Have Your People Call My People

This has been a meeting crazy week. I had meetings on Art Shows, Art and Music Festivals, Garden Fair Gala and Outdoor Art Exhibit, Gallery business, a new Farmers Market and even the planning of the 6th Grade end-of-year BBQ. The good news is loads of communication has meant loads of information, decisions and ideas out there. The bad news is when I’m in meetings I’m not making ART…. And it’s just one week away from my BIG annual Garden Show at Half Moon Creek Gallery. This will be the eighth year(8!) and to compound my building anxiety is the fact they have relocated to a new location in another city and my Show kicks of their Grand Opening. Also adding to my building anxiety is next week is shaping up to be even busier than I can wrap my head around. I know my parents and their friends read this Blog so I am sincerely admitting this. The real reason next week

is going to be a bit biZZier than usual before a big show is that my parents are coming on Thursday for a visit because my nephew is graduating from high school. Visiting relatives is not a bad thing but we all know what visiting family can do to any regular routine. My parents are cool so we’re not too stressed but I am a bit fussy. Truthfully, I just want my house to be in tip top shape. I want to show my parents that YES, they have raised me right and I DO know how to keep a clean and organized household (though I haven’t been lately). At almost 50 years old (that truth statement will give them the shivers when they read it) I still don’t’ want to disappoint my folks. Soooo, on Daddy-O’s list of honey-do’s the partial list reads; have the car detailed (that they will

be using), have the carpets steam cleaned, mop and bleach every surface in the house, buy new bedding and pillows, have the dog groomed and de-stinked, the garage mucked out, the teenager’s cave emptied, purchase lots of alcohol, coffee and good food, plan the weekend’s must-attend events, install the new garbage disposal (I know Daddy-O forgot this one) and rake the yard and get rid of any traces of winter’s doggie doo… and that’s just on Derek’s list.

My list includes a ton of household and Mom chores but mainly getting ready for the Half Moon Show and making more art for more show opportunities that have surface this week. I also need to figure out how to transport the flock of sheep and big chimes (the photo shows them weathering lined up next to the house) up to the Gallery in Palmer along with the larger works, the most efficient way possible. I think I’ll call in son William for

this… Another one of my meetings this week included the news of the new Spenard Farmer’s Market opening May 22nd! I’m going to be selling some of my garden art AND some of Julia’s Honey! I’m pretty fired up about this. The other meeting was for the upcoming Alaska Botanical Garden Fair Gala and Outdoor Art Exhibit coming up. I’m the volunteer Art Show coordinator and also need to write an article this weekend for their newsletter on “Artful Gardens” or why people should buy art at the upcoming Gala. I LOVE this event and have already been fielding artist’s calls and e-mails who want to participate. I also met with my friend Katie Sevigny to

figure out some new, fun pieces for her Gallery. The photos are of some smaller works that have already sold –yaay! After Katie and I met, we went to Sacks Café and met with the Downtown Anchorage Partnership group to re-tool the Art on G Street event. It’s looking like now, the G Street Art event is only going to be one day, July 10 and be a Art AND Music festival. Yes, all of the meetings, conversations, new information and ideas have my head throbbing but I think the real headache will be when I have to start cleaning my house…