Artitudes Spring 2009 Art Show & Sale, Lincoln, Nebraska

All of the hard work paid off and our Spring Art Show and Sale was a success! Twenty-eight artists participated this time and there were eight new artists which we love! A bit of background - we organized as a small group of area artists who didn't have storefronts, websites or places to sell our work so Artitudes was born. Two or three times a year we stage our art and craft shows and choose a Lincoln-based charity to which our artists donate a portion of their sales. Good for our artists and good for our charity - and our donation stays local to help our neighbors. This year we chose The Arc of Lincoln as our charity partner and we were able to make a sizeable donation to The Arc and we are grateful to all of our artists for their participation and generosity.

A few of the pics from the weekend - This charming frog is papier mache and was created by one of our new artists, Kathy Frank. Her painted stones were fabulous but this articulated frog was a real attention-getter. He had a bowl of alphabet soup in his lap but we gave him Kathy's artist bio to hold. What a guy.

Sharon Demaree, another new artist, made beautiful carved gourds as well as these hand-carved ostrich eggs. Incredible.

Rhonda McClure's felted wool animals, jewelry and bags and felted pictures. The coolest part? They raise their own sheep, shear the wool, card, clean and dye it for use. Not too many of us process our artwork from beginning to end. Cliff and Jeanne Dill's beautiful photography is on the back wall and Kim Tedrow's collage work is on the panel between these two artists.

We love this guy - Rod Termaat carves the most unique, not to mention gorgeous, spoons, serving and cooking utensils with interesting little details. All of us have several of his pieces in various woods carved with little bees, daisy chains, ladybugs and turtles. He also has a few "creepy clown" pieces because everyone has a "creepy clown" in his closet (his words - not mine).

And, of course, Jan at the checkout table telling a customer that we happily take ALL forms of payment. More to follow - be sure to watch!