog Days Pet Show, and I wore my Sonic the Hedgehog spiky hat and declared myself an alien. We were lined up in the parade behind a group of little kids dressed as cute little robots, with an adult playing They Might Be Giant's "Robot Parade" on an infinite loop (it was stuck in my head for 2 days) and we were in front of Family Video's float and a giant Chinese food box. Good times.

Astro-Remy

When I was a kid, my Grampa Weber would march in the Hog Days parade, dressed as a clown, repping the company he sold hog feed for, Agri-King. He would walk an invisible dog, ride my scooter, ride an adult tri-cycle, and eventually, as he got older, a riding lawnmower with a little cart on the back. Now I know why he would do something so silly: It's just fun. Why NOT do it? Remy and I weren't representing anything but neighborhood folk having fun. The weather held out, and I got to play.

In other updates, I got the final puzzle piece for my Ramsay-Hunt recovery: an eye check-up. I was really worried my eye took some damage from my inability to blink properly. It can seriously dry out your eye and change its shape. In my case, it did for the better! For now, anyway (the doc said it could revert back in a few weeks) my contact prescription has actually gone BACK as step! My eyes were hurting when I tried to return to my contacts, but that was because my current contacts were too strong! He gave me a sample on a weaker prescription, and instructed me to come back in 6 weeks, but for now, I'm glasses free! Yay!

New Stuff!

Which leads me to First Friday. It's October everybody! Besides my Masterpiece being on display at the Art Bank, all of my 16 in. x 20 in. paintings (of which there are many--I gotta stop painting in that size) are marked down from $150 to $100! Yup, a third off. You get some nifty Christmas gifts, and I get more space in my house! Also, I have fully restocked my Wee Paintings rack, and updated all of the postcards and Christmas cards (for those of you looking for some of the Star Trek themed pieces, now's your chance!)

So, despite the grey weather, come and see me tonight. Things are looking up and I'm in a great mood!

New Things!

"Curious-er and Curious-er"

Progress!

As part of my...face physical therapy, besides smiling, I've been trying to force myself, bit by bit into doing the activities that make me tired, to force those muscles in my face to work. I'm getting there!

I've only managed to finish one piece so far, but it's a start. And it's strange. It is "Curious-er and Curious-er," an acrylic and aerosol piece kind of inspired by the Mars rover Curiosity. Because what else would a giant space robot-car see on Mars but a green rabbit looking back at it!

"Untitled" Help me name it!

I also have, to present, this little piece. I'm not entirely settled on a name yet, but it's basically an image I saw while I was knocked out during my sinus surgery. A lady was hanging up strange things, like play-dough, silverware and jacks, from little white strings, while a bright glow came from behind. ...Aaaand it manifested like this. The BF immediately declared that I'm never allowed to do drugs. This one I actually managed to finish before the Ramsay-Hunt ordeal began.

And one last little goodie: The Five Year Mission posted their latest music video today! It's from their second album, "Year 2" and is of the song "Arena."  In the original episode, Captain Kirk is pitted against an alien called a Gorn (that basically looks like a big dinosaur-man) and a fight ensues. That explains the lyrics of the song. In the video, the Gorn is getting beat up by life, instead of a member of Starfleet, and is just having a generally crummy day, until he stumbles upon the Five Year Mission practicing.

I'm proud to say, I shot the video (edited by band member Mike Rittenhouse), and the Gorn's house is actually my house, and the dog is my wonderful 'painting assistant' Remy Hernandez. We think it's awesome and hope you do too.

Astro-Remy!

So now we prep for First Friday; come down and see my newest paintings (for sale but not labeled yet--in fact, help me name the dream painting!) and then we gather our energies (and by we, I mean Remy and I) for Art Squared: The Fountain Square Art Fair! Remy and I will be at our usual location outside the Hero House comic shop and then Remy will be marching in the Art Parade at 5pm! She test drove her parade costume at the Kewanee Hog Days WJRE Pet Show, and got the Judge's Award! (kind of a best-of-show). Rock on, Remy!


Oh yeah, and for OCTOBER'S First Friday, I'll have all my most recent work in greeting card and post card form--all up-to-date and ready for the holidays! (I know, I know, too early, but hey, when you're making them by hand, you have to get a head start!)

Broad Strokes!

Prime Time!

Due to my art sidelining, I've decided to catch up on a bunch of my DIY projects. Seriously, some of these have been in the works for like a year. Time to clean the plate.

I'm calling them my Broad Stroke projects, because they don't require me to concentrate on fine detail. All I have to do is cover the surface with color, no staying in the lines required!

Remy and the bench.

This morning, I finished my tree-log porch bench. I painted three logs, cut from trees felled at a friend's family farm by a tornado (yeah, what?!) a nice indigo color. I picked a semi-gloss because I wanted them to look kind of plastic-like and fake, but that would make the bark look all the more interesting. I inherited a circular saw from my grandfather's garage last year, and have been slowly mastering it.

Close-up of the logs.

This time I was able to cut the 2 x 4's to the right length (trust me, a year ago, I couldn't do this) and painted them a nice, glossy yellow. The green and blue circle in the photo--that was from a paint spill last year, while painting a cabinet for my Art Bank space. I made the spill into a circle, added a spiral and made it look like a rug! And my landlord wasn't mad that the 'oops' had happened! He said he could just power-spray it off, if I ever got tired of it. I had better plans in mind!

Cup-inspired murals.

I had a section of wall on the back of my house that was just screaming for something to be done. I didn't want to mess around with the structure of the wall, so I opted for some plywood murals. My mom got me a cool plastic glass with a cute design on it at Hobby Lobby this spring, so I basically stole the design from that (except I changed the flower middles from pink to blue on the one mural--matched my scheme better). I'll be straight up about it.

The entire back corner.

Much like the fence/barn-board murals I did last year, I kept these loose and brush-strokey, and, as they are on plywood, I made sure to seal them with lacquer so they would weather better. I haven't messed around with outdoor applications of plywood much, but I've been told the plys become unglued over time. I don't want to find out the hard way. Lacquer it is! Next summer, I'm going to plant black-eyed susans all around the front of the murals, so I think that will make a nice little space. There's also a small boulder in the foreground that crashed through my basement wall a few years ago (non-structural, just surprising!) so it's part of the nice little space too!

Toad-stool seats--COMFY!

The toad stool tree-log seats were a swipe from a Pinterest photo, except the photo used red with white circles. I went with orange and blue with gold swirls (you can see them better in person). The logs came from the same tree as the bench, but I got most of the bark off for a smoother look. I also lacquered them to seal them and it made their color very rich and warm! A few screws, some cut plywood circles, and some staples and there you go!

Pallet Fort, sans doors.

All summer I've been working on my "pallet fort." The city gave us these ugly grey trash cans that we have to use for trash pick up. (I spray painted my house numbers on ours so our less-than-scrupulous neighbors don't steal them).  They just sat in this muddy spot in the back yard. So I've built the pallet fort to shield them. I poured concrete and set fence posts, attached pallets to the sides and painted the entire thing bright blue. Now I just have to build doors for the sucker. I was going to use straight pallets for the doors, but they're too heavy and the swinging would destroy the rest of the structure.

Key wind-chime.

So I've been trying to disassemble a pallet, make a frame for each door, and use the pallet boards as panels to fill it in. Problem is, I'm not strong enough to get the boards off, or if I get them off, they usually get destroyed in the process! So, I'm still working on that one. Painting all that blue was truly an exercise in monotony, so it took me a while. The doors will be many colors and awesome.

Hanging off the side of the pallet fort is my key wind chime. It's another Pinterest steal, sort of, but I just used the things I had around: A slice of the logs from the bench and toad stools, and a bunch of retired live truck keys. I want to add more strands of keys, so I'm collecting them as I go...so, you know, if you have any old metal keys around that don't go to anything any more...I'll take them!

My sweet lime-green coffee table.

Now for the indoors: This sweet green-topped table was a back porch find at my grandparents. My grandpa used to go to the Sale Barn in Kewanee, a place where you can buy all kinds of things, and buy, well an entire lot of stuff just to get one thing. I'm going to assume that's where this table came from. The rest of the stuff that he didn't want, but now owned due to what he really wanted to buy, was usually just left around the house or garage. The top of this table was all weathered from rain, but the legs were really nice. So I sanded down the top, painted it glossy lime, cleaned off the legs, painted the caps with some Rustoleum and there you go! It cleans up pretty nice!

My First Stain!

This table was hand-sanded by my great-grandfather last summer. He sat in his garage and just sanded that sucker down. I don't know here he got it, I think at some kind of sale. It had leaves at one point, but now it's just a square. He offered it to my cousin, it just needed a stain and seal, but she didn't want it. So I took it. I'd never stained anything before, so I was intimidated, and I'll admit, procrastinated once the weather got nice enough to stain outdoors. I was worried I'd mess it up! I figured I only got one real shot at it. Finally I just went for it. I picked out a stain that matched the wood trim in my house pretty well and just knocked it out. Then I sealed it with the same lacquer I've been using so far (that can went pretty far!).

This table is HOT.

I'm seriously crazy-pleased with this. That table looks SHARP. I am so thrilled with how it turned out and I can't wait to show Grampa Woody a picture of it! And staining was deceptively easy too! (just don't get it on your hands, they call it stain for a reason). Yeah. I'm proud.

So now my project list is cleared off, so I've been the bullet, signed up on Pinterest (I'd just browse anonymously before, but a recent upgrade made that more difficult). I don't know how much of a 'pinner' I'll be, but I'm on the look out for more projects. I have one more nearly complete, but I need to find two more components to complete it, then I'll post a pic. I also have this little step ladder I want to do an orange wash on. I guess that will be for the next post!

AWOL and Ramsay-Hunt

Wow. My previous post got quite a bit of buzz...well more than I normally get. I'm glad for this and glad for all the people that got a head's up out of it. We artists have to stick together, right? Right?! haha. Right. So yeah, keep spreading the word and I'll keep posting anything I happen to come across.

In the meantime, I'm kind of on a fine-detail hiatus. It's a strange story really. I've had sinus issue my entire life, and finally had some corrective surgery done in July. Yay! Great! And really, THAT part has all worked out wonderfully (...well...except for the bill I got today, even AFTER insurance... *gulp*). I can breathe, I can smell stuff I haven't been able to smell for a long time (which is a mixed blessing sometimes!) and all that part is all healed up.

And then? AND THEN...And then I had August's First Friday. I had kicked my own butt to get myself healthy and ready to go for it. It takes a lot of energy to do First Friday right, even when you're not featured! Part of art is the business side of things, and without sounding too retail, that means good customer service, a good attitude, and just having fun! So, mucho energy involved there. Even on the day before, things were picking up! I got to stop into the Space Camp micro gallery in Fountain Square to help with a show load-in (very cool place) and then got a call to be a last-minute fill-in at the Mass Ave Wine Shoppe, near the Art Bank, as their featured artist (great place, go there--there's wine!).   But I started to drag and my left ear started to hurt.

I had seen my ENT (Ear-Nose-Throat specialist--the lady that did my surgery) earlier on Thursday and she just thought it was a little boo-boo but gave me a z-pack just in case. Then on Friday my ear had swollen up so bad it was incredibly painful. I trucked through First Friday, got to see a lot of friends and supporters and even ran into some old friends I literally hadn't seen since my college graduation. Really, very much good times. But by the time I woke up on Saturday, I was in serious pain and something was seriously wrong. I checked into an Immediate Care center and they thought, since the z-pack was obviously doing nothing, that I had MRSA, a drug resistant staph infection. Yipes! I went home with enough antibiotics in me to make me impervious to all problems and rested.

The next day... At work, I'm doing my thing, working with the videos, and my eye starts to blur. My eyebrow goes numb and the lack of feeling spreads up my forehead and down the left side of my face. WHAT. So I scurry back to the Immediate Care. They still think it's MRSA but that the lymph nodes under my swollen ear have compressed the cranial facial motor nerve, which controls half my face and runs along my jaw, and that's causing me to, you know, not be able to move my face. Just keep taking the antibiotics, as the swelling goes down, the pressure will subside. Oh yeah, and tell your doc what's up.

I call the ENT during the week and she orders me in immediately. She takes one look at me and declares it NOT MRSA (Yay!). It's called Ramsay-Hunt Syndrome (What?) Basically, much like shingles is a reawakening of the Chicken Pox virus I've carried in my system since I was 4, Ramsay-Hunt is a Chicken Pox sleeper cell that hung out in my facial nerve and waited for my immune system to be weakened just enough to strike. Opportunistic bastard. My sinus surgery was all the distraction it needed.  And if we hadn't caught it in time (within about 7 days) my face would have a way less chance of regaining its control. Swell.

The open-eye side is immobile!

So now, I'm about 3 weeks into all this and I'm trying to keep my spirits up. I've finished my antiviral medication. I've made faces and stuff (even though, most times, people can't see the movements on the outside and I'm moving the muscles as hard as I can on the inside) and I have be careful of my left eye, because I can't blink well or shield it from the sun. I was supposed to speak at a local high school art class, but had to postpone that for a few weeks, because, you know, partial facial paralysis and a room full of high school kids usually doesn't mix well. I also don't eat in public as that's not to pretty either.

Murals and Toad-Stool DIYs

As far as my ART blog side of this: I can't do fine detailed artwork. Oh, sure I can do 'broad stroke' type projects, which so far has been DYI things I've been putting aside, but projects where I have to sit and concentrate and stare for long times to make sure my drawings are accurate...are just not happening. It's that left eye that just won't let me do it. I see spots. *sigh*

"Broad-stroke" project: Table Restoration

So this is like my suffering for art moment, right? Like, my stuff is now more worth it from before, since I can't create now, right? It's more rare now!

Or...I just have some forced down-time to catch up on the broad stoke stuff, (computer stuff is even a tiring thing--looking at the screen and such--this is tough to write) and I get to load up on ideas for when I can, you know, blink.

So that's it. I'm AWOL, painting-wise, until my face heals. Or at least my eye blinks. Ramsay-Hunt WHAT???

Art Scams = GRRRRRR

Today's post is about SCAMS.

SCAMS SUCK.

Especially (or at least especially for me, since, you know, this is from my perspective) in the art world.

Last week I got an email from a dude named Frano Mawer, who claimed to be from Malta. Yeah, Malta? I didn't want to be too skeptical, because international sales are really cool! I got kind of excited, thinking that someone on the other side of the globe may actually be interested in purchasing my work! Like I said, hey, it could happen, right? But I didn't want to be played for a fool either. I googled his name, nothing came up, but I kept up the email exchange. If anything, I could gather more information on if this was truly a scam or not, and IF not, I could still be cordial, not offend a potential buyer, and maybe come out ahead.  I had to dance a dance.  Here is the initial email, it's subject line read "Inquiry":

Hello,
I am emailing to inquire about availability of artwork for sale in your gallery, if you can ship international and also if you are able to process Visa and Master Card Number/Expiry date/Cvv as payment. Let me know so that i can communicate with you on the artworks that interest me,you can also indicate to me which of the arts are sold and which are available on your website.
I will be looking forward to reading from you.
Best
Frano

I know, I know, skeptic radar up. But you never know, so I replied that I could process payments via PayPal and through Square, but that I would need an address, especially to know where I was sending my work (notice, no mention of Malta, yet) and I would need to know which pieces he wanted.

His response:

Hello,
Good to hear from you,
Below are the artworks that interest me so i want you to get back to me with the cost price of each so i can give you the credit card number to run for the payment

Bang Bang Bang
Acrylic on canvas.
16 in. X 20 in
====================================================================
Rewind I
Aerosol on canvas.
16 in. x 20 in.
====================================================================
We Are All Americans
Acrylic on canvas.
24 in. x 18 in.
====================================================================
Lollyputnik
Acrylic on plywood.
23 in. X 23 in.

I want you to get back to me with the cost of  the above so that you can have the payment.
I will be looking forward to hear from you asap.
Thanks
Shipping Address
2, Enis Street, Hunch.
PQY 6428  Malta

Hey! Sweet! That's quite a bunch of my work! ...But I wasn't too sure about that address. It didn't read right. I've not sent much mail overseas, so I wasn't sure about how addresses are set up in other countries. I decided to call FedEx, see if they could ship there (I wanted to call UPS too, but their offices were closed at the time I was calling). The very patient lady at FedEx's phone center explained that that was not a true address in Malta, and that she would need a proper zip code. Zip Code, got it. My reply to Frano: 

Ok,
Here are their prices:

Bang Bang Bang: $150 USD
Rewind 1: $150 USD
We Are All Americans: $180 USD
Lollyputnik: $200 USD

The total would be $680 in addition to shipping.
I called FedEX today to try to get a quote for shipping, but they were not able to locate the address you listed. They would need a proper town name and a proper zip code.
I would also need a proper billing address for the card, including zip code.

Again, thank you very much for your interest.

-Joy Hernandez

Again, I wanted to maintain civility, just in case this was legit, but the chances were getting slim. That and I had found this nifty blog that posted a nearly identical email sent to an artist, but hers included the Malta address off the start. They're getting tricky. I was pretty sure the jig was up, but I got a reply back: 

Hi,

I am okay with the cost of the artworks therefore i want you to get them packed while on the shipping,one will have to pay additional fee at the delivery point here in Malta  because they will never bring to ones house. courier like Fedex, UPS are not worth it here especially USPS all of them are not rendering good service here probably because they already known very well.
You can contact this courier Airpro Delivery  (airprodelivery@hotmail.com) as well with the weight and cost of the artwork for the shipping and insurance to my
address because they ship and deliver safely without one paying any other money before collecting the goods unlike some other courier where it will not be
delivered to your address rather you will have to go to their office to pick it up and when you get there you will be told to pay other money before collecting it.
I will be looking forward to hearing from you asap.
Thanks
Shipping Address
2, Enis Street, Hunch.
PQY 6428  Malta

No change on the mailing address, no 'real zip code' and not even a real town listed. (And, yes, Malta has more than one town). I'm not going to mess around with "AirPro Delivery," I'd never heard of it, and I'll never EVER ship before I have payment, let alone go through all that trouble. AND the FedEx lady had assured me that they did ship to Malta, as long as they had a valid address. So I'm calling shenanigans. 

I emailed him back as such:

Hello,

I'm sorry Frano, but I'd have to insist on FedEx. The woman I spoke with on the phone assured me that they do ship to Malta, but that the address you listed before was not valid. I've also used USPS in the past, overseas and especially with the military, and have had no problems. It's a security issue on my part, if you are still interested, I will add the cost of shipping to your overall total, via one of these couriers.

Thank you,
-Joy

Haven't heard back. And, if you're wondering or receive such a thing, his email was: mfrano3325@rocketmail.com  What's rocketmail? I googled that, apparently it's an old email server, pre-hotmail, that was popular back in the 90's, around the time Britney Spears was on her way up. I wonder if art scammers in Malta dig early Britney Spears as much as they dig old email servers? In any case, the other blog with the Malta scam had listed them with a rocketmail address too.

I apologize for this not being a nice shiny post with lots of pictures and such. I wanted to post all of Frano's emails, in case someone else heard from Frano, and especially since they tend to change up the act.  I didn't get taken, and I don't want anyone else to be had too.  According to that other blog, if I had processed that card information for a sale, I would have been on the hook for handling stolen card information. I would have been out the money, and my art would have been delivered to who-knows-where. Great.

And as for those that think pulling scams on the world's artists is okay or cool? Stop it. It's not cool. It pisses us off, and all we want to do is deliver the world our art. You get our hopes up. I'm not going to turn down a legitimate sale, because I really could use that money, so don't jerk me around with this kind of nonsense. If you've got that much time to seek out and try such an elaborate scam on an artist, I'm sure there are better, more productive ways to use your time.

Artists: Make sure you always check out sales, especially online. Don't be afraid to ask questions, but do it cordially, so that you don't offend the buyer, in case they're legit.  But do do your homework, see where your art is going, and make a few phone calls. Protect yourself!

Art Scams = GRRRRRRRRRRR.

Lift-Off! Of June's First Friday!

Tonight is First Friday!

And since I'm featured at the Art Bank...Here's a sneak peak at what will be new!


Yes, only three. It's a SNEAK PEEK.  Wanna see the rest, then grab your jacket and get downtown! You will also get to see the Five Year Mission in a free concert. And that's awesome. They'll play 7-9pm. With fire twirlers to follow. Yup, that adds to the awesome.

It's been a roller coaster month and a half of preps and I've nearly pulled this all off. Now I just need your help! What can you do? Attend! I mean, I didn't do all this for giggles, now did I? (ok, well, I did, but that's not the point...)


And, premiering tonight, my very first piece of installation art, a collaboration with photographer Vin Oliveri. So...a picture of that and the rest of the event's goings on (and the rest of the new stuff) will be posted later. And by later, I mean tomorrow, as this is going to be a long, fun night.

June is Feature Time! (It's like Adventure Time, but better!)

Welp, I'm featured again at the Art Bank, this time for June.

I can add event planning to my resume if I pull this month off!

I'm focusing on my aerosols/acrylics for the month, and, as such, trying to churn out new work.  Good thing about aerosols is that I've learned new things to add to my technique. So I've been able to make a few multiples, using different color combinations and such. I've made a few windmills, a few Star Trek uniforms and a few space 'themed' ones. And I have a few more in the works, at various stages of completion. I've set up my enclosed back porch as like a spray factory. I've even joked that I should get a bunch of my friends together for a Warhol-style factory party! (Just bring your own coke, 'cause I'm not gonna mess with that!)  I'm really happy with the new set-up and I feel it helps me work more efficiently.

I've had some time to work with the Liquitex... they're...okay. Problem is, the paint doesn't really like to stick too well, or can come off the canvas! On the upside, they match the liquid paints to the T, which is good for touch ups, but still a pain. And my red color I'd bought had some kind of issue with the cap. I can tell there's paint in there, but it's like it drools on itself. *Sigh* I ended up buying a new one, just to finish the project I was working on! 

So here's a rundown of my events!

Thursday, May 31st: Preview Show! 
My friend and musician, Stephanie Kaleto will be providing music via her original songs, and we'll all just kind of be there for those that want to come take in the art without the manic crowd that First Friday can become. (Not that there's anything wrong with manic, art-loving crowds, especially if they're loving MY art, just sayin!). It will be a more personal setting, so if anyone wants to come have a chat about my...artiness, this would be the time. Less noise, less chance of me being pulled in 20 directions, and if you liked the yummy salsa and apple pop from March, there will be plenty of that! The event runs 6-9pm.

First Friday, June 1st: "Yeah--Aerosols and Acrylics by Joy Hernandez" and Five Year Mission!
Our normal First Friday wonderfulness, joining forces with local Star Trek tribute band Five Year Mission! AND, if it couldn't get any better, Northern Lights Entertainment will be doing their trademark fire-twirling, as it gets darker, and we'll have Captain Kirk...and his hot sauce!  This must be seen to be believed! First Friday is listed as 6-9pm, but we won't leave until you all do. Five Year Mission will take the stage 7-9pm, and NLE will follow.

Friday, June 8th: Pet Pals TV THANKS YOU!
Some of you all know (or have maybe watched the show) that I work with Patty Spitler and Pet Pals TV for the show of the same name that runs on WNDY at 10:30am on Saturdays. (I've even started doing stories all by myself! Look out, I'm off the chain now!) We decided to hold a get-together, a thank you to all of Pet Pals' sponsors, fans, friends and supporters. And as if that wasn't a good enough reason, we're also collecting donations for a wonderful dog, Sweetie, that was horribly injured in a hit-and-run. Humane Society for Hamilton County took on her medical care, and now she's happy and wagging, walking and still sweet! Any extra cash beyond the cost of Sweetie's care will go to HSHC for the medical care of a future hurt critter. We will have all kinds of booths and vendors, pets are welcome, adoptables will be available, and much fun will be had. I'd list all of who's coming, but  the list keeps getting longer, so you'll just have to come see! And we'll have happy musics provided by DJ Allan Dare! The event runs 6-9pm. In case of horrible rain, a rain date will be issued. In case of sprinkles, we'll just tough it out and hope you join us!

Oh yeah, and if all that wasn't enough, 10% of my art sales for the month will go to Sweetie and HSHC, so if you even needed an excuse to redecorate your walls, or you know, just support local art, now's the time!

I've got a few more events in the pipeline, stuff to be ironed out. I'll issue a post on that as it gets solidified. And I'll post some nice pics of the art I've been knocking out. I'm on a roll!