My ABC's of Art (part two)

N NOLAN LIGHTFOOT - the hubs and a kick ass painter.

O OOMPH - a somewhat vague and elusive word, but it is always what I want my paintings to have.

P PHOENIX ART MUSEUM - this is a big one. From childhood memories of the gingerbread houses, the miniature rooms and climbing the Paolo Soleri sculpture to almost a decade spent working there, PAM is my place. It will always feel like home.

Q QUATREFOIL - a decorative element consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially overlapping circles of the same diameter. It is found in art, architecture, heraldry and traditional Christian symbolism.[2] The word quatrefoil means "four leaves", from Latin quattuor, four, plus folium, a leaf,[3] referring specifically to a four-leafed clover, but applies in general to four-lobed shapes in various contexts. And one of the words that has always stayed with me since Art History 101, I probably sounded like a complete dork, but when I was appraising houses I loved to throw this word in to describe the windows on the Tuscan Style McMansions.

R ED RUSCHA - Love me some Ed Ruscha. My favorite might be High Speed Gardening or maybe it's Some Pretty Eyes and Some Electric Bills and while I know Ruscha has his own meaning to each of the phrases, so do I.

S SECOND STORY STUDIOS - My current painting space. A turn of the century apartment above a concert hall which used to be the old hardware store in town. I share it with two other lady artists and it is AWESOME.

T TAPE - Books on tape. Countless hours of books on tape I've listened to while painting. When people ask me how long a painting takes, which they inevitably do, I could answer "Oh one book" , "Oh two books" and the huge one "Oh the entire freaking series". I absolutely love to put a good book on and get lost in the painting process.

U UTRECHT ART STORE - Praise Utrecht. Thank you for being open early, staying open late and always having whatever supply I had neglected to get and needed to have in the next 5 minutes before class started. People often make some snide remarks about having to deal with artists, well imagine having to deal with all the art students at ASU. Good job Utrecht employees, I would have strangled me.

V VICTOR VASARELY - Check him out, I think the influence is obvious. I wish I had a Vasarely coloring book, I wonder if that exists?

W WATERCOLOR - My medium of choice. I adore it. It makes me happy.

X....um I'm up for suggestions.

Y YAYOI KUSAMA - You Who Are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies is one of the coolest exhibits you will ever venture into, it scares the crap out of me, but still the coolest. It is a room of infinity mirrors and twinkling lights. If you're ever at the Phoenix Art Museum, do not miss it. And even aside from that Kusama is just fascinating. Oh and her dots, how could I not love the dots?

Z ZODIAC - I've been contemplating a zodiac series. Seems like an apropos project to work on throughout 2018.