Happy Halloween!

halloween 2004,
originally uploaded by Anessa.

This photo was taken last year...I haven't uploaded this year's photos yet...but they will be worth the wait, I PROMISE!

In the meantime, enjoy John and Yoko.

By the way, Mark is holding our First Place prize for best costume in his hand. How about that?

Check this out.

Under the gun.

I think I paint better under pressure. I only have a few more days to complete my 20 paintings.
So far I have 17 (almost) done.
I finished this late last night...the hair photographed kind of weird, but I love the nose...
I like her tough cookie attitude, too.

Quiet misty morning.

Quiet misty morning.,
originally uploaded by Anessa.

I love fall. It was positively magical this morning outside my kitchen window.

Here's a photo taken during my favorite time of day, while drinking my fist few sips of coffee.

Kermie's self confidence was never the same.

Self Portrait Tuesday

This is an actual life size representation of my head.
I think.
Unless you have a really big monitor...
Then it might be larger than my head.
I think.

I'll let you decide.
Click here.



Now that I have scared you to death with my up close and personal mustache, click here for about 400 other folks self portraits.

Art for YOU!

I'm posting these paintings in hopes of enticing you to come to the show and buy some inexpensive original art for your home, office, restaurant or bar. November the 4th. Mark your calendar!
I will have at least 20 pieces to chose from and Marcy will have about 10 magical metal-smithed marvels.

This one is about 16"X20" (mainly) oil on canvas.

Lilly Meditates

Lilly meditates.,
originally uploaded by Anessa.

Words cannot express how much I love this wise and wonderful creature.

Naw Baby...

This one is really big!
Just one of several chair paintings I am working on for the Cinderblock show November 4th. Mark your calendar and bring your pocket book!

Just for Fun.

Your Weekly Dose of Tasteful Nudity:

Click here for a sample sketch from this week's figure drawing open studio at The Dancing Dog.

It was his first time nude modeling, and no, it is not Kenny Rogers.

Vulturefest in 45 seconds or less.

Well, we had a great time and made a whole day of the trip....wrapping up the incredible jaunt with Thai food in Carbondale and a trip to the boot outlet mall for these awesome boots...

What you can't see are the bucking horse and rodeo rider on the sides...
so....
very.....
cool.....
if I don't say so myself.

Among the things I learned that day, these are the top three:
1. Vultures are quite beautiful creatures and can have a wingspan up to 9 feet.

2. Charming, intelligent, laid back art communities still exist in this day and time.


3. My dreadlocks have a long way to go before they are this cool.

As promised....here is video of Makanda's downtown in 45 seconds.... or less:

"She was looking like an erotic vulture." The Pixies

Well, it time for Vulturefest 2005

Today, we will be taking a short drive up the road to Makanda, Illinois where we will attend our first Vulturefest.
Not sure if I will actually see any vultures, however.
I have read that one actually has to go into the adjacent Shawnee Forest to see them.
While I would love to see some of these amazing birds up close, I must admit I am more interested in the music and crafts and hippie watching.
Apparently, Makanda is touted as a true hippie haven.

Here's a neat article written by a musician named Acie Cargill
He totally digs it....and I think I will, too.
I'm excited to go...and what wonderful weather for a drive in the jeep through those magical Kentucky hills.
I'll report back to soon with photos and video.

PS: Go see Broken Flowers with Bill Murray. It is 99% wonderful.

Fun is Bolan, Joy is Jesus

Marc has on my mind a lot lately.

Not that Mark,
but this Marc...


(Well, so I guess I have two Marc/ks on my mind)

I have had a song of his stuck in my head for 2 days now.
As luck would have it, I looooove this song.
A lot.

So, without further ado:

The lyrics of Spaceball Ricochet
by Marc Bolan of the band T-Rex

I'm just a man
I understand the wind
And all the things
That make the children cry

With my Les Paul
I know I'm small
But I enjoy living
Anyway

Book after book
I get hooked
Everytime the writer
Talks to me like a friend

What can I do
We just live in a zoo
All I do is play
The spaceball ricochet

Deep in my heart
There's a house
That can hold
Almost all of you

I brought a car
It was old but kind
I gave it my mind
And it disappeared

I love a girl
She is a changeless angel
She's a city it's a pity
That I'm like me

I said how can I lay
When all I do is play
The spaceball ricochet

Lovely, isn't it?

Funny, funny kid.

My sister's little boy had us in stitches all weekend long.
What a cutie!

Here he is helping himself to some hot beer from the cooler on the back porch.



And here he is acting like a dancing machine!

Self portrait tuesday at 36.

self portrait tuesday,
originally uploaded by Anessa.

See more self portraits taken by 400 other folks here:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/selfportraittuesday/pool/

A Report from My New Vantage Point on the Hill

Today I am officially 36 years old.
Contrary to what I may have said in the months leading up to this day,
I'm quite happy to be one year older and wiser...
Although, something does feel rather strange to me today.

Yes, today, on my birthday,
there is surely a strange, unfamiliar, comfort around me...
or within me.
I honestly can't decide which it is, but is present....
And it is unmistakably a shifting of sorts.

Now, what I am not talking about
is my lovely vehicle of flesh shifting due to gravity's inescapable effects...
No, that's not what Im getting at, at all.
I mean, sure, I have a few lines and a few sags here and there that I could do without,
but over all I feel good about myself, by body, my life and where I'm headed.

This is a good period of my life. Maybe the best ever.
I feel, in a way, like I'm just getting started on the main course of the big banquet.

Maybe the strange shifting sensation I feel today is a symbolic one.

Maybe it is the sudden awareness of the absolute lack of pressure to figure out who I am.
Or, on the other hand,
maybe I have finally figured out who I am
and the shift is the sudden realization of
to what extent I care about what other people think of me.

Either way, I'd imagine it's a good thing
when one comes to terms with one's personal vision
of who they are,
and who they are not,
and who they strive to be.

I am proud of what I have accomplished so far in my life,
and simultaneously realize there is still so much more I want accomplish...

It's a relief to discover how my vantage point actually improves
with each year,
as I climb the proverbial hill.

And today's magic of 36 has proven that the air is much clearer up here.

With each birthday, things come a little more into focus for me.
My goals and aspirations don't seem as far away.
They seem less like dreams and more like realities.

Actually, from this strange and new vantage point I find myself looking around and counting the gifts I have been given.

The gift of having a wonderful husband.
The gift of a loving family.
The gift of amazing friends...
and especially and the gift of time,
without which I would have none of the above.

So yeah, 36 isn't so bad.
In fact.....perhaps, 36 is a gift in itself.

Kind of wonderful, don't you think?

Flocking Homeward

Well, it's almost here!
Our show at the Cinderblock Gallery in Louisville, that is.....



I designed this postcard last night.
Pretty cool, but I wish it was a little more exciting,
and my painting becomes very grainy when I shrink it down...
Don't know how to stop it from happening.

Quite honestly, I could use a little help in this area.
If any of you have special talents with postcard design and would like submit a better version, with the same general feeling,
please, I encourage you to do so...
I'd love a slick card for our show-
and just to sweeten the deal, I'll trade you TWO naked cute-boy drawings for your kind services.
(see open studio post below)

Also, here is a little P.R. blurb for each of you to use when e-mailing your friends about hooking up at our show.
(You do want to be seen attending shows at the hippest gallery in Louisville, right?)

Marcy works mainly in copper and silver. Using traditional jewelry techniques she creates modern and whimsical works that are highly emotive and reflective. Most of Werner's works for the upcoming Cinderflock show are
extremely recent. "I wanted to try a completely different direction with my metal work. These pieces are very process-oriented, but the emotion is still there."
Anessa will presenting a group of refreshingly colorful and irreverent portraits, as well as a
selection of the locally famous and highly collectible 'Please Don't Act a Fool' chair paintings.

Hope you can make it!

Open Studio in Lowertown

Tonight I had my first figure drawing open studio session since 1992.
I was really nervous to say the least,
but I think I managed to get a few good sketches completed.
Here's one that will not make you blush....

And if you feel like blushing...
click here.
Is that a cute model or what? Beats the heck out of the creepy old dudes we had at U.K.

23rd Post 5th Sentence.

Fun game from Marcy @
WHYAREWEINTHISHANDBASKET:

1. Go into your archive.
2. Find your 23rd post.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your blog along with these instructions.
5. Tag five other people to do the same.

Here is Marcy's 5th sentence:
And while in my younger days I would not have really cared about flashing a crotch-shot to a passer-by, I unfortunately have to be a little more discreet now that my livelihood is involved.

And here is mine:
We had just gathered all of our tanning equipment from the linen closet....Baby Oil, zinc oxide, colorful oversized beach towels, two pairs of her Mom's Foster Grants and a tiny transistor radio.

Taken from Saint in a Smock, which recalls my first hair color experience.
An experience that would alter my life forever.
Read the whole story here

I'm not gonna tag you, but I'd love a link if you participate.

Oh, Valiant Knight! Oh, Kind Warrior!

Wow.
We just got back from seeing Grizzly Man.
Two thumbs way up.

Werner Herzog's documentary brilliantly presents an honest and respectful glimpse into the unique mind of Timothy Treadwell.
A man whose life among the bears was as comical as it was tragic.
A man with very strong convictions, a gentle spirit
and a slight misunderstanding of reality.

A man whose life was as meaningful as any one of us could wish for.

...photo from Louisa Wilcox's heartfelt tribute page...

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things.
Denis Diderot (1713 - 1784)

Rest in peace, Tim.

Click here to view the movie trailer in Quicktime.