I Hope Santa And His Cow Brought You Everything You Asked For!

Yo! Who's up for some hoops? Frosty?

I told you to ask for directions at that last gas station.

Is that Santa as the middle Wise Man?

Bessie with her nose so bright.....

Oh That's What That Extra Bedroon Is For

This is something I have been wanting to talk about since October. And being that it is the Eve of Christmas, now seems like a perfect time.

It's about Holiday Decorations. Excessive, Outrageous, Enormous Energy Output, Abominable outdoor displays. You know the ones I am referring to. Twenty million lights, all blinking; huge Santa and reindeer on the roof; lit snowmen and nativities on the front lawn. Oh, and I Loooooove (make sure to catch the sarcasm - it's hard when you can't hear my voice) all the plastic blow-up 8 foot tall, what would you call them, "statues" that seem to be so popular these days. Good god, how much energy does it take to keep that huge blow-up, waving Santa going? Or the snow globe with Snoopy and Charlie Brown and fake snow blowing around? It's all just so tacky.

What's wrong with a simple string of lights? Why do Christmas decorations have to be so bright and garish that they almost cause seizures? What motivates people to do this? And it feels like those who go to such extremes are so addicted that they always have to have something new in the display every year. So, their set-ups just keep getting bigger and brighter and more disgusting. Where do they keep all of it the rest of the year? And how high must their electric bill be? It's all so crazy to me.

I am not a hum-bug either. I decorate. Not like that but I've got lights outside and a tree and ornaments and other stuff inside. I just do not understand the monster displays, that's all.

There's this one house in my neighborhood and they are especially in love with elaborate displays. They have lots of inflatable things on their lawn. And it's not just Christmas. Their display at Halloween is just as big, maybe bigger. And did I mention Easter? With the huge plastic blowup Easter Bunny? What's next - President's Day? Do they make a blow up plastic Lincoln? A Washington crossing the Delaware complete with moving waves?

I drive by that house and others like it and instead of feeling the Spirit of Christmas I feel the Spirit of Plastic, Materialism and Excess. Why, why, why?

Ok, ok, I'll get over it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

See you in 2007.

Cookie Recipe of the Day: Rum Balls.

3 Tbl butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups finely chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, plus extra 1/2 cup for rolling dough
1 12-ounce box of vanilla wafer cookies, finely crushed in food processor
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 dark rum

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Combine butter, sugar and pecans in a medium bowl and stir well. Spread pecan mixture in a thin layer on a cookie sheet and toast for 5 to 10 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Let cool a few minutes. In a mixing bowl, combine powdered sugar, wafers, cocoa, corn syrup, dark rum and toasted mixture. Mix well and then form into 1-inch balls. Roll in extra powdered sugar. Makes about 20 rum balls.

Do I need to mention that this recipe really shines when you use quality ingredients? Buy the best you can but where it really counts is the vanilla wafers, the cocoa powder and the rum since that is where most of the flavor comes from. I especially recommend using Dagoba Cocao Powder and Country Choice Vanilla Wafers.

I'll be working at the Folk Art Gallery today. Believe me when I say that these rum balls will probably be the only thing that gets me and my co-workers through the day!

The Problem With Sculpture Is It Takes Up A Lot of Space

I took my show in Sebastopol down on Monday. I was not looking forward to that but it went pretty well, actually. Eric was a tremendous help. The biggest issue is: Where do I put all this stuff? For now everything is crammed into my studio. Which is fine while I am not there working but that will change soon and then what do I do? Oh I wish so much that it all could have lived in that space, preserved like that forever.

But no, they kicked me out. And everything came with. No sales. Oh well. It's kind of what I expected. I almost take some kind of sick pride in being an artist whose work doesn't sell. You know, I am an "artiste" - They just don't get What I Do. Right. 'Cause god forbid I let it creep into my mind that the reason no one buys my art is because it's a bunch of pretentious crap. I have enough self-doubt already, thanks.

I also had Open Studios this past weekend. I showcased mostly my stone sculptures because that's pretty much all I had since the Sebastopol show was still up. I got A Lot of great response to the work. People seem to "get" stone better, even if what I do is abstract and unrecognizable forms. But the material is familiar and they like to touch it. But again, no sales. I even tried my hand at "commercial art" - I put together some bottle cap magnets and some resin coaster sets with bottle caps embedded - but no takers. Well, except one gal in the studios bought a magnets set.

I might as well just accept reality: Art is hard to sell. At least the art that I make, anyway. And I am not about to change what I do based on what I think people will readily buy. Sometime I will tell you the story about the little pink marble cat. It's a good example of my art principles.

So, the show in Sebastopol is closed and the work is all crammed into my studio and honestly it's a relief to just be done with the whole thing. I was starting to get tired of the question: How's your show going? Which actually will probably be replaced for a short time with: How did your show go? And honestly I just never know how to answer that question, either one. What do I say? "Fine" sounds so lame. What do they want to hear? The truth is, I don't know how the show "went". I mean, I wasn't exactly there much of the time. Did people see it? I don't know. Did people like it? I don't know.

I'm going to assume that when someone asks "How did your show go?", what they are really asking is: Sold anything? And some even do ask that as a follow-up question after I give the generic "fine" to their first question. When I say, "no sales" they seem to feel so sorry for me. Like that's the whole reason for the exhibition.

I don't even bother to explain why I don't care whether anything sold or not. Don't get me wrong, it would be Awesome, Amazing, Incredible, etc for something to have sold. But that's not why I did this. I wanted, I needed, a way to showcase this Body of Work that I have been creating for the past three years. I have been going through a process of exploring and experimenting and this show was the end result of that process. All of it. Together. The Whole Thing. It's not individual parts, though on their own many of the pieces are pretty nice. It was a Whole - a Group. And that's how it worked for me. Seeing it all together like this, that gave me a lot of pleasure.

But let's face facts. To most people this is a Business, being an artist, and what's the purpose of Business? Making Money. And if I'm not doing that, by selling my art, then my Business is Failing. However, I just don't look at it that way. To me I am succeeding because I follow through (most of the time, anyway) on my ideas. I get up in the morning and I Make Stuff. Not every day but often. And to me that is good enough. In fact, it's pretty cool.

Pat on the Back of the Day: Progression Structure #8 has found a temporary home.

I received notification this week that it was accepted into the 2007 SculptureWalk in Sioux Falls, SD. It will go on public display starting next May and stay there for a year. I am very happy. Though now I gotta figure out how the heck to get it out there.

Take It Easy (At Least For Now)

Life feels so different right now - now that I am essentially working full-time between my two jobs. I'd forgotten what that felt like, to have a schedule that is dictated by someone else.

First, let me start by saying that the steady pay is Nice. It's been awhile since I've had that. But I am starting to realize that this is just a little Too Easy. I get up in the morning, work a full day (for someone else), come home, workout, chill out, go to bed and get up the next day and do it again. And then every two weeks money gets deposited into my bank account. Nice routine.

A heck of a lot more consistent than my gig as an artist - and it's financially more rewarding since so far my art career has netted me zero. A girl could get used to this.

When I am making art I set my own hours, I have to motivate myself. No one is watching when and how often I work. No one is telling me what to do. If I want to go for a two and a half hour hike in the morning with Jasmine before heading into the studio, it's no biggie. I'm my own boss. Day off? Sure! I've earned it - I worked Four Hours yesterday. It's a wonder I get anything done at all.

But maybe that's why, in the end, the work, my art, is so rewarding to me. I do it because I Want To - I Make It Happen. Sure, my jobs are fun but I'm doing it for someone else, not for me. I would not want to be putting in 40+ hours a week at either one. Two or three days is fine, sometimes even a little too much.

But for now, this is working for me. In fact, it's been a nice change. After the First of the Year I'm down to just two days a week at the winery. Then it'll be back to the studio for me. Time to again be the Boss of Me.

Chronicle Columnist Must Read of the Day: Mark Morford

A Carnivore's Delight Poses an Ethically Meaty Dilemma

To eat beef or not to eat beef, that is the question. Once more Mark Morford is sayin' what I'm thinkin'.