Nothing Like a Good Party of Artists to Cheer a Girl Up

I pulled myself out of my little funk on Friday. Partly due to the supportive blog comments from other artists, the afterglow from the Art Coffee party and partly due to just jumping right back into artmaking. The party Thursday night was a huge success and I even drew the lucky “#1” for our Chinese auction and I SWEAR it was total luck. There were even witnesses that I drew fair and square! Katie, her husband and I even established the rules of the auction BEFORE any alcohol was consumed. Man, o man do I love that Midnight Sun Brewery Kodiak Brown Ale! If any of you have ever had a Chinese auction, when there are coveted gifts, establishing the rules BEFORE the auction starts is paramount! Like limiting the number of times a gift can be exchanged and deciding does the “#1” person get to select any gift at the very end. And lucky for me, YES the “#1” person does get to select ANYTHING at the very end!! Every artist that came, brought a retro appetizer, beverage, artist trading cards and a gift ($25 or under) that had been made by themselves for the auction. There were WONDERFUL artworks to choose from, everything from handmade jewelry, fused glass, oil paintings, encaustics, illustrations, metal work to hand dyed silk.

We all agreed that many of our customers and clients would have killed to be in our auction! The gift I brought was one of my Good Fortune Pea Pods and it even got traded a couple of times. For the gift I selected, which was a hard decision, I chose an absolutely wonderful painting on board by Duke Russell, I am so sorry Katy W. (she's holding her short-lived prize in the top photo) but I HAD to have Duke’s piece and swiped it out of her hands at the very end of the auction. The photo of our Chinese auction gifts are sitting atop “Dog Table” one of Duke’s sculptures (Duke is wearing the white shirt) on display at the Upstairs Gallery and the photo of Katie Sevigny and myself holding my lucky “#1!” The party was hosted by the artists of The Upstairs Gallery in their very cool common room and was a perfect venue, thanks again Katie S. for hostessing. Everyone agreed the Soirée was a hit and we’re looking to hold another when the weather warms on their outdoor, rooftop deck. We're thinking tiki theme...

Last week it occurred to me that before I place my big mid-range clay order, I’ve never fired my kilns higher than ^04. I purchased both of them used with a brand new electronic kiln monitor and started out using lower fire clay. Though I’m sure it will be fine, rather than have a pallet load of ^6 clay sitting in my shop unable to be fired, I picked up two bags of the only ^6 clay the local ceramics lady had on hand, SP655 Alpine White. Shaking off my funk on Friday I made some more textural trays using this Alpine White and can test fire them at the higher temps after they are dry. I’d like to do some more sgraffito on them but will wait and see how these first ^04 trays come out next week.

My Chinese Auction Art by Duke Russell,

Isn't it wonderful?!

I Need A Party

With the month coming to an end it was time to finalize the details of the Half Moon Creek Anchorage Gallery closing. I’ll be picking up the few remaining pieces on Tuesday from the Gallery. Yes, Half Moon will be opening a Gallery in Palmer within the coming months, hopefully by May 1. But until then I’m bummed. Their closing has been much more depressing than I care to admit. I really owe it to the girls at Half Moon for getting my sculpture career off the ground eight years ago when Chris (one of the owners) noticed my metal work at an outdoor fair and told me about their new Gallery that was soon to open. This one gallery enabled me to sell enough of my artwork to more than pay the bills, buy more steel and become a real live working artist. Because of Half Moon I was able to unplug my mega-graphics systems network and plug in a plasma cutter and welder. My hands finally had a chance to create art and not punch a keyboard and draw with a mouse. Before their Anchorage Gallery opened, I was only a weekend art fair warrior, selling my metal garden art at craft fairs and events less than part-time. My 20+ year old successful graphic design business generated a terrific income, though I couldn’t go anywhere with out a laptop, Palm Pilot (yesterday’s iPhone) or a portfolio stuffed with client proofs strapped to my body. There were impossible deadlines, corporate to-do’s, demanding clients, new media to stay ahead of and no real hands-on artmaking in sight. I was thrilled to make the switch from Graphics Girl to Carhartt wearing Flame Chick. Sure, my income took a 50% hit in the beginning, but my mental and physical health immediately improved –just ask Daddy-O!

Over the last eight years, I’ve gotten spoiled on how I sell my sculptures locally. I make them, drive them literally down the street to Half Moon and they sell them. They send me a nice check BY THE 10^th of EACH and EVERY month. They filter the weird customers, put up with fussy customers, call me with special requests and commissions, they happily package, they carefully ship and they will even pick up a sculpture if Daddy-O has the truck that day. I’ve been in a bit of a funk and didn’t want to admit it was because of the closing, but it is. Karmatically I know how dangerous these “lows” can be for an artist, so I’m pulling straight out of it with a PARTY. Yes, tonight we’re throwing the first Art Coffee Soiree downtown. I’ve requested artists from our informal coffee group bring retro-themed* appetizers and BEVERAGES, artist made gifts for a Chinese auction and everyone is also bringing Artist Trading Cards to share.

*for the retro themed appetizers think fun frilly toothpicks, deviled eggs, spam, cheese balls, mini marshmallows, bbq meat balls, Little Smokies, Jell-O dishes gone wild, melon balls, potato chips, mixed nuts, cup cakes, popcorn balls or anything wrapped in bacon or dipped in hot Velveeta!

I’m already feeling a l i t t l e better, I just was notified that I won an Amazon Gift certificate from Lesley Riley’s Art Fabric Blog (via Judy’s Painted Threads Blog) and I know just what I’m buying!! In our house, food really is Love...

Watching Clay Dry

Working in clay can take so LONG! Wedge, make, apply three coats of this, dry, wait, fire, glaze, wait, fire and wait some more and hope the pieces haven’t exploded in the kiln because you haven’t waited long enough for drying or didn’t wedge the clay long enough –holy cow! The amount of time put into one piece can require a lot of dedication and PATIENCE. Working again with clay I’m quickly reminded to toss any need for instant gratification and quick completion of a piece out the window.

For successful clay projects there can be so many steps that all take attention and time. I’m feeling that prices for pottery are greatly undervalued. I’m reading through my favorite clay artist’s Blogs and am starting to better understand why so many potters work in volume production, stick to one type of clay body, limited palettes of glaze recipes and firing styles. It seems in working this way there can be a higher rate of success and a larger body of work in which to sell and make a living.

My main clay rack is now full of Tile White ^05 drying greenware. I’ll need to remind myself to be PATIENT and let the sgraffito trays dry before I fire them for the first time. Patience isn’t exactly my middle name, but I’m doing my best. It’s just that I’m so excited to see how some of these color underglazes are going to turn out and I’m even more excited to glaze the bisqued trays with some new matte and satin clear glaze I bought and see how they turn out. So see, I’m already IMPATIENT for two whole steps ahead!

For my latest sgraffito work I experimented with using some Duncan E-Z Strokes underglazes I had bought off Cr@igs List last year. I really liked how the Black and Midnight Blue flowed from my brush onto the greenware and loved carving the softened greenware. I’m worried that the first Amaco Black underglaze I used on the Raven sgraffito pieces isn’t going to be intense enough. I did paint the recommended three coats, PATIENTLY waited in between coats, so we'll see.

I’m hoping I can fire up the kiln loaded with sgraffito trays in a couple of days. The good news is that right now the Alaska winter air is really, really dry –tough on my skin but GREAT for my trays!

Octopus On Ice

It was mixed use mediums of metal and mud this week in the studio. The tip of my middle finger I use for drawing is REALLY sore from all the sgraffito work! Wrapping my tools in athletic tape cushioned my finger which helped, though a bit too late. I think I'm going to get some of those pencil cushions for my tools. I got the Octopus commission cut and welded and now it’s just chillin’ out on the deck! The client wanted a rust patina finish on the sculpture and in the middle of the cold, dry winter it’s a bit more difficult to achieve than in the warmer, wetter, summer months. The client also expressed a great interest in the eye of the Octopus be just right, so I

took care to create it as best as I could. Creating the eye was fun because it’s one of my favorite parts of the sculptures. The client had seen another one of my Octopus sculptures and had wanted hers to be very similar. Fortunately, I had a digital image on file of the piece she had seen to work from.

To speed up the oxidation process of creating a rust patina I clean the steel of any protective grease and oil (the mill ships all the steel with a thin coating of oil so it DOESN’T rust) by using Kaboom bathroom cleaner –I’d NEVER use this stuff on anything in my bathroom because it works that good on my metal!

Kaboom actually acts as a corrosive and a great base to the commercial rust patina I use. I originally bought it at FartMart because it was really cheap, then discovered how well it worked on my metal. The extensive warning label actually warns AGAINST using Kaboom on “frosted glass, brass, aluminum, galvanized metal, natural marble, stone, Mexican Terra Cotta tiles, reglazed surfaces, fabrics and carpet”…not sure what’s left in most bathrooms.

The only ingredients listed are “Contains organic acids and surfactant” which are just perfect for cleaning and prepping Mr. Octopus! To achieve a nice rust finish, I’ll “weather” the Octopus outside for a few days, intermittently spraying a saline solution and fine sanding the details of the sculpture. Eventually the rust will become encapsulated enough allowing me to spray an enamel finish on the back and a clear coat on the front, especially around the eye and the front will get a final, fine finish sanding. I welded a reinforced frame and hanging washers on the back so the client can easily hang indoors or out. Probably on Tuesday or Wednesday I’ll be able to hang picture wire on the back, wrap him up and put him in a large bicycle box shipped from Alaska to Louisiana with love. I'm sure he'll be glad to head for warmer climbs and thaw out a bit!

Gettin' Fired Up

The last of the Tile White ^05 clay was used up yesterday by deciding to make a few more slab trays to continue working on my sgraffito technique. Though I haven't found my sweet mini ribbon tools, I did bring out a whole set of sculpture carving tools I had kept with my sculpture supplies. The steel tools are used for working with hard surfaces but worked wonderfully on the new sgraffito pieces I made. I also pulled out some old issues of Pottery Making Illustrated and was inspired to try some cone shaped handles I saw in the September/Ocotber 2009 issue. In the article, artist Lana Wilson had created highly textural pieces and made these really cool looking cone-shaped handles from textured slab pieces. I didn’t have the right proportions and I think my cone-handles look a bit turd-like on the larger Raven tray!

Once the proportions are right, the cone handle process is really fun and artful looking. The sgraffito images I’m going to use on these new trays are going to be more colorful. I remembered

I had a small bin of various underglaze colors that I bought with that lot of used clay supplies last year. They are the right cone temp for this lower fire clay and should be fun to experiment with. While the new slab trays are slowly becoming leather hard, I have to fire the welder up to make a steel Octopus sculpture that’s going to be shipped to Louisiana. I wasn’t

thinking I'd be welding this week or even working in metal but the client needs the piece shipped by the first of February. It will all work out because I need to get the dust covers off the kilns and better organize the shop area where I weld and fire, before I fire the kilns again. It’s been so long since either of the kilns have been fired, I’ve broken one of my rules to not stack anything on top of the kilns and noticed there are quite a few specially cut metal pieces that I’ve “set aside” ON TOP of the kilns…

Sgraffito Scrifattoe

This summer I bought the coolest little carving tools in Port Townsend. Do you think I can find the “special place” I put them, so I wouldn’t loose them….NO I can’t! The best part was that these mini Ribbon tools were under $5 bucks. I’ve Googled them and can get another set, but the shipping alone is twice as much as I paid for my misplaced set. So while I added them to my on-line shopping cart I couldn’t bring myself to enter my credit card number and hit send. Oh well. I’ve decided we’ll fly to WA and visit the folks again and buy another set -much more fun. There were other tools I was able to use for some scraffito work this week and now the studio is covered in sgraffito poop.

I had a lot of fun deciding to apply some of my favorite Raven designs on some slab rolled trays I made. And YES, a few customers had asked for them but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have FUN making them. The black underglaze I used was some vintage Amaco Velvet Black I bought last year with a "lot" of ceramic goodies off of Cr@igs List. I’ve used it once before with good results but remembered I did have to apply at least 3 coats for a true black finish, otherwise it’s a bit washed out and doesn't hold the contrast I like. I'm also going to use a matte clear glaze for the finish so the trays are not too shiny and will have a lovely, velvety feel.

The Raven designs I used were from my collection of original drawings and graphic art files I draw up as reference for steel patterns and other illustration projects. I used to do a lot of scratchboard work for publication illustration and find that the scgraffito work on clay is very similar. There are many on-line examples as well as instructional information on sgraffito work. Here is a link to Ceramic Arts Daily articles and examples on sgraffito, scratching the surface and surface decorating. I enjoy the different styles of sgraffito by Blog artists Jeff Martin, Shoshona Snow and Cindy Buehler. For my clay pieces, I placed my paper drawings on on top of the leather hard clay trays and pencil traced the designs leaving slight impressions in the clay. This helped me

to place the design and paint only the area I was going to scratch away. I had better sgraffito results with the clay still a bit cool and damp. When the clay dried out it tended to chip or flake unpredictably. I also had to be careful not to drag the palm of my hand over the underglazed art and cover the black areas with slip dust residue. Fortunately, I didn’t have any casualties YET, but had to constantly remind my hands I was working in clay again and not steel! I had to lighten my grip, ease my carving and slow my pace. My hand and arm strength have been so geared to working in metal that it’s been a big shift jumping back to the earthly delight of pliable clay.

Stupid Human Trick

New snowfall last night brought the moose to the streets for easy Alder eating. This morning, I wanted to get a picture for the Blog of the pretty Cow Moose…while I was taking her picture (from a safe distance) I heard footsteps directly behind me. Thinking it was my neighbor also wanting to get a picture, I kept watching the Cow eating the Alders. HOWEVER it wasn’t my neighbor, it was the CALF of the Cow Moose snorting on my back! I slowly retreated to the stairs and came inside to download my photos AND change my sweatpants…

Artmaking Just For The Heck Of It

Finally had a CLAY DAY –yaaay! Which will turn into a clay week, which will evolve into rotating my clay medium back into my artmaking production schedule. Though I admit it was tough to get rollin’ because it’s been awhile since the studio has seen any water and mud action. I'm down to the last two bags of some Tile White, a ^06-1 clay. I wanted to use it up before the new shipment of higher fire clays arrive. I was out of sync remembering where all of my favorite tools are and had to re-acquaint myself with the clay shelves. I picked up these sweet “clay tool” finds for $3, a glass tray and vintage rolling pin at my favorite Thrift store, Bishop’s Attic, which I think helped shift me into 4WDrive. When I saw these gems I immediately thought of the making marks on clay. The glass tray actually has the coolest circular pattern on the bottom which was perfect for mark making on a tray or trivet. The circles reminded me of my friend Katie Sevigny’s work.

It was a bumpy start to my clay day even with the Thrift store treasures waiting to make their marks. I needed to prime my “clay brain” so I broke out a couple of my favorite clay books and thumbed through them -before my fingers were muddy.

Fortunately, I have a wonderful library of highly visual art books –a must-have for those days I’m a little lite on inspiration. It really only took about ten minutes of looking at the incredible images in “The Penland Book of Ceramics” and my head was clear of all the other "mommy, wifey, welder, puppy care-taker, bills payer, laundry doer, inventory taker, accounting" stuff that has accumulated in my brain and I was OFF! The “Handbuilt Ceramics” book put it best in chapter eight on “Inspiration,” that it’s important to grant yourself some “play” time which can be very difficult when we’re self-employed commercial artists. I tend to put a lot of expectations on every day I’m in the shop or studio. I try and make each piece of art “count” either financially or try and ensure that the outcome is successful. This is a dangerous path for artists to walk –I know, I’m in therapy for it. No, just kidding, I’m not in therapy but probably should at least be doing some sort of palates-yoga

moves to tone down my screaming, entrepreneurial, artmaking brain. I admit (though a bit embarrassing) when I was rolling out the slabs for some mark making, I was actually thinking about how much clay to use, what size, what the finish would be, the turnaround

time, could I make multiples if I had a good design and how much these new pieces would sell for! Geeze, let it go Shake, have some PLAY time for goodness sake! So in the name of play, I don’t know how any of the pieces are going to be glazed, though one of the large slab rolled trays is screaming for some Raven sgraffito work -which my customers HAVE been asking about…

The Grasshopper Has Landed

Year end/beginning for me is always a time for studio-housekeeping, accounting and general “being held accountable for the business of art” duties. Or as otherwise referred to as REALITY. Necessity says that there are going to be some major changes in the way I do the business of art this year. Half Moon Creek Gallery where I sell the majority of my work, and through their sales efforts make up the bulk of my income, will be closing at the end of January. The Gallery is leaving Anchorage for a larger building in their community of Palmer, Alaska. Good for Palmer, bad for Anchorage and me… The new Gallery probably won’t be open until April which would be OK, except for my house payment and other bills don’t want to take a 3 month hiatus! I will be able to work on a couple of commissions and by tightening the budget we’ll make it work. We will be taking a inventory in a couple of weeks and I’ll need to store any unsold pieces until they are through with the construction of the new building in Palmer.

The Grasshopper came home this week after being on loan to Octopus Ink Gallery through the end of the year. Sugar Puppy wouldn’t take care of her “business” in her usual spot because of the invasion of the Grasshopper on our shed! I’m finally down to my last bag of clay and am putting together an order from Clay Art Center for 500 pounds of clay to be shipped up from Tacoma –yaaaay! It will cost $141 for shipping up to 550 pounds so I ordered a few more bags than I wanted to be efficient with the shipping costs. Clay has been calling me once again and just in time. I've been invited to participate in a VERY COOL Show in North Carolina…more on that later. I will say that the creative clay pressure is ON!

Had lunch with my friend Katie Sevigny at her Studio Gallery yesterday. I brought in fresh, hot specials of the day from Burrito King (my favorite). Good thing we’re self-employed because this turned in to a 3 hour “lunch!” I looked at it as more of a business meeting or team building session if we were part of a large company being paid on someone else’s dime. We are organizing a big Soiree for our Art Coffee Group and Katie agreed to host the event in their new Upstairs Studio space. We also talked about the wholesale and retail climate and planning for some shows in 2010. It was good to have another artist’s ear and share our ideas, thoughts and business joys and woes with someone you can trust and who has had similar experiences.

On the lighter side from my Dad

xOx

End Use Experience

There is a lot of value for artists to show images of their work “in use” or being able to experience their art as it was intended. I love seeing a potters bowl filed with fresh, hot soup, or a slab rolled tray of fresh bread. When Tracey posted a beautiful image of one of her bowls being used you would have thought the bowl was shipped to Tuscany! Don’t get me wrong, my favorite images are still those of the actual process of artmaking. A bit of that process seems missed though when I sell my work through a Gallery because I rarely have the opportunity to even know who purchased the work let alone see the piece in its new home. I feel a special connection can be made when artists get the opportunity to actually experience their work through the people (or patrons) who have adopted the work into their lives. Sunday there was a voice mail inviting me to attend the Tabernacle dedication. Last year about this time I was commissioned to make a Globe Tabernacle for the Horizon House Chapel and this summer, an accompanying wheat wall sculpture and wall

sconce were commissioned. I had no idea the formality or spiritual significance of the dedication I was invited to, but had decided to shuffle a few things because the caller mentioned that Sister Kathleen (the force and real vision behind the Tabernacle project) would be there. The Church had recently “retired” Sister Kathleen at 80 years young from Alaska to the East Coast. I admire and adore Sister Kathleen –I’m not sure if it’s P.C. to adore nuns but I adore her. I’m also not a Catholic but have learned many things and have been truly inspired by Sister Kathleen, as are the many people who meet her. She is a gift. To attend the dedication meant a bit of schedule juggling and Daddy-O taking Gus to his first Swim America lesson for which we have been on a waiting list FOR MONTHS. My friend, Marieke was right. When she first joked about NEVER, EVER being able to miss her kid's swim lessons, I just chalked it up as being a

good mommy, that may be but this had more to do with not losing a coveted spot many families wait to for MONTHS to get.

With Gus and Daddy-O at Swim America, I’m so glad I was able to attend the dedication. An intimate group of about 30 people gathered at the Horizon House Chapel for the dedication. Attending were a few of Anchorages civic leaders, prominent families, donors to the Chapel and directors and supporters of Providence Alaska’s Horizon House. The dedication was a surprisingly beautiful mass with communion. The highlight being the lighting of the candle by family members in remembrance of their mother whose donation made the project possible blessing the new tabernacle, wheat sculpture and wall sconce. The custom fabricated wall sconce Rick and I made held the

eternal flame candle and as the candle was lit by the family, holy water was sprinkled on the wheat sculpture as well as the globe tabernacle by a priest. Rarely do I get a chance to see my work in such a sacred, prominent place let alone being blessed by a priest. I have to say it was extremely moving and changed the way I viewed that collection of metal sculptures that came from my studio. I was feeling a bit existential and as the incredibly talented opera singer (yes, there was an opera singer) showered us with her gift of voice singing “Ave Verum, Corpus” during the Blessing Ceremony, the group bowed there heads in reflection, reverence or prayer. I was moved to better understand the importance of artists roles in our world. The ability to sing and create is a gift meant to be shared and experienced with others who do not create. I sometimes forget that artmaking is a necessary and integral part of civilized life. During the dedication ceremony I cannot recall a time where I was more proud to have been an artisan.

Be Positive & Just Keep Swimming

We all turned into pumpkins this morning after our Cinderella-holiday-ski-gluttony came to an end –whew. The big kids and friends went back to Fairbanks (where it is a freezing 30 below zero!) and both Gus and Daddy-O are back to school. I even worked Sunday applying for another artist’s opportunity so

Monday wouldn’t hurt so much. I used to make a bunch of New Years resolutions but haven’t the last few years as Fall has always been more a time of renewal for me. There are always life-stuffs I tell myself I could use improvement on, like my overall beauty/fitness, staying positive and motivated, not swearing etc. and the start of a new year is a good time to recommit I suppose. I broke the not swearing resolution idea on the morning of January 1 yelling “grab that damn dog!” as the puppy squirted out the door shooting for the street! Oh well.

The staying positive and motivated got a jump start yesterday when I received a rejection letter for a 1% for Art project I applied for in October. The stressful mental gymnastics I go through when I apply for a juried show or a percent project sometimes outweighs the sheer euphoria you feel when you do win or get accepted. I’ve never done well with rejection and I’ve learned over the years I’m much more competitive than I care to admit –just ask Daddy-O… So after a “thanksbut no thanks” letter I just tell myself “you can’t catch if you don’t fish” and applied for another project.

For the public art project I applied for yesterday I used the new on-line Café system for the first time. The Fairbanks Airport is seeking artwork for their new terminal with several wall spaces and one hanging venue available. The bulk of the 1% work for the project has already been selected and installed. This opportunity is a smaller, total budget of $40,000 for several locations within in the airport. For the hanging area opportunity I proposed my steel Geese that could be installed in as few as a single pair, or several Geese being displayed as a flock forming a “V” migration pattern.

It took me all day to complete the application but mainly because I wasn’t reading the on-screen error messages when I had uploading issues. I had to edit my resume and letter of intent to their generic cut and paste format. Plus, I needed to convert all of my images to Cafés specifications using Photoshop, which I have thank goodness. The specs were 1920 x 1920 pixels with a black background and no files larger than 1.8 mb. Each image had to include the title, medium/process, sizes, detailed description of the work and value or price. The good news is there was an on-line pdf file that led me step by step as to how the images should be converted for the jury process. I admit there were a couple times I was a bit frustrated and almost gave-up BUT remembered one of my pseudo-resolutions to stay positive and motivated. The rejection letter bummed me out but I know as independent working artists we have to stay motivated and positive, keep making art or be banished to a fluorescent cubical somewhere! Or in the words of Dory from Finding Nemo, “just keep swimming, just keep swimming!”

Welcome 2010!

Fireworks and a Torchlight Parade welcomed in the New Year here in Girdwood. Kristen and Derek skied with three-hundred and fifty plus hearty souls carrying torches down the slopes of Mt. Alyeska. Skiing in the Parade wasn't open to the public but reserved for employees of the resort and members of the Alyeska Ski Club. Once at the top of the mountain, sophisticated torches were constructed using very high-tech materials of road flares, duct tape and bamboo poles! A huge crowd of cheering spectators lined the base of the mountain and watched the procession, which was then followed by an incredible fireworks display. A fog layer made for an eerie ride up the lifts but fortunately the fog didn't block the view of the fireworks or parade. Several friends and their kids showed up at our house after the parade with mini kegs, champagne and sparkling wine (for the kids) in hand and a crazy, fun, impromptu party broke out at our house as we watched the fireworks from our deck. Half of us were in the house, the kids were running around and standing around the fire pit the rest of us were cheering to each of the fantastic fireworks explosion. Which is the reason I think at some point the neighbors actually shouted for us to keep it down but Daddy-O and I found that quite flattering since we haven't been shhhhhh'ed in about 15 years! We are all moving a bit s-l-o-o-o-w this morning and it’s not from all of the skiing… Aye carumba, keeping up with these college kids is hard to do. Wishing everyone PEACE, HEALTH and HAPPINESS in 2010!