NYC Art Show at Breadworks Cafe in Boulder, Colorado Feb 17-Mar 15, 2012

I am currently participating in this wonderful show of work produced either on site at Lillian Kennedy's Art Workshop in NYC, spring 2011, or from photos we took while there. There are seven artists included in the show: Lillian Kennedy (our fearless leader), Margaret Bobb (moi!), Marie Clampet, Susanna Nelson, Janet Rozene, Elsy Wilkins, and Tisha Wood.

I had a wonderful time at the workshop in NYC. It was a dream come true for me, and it was everything I had hoped it would be. When I was there, I had no idea that Lillian would come up with a show for us to do. I thought I had plenty of time to prepare...hahahahahahaha!

I did come up with the idea of an interactive painting. It is the Statue of Liberty with an underpainting of complementary colors, but finished in red, white and blue. The interactive part comes in with having people from all walks of life and different points of view; democrats, republicans, whatever and whomever to write on the painting (gasp!) what Liberty means to them OR where they find their LIberty! I had them use either a white paint pen or a black pen depending whether they chose the Background or the Statue Herself to write on. That is representative of the light-skinned people groups and the dark-skinned people groups that inhabit our Great Land.

It was interesting to note that nobody wanted to actually write on the Statue Herself. I had to start that off myself and then beg most people to write on her. So far, besides my Artist Self, there have been the following types of working people: A husband and wife who are part of a band called Blood-stained Innocence. They work with handicapped people during their "other" job; a photographer/web designer; an executive assistant; a head clerk at a national grocery chain; a meteorologist; a published author who also happens to be the senior pastor at my church; a professor at CU in Boulder, and of course--other artists! ...The rest who have shared their views on it so far are a mystery to me!

You may be asking why the rest who have written on it so far are a mystery to me.....the answer:

My gluten sensitivity has become far more pronounced with time. My celiac symptoms have gotten worse with each Very Occasional cheat...And last night, I actually had an allergy attack in the bakery/cafe during the art show opening. I did not cheat by eating any of the fabulous-looking bread set out for customers and patrons. No, all I did was breathe. And it became harder and harder to breathe as the event continued.

Hanging the show the night before was a bit of a challenge. I thought there was some sort of cleanser the night crew was using that was causing me to "choke-up." I felt miserable. I was coughing, and my throat felt "funny." My fellow artists kept telling me to go home...that they would take care of the rest of the work, but I didn't want to be a whiny-baby.

Well, after being at the opening for only a short while, the coughing started again and was worse than the night before. My daughter, who is studying to be a nurse, told me that I needed to get out of there. She could see that I was in distress, so she convinced me to leave.

I had a "duh!" moment...A working bakery that makes their bread in the back room at night has microscopic particles of wheat flour floating in the air. This baking was going on during our opening...As I was preparing to leave, a lady who is employed there told me that they always have to wipe flour "dust" off their counters and tables out front. Wow...I learned that breathing air laced with gluten can be just as bad as eating it (or maybe worse!)

Consequently, I have traveled farther up my path on this journey of eating for health. I say "up my path" instead of down my path, because it has been a struggle and not easy. However, I would rather continue being a cancer survivor and not become a cancer statistic. This has all been a huge learning curve for me.

It’s just like the words in the song "Ooh La La" which Rod Stewart sang, "I wish that I knew what I know now when I was younger." That would have saved my family and me from so much grief. But, sometimes experience is the best teacher. I wish I could open up people's heads and pour what I have learned into them, so they would not have to go through what I've been through.

Anyway, if you are in Boulder during the next few weeks, stop in at The Breadworks on 2644 Broadway. Have a pastry. Check out the art!