Sleepy.

In The Works: Kerry's Birthday Present!!

Wet Dogs Rock!

With all of the wind and rain and tornados yesterday, my puppy still had to get walked. But, she's a trooper! Two and a half miles later, my jeans were wet up to my knees and my shoes soaked completely through, but we made it . . .

Best Burgers in Town!!

NEW FAVORITE: TURKEY BURGER (Thank you, Martha!)

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds ground turkey

1/2 cup finely grated Gruyere cheese

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1/4 cup dried breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 garlic clove, minced

Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions

1. Heat grill to high. In a medium bowl, use a fork to gently combine ground turkey with gruyere, scallions, breadcrumbs, mustard, and garlic; season generously with salt and pepper. Gently form mixture into four 1-inch-thick patties.

2. Lightly oil grill. Place patties on hottest part of grill; sear until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Move patties to cooler part of grill; continue grilling until cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes per side.

Enjoy the yum-yum!!

Go Blend Go!

Floats Like A Butterfly, Stings Like A Bee: Who CONTROLS Art?

Multimedia exhibition by Andee Rudloff, Lindsey Bailey, and Allie Sultan

April 2 - 30, 2011

OPENING RECEPTION:

April 2, 2011 (First Saturday Gallery Crawl)

6 - 9pm

"Floats Like A Butterfly, Stings Like A Bee: Who CONTROLS Art?" a collaborative project by Andee Rudloff, Lindsey Bailey, and Allie Sultan will be on exhibit at the Blend Studio, 79 Arcade Building, downtown Nashville. The opening reception will be Saturday, April 2nd from 6 - 9pm during the First Saturday Art Crawl.

The artwork will include 16 mixed media works to be installed on walls and video to allow the public to vote on who controls art. Video will be displayed on the night of the Gallery Crawl, voting to happen through the sales of wooden nickels with boxing glove, date, blend and artists on each cultural conversation and those involved and those that enjoy and build relationships from or through art.

We are inviting the public to purchase a wooden nickel and visitors may choose to keep the wooden nickel as a keepsake or donate it to one of the 8 categories. Each category will have an organization associated with it and all donations will go directly to the organization, Millersville elementary, arts & business council, metro parks art programs, Untitled Nashville, friends of Shelby, welcome centers/Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, Nashville STARS & KOB, and 5th Ave For The Arts.

The project voting will happen on the night of the gallery crawl. After the end of the month, the votes will be counted and the winner will be announced. The votes will be broken down into each theme/category. All proceeds will go to the organizations representing the theme. A chart will be posted on Facebook to announce who the donations will be taken throughout the month. The artists will be on hand that night to discuss the subject and encourage the purchase of wooden nickels. Andee will tally the wooden nickel donations/votes and post the findings. All donations will be taken to their respective organization.

--Ben C. Vitualla

Mine.

Throwback to Nashville, Part 1.

As you could probably tell from the fabric images, I am in the process of reorganizing and shuffling things in my studio space. I came across a large pile of floppy disks and cds. One of the cds was labeled, Lindsey and Jason and it had only one picture on it--the one you see above.

This picture is wonderful and memorable for several reasons:

1. I was clearly taking a picture of myself and Jason inserted himself charmingly well at the last possible second. (He has a knack for doing this . . . )

2. What exactly is the color of my hair? I must've taken inspiration from where I was working at the time . . . We'll call it electric red. (Never again.)

3. This picture was taken in my Audi. I no longer have the Audi, but selling it helped me get situated in Wisconsin when I moved there in early August, 2005. The new owner of the car ended up using it for his job: working to get New Orleans the supplies and help it needed during Katrina. (How I do miss that car, though.)

4. Just look at those faces! Happy. Happy. Happy. (Happy.)

Enjoy.

Fabric.

Organizing fabric is such a chore . . . Hours upon hours of folding. But, now it's done! And, it photographs so well, too! Pretty!!

New Specs.

Hello. New glasses. Thank you, Branan.

Color in . . .

Go Bryan: www.trimclassicbarber.com

Hello, Spring.

My new fern!

Bootilicious.

Green Wall Complete.

Instead of getting frustrated with the couch I had been so graciously given (thank you, Betterliving), I decided to work with it. So, most of the colors I have chosen for the house can be found somewhere in this mildly Hawaiian-inspired, floral pattern: the tomato powder red in the kitchen, the cool pink lemonade in the bathroom, and the basil leaf pictured here.

I started painting this space about a week ago and finally finished it yesterday. Across from this wall, will be the pallet wood wall. And, I still need to get some new pillows for the couch--I'm thinking pillows in a cute mustard-y pattern.

I don't have a lot of things (furniture, electronics, clothes), but I do have a lot of framed artwork and photos. I was perplexed at how I would hang all of this business in an elegant yet playful manner. Inspired by decor8, I arranged the work in a tight pattern. I like it, but I'm so used to wall items having their own breathing space that it seems really crowded to me. But, I'm going to sit with it for a while and see what happens. Charlotte seems to like everything just fine.

One thing I have found a bit frustrating with all of this painting is the touch-ups.

I live in a very old house that has been used as a rental property for millions of years. So, the paint jobs that have been previously done are not that great and the walls don't line up quite right with the molding near the ceiling or the floor. That means that my painter's tape won't stick very well, if at all. So in all of the areas where I have painted, the paint has seeped under the tape making my time spent taping a complete waste and my blood a little boil-y.

Oh well: better touch-ups done on a wall painted a fun color like basil leaf green than none at all, I say. To continued success and wahoo!

Going green!!

Household Projects!

Ever since Charlotte arrived, she has been helping me figure out what to do with the very small space we live in. My apartment is around 800 square feet, in a lovely little neighborhood near several great coffee shops and a fabulous park.

Working at an interior design showroom is a constant reminder that I need to pay attention to the space I live in. I create installations, so spacial design is nothing new. But, I am the last person to pay attention to where I live--which I admit is a bit strange.

I have decided after some heavy inspiration that I will be covering several of my walls in pallet wood. I'm excited about it, but ripping apart the pallets is a lot harder than I expected . . . Luckily, my friend Gary will be helping me. My goal is to have the wall completed and beautiful items hung up and in place before Easter.

I have started on all of the painting. The wall opposite to the pallet wood wall will be green, basil something or other, and will be complete tomorrow. I have painted part of the kitchen in chalkboard paint, and the rest of the kitchen will be in tomato powder (sort of a salmon-y red). I love having a chalkboard wall!! The boys are going to go nuts when they come to visit!

And now I have a pink ceiling in my bathroom! The color is cool lemonade and I love it! I wanted to keep the beadboard white and couldn't quite figure out how to add some punchiness. Then, I looked up. Ceilings should always be pink . . . I'm almost positive. The lighting fixture and shower curtain will be changing shortly. But, for now, it works: it's sherbert madness!

Great Video at Cheekwood.

www.cheekwood.org

New cut . . .

Yes, I know there is grey. A LOT OF GREY. But, Bryan and I will be working on that on March 23rd . . . It takes time, you know. Next time you see me, you should check out the back of the cut--see all of that hair in the front? That's about it, because the back is super hiked-up and short: I absolutely love it!! Thank you, Dede, for my surprise cut!

If You Are Gonna Dance, Really DANCE!!!

Happy dog!!

Valentine's Day Madness . . .

Dad and Dede's Valentine Makeover!

Tick tock.

Happy Valentine's Day!