A New Year

Well, I am embarassed to admit that it has been almost a year since we created and posted on our blog. However, I actually got busy with other things and totally forgot about this space.

It has been an eventful year at the Blue Moon Gallery. In February we purchased the inventory of Nevaeh's Art Basket - the art supply store with which we shared the building. So now we not only display art but sell the tools with which to create it. We enjoy having the art supply business. Actually we are the only art supply store for about 50 miles. Although we can't carry the amount of inventory or have the prices of the BIG BOX art stores we try to keep things reasonable. Plus we are very service oriented.

June of 2007 saw the 2nd Annual Red Skelton Festival and the 1st Annual Wine and Art Festival held at Grouseland, the home of William Henry Harrison. Blue Moon proudly took part in this event and represented our artists there. The Wine and Art Festival will happen again this year and we will probably assist with planning the event. Hopefully, it will take off and become a fixture among the other festivals that take place here in Vincennes.

Anita and I again taught at the Psi Iota Xi Artventures Camp. This was our fourth year as volunteer art teachers. Normally we had been giving drawing instuction but this year they let us try a different medium - Painting! The 1st, 2nd, 3rd graders that we worked with really had fun with their Pollack style drip and spatter paintings, painting to music and the warm and cool color lesson. I know we will participate in this wonderful art camp in 2008.

West Virginia beckoned us for the latter half of July. Our families trekked to a marvelous private campground, Abrams Creek, for a two week vacation. We opted for a cabin with electricity that sleeps up to seven. (A bargain at $400 for 15 days!). The campground has many primitive sites and is filled with ancient hemlock, evergreens, different varietys of fern and the everpresent sound of Abrams Creek rushing over boulders and rocks. It is truly a peaceful, spiritual spot. They have a website:

While in West Virginia we visited dear friends in Keyser and checked out Cumberland, Maryland (about 40 miles from where we were staying). Cumberland has a state designated Arts & Entertainment District and an ongoing Artists Relocation plan. I loved the old houses in this town. Although driving on the steep streets and mountain roads in general doesn't thrill me.

Before, we left for WV I was contacted by George Rogers Clark National Historical Park and asked if I would like to do an ornament for the White House Christmas Tree. The theme being
Holidays in the National Parks. Naturally I didn't refuse. This was the second time I have had the privelege of doing ornaments for the White House. The first being in 1994 during the Clinton Administration and the the Twelve Days of Christmas Theme.

The ornament has three vignettes on it. 1. The Clark Memorial; 2. Francis Vigo statue with a view of the Wabash River and Lincoln Memorial Bridge in the background; and 3. the statue of George Rogers Clark inside the rotunda of the Memorial. It was completed in a timely manner and boxed and sent off to Washington.

The highpoint for me was being able to attend the Artists' and Decorators' Reception held at the White House on November 28. I could bring one guest so naturally I invited my friend and business partner, Anita. We also took her three children on the trip as she and her husband agreed it would be educational for them. We set off from Effingham, IL on the 26th (that's the closet Amtrak station) and went to Chicago. During the layover we took the kids to the Art Institute. That evening we were off on the Capitol Limited to D.C. It is about a 17 hour trip but I love the train. If you are not in a hurry it is a great way to travel and meet interesting people.

We spent about three full days in the capitol and managed to take whirlwind tours through the Air and Space Museum, the National Gallery of Art, Museum of Natural History (had to see the Hope Diamond) and the Museum of the American Indian. Enough time to whet our appetites for a return vacation in the future. My only advice is to NOT get caught in the subway during rush hour and thus miss your train by two minutes. Allow ample time or take a cab. It is worth the cost.


Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Blue Moon Gallery & Studios now has a website. It is still a work in progress but is coming along well. Many thanks to one of our artist photographer Christine Thomas who is graciously and gratuitously building this site for us.

It has been a quiet day at the gallery and now it is about time to close for the day. We will make a better effort to post this year. We hope to keep updating folk on what is going on in Vincennes Indiana with the arts.