Now this is Exciting: 6" Squared

I am soooo excited and honored! These two pieces have been chosen out of 1200 to participate in the second 6" Squared show, sale and competition at the Randy Higbee (aka King of Frames) Gallery in Costa Mesa CA. Birthed on Facebook the first of these events (held in Dec 2010) brought an absolutely amazing body of work together from around the globe and savey collectors flocked to the show. All the works are 6"x6"...no exceptions. I have learned to love working in this format as it offers some exciting compositional challenges...Wish me luck!


The Event:

The Randy Higbee Gallery is hosting the second 6" Squared Exhibition and Sale. Once again, we will bring Nationally acclaimed traditional representational artists to a spectacular venue in Orange County, California. A Gala Artists' Reception will be held Saturday, April 16. The show will run through May 6th.

Click here for more info!!: 6" Squared Exhibition and Sale: Spring 2011

Silly me...I forgot to tell you...

Hey all...I have been neglecting you...I'm so sorry. For over 6 weeks I was away from home in Florida and I came back renewed and refreshed. Also full of new art ideas. I decided to work in a series as I just fell in love with the Florida birds. Below you will find the link to the blog I created for this purpose so if you've been missing me you can also follow me here! THANKS for your support of my art!...Wendie

Feather and Brush...my new blog

The Oil Slick that is Charlie Crist

There is a reason why, this entire election season I have used the same refrain when it came to Charlie Crist.

I said that you'd pry this Senate Seat..

" from his COLD.DEAD.HANDS."

I meant it too, and I believe all of it...

from his refusal to drop out and become an ' independent', to his courting of the so-called moderates...to this latest con game of ' Bill Clinton said that Kendrick Meek agreed to drop out. '

FROM HIS COLD.DEAD.HANDS.

So, what do I read today?
TPM.com

Crist Adviser: He Would Caucus With The Dems In The Senate
Everyone knows that Republican Marco Rubio is ahead in the polls for the Florida Senate race, helped in part by a split in the anti-GOP vote between independent (and ex-GOPer) Charlie Crist and Democratic nominee Kendrick Meek. Crist has often refused to say for certain which party he would caucus with if he were elected. But as the Wall Street Journal an adviser to Crist says that he would caucus with the Dems if he were to win the election:

That's a big "if." Mr. Crist is trailing Republican candidate Marco Rubio in most polls. But the declaration by Florida trial lawyer John Morgan sheds light on one of the many mysteries in the Bill Clinton-Charlie Crist-Kendrick Meek imbroglio.

"Crist is going to caucus with the Democrats," Mr. Morgan said. "I don't think there's any ifs, ands or buts about it. It would be, in a very tight year, almost like a Democratic pickup in a solid Republican state."

This followed the recent story that former President Bill Clinton, who had supported Meek, attempted to get the Dem to drop out of the race and endorse Crist, who would reportedly then caucus as a Democrat.

Morgan told the Journal that the likelihood of Crist organizing as a Dem was unrelated to any potential deal, and Crist's campaign has denied that Crist ever agreed to caucus as a Dem as part of the Clinton-Meek maneuver.

Of course, this is probably all hypothetical. The TPM Poll Average currently gives Rubio 44.6%, Crist 30.2%, and Meek 19.6%.

I call absolute and utter bullshyt on this.



How convenient.

How convenient, the weekend before this election, this just happens to drop.

GMAFB.

Some 'advisor' tells this?

Are you really falling for this bullshyt?

It is the weekend before the election, and still, you do not have CHARLIE CRIST

ON TAPE

making a statement of any sort vowing to caucus with the Democratic Party.

If it was that important, why aren't the words coming out of Crist's mouth himself?

UH HUH.

I think that the posters have figured most of this out.

The man got MARRIED for pete's sake.

And, you don't think the OIL SLICK was the one who leaked this to the press?

Come on, now.

And, for those who support the Oil Slick over Meek without any commitment from the Oil Slick are ridiculous and pathetic.

IF the GOP takes over the Senate, bet on this...Charlie Crist will say, ' I don't know you....' to those Democrats clamoring for Meek to drop out of the race. Just like this clown up above supposedly telling us that Crist will canvass with the Dems, if the GOP takes over, he'll say that ' former friend didn't know anything'.

Get real about Crist.

The Wrong in the Florida Senate Race

I have been voting since I was 18 years old. I have voted in enough elections to know....YOU DON'T ALWAYS VOTE FOR THE ULTIMATE WINNER OF THE ELECTION.

It feels good to vote for the winner. For the person you thought should win DOES win.

But, no, you don't always vote for the winner of the election.

Which is why the shenanigans down in Florida make me sick.

In case you don't know, there was a story that broke yesterday that Bill Clinton was contacted by the Charlie Crist campaign to try and get Kendrick Meek out of the Senate Race.

From msnbc.com

Fla. Senate candidate denies Clinton asked him to quit
A Florida Democrat running a distant third in the state's three-way Senate race again denied Friday that former President Bill Clinton asked him to withdraw from the race in order to help Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, a former Republican who is running as an independent.

Democrat Kendrick Meek told NBC's TODAY show that he had discussions about the race in Florida with Clinton during the former president's visits to the state to campaign on his behalf. But he denied that Clinton asked him to step down. "I never once told him that I was getting out and he never once asked me to get out."

A number of media on Thursday, including Politico and CNN, reported Clinton had tried to persuade Meek to drop out of the race to prevent a win by the contest's frontrunner, Republican Marco Rubio.

"The argument was: 'You can be a hero here. You can stop him, you can change this race in one swoop,'" a Democrat familiar with the conversations told Politico.

According to the Politico report, Meek agreed, and planned to endorse Crist, but then failed to go ahead with the withdrawal. Politico cited Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna.

A Florida Democrat running a distant third in the state's three-way Senate race again denied that former President Bill Clinton asked him to withdraw in order to help Florida Gov. Charlie Crist.
..Meek denied there was any plan for him to drop out. He also rejected poll numbers showing him getting only about 15 percent of the vote in next Tuesday's election.

The thing is, I'm sick and tired of this bullshyt. Kendrick Meek is the Democratic Party's Nominee for the Senate from the State of Florida.

Without no much as ONE PUBLIC SENTENCE FROM CHARLIE CRIST EVER ON PROMISING TO CAUCUS WITH THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IF HE WON..

we have seen a drumbeat of mofos calling for Meek to drop out.

G-T-F-O-H



They pretend that Charlie Crist isn't an amoral oil slick, who, if the GOP took over the Senate wouldn't go ' I don't know you' to all the Democratic Clowns who are calling for Meek to step down.

They pretend like Meek would be the first Democrat to lose a statewide race in Florida.

They pretend like Kendrick Meek was appointed the Democratic Nominee instead of putting together his campaign from scratch throughout the state. It's not like Meek woke up 1 month ago and said, 'I'm the Democratic Nominee for Senate.'

No, he went through a year long( if not more) process, building everything from scratch.

THERE WAS NO REASON WHY ANY OTHER DEMOCRAT IN FLORIDA COULD NOT HAVE DONE THE SAME THING.

But, Kendrick Meek did the hard work. He did all the legwork. He shook the hands. He went to meet the people, and, it is not his fault that no other Florida Democrats, outside of that shady creep who ran against him at the last minutes was the only one who would run. Meek won the nomination WITHOUT crapping on his base (cough:::Artur Davis, Adrian Fenty:::cough).

Meek won his right to win, and yes, to lose, this election.

I don't know if all this leaking so soon before the election is meant to encourage or suppress the Black vote. I do know, if I was in Florida, I'd be tempted to ONLY vote for Kendrick Meek and let the rest of the Florida Democratic Party to go play in traffic during rush hour.

But, I like what lamh32 has said about this situation:

This is gonna be my last comment of the night on FL Senator. Charlie Crist is playing Dems/Meeks/Clinton/FL voters for fools. And Marc Rubio is gonna laugh his way to the Senatorial bank and Charlie Crist is not gonna give a damn. Don't forget, Crist won't care if Rubio wins, hell, he was a part of the Repub party anyway, 'til the primaries didn't go his way. This is all about him, and he played Bill Clinton, he played Meeks, and he play FL Dems.

tell the truth, why don't you.

found more truth in a post by Town:

Well, we know the Democrats/fauxgressives want Meek out, and Crist wants Meek out. They tried to pressure Obama out back in '08 but he had the numbers on his side. Sadly for Meek, he does not.

I can pretty much rule out Rubio in this scheme, since having Meek in the race helps him out at the voting polls.

I think it went down like this:

FL Democrats want Meek gone. They've tried all their tricks, he's like a roach, he refuses to leave. Bill Clinton knows Meek is a loser, but campaigns for him because he did have their back even when the other 99% of black people were for Obama. Someone from the FL Democrats camp contacts Crist's camp, says we'd love to help you out but this dude won't leave. At this point we can't be seen pushing out the black guy in favor of you. But we want to help you. Bill Clinton knows he's a loser, here's Clinton's number. Give his camp a call, we're sure Clinton can convince him to exit stage left and hand his voters to you.

Crist's camp calls Clinton's camp, and says Meek's a loser, convince him to get out of the race so we can stop this teabagger. Clinton goes to Meek, says "ya know, I'm gonna campaign for you and do whatever you want. But you're kind of low in the polls. Have you ever thought about leaving the race?"

Meek says naw, son, let's campaign and Clinton backs off. Clinton's camp asks around Meek's camp and they're like, "look man, y'all gonna lose, maybe ya'll need to exit stage right."

Meek's people are like "we don't wanna lose in a landslide, our careers would be over, we'll try to work him over." So Clinton's people report to Crist's people, the FL Dems and the WH that the option of leaving was presented to Meek.

The WH is like "oh, ok, keep us posted." Clinton campaigns with Meek again and is like "Well you know you still have some time to drop out if that's what you're thinking," and Meek again is like "I ain't....goin nowhere...I ain't...goin' nowhere...I ain't stoppin'... so kiss my ass to-nite."

Clinton is like (kanyeshrug)"ok well I tried" to Crist's people. Some of Meek's people are pissed he didn't drop out so they runteldat to Crist's people that Clinton even tried to get him to drop out and he's still in it. Crist is pissed that Meek is messing his plans up and that Clinton couldn't get the job done so he spills the T on Keith Olbermann and Politico.

Kendrick Meek: The black man who beat a billionaire

Have you ever beat a billionaire in anything…me neither. But, today Rep. Kendrick Meek did in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate when he defeated Jeff Greene. Two months ago, it was not at all sure that Meek hadn’t made the biggest mistake of his political career in giving up a safe congressional seat for the dangers of a senate bid.

Read the rest at The Loop.

Sometimes, you read things and go 'WOW'. Marco Rubio has made me do that.

hat tip-djchefron

I have to admit, I didn't believe it could be true.

But, the headline confirmed it:

Marco Rubio says deport all the immigrants

Yes, you read right.

Marco Rubio says deport all the immigrants

Are there words?

Here is a quote from Rubio:

Then Rubio explained that he is against letting illegals become legal:

Rubio also rejected the notion of a "path to citizenship" or "amnesty," despite "the human stories."

"There are going to be stories of very young kids that were brought to this country at a very young age who don't even speak Spanish that are going to be sent back to Nicaragua or some other place. And it's gonna feel weird and I understand that," he said, suggesting that those hardships would be a price worth paying.

Hah! That's a quote from Marco Rubio, son of Cuban refugees. Cubans were, for decades, welcome to settle in America without visas or papers or anything, and they are still allowed to enter the the U.S. via Mexico without fear of being deported.

But Nicaraguans? Ugh, no. Marco Rubio says GO HOME.

Ain't that a bitch?

IFFFFF they were from any other country (cough, Haiti, double cough), Cubans would be considered ILLEGAL and SHIPPED BACK.

They aren't here through legal channels.

But, HE and HIS have made it, and the rest of you can go f-yourselves.

All the Latinos in Florida who are thinking of giving Rubio a chance in part because of ' Latino Pride'...

well......

when the chips are down, and he needed to take a stand...

look what stand he took.

Look who he sucked up to.

Look whose ass he kissed...

He's showing you who he is....

we have a term for folks like Rubio in the Black community....one of my current favorite terms is Slave Catcher.

may your vision be clear as you look at Rubio.

Florida's Friendliest Hometown....

For all of us who have laughed at the unavoidable commercials from "The Villages" while watching the final round of countless PGA events, now comes a story which will cause you to, uh, stand up and take notice. You know the commercials - retirees dancing, playing soccer, softball, riding polo ponies, and yes - playing golf ( Lifetime Free Golf at ALL Our Executive Courses !!!!).

Here is a bit of their marketing copy "Maybe it’s the endless opportunities to fine tune a lifelong passion, try something you’ve always wanted to try, or just pick up where you left off as a kid."

Well, maybe that's what makes it fun....or it could be this...Fun at the Villages.

Looks like that marketing copy is spot on....

It's A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

For the 2nd time in three years, the City of New Orleans prepares this morning to be blasted by a powerful hurricane. The devastation wrought back in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina is now legendary, but a great deal of that horror was not a creation of God, or Mother Nature, or any kind of natural or supernatural being or event. The devastation was brought on man by man. For at least decades, the governments, both local and regional, and the people of the Gulf region were warned that this was going to happen, it was just a matter of time. It is not the responsibility of the federal government to build giant walls and roofs so that men can be protected from every possible disaster. Men need at some point to take responsibility for their own actions and lives. When you purposefully and intentionally make the decision that you and your family are going to live in an area that is historically prone to certain natural events, then you have chosen to take on certain risks and have the responsibility to ensure that you and yours can survive and recover when those events occur. And the key word in that entire statement is 'when', because this is not an 'if' scenario. Hurricanes barrel through the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico every single year, they have done so for all of recorded history, and they will continue to do so into the future. In the U.S., this means that coastal states such as Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and the Carolinas are always going to be vulnerable to these types of events. Anyone who moves into or remains living in those states near the coastlines makes the choice that the beauty of everyday life there is worth the trade-off in having to evacuate or baton down when these strong storms hit. When they do hit, those who have made those decisions, along with their local and state governments, should be responsible for any recovery and rebuilding. It is not as if these events are a surprise, a sudden calamity that could not have been forecast. While any particular storm cannot be foreseen, the fact that there will be storms year after year, and that some of these will be of the devastating variety, means that people who live in these areas are rolling the dice. When we gamble and win, it is considered being 'lucky', it is not usually considered smart. When you gamble and lose, it should not be my responsibility to bail you out and put you back on your feet. Do people need help out of the goodness of others hearts? Sure, that is the point of charity and volunteerism. But for the federal government to continue to take hundreds of millions of dollars in hits because of the continued and repetitive gambling of some of our citizens is ridiculous. Every time that a natural disaster hits, the first question is "What is the federal government going to do about this?" The fact is that members of local governments have made the choice to be citizens of those communities, and they need to be responsible. They need to educate their fellow community members, prepare for responding to these incidents, and prepare for recovery from these incidents. The local governments and businesses and citizens of New Orleans and the surrounding parishes were told that a Katrina-like event was going to happen, and they chose to make other decisions over the years and decades in their spending that did not address the issues of basic protections against such a storm. Instead, the federal government was expected to protect them from their choice to live in that area, and bail them out in recovery when the event actually happened. And this is not the only example of this type of thinking and lack of preparation. For decades, the people in the San Francisco and Oakland areas, and many other communities in southern California, have been warned that a major earthquake of a devastating magnitude is going to strike at some point. Not some point hundreds of years in the future, but likely at some point in the next few years or decades. It is going to happen: buildings, bridges, roads, homes will topple and hundreds if not thousands or more of people are going to die. It is a fact of the future that every one of those people has been warned about. But they have chosen to live in those areas anyway because there are many benefits on a day-to-day basis. I respect and acknowledge the right of those folks to live in those areas. But they have chosen to live there in a known disaster-waiting-to-happen neighborhood, and when it happens, likely in my lifetime, it should not be my responsibility to bail them out and help them rebuild right there so that it can all happen again someday. Sudden, unexpected events are one thing. Predicted and expected events are another. One results in a tragedy, the other results in a bad choice coming home to roost. It appears that Hurricane Gustav, which will slam into Louisiana today, will not be nearly as bad as Katrina was, but it will be a strong storm that will beat down an area already beaten badly. The fact is that a hard rain is going to fall, and the further fact is that it won't be the last time.