Samuel Square Park – Gator Girl Art

The Good News and Could Be Better News

Posted on August 16, 2012August 16, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all,

I will start with the good news. It seems like everyone had a fun time at our party. We got to meet some new people. A few of the new people live in our neighborhood. Some were soccer buddies of my son-in-law or people he builds for. Teachers from Harriet Tubman “represented” (as they like to say). Many of the guests were friends and family. My 80 year old uncle Anthony drove in from St. Gabriel. He looked at every picture for a long time and left me a check for a Giclee of Heart of the Hurricane. He is such a sweet man.

I painted this picture for Ashley Hansen unsolicited. I was happy to hear she likes it.

picture2life_72467_original — A collage of the party.

If you picture if not here, I apologize. This is just a sampling and I didn’t get pictures of everyone. Katy darling, you are not here because you stuck your tongue out at the camera.

Miss Michelle is in the bottom right. She made everyone’s night fun. She entertained the 3 and under crowd at my daughter Angela’s house. The little ones were thrilled to have their own party. Michelle is an angel.

If you couldn’t make it to our house. There is always next time. I hope to see you then, if not before.

OK. The not so great news for us, but great news for Harris Park. The Allstate Foundation and the Drew Brees Foundation in collaboration with the Injury Free Coalition for Kids chose Harris Park in the Gentilly Woods for the park grant. This wasn’t the first time Harris Park applied for the grant. Two schools and a church will also use the playground. Since Angela and I have already written the grant, it will be easy to tweak for the next round of applications. Friends of Samuel Square Park had great support from the community in letters, money and the promise of volunteers. It is just a matter of time.

Sincerely,

With a heart full of gratitude.

Gator Girl

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Open House

Posted on July 21, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi all y’all!

You are invited to our house. So please mark your calendar. It will be a perfect night for some good food and good friends.

You will see what is new at Gator Girl Art.

10% of all sales go to NOLA Groundswell to renew parks and green spaces in New Orleans.

Currently, we are raising money and awareness for Samuel Square Park.

Expect to:

eat great food,

have sparkling conversations,

drink a variety of beverages,

bring your kids.

2317 General Pershing Street

August 11, 6:00 pm

My youngest daughter, Katy, will be here from California. Antonia will be visiting from Austria. This seems like the perfect time to have a party.

Update on NOLA Groundswell. We met with some people from All State on Friday at Samuel Square Park. This is a picture of me picking up the application from. I have a good feeling about our chances.

Nancy in Park — That’s me talking about our grant possibility.

Angie with Group — This is Angela talking with the people from NORD and All State.

The meeting was scheduled at the exact time a huge rain storm was coming through New Orleans from the Northshore. I think that is why many of the people coming to support us didn’t come.

Rain in New Orleans — Why I think people decided not to meet us at the park Friday.

One of the really great things about New Orleans is that people use their initiative to make things better for everyone. When Angela and I decided to improve the park we found several organizations that are interested in working with us. This is all very exciting.

I hope to see y’all on August 11th. I am testing out some mini pecan tarts today.

With an Open and Optimistic Heart,

Gator Girl

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A picture is worth 1,000 words

Posted on February 10, 2012February 10, 2012 by gatorgirlart

Hi y’all,

Choosing a word for the year has been so powerful for me, I thought WOW, pictures would be incredible. I have never made a vision board before. I always thought that it would take too much time. It’s kind of weird to think that, because I watch television. That should probably be the first thing to go when you think about wasting time.

I am going to show you in pictures step by step my process and what supplies I used. I had little regard for the visual outcome. I stayed loose and had fun. You can watch with me as the reality of the pictures unfold for me during the year.

Vision Board 2012 — What 2012 holds in store.

I used a piece a cardboard 26 x 40 inches. I didn’t want to use so much expensive paint to cover the background, so I covered it with spray adhesive (kind of glued my flip-flops to the floor in the process) and applied a piece of fancy red paper from the art store for $2.90. I bordered it with black and white checkered duct tape for about $5.00. I love the tape.

Next, I lit a candle and thought about what I wanted to see in the coming year. I Googled an image. When hundreds of images came up, I chose the one that spoke to me (not literally).

My daughter, Angie and I are adopting Samuel Square Park. You can click on the tab “Give Back” and see pictures of the park as it is today. We have a lot of plans, but are just in the beginning stages of development. We got the OK from Annie at the New Orleans Park Commission to start a booster club.

Just saying, there is an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt.

David and I traveling — Traveling with David

I drew a hat on David, because the picture had too much hair. I like this picture, because I have a rolling suitcase and David is carrying his. That is just how we like to do it. The picture has so many places to see!

For our sister road trip, I required a convertible and an open road. I colored the blonde woman’s hair red like my sis.

Year of the Dragon — Powerful, Change-Making Dragon

I have been loving Caran D’Arche water-soluble crayons. You can use them as is, wet them after you apply them or paint with them by rubbing your paint brush against them. I also used acrylic paint. Paint is still my favorite means of expression.

Let me know if you have been inspired to change your life using pictures.

You rock!

Until next week, in unending love,

Gator Girl