Sweet Tico Woman

Title: Anita Polanca
Medium: Oil
Size: 16" X 20"
Artist: Judy Vars
Price: unframed 320.00
On our holiday to Costa Rica we went to the copy store in Puerto Imenez and this old woman was out sunning herself in the afternoon. I asked Peter to take a picture of this beautiful old woman. He started a conversation with her and found out that she is 97 her parents came from Spain, after charming her and kissing her little hand she graciously posed for a photograph with a little twinkle in her eyes and a girlish smile. Costa Rica is a “Blue Zone” meaning people are healthier and live longer. This is a painting I wanted to do since our last trip to Costa Rica.
Tico is what the Costa Ricans call themselves translated it means little. I put my friend:
Cappy Will Kitsos on the job to find her name out
Will-Do Services Unltd.
What they won't do Will-do will do...
Will came through her name is Anita Polanca.

1,000 Days

I'm 20,912 days old today pushing 21,000 days old. Give or take a few days in another 1,000 days from now I'm a sextarian. What can one accomplish in 1,000 days? Be fit walk everyday become the very essence of health, in the art world become a master of my craft and have an art show in a museum or NYC, make $1,000,000or more, become a great Meditatior, learn to speak Spanish fluently, grow my hair to my butt.....

The average life expectancy is 78 years, mine according to a life expectancy calculator is 87.4 while my virtual age is 47.6 (my good habits gave me an extra 10 years). What good is this information anyway? Why the obsession with days and years? Maybe to plan and look ahead is bargaining with fate; no don’t take me now I’ve got other plans? Life is a habit and even when it gets tough most of us keep toughing it out.

My mother she was robbed of old age because of Lew Gerrics disease ALS, my dad smoked and his earlier days drank hard, courting the inevitable day, friends are taken from this life in the prime of their days.
Please don’t think I’m morbid. I’m only telling the truth, if today is all that we have and tomorrow is still a mystery; in the face of reality it seems silly to make plans. Still I busy myself with the mess that is my office trying to organize little details and setting goals therefore giving myself the illusion of control.

Life keeps on lifeing. quote: judy vars

Babes In Toyland

This is what I've been doing this week helping to paint the set to Babes in Toyland. A first for me, I've always wanted to try. It was fun especially when we got into a rythum. The people in the slideshow in no order is Carmen Summerfield, Nann Potts, Vera and me. The pictures are out of focus sorry.

VALLEY ART ALLIANCE
ART FOR CHRISTMAS SALE
Unique One of A Kind
Christmas Gifts - Artwork, Crafts, Cards and More
Made by Local Artists

The Alaska Gallery
(next to Madd Matters)
101 E. Arctic Ave
Palmer, Alaska
745-6045

Through November and December

Art Makes a Wonderful Gift for Christmas
All the items are reasonably priced and most under $100.00

Productive Thursday in the Beehive

The other day we painted the backdrop for the Valley Performing Arts upcoming play Babes in Toyland, a very interesting adventure (big headed artist types painting together. Said goodbye to a friend flying to Texas today. Today is the day I go to my artist meeting of VAA this takes place from 11:00 to 1:00 Thursdays at Sopias Kafe Neo on the Palmer Wasilla Hwy, they have good coffee and a Mediterranean menu, we artists gather to discuss art and all things art related. Occasionally politics are discussed and we still manage to get along. Afterward I went to The Alaska Gallery and Madd Matters frame shop to drop off art work for the Christmas show sponsored by Valley Art Alliance. There ran into a friend, we discussed my foot painting and how we were going to paint our dear friend's feet when she died, she took a picture with her cell phone that she still keeps. We Made tentative arrangements for dinner Sunday at my house. Discussed invitation to a baby shower our angel friend's daughter is having for her niece, because her sister and the baby's mother is being deployed to Afghanistan. Good God! the world keeps spinning people come and people go each one of us spinning our own stories and being as productive as possible bouncing of each other like little tops. This beehive painting illustrates my point. I should call it buzzzzzy beez. Is this fascination to the beehive due to my Mormon upbringing?

Beehive Painting
Encaustic Beeswax on 24 4 x 4" Wood Blocks
16" x 24"
525.00
Judy Vars
With all this going on around me I managed to create this cold peaceful painting called Winter Abstraction.
Winter Abstraction
Encaustic
8" x 12"
132.00
Judy Vars

Saturday Night!

My face looms in the darkness, (not scary at all) the night was clear the milky way visible and the moon was at half mast rising over Denali.
This is a whole lot of female energy! Peter almost bailed them some men showed up. One man told us of an expedition he took with the Discovery channel to Antarctica. He said the mountain tops look like the Grand Tetons and rise from a frozen wilderness where the snow is as hard as diamonds. They were checking the gravitational fields trying to predict when the poles will change.

This is Deb Wessler hosting her house warming party we were all happy to stand around the bond fire and tell stories.

First Friday in Anchorage

'Yapita' a Fayum Mummy Portrait
encaustic
395.
Judy Vars
Date: Friday November 6, 2009
Time: 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Doriola's, 510 West Tudor, #7, Anchorage

ENCAUSTIC ART EXHIBITION at Doriola's. This is a group showing of work by members of the Alaska Chapter of International Encaustic Artists (AK IEA). The show will run for the month of November and opens with a First Friday reception on November 6th, 2009, from 5p until 8p or until they kick us all out. Doriola's is located at 510 West Tudor # 7 between Arctic and C Street (just west of Cattle Company and Applebee's, on the south side of Tudor in the strip mall next to the double Asian restaurants) 907 375 0494. Mon - Fri 5a - 4p, Sat. 6a - 3p, Closed Sundays.

It's November alright and I'm just rambling...

we stacked 1 cord of wood, put all the lawn furniture away, pulled in the boat and dock and picked up the yard. The forecast is snow but it's a balmy 40 degrees. However the lake has a thin sheet of ice covering it and it's so pretty, it was comical to see a duck come in for a landing and slide in an ungainly way.
I'm curious why the swan couple have not flown South yet they are just sitting on the ice.
With daylight savings time it is suddenly dark earlier it confused Buddy my doggie who took himself to bed at 7:00 p.m. Daylight savings time is a completely stupid idea in Alaska, why can't someone change that!
I got Peter Direct TV for his birthday and am enjoying HBO a little too much but I will get tired of it soon.
The free Peking Opera last night was good except we had to sit through a lesson and a translation that took too long. Somewhere in the parking lot, or on the way in or in the autitorium I lost my cell phone. What a pain in the butt I had to replace it.
Tomorrow is Charmaines birthday she is my sexy Scorpio daughter. I told her I was giving her present to a homeless girl at the annual candelight vigil at the Covenant House for lost and run away children. She loved the idea. Happy Birthday Baby Girl, I Love You!
MoM