The Fortune Teller

In honor of October being national Fortune Teller week, I have painted 'The Fortnue Teller'. Her name is Madam Fortella. She is 102 years old and lives in a tiny island in the Caribean. She shares a small shanty with the islands only tattoo artist. Flowtella's visions come from the crystal ball and appear on her palms, where if you look closely you can see images. It is painted on boards from the side of a very old wood crate. It measures approx. 12" x 15". I used the same colors as I used when I painted Socks. It is for sale at Sweeties. - Dave

Little Irene Bord

Here is a new piece I just completed, 'Little Irene Bord', painted on a small old ironing board. It measures approx. 34'" in height. Kind of a bad picture. It is for sale at the Gallery on Second in Kewanee.

Art Well Groomed Auction Results

Hi Folks...Long overdue update on this.
On Oct. 4th the AWG public art and fund raising project held their auction for the 32 dog and cat sculptures. In a surprise twist at the beginning of the Auction they announced a 'pick of the litter bidding' to start the event off. The highest bidder could pick any one statue. The bidding quickly narrowed down to 2 people, one of which was Greg (& Marilyn) Anthony, original sponsors of Socks. Swiftly the bidding moved up in hundred dollar increments. Both competing bidders seemed focused and undeterred no matter how high the amount was. Of course neither bidder had any idea which of the statues the other was after. At $2,800 the bidding was over and Greg and Marilyn won the bid and took Socks. Greg and Marilyn was determined to get Socks and I was so happy that he went to them as they really wanted Socks from the day I put the first dot on him. It just would not have been right if Socks went to any others. Their bid of $2,800 was double the next highest amount of $1,400. Most of the sculptures went in the $300 to $600 range. I have two pictures of Socks at his new home. You can see all the sculptures if you click on the gallery on the right side of the home page at the AWG web site. Dave

http://artwellgroomed.webng.com/

Blues Art by Grego

It's time once again to plug another artist. Art by Grego!!! Grego from Austin, Texas has all your Blues Art needs. Check out Grego's site and I am sure will agree he has the right mojo. Make sure and visit his on line store, Mojohand. Grego's work is outstanding and can be had at a great price.

http://www.artbygrego.com/

Sweeties is coming to town.

Friends of mine are opening a Caramel Corn shop, Sweeties, on South Main St. here in Princeton next week ( Sept. 11th). Sharilyn Davidson is the propieter and she makes some awesome caramel corn. Sharilyn has been kind enough to allow me to have some of my artwork for sale at her shop. So if you are in the neighborhood check the place out.

Here is a piece I made for her shop to keep. Very simple, kind of cartoonish. I call this my 3rd grade style!!!

My Crosses To Bare

Here are some small crosses that I recently made out of very old cedar boards from fencing saved from the burn pile. They are very simple and measure 5 1/2"wide X 7 1/2" H. I experimented with a few different styles. They all have the aged / distressed look and can be hung on a wall or sit on a shelf.

People seem to like the ones without the painted background better. The center and right front ones have crosses made out of clay (from Hobby Lobby) while the others have the crosses cut from the cedar boards. I have a few earmarked for gifts and a few will go to a new retail outlet I will try and sell a few pieces at.

No. 4437

My daughter Megan had a very succesfull first Triathlon on Aug. 24th, completing the Accenture Chicago course in 3 hr. & 15 min. Well done Megan!!!! Thanks to those of you who contributed to her Leukemia Lymphoma Society fundraising as she raised $2,500 through Team in Training. Thanks again and a job well done. Here is a link to other photos of her in action on the course.

">http://www.asiorders.com/go.asp?37878104>

6 days till Megan participates in the Chicago Triathlon

Megan has just 6 more days till the Chicago Triathlon. She has been training 6 days and has increased her goal in raising money for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She is now trying to raise $2500. If you are interested in contributing please see her fundraising page..
http://pages.teamintraining.org/il/chitri08/megantaylor

Thanks for your support and GO MEGAN!!!!!!

Socks Update

Socks was put back out on Friday, August 8th, at his original foster home in front of the Festival 56 Summer Theatre. Socks has since been moved as Festival 56 is now over. We planned all along to move Socks to Sweeties a brand new Karmel Korn shop in Princeton. Sweeties had planned to open in late July, but there has been some delays in construction, but you can still find Socks in front of Sweeties while construction and set up is nearing completion. I am not sure of the exact address, but Sweeties is located on the West side of South Main St., between Townsend Coffee shop and the Court House. Socks looks better than ever after I touched him up and had a new clear coat put on him, after his swim in the canal. He will remain at Sweeties for the next month.
I will get a photo of Socks at his new home and attach it soon.

Socks has been found and returned home!!!!!

Some Rockin' good news!!! Socks was found today (Friday) in the Hennepin Canal, floating upside down, by an area fisherman. Apparently the fisherman rescued Socks, placed him in the back of his vehicle, and went to a nearby Tavern in Wyanet to have a cold one and share with others his unusual catch. The fisherman did not know anything about the missing Socks nor the $500 reward. The bartender told the fisherman of his good fortune and he immediately called Bonnie, the Friends of Strays Director, and told Bonnie he was bringing in his bounty and was wanting the reward. Within the hour Socks was back at the FOS animal shelter, where I joined up with Socks's sponsors, Greg and Marilyn, to inspect the new found Socks. We were pleased to see that he was in pretty good shape. Several scratches, but nothing that a few hours of work can't fix. He was partially filled with canal water too. I have attached a photo I just took, after I drilled holes in the bottoms of his feet to drain the water. I will start repairs tomorrow and try to get him back out on display ASAP. The base had very little damage and should be able to be used again.

Of course we are thinking about how we are going to keep Socks a little more secure when he hits the streets the next time. We believe that some young hooligans dumped Socks when they were feeling the heat from the publicity his heist generated. They probably thought he was going to sink to the bottom of the canal.

Thanks to all of your who sent me some notes or called to let me know how bad you felt about Socks disappearance. Many of us never thought we would see Socks again and all involved are happy to have him home. Socks certainly has increased his celebrity status and notoriety as there has been considerable publicity and interest about his disappearance. We anticipated that this incident will increase his value when he goes up for auction in October.

Dave