Turtle Trax Diary. Page 52,
January 31, 2007
We Finally Got Winter!
by Susan Shie
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This year I got lazy and sent my first e-Christmas card. I made a few printed out versions of it, for people who don't have computers, or for super-special family! But I really enjoyed making this pen and colored pencil drawing on an 8.5 z 11" piece of white card weight paper and scanning it into my iMac.
Here's my cousin Linda from California, being a tourist shopper at Smucker's Tourist and Shopper Store in Orrville! Now that little Smuckers bought out gigantic Pillsbury, Poppin' Fresh runs the show at the Smuckers Store! Linda didn't let him down, and got lots of goodies for her family at home. Although Linda hadn't intended to come this Christmas, she made a special trip in late November, because our Aunt Nellie had died.
This shot was taken of my family at the Snyder Christmas Get Together on Dec 23, at Oak Grove Mennonite Church Fellowship Center at Smithville, Ohio. My brother Jimmy's family are all missing, and part of my brother Larry's family. Front row from left: Chelsea, Jerad, my brother Larry, my sister Debi, me. Second row: Juice and Jen, Sherry, Amber and Olivia and Matthew, John, behind Jimmy, Gretchen and Mike and Eva. Each of our families are clumped around each of us siblings: Larry, Debi, and me. Got all that?? Olivia, Debi's granddaughter, is seven months younger than Eva. I wish they could hang out together, but they live fairly far apart.
This is my "Aunt Nellie" piece, about my aunt, Nellie Snyder, who died this last November 20, at nearly 91 years old. I chose her to be the first of my Strong Women Story Portrait series, and I deeply regret that she passed away before I made this piece. I would have loved to personally interview her specifically for this visual biography. Nellie was a business woman, but put her powerful energy mostly into volunteerism and helping people in need. I'll have a special gallery started soon, about my SWSP (Strong Women Story Portraits) series, and she'll be listed first. "Aunt Nellie" is 37.5"h x 34"w, finished on Jan 3, 2007.
We had a big opening reception night at Wayne Center for the Arts on Jan 12, with the annual WAGE group exhibition - this year's theme being "Stay in the Lines?" - and my solo show. There was a very good bluegrass concert following the opening, with a local professional band, Northwest Territory. 
Jeanne Cremer made this piece, "Nature Emerges," a 22"h x 28"w watercolor, which the WAGE group chose as the image to represent our show, becuase she was experimenting with a new technique, to deliberately stay out of the lines in her painting, as she made this composition. AND because this piece is really beautiful!!! There are 22 of the 30-some artists in Wayne Artists Group Effort participating in our exhibition, which will be up through March 2. You can find hours and maps for Wayne Center for the Arts on their site.
Artist Julie Fisher unveils a new body of work she made just for us to wear at our opening: her wild and playful hatbands. Another WAGE artist, Joan Staufer, is enjoying seeing the hats appear. Then we made a mad dash to choose our tiaras for the evening. WAGE has a long history of artists wearing hats for our openings, and this is the second year that Julie's made them. Julie's work in the show is fused glass jewelry and, what else? Hats! Joan's work is abstract painting on canvas.
WAGE artists Cheryl Dixon, Stephanie Pevec, and Rene Meier at the opening. Their media in the show are photography, mixed media painting, and watercolor, respectively.
On Jan 13, Gayle Pritchard gave a lecture and held a booksigning at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Westlake, OH, in Crocker Park. This was an excellent presentation of Gayle's new book "Uncommon Threads: Ohio's Art Quilt Revolution," which is a scholarly history of how the art quilt movement got its true start right here. Read all about the boook and its author on Gayle Pritchard's website.
That day marked the first full meeting of the West End Textile tArts for a long time, since I don't get to go to monthly meetings anymore, since I don't have the granny pad in Lakewood. I didn't tell the other tArts I was coming, but Jimmy and GEM made sure I made it! I surprised my little tArts! Also at the booksigning / lecture, was Chocolate, who is now officially a tArt, but this was before that happened. So, from left are: Cherry, Peach, Praline, Key Lime, and Apple, and seated is Kumquat, Ms Most Wonderful Author. With Chocolate added, we are now seven feisty art goddesses.
Our dear friend Jessica and her family made a brief stop at our place that night, after Gayle's booksigning, as they had driven to Wooster from Vermont that weekend, to bring Tyler to transfer to the College of Wooster, as a sophomore. From left are Hannah, Brian, Jess behind Noah, and Tyler. We've known Jess since she worked at the co-op in the early 80s, though I missed knowing her when we must have been overlapping at the college. That probably was because I went home every day when little Gretchen got out of grade school! With Tyler at the college now, we really hope to see a lot more of our dear pals!
My cousin Margo Snyder has brought people over to see the show about four times, and the best trip, in my view, was when she brought her parents, my Uncle Floyd and Aunt Pauline, and Uncle Lester (Aunt Nellie's husband, standing closest to her painting) over to see the show on Jau 31. Lester and Floyd are two of my mother's brothers, and the last living of six Snyder siblings. I was so honored to show them Aunt Nellie's piece, thanks to Margo! My solo show has 30 or so pieces in it, mostly from 2006, but including a few older pieces and "Aunt Nellie," the only 2007 piece in the show. It's so nice to be able to make very large pieces, like my "Wilma (Peace Voodoo)" and "Power Out / Devil..." in less time now, since I machine sew them. This made it possible to have a solo show that's almost all new work.
This is a piece I began in 2002, as an airbrush demo while teaching a class at QSDS in Columbus. After Jimmy and I used it as a demo piece in the class, I put it away ... until now. I got it out and wrote all over it with my airpen, then machine quilted it, and it also has a little hand sewing I did as demo work in the class. "House of Love" is 51"h x 37.5"w, finished January 18, 07.
Here's a detail of "House of Love," which is about Jimmy and me, but now includes lots of diary about what's been going on in our lives and the world in January, 2007.
I don't have anything up as a 2007 gallery yet, but when I do, this will be the first piece on it.
Here's Jimmy, working on carving the George Griffith image for the Mason-Griffith raffle rod case, one of three cases of his which are in the raffle as a package. Jimmy found a photograph of Trout Unlimited founder George Griffith online by Bob Sommers and got his permission to interpret it for the artwork on his rod case for the raffle.
Here's Jimmy's package of three cases made especially for the Mason-Griffith Founders Raffle, to be held in Grayling, MI this June. He's one of six artists whose work will be raffled off. Raffle tickets are $20 and to go stream restoration in that area. See details.
Ok, here's my finished Strong Women Story Portrait #2, "Olga Crawford." It's about my next door neighbor Olga, who lives alone at 99, still drives her own car, and still takes care of herself just fine. She's a fanatic Bridge player, so I showed her winning a hand of Bridge. She loves to feed the birds, and she's got squirrels in her backyard, with whom she engages in contests of will, over the bird food!
Olga's piece is 37"h x 33"w, hand painted on fabric, and then written on with my airpen. All paint is fabric paint. I machine sewed it, and this is how I'm doing all my SWSPs, I hope. My big idea to get 12 done by Summer is kinda looking bad, because I really need to start my Moon piece for the Kitchen Tarot now, and that thing will be very large. So we'll see. I sure enjoyed sitting and interviewing Olga for her story portrait!
Here are our new kittens with their mom, at the Wayne County Humane Society yesterday, Feb 2. (Yes, I'm adding on a bit to this diary, so I can include the new babies!) The mommy is still there, so if you think she's darling, you're right, and you should go get her! She's about two years old, and she was such a good mother, she was still nursing her three kittens when they were 8 weeks old. They got weaned when we adopted them.
The orange kitten is Otis Earl Hawkins, named after the local legend who began a fruit stand in town when I was little, and who just sold his grocery chain a few years ago, keeping his restaurant and golf course. Otis was named Copper at the shelter, so that's his secret code name.
One of the gray kittens is Ome (short for Cleome, because I give girl cats flower names, so it's pronounced Omie.) She was Cupcake at the shelter. The other gray girl kitten is Cricket, which was her shelter name and is being kept by GEM, who have her now up at their place. In the photo above, Ome's up close, and Cricket's in back, behind Otis, and she's not as dark as she looks here.
This whole kitten caper came about, because GEM were looking for a new kitten, and there were none so far this winter. The Humane Society called two days ago and told me about the three kittens. So we took Cricket to the kids and kept Ottis and Ome for ourselves. We haven't had a new kitten for nine years, and three of our older cats died within the last two years. Now to get Evil Tulip and Marigold to accept them. Otis and Ome sure like it here, and Cricket's having a blast with Gretchen and Eva. Mike will finally meet her when he gets home from his business trip to Las Vegas.
Anyhow, if you want Bambi, the mother, go see her on the Wayne County Humane Society page, in the cats listings. When I wrote this, they had taken the kittens off, but they hadn't put their mommy up yet. They're closed Sundays and Mondays. It's a very nice, kind animal shelter. I really hope someone takes the mom soon. She's a real sweetheart, just like her kids.
PS. Note much later: The mommy found a home, I think. Her name was gone, the last time I looked. Yea!
OK, that's it! My next diary will be here by the end of July. Yep: July 31. See ya!
Love, Susan
Turtle Moon Studios
Susan Shie and James Acord
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