The Queen of Versailles

 

 

I looked at my upcoming schedule of events for September, October and November, and said I need to chill a bit and take a weekend off of doing stuff.  So I spent all of last weekend at home painting, and hanging out in my pool. 

 

I love movies and see a lot of them, but not too many at the theaters anymore.  I have a hearing problem where I can't hear high pitched tones.  So women and children are nightmares for me to hear.  I prefer now to watch most movies at home with my Sony headset on and with subtitles so I don't miss any of the dialogue.  But I couldn't resist going to see The Queen of Versailles at the movie theater last week.

 

I almost feel a little guilty saying how much I loved this film.  It's like saying you saw a huge train wreck and really enjoyed watching it.  :-)

 

 

The Soul of Broadway @ Fountain Hills Theater

I spent a soulful afternoon listening to seven wonderful and talented singers celebrating the songs from some of Broadway's best "Soul" musicals.  This musical revue at the Fountain Hills Theater included songs from Porgy & Bess, Big River, Dreamgirls, Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Color Purple, Passing Strange, The Lion King, Once on this Island, Aida, Hairspray and The Wiz.

Going today was kind of a last minute decision, but I'm glad I eased on down the road (Shea Blvd.) to Fountain Hills Theater to hear some fabulous songs from The Great White Way.

Rent @ Desert Stages Theatre

I first saw Rent in Chicago shortly after it won the Tony Award, and so the buzz over this rock opera was extremely high.  Sometimes 'buzz' and too much hype are not a good thing.  I went in extremely excited to see this Tony Award winning musical, but came out after seeing it a little underwhelmed.   But that was not the case last Saturday night when hubby and I went to see the last performance of Rent at Desert Stages Theatre. We both came out totally overwhelmed,  and that is a testament to just how great the cast and the production was at Desert Stages.  They took my not so favorite musical and turned it into one the BEST musicals I have seen at Desert Stages Theatre.  The whole cast was outstanding, and the production phenomenal.

Oh and one more thing...they had a LIVE band playing all the music.  That was pretty cool.

Two Day Acrylic Painting Workshop

I spent last weekend in a two day, 12-hour acrylic painting workshop. I had a blast…a creative blast. I know without a doubt that if I didn’t discover The Artist's Way there would have been no way I would have done something like attending a two day painting workshop. The Artist's Way helps you get out of the box of limiting beliefs. One of my very limiting beliefs is that other people are artists…not me. My older sister was the artist of the family…she owns her own graphic design company. My best friend from grade school is an artist…she got a scholarship to the study at the Art Institute of Chicago, and Sax Fifth Avenue was buying her Raku pottery when she was only in her twenties. When I met my best friend from high school when we were just 14 years old, she and her entire family were already artists, and travelled the country from art show to art show. So I grew up with the limiting belief that I am not an artist. Well after discovering The Artist's Way course that limiting belief became pure BULLSHIT.

Last November I picked up a paint brush for the very first time in my entire life and have been painting ever since. After painting for just several months I decided that if I am going to continue taking lessons then I want to take lessons from an artist who I desire to paint like, or even more importantly, whose art I would buy for myself. My house has not one realistic painting; all the art in my home is either abstract or multi-media. So when I found an artist whose work I love, and who also teaches, I just had to enroll in his workshop.  Funny thing is that when I told him that I have The Artist's Way to thank for getting me here to attend his workshop, he said he did The Artist Way course many years ago, and the course got him to make a major career change.  He said what he is doing now is all due to The Artist's Way.  How perfect is that...two people meet in August 2012 doing what they love, all due to The Artist's Way.

Over the course of the weekend we painted five large paintings all using techniques that were new to me. Four of the five were abstract, which of course were my favorites. I still need to do some touch up work on them, but I was truly surprised at how much we did accomplish in just two days.

I have a new passion, and my old limiting beliefs are dead and gone…all thanks to The Artist' Way. :-)

The beginning of Abstract Circles

                                              The middle of Abstract Circles

                             The almost finished painting of Abstract Circles

My finished Abstract Circles.

The beginning of Running River

The middle of Running River

The not yet finished Running River

The beginning of Abstract Design

The middle of Abstract Design

The finished Abstract Design