Running Wild from Pamplona to Anchorage With Love

From US National Weather Service Alaska

“As of 12:15pm today, Anchorage's seasonal snowfall increased to 123.3 inches. The snow from last night and this morning moved this winter to third place in the race for the snowiest winter on record. Another 9.6 inches of snow needs to fall before June 1st for the record to be broken.” ...and March usually brings a few more winter storms.

Here is the link to more photos from the
Anchorage Daily News 2012 Running With
the Reindeer!

With only 9.6 inches of snowfall left to go for Anchorage to set a new snowfall record it’s pretty easy to get a little cabin fever! What’s a good Alaskan to do when winter is wearing out it’s welcome? Get out in it and RUN WITH THE REINDEER of course! Celebrating Anchorage’s Fur Rondy put the guys and I downtown, a short walk from our house and signed up for the 5^th Annual Run With the Reindeer. The "Run" is a popular fundraiser for the Toys for Tots Program. My costume was “The Herd Queen” and the guys were “Reindeer Luche Libres!” Of course Daddy-O and I packed a few of our favorite beverages in our pockets so we could stay hydrated like a good athlete should… It was evident that the majority of the nearly 2,300 other "Runners" had the same thought!

The "Herd Queen" and her faithful protector "Reindeer Lucha Libre!"

NO JOKE! This Reindeer with a Web Cam attached to it's antlers, hopefully CAPTURED it's Antlers POKING ME RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF MY BIB NUMBERS! Some idget had smacked the Reindeer on it's rump just as it was passing through the crowd! Thankfully the race bib was made of durable Tyvek and the antler didn't poke through!

At the "holding pen" racers waited for their heat to run while  partying with music from KWHL and throwing beach balls. The only problem was that the cold weather proved fatal for most of the balls as soon as they were hit!

Racers waiting for their heat to Run and the herd of Reindeer to be lead back to the start line -Celebrity, Womens', Men's and Couples or Groups.

VICTORIOUS Reindeer Lucha Libres at the finish line!

Viva La Invierno!

xOx
Alaska Dispatch 

Running of the Reindeer: Pamplona meets Anchorage

Amanda Coyne | Mar 03, 2012

Grazing Steel Wool

My growing flock of “Steel Wool” has had to be content with grazing on our deck as the garden area still has snow in it. Thanks for the name of my new sculptures Jim! I am a bit nervous though –judging by the phone calls and e-mails just from friends and neighbors, these sculptures will all find homes as soon as the Show opens at Half Moon Creek Gallery. The most common question is “how

much will they be?” Since I’m still in love with them they are still a million dollars each…at this rate, I’d be O.K. with them staying in my yard because I like them even more as their flock grows. I so wish there was a large, open grassy area to do a good photo shoot before delivering them, but in traditional Alaskan fashion, things are a dead, dingy “break-up brown.” I’d better get making some other fun stuff so I can part with my flock. I decided to make another set of three sheep because of their popularity and made the little baby 25% larger than the original baby. Terry at SteelFab now calls the original size “Baby Sheep” and the new size the “Toddler Sheep!” I talked with the girls at Half Moon Creek to confirm the show details and opening date. They are busily finishing construction on the new Palmer Gallery and it’s looking like it will be a mad dash to the grand

opening target date of Saturday, May 8 but it will be HAPPENING! Christian dropped off some more duct work that they took out and I’ll be spinnin’ it (plasma cutting it) into steel wool probably next week! The Virgo’s in Daddy-O and I are dying to get rid of the metal recycle pile that has accumulated along side of the house. It looks just terrible –but not too bad considering how other areas in 99503 currently look... Spring break-up is an aesthetically difficult time of year for Alaska! Even harder for those of us who crave Nature's beauty blooming, sunshine and all things growing green!

Production work for the first Raven order of the season also started this last weekend. Jana at Cabin Fever and The Quilted Raven (when Kristen is in town this is her favorite quilt store!) ordered all things Raven from me for her downtown Anchorage shops. Normally it’s hard for me to do ANY repetitive task but my reward is I get to bead, wire and finish tag the Garden Ravens and Ornaments in my jammies while having my coffee and listening to NPR in the Studio. The Weekend Edition Saturday was fundraising time in "You Call Us, Or We'll Call YOU" and friends had friends “outing” each other in who had never donated to Public Radio, yet had listened for years! It was really funny to hear their "reasons" for never donating -from being too "young" to donate to needing the extra cash for Happy Hour! –Also catch the “Babysitting” series on This American Life. A big brother who was tasked with babysitting his younger siblings had "bravery tests" while their parents were out for the evening! All great listening for happy artmaking.

Lady Godiva is Here Once Again

Along with the Gallery production work and a couple of wholesale orders for friends who have GREAT shops, I get to work on some other cool pieces too. A fun, upcoming group show I’m creating a special (secret) piece for is the Godiva Show. Organized by the famous, Tommy Salami O’Malley, this is a show that gets my creativity really going! The sculpture I created for the 2007 Godiva Show is one of my favorite pieces and is pictured at left, titled “Power Suit.” The 2009 show opens February 20th, at the MTS Gallery with the opening reception from 5-7pm. “Lady Godiva Group show featuring a multitude of local artists exploring the nude figure, male and female -a classic muse for artists, chocolate, and everything else Godiva.”

The other fun event that lets my creativity reign free, is the Transformed Treasures fundraiser. This is a creative and fun way to raise money for The Salvation Army (here is a link from the 2008 event). Selected local artists are given vouchers to the local Salvation Army Thrift Store to purchase a “treasure” or item(s) that get TRANSFORMED into art by artists! Artists are requested to take a before and after picture of their project and the finished works are auctioned off Saturday, May 2 at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel, Transformed Treasures luncheon celebration. One of the coolest pieces from last year was an old, beat up television entertainment unit that was TRANSFORMED into a childs puppet theater! How cool is that! I’ve got my work cut out for me because my competitive side is definitely peaking…