Vets, Conventions and Corgis

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This past weekend was full. In fact, I don't think I have ever had such disparate activities back to back. I'll work backwards. No, I'll start with Friday which was Veterans Day when I attended the
event at the Municipal Hall in Eureka, which is presented by the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka. Stu Russell organizes that each year, and it is always a moving tribute to our veterans. This year, Steve Colwell was the keynote speaker and he spoke about his experiences in Viet Nam, and the deep connection that veterans have with one another. He is now involved with several worthwhile organizations, and many there were especially moved and inspired by his work with Wounded Warriors. My hunch is that Humboldt County will be doing something with that organization and if you are interested, please contact me or Stu and we will put you in touch with Steve. They do great work. I am pleased to say that we had quite a few of our Honor Flight vets there as well and it was great to see that sea of WWII Veteran caps and royal blue shirts. It was a honor to have the opportunity to say a few words about North Coast Honor Flight.

My car was already packed so as soon as that finished, I drove to Redding to show my work at the Diocesan Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California. I was showing work that was featured on the cover of Forward Day by Day this past year, as well as other contemplative work, and introducing new digital prints. As always, it was good to see folks from around the Diocese that I only see every year or so. When that wrapped up (earlier than expected), I loaded up the car and headed to Dixon (near Sacramento) to show my work at the Corgi Faire. Now that was quite an experience. Imagine a very large room full of corgis. I never would have believed that corgis, who can be a little snarky, would get along so well together. It was a visual delight. Activities included races, where they tied little jockeys and cowboys on the backs of the dogs (I am including a photo so you know I am not making this up), as well as a costume competition with various categories. Proud to be an American (three corgis decked out in flags) fit right in with the patriotic theme of the weekend, and the three little pigs was pretty cute.
They also had booths with information on proper care of corgis, and I hope lots of people paid attention. There were way too many overweight corgis there (see above) as they LOVE to eat, and it takes real effort and restraint to keep them healthy and in good shape.

So, if this post seems a little disjointed, that is how life has been lately. Good, but really scattered. Now that those events are behind me, I am looking forward to studio immersion and making and posting artwork. I have some very interesting commissions and am very excited about getting back to work.