Patti Edmon Artist

Anyone who has a daughter - or son - with a passion for performing arts understands the energy, dedication, aching feet, tears, exhaustion and adrenalin.... and then there were Alice's issues to cope with - ha. The past two weeks have revolved around the production and performance of Sleeping Beauty. I help with costumes and work backstage until the last performance, which I then enjoy with dh and my son and other friends and family. I could fill pages with the delight, pride and amazement at my daughter's growth, both as a dancer and a young lady. Quite simply, she blew me away. This was her second performance en pointe and her grace and poise were stunning. These photos were taken at dress rehearsal by one of my best friends, who also happens to be a commercial photographer. I just finished writing the introduction for Jeff's second book of panoramic photographs, Kentucky Wide II . So, I haven't spent much time in the Altered Attic. But it has been worth every moment,...

I found a board book at our local bookstore, part of the Rainbow Fish series; every page has a giant puzzle piece that pops out. And it was on the clearance table! Naturally I bought three:) It's really hard to find puzzles with pieces big enough to work with, so this was an incredible find! Like altering a board book, a bit of light sanding and gesso and it's the perfect substrate for a multitude of layers - paint, collage, more sanding, more paint, gel and adhesive... tough and thick enough to handle it all. I had a fabulous time making this, Hold Me, the fourth collage in the colors I've been working in - rich ochre and gold and yellows with green and hints of red. I think I'm ready to move on to a new palette, when I get studio time that is. This piece is another for the Resilience Art workshop I'm taking, which, alas, I have fallen behind in, along with just about every other area of my life. Who doesn't have too much on their agenda? The last weeks of scho...

So what makes art fine, anyway? Is it fine art photography, like the panoramic photo published by my friend (and recent groom) Jeff Rogers, that appears on the coffee table book, Kentucky Wide ? (for which I wrote the forward:) What makes art, for that matter... Is it my son marching with the Thriller ensemble, channeling his passion in rehearsed and spontaneous rhythm through his drumsticks? Or the grace and amazing beauty of my daughter, who has been a ballerina for 7 of her 11 years... I admit it may have been a bit petty to even post the cartoon below, and Jane's comment is beyond perfect. But after living for years as an 'invisible' artist, with a painter who has a BFA in Fine Art (and earns our living at our graphic design business ), I was curious to see what kind, if any, response it elicited.  According to my dictionary an artist is "a person who produces paintings or drawings as a profession or hobby; a person who practices any of the various creative arts, s...