Just a quick update

before I dash out the door to get to the Blanton where I am volunteering this morning.

I really don't know where this week has gone and it not as if I have been out and about doing things. Mostly I have been avoiding to be honest.

I have this project I have been doing since before I went to London and I am still doing it. Just as I think this might be the end, I think, nope its not quite right and out I go for more supplies. Its a beaded doll and that part of the project I finished just after Christmas. However, unlike my other dolls I have made this for someone and its an odd shape. It also has 2 very distinct sides, so really doing my normal and pin it to the wall, wouldn't work. I tried various hanging devices but it would slip on to its side/top as one side is more beaded than the other, making it unbalanced. So a frame came to mind, a sort of shadow box but of course shadow boxes have rabbets for the backing and glass inserts. Make my own, err, I scare of power tools, balsa wood that easy to cut. Anyway the long and short of it all, is I really must learn to plan, sketch and anticipate any problems and I might of had this project done at least a month ago!

In the above sentence, I admitted to my phobia about power tools. I know how to make frames and have made stretchers before as it was required by the college, that you learn such a basic skill. However, their power tools were even bigger than the ones we have and that is when I learnt I to scavenge for stretchers from all the painting left by previous students. (it was also a money saving device.) So this weekend I decided to get over that fear, getting Gordon to show me how to use the table saw and the router. I haven't actually managed to use them on my own yet but I did use the new drill he got last weekend. Next week, I am going to make my own frame!

Of course, by this time next week, I might actually be employed as I have an interview with Austin State Hospital as nursing assistant. I don't know why I hadn't looked before, I think, I assumed you would need a qualification of some sort, as it seems to me that over here, you need a qualification to become dishwasher let alone help out with the mentally ill. I really would like to be able to use my art therapy qualification (a masters but useless without a transcript) but as I cannot get anyone to find the records (they must be somewhere, 4 yrs of records for an institution can't just disappear!) I may as well start at the bottom and hope that they will ratify my qualification through experience.

Anyway, better , get dressed and get to the Blanton. To be honest, I would today, prefer to be working on my projects but I love all the people there, so its worth, spending some time each week there. Below is the view from my station. I still can't get over such a blank wall in an Art Museum of all places!

Well I am still sitting here

so I have decided to go back to volunteering at the Blanton. I have been wanting to do it for ages but as I was job searching I thought I should be doing that. However, I thought to myself yesterday, I am going nutty here with no kids to talk to and Gordon sleeping a good part of the evening before he goes on the PC until about 9.30 when he wants to watch TV. So I contacted Martha yesterday and I should be back next week, doing my old shift of Friday 10-1pm, so I am looking forward to that.

Kid wise, Alan and Emily are both back to college but Alan has only managed to get 9 hrs despite needing to do 12 (the max he can do at the moment). This will put him even further behind but at least he can't say he is overworked! I just wish he would contact his counsellor more and maybe they could have pushed for him to get into something.

Elisabeth is believe it or not, working in a call centre for $8.00 an hour! We have spend $72,000 approx over the last 4 yrs for her to get a good degree in Biology and apparently that is not enough to get a level entrance job in that field. She had an interview with the fish hatcheries in San Marcos the other week which had been described to her as being something a high school student could do. That sounded good but no, apparently they were actually looking for someone more experienced than a graduate fresh out of college. She had done well in the interview apparently so they suggested she could get more experience by volunteering there! Just a quick point, she had been working all last summer with no pay for the same place but with smaller fish ,so basically they are just get cheap labour.

Anyway, she is plowing along, as she really want to work in the environmental field. If she is still in San Marco during the summer she will take a new class that is being offered in environmental law and maybe that will help. However, it really pisses me off that more and more places are insisting on kids getting masters/phd's before they are even considered for a job other than your run of the mill jobs, like call centers or pharmaceutical reps!

The weather here is cold but no colder than it was in London when I visited but somehow it seems colder, weird eh. Anyway, basically it is dark, dank and too cold to willingly go outside. That is another reason for taking up the volunteering again, that unwillingness to actually go anywhere is rearing its ugly head again. If I could get groceries delivered I would as I really hate going to the grocery store but its more than that, I get anxious about going anywhere, putting it off until I absolutely have to. The weather is not helping!

Anyway off to get dressed now and do some chores around the house before I start my crafting/art(?).

Yesterday, I spent a good part of the day making a cardboard frame for my latest beaded figure . As it based on an icon from these parts, I decided to make a shrine but again one of my fears got in the way. We have plenty of scrap wood in the garage which I could use to make a frame, however, since my college days, its always sometime I avoided doing. I know how to do it, I made my own stretchers at college but it was with power tools, a big circular table saw and it scared the sh** out of me. All power tools scare me but saws in particular. So today I am going into the garage and sort out some wood.

Anyway back to the shoddy cardboard frame, I decided in my wisdom to cover it with tiny Mosaic glass tiles. I managed to do the top, one side and some of the raised front before deciding this wasn't going to work. Fortunately I had used a hot glue gun to attach them to the cardboard so they weren't too bad to prise off but its amazing how well they were stuck on with that stuff!

Actually had an interesting weekend

which is a nice change. On Saturday I created my first piece of wet felt where you wet wool roving which meshes it together to create a piece of felt material. I can see I have a long way to go but I was pleased I had tried the method out and can't wait to do more. To see more of my felt pieces I create last week, visit my other blog

My first wet felt Piece.

Early Saturday evening we went to the movies to see " Eastern Promises" starring Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts. There were barely a dozen people in the showing we saw which is a shame because its a very good film. It is based in London (one of my favourite cities) and a story that involves the Russian Mafia. Its pretty graphic film with some stomach churning scenes of violence but nothing that isn't additional to the story in a gratuitous way. My only problem with the film was the ending, they wuzzed out.

On Sunday it was "open museum day" in Austin so all the exhibits were free. I was surprised it was so quite to be honest, I thought people would be there in their droves. The only place that seemed particularly true was the Blanton Museum.

We went to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum first to see the current exhibit called In Citizen’s Garb: Southern Plains Native Americans, 1889–1891. It was a really good exhibit (as the norm for this museum to be honest). The thing that gets me all the time when I see an exhibit of this kind, is how recent in time all this happened. Given the situation in Jena at the moment its seems in some places things really haven't changed much in the last 100 yrs.

It was a really nice yesterday which meant walking around in the afternoon wasn't too bad (I don't think it hit 90f until late afternoon by which time we were home), so we walked to the State Capitol and the visitors center there. It was showing "Texasvision" which seemed like it might be interesting especially as we are big fans of Hank Hill , King of the Hill. However, it was huge disappointment. So we looked around a few other bits that were on display and made our way back to the Blanton Museum

The Blanton was mobbed which is very gratifying to see an art museum so popular. Their main show at the moment is an exhibit called " Mike's world" The following is part of the description on the Blanton website about this exhibition:

This extraordinary exhibition features some 30 years of videos, installation environments, and other performance-related materials detailing the adventures of "Mike," a sweet but hapless Everyman character created by Smith, and his hilariously awkward and ineffectual search for a piece of the American Dream.

As you walk into the exhibition you walk into a darken room where a 5 minute video is played telling you a bit about Mike and his world. It is quite funny if a little too long but it gives you a sense of what awaits in the adjoining room. As you walk into the main exhibition hall, you assailed by sea of noise, chaos and way too much information for your eye or brain to take in. You think to yourself, where do I start? Anywhere is the answer, basically because as far as I could see there was no real order in the sequence of things. Actually the feeling I got as I entered was like that when I would go to Jumble sales and as you entered the hall, all you would see would be a sea of tables piled high with clothing and bric-a-brac items with hoards of women frantically searching through this ocean to get the best bargains.

After quickly assimilating myself to the atmosphere, I started to browse around. However, it quickly began apparent, Gordon was not enjoying this at all. " I don't understand it and I don't want to understand it" was exactly what he said. Of the tiny fraction of what I did see of it, I am not sure that I was keen on it as well but I will reserve my judgement to Thursday when I plan to see it again. My overall impression at the moment, was it was very snobby intellectual swipe at the 'ordinary' man of the street who has no understanding of the higher life of intellectualism and "art".

So that was my weekend. No so bad.
Now the week, hows that going to be........GOOD

Well, we were going to Mexico City

until we realised we needed to get some important jags (shots) before going. Maybe next year. We are going away (Gordon and I) for a few days at the beginning of August to celebrate our birthdays , mine on the 3rd, Gordon's on the 6th ( he will be 49, a youngen) and our 22nd Wedding Anniversary.

It had been a toss up between Mexico City and San Francisco as both have direct flights from Austin. I had really wanted to go to Mexico City as there is a major exhibition of Frida Kahlo's work to celebrate 100 yrs since her birth. She was an amazing woman and a brilliant artist, so I would really like to see her work in person but at least next year we can see her studio.

So now I am looking for information on San Francisco, in particular art, as I so rarely see Art other than on the Internet. I occasionally go to Austin to see the galleries there but to be honest there really isn't much there, which is kind of surprising given its the capital of the State. Things have improved immensely since the opening of the new Blanton Museum building in April 2006 and for its size the Austin Museum of Art does well. I always remember the first time I visited the museum and thinking "is this it?" Despite looking fairly large from outside, it is actually only one floor of limited space.

I supposed I was fairly spoilt in that I was brought up in the centre of London ( Westminster) and had all the National art galleries to visit. I would just pop in for a lunch time break, marvelling at all the beautiful work and wishing I could be half so good. It was only once I moved out of London permanently in the mid 1980's that I really appreciated how lucky I had been and wished I had used them more. One day I will be back and boy! am I looking forward to that day! However, have to get the kids through college and get a job which pays well before that happens.

Anyway, as its just me and Gordon going to San Francisco, I am sure we will visit a couple of galleries at least. Gordon is not really into art at all but will put up with visiting a few shows without too many sarcastic remarks. I just need to make sure we space it out with a trip to China Town and other things. Must admit don't know anything about San Francisco at all except for its trams and wild curving downward streets.

Well its Monday Morning again

All night I tossed and turned, Gordon likewise. I continued to toss and turn for a while after Gordon left, looked at the clock, it was 7.15 and thought to myself I will get up in 5 mins. Next thing I know I woke up in with start and it was 7.40. It was the best 25 mins sleep I had since 1.30 that morning!

I suppose I will have to get use to weird sleeping hours for the next couple of months at least.


I sent an email to M.(the volunteer manager) today so say I wouldn't be able to volunteer on Fridays anymore and how much I had enjoyed my time there, wish I had been able to stay but it was not be. How disappointed that my application for a gallery assistant hadn't even warranted an acknowledgement and that I attached my resume for consideration for the future. I got back the following reply:

Jacqui,
Thank you for all of your help. Of course we
will stay in touch. I know that the Sears
position is a good start for you. I hope to see
you soon. M.

I don't know what kind of reply I expected but I know I was disappointed by that, it seems so cold and perfunctory.

Well, I have a job of sorts

Its at the local Sears store and I will be re-pricing items which have been reduced for Sales or special events. Not exactly the job of my dreams and not something I plan to do for too long, expecially with the hours it involves, 5am to 10-11am weekdays and then 2am - to 10-11am on Sundays (when the flyers go out with the Sunday newspapers.) However, its is at least a job, its only seasonal for now and will mean Christmas will be better financed.
Emily has also got a seasonall part-time job there as a cashier so that has made her happy, hopefully it will be permanent after christmas as she wants to save up for her fare to Scotland in the summer. She can only go if she has the fared saved so she has the incentive.
So yesterday was my last day as a regular volunteer at the Blanton and it was really busy, with a party of 45 visitors turning up unexpectly and all wanting audio tours. I was really sad to go as I had become very friendly with the front desk and some of the gallery assistants. Working at the Blanton would have been great but it was not to be.