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We'll be at Neoncon in Las Vegas November 5-8th at the Palace Station. This will be the first year that Neoncon is featuring a dealer/exhibit hall, and that's where we'll be selling all sorts of arty goodness!
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The Donkey Wonder Will Solve Your Problems. Yes, you read that correctly. This vintage donkey fortunetelling machine promises to solve all your problems, and to do it for the bargain price of one thin coin. And an exact replica of it and many other wonders could be had at the Victorian Casino Auctions which are held every few months in Las Vegas. After attending a few, I now struggle to avoid them because it is too easy to come away with large stuff we really have no more room for. The siren call of these auctions began a few years ago when I ended up snagging a 1909 C. W. Parker wooden carousel horse in outstanding condition for a few hundred dollars. The next one we went to, we ended up with another Parker horse and two large vintage pinball machines. The pinball machines were going cheap, and well, it was just a crime to let a 1939 New York World's Fair edition Keeney "Red Hot" pinball machine go for less than $225. I checked the auction catalog for this weekend's auction and I thought we were safe...no carousel horses besides some mass production fiberglass pieces. We really don't need more large antique stuff so I was proud of myself for not even going to the auction. I was minding my own business answering email when Barry walked in and asked if I wanted to go somewhere for the afternoon. It turns out that thanks to the wonder of internet live bidding, he had placed a $25 bid on a "Keeny's Favorite" 1948 horse race pinball game...and won it. No one on the floor outbid him, even at that price. He admitted he had no idea how big it was or if it would fit in the vehicle, but we needed to go pay and pick it up. So off we went to Las Vegas. We got there in time for the last dying rounds of the auction. It turns out the Donkey Wonder replica had gone for a respectable $9500, but as usual at these auctions, items of lesser interest go for pretty low prices. Faced with a very large vintage machine and armed with a few tools, Barry managed to partially disassemble his new treasure and with the help of auction staff, managed to get it safely tucked inside the SUV...barely. It's still in there because we haven't decided where it will fit in the house. Before returning home, we stocked up on stuff at Trader Joe's since there is no such animal in Utah because of the state monopoly on wine and liquor sales, made a quick trip to Micheal's and stopped at the buffet at the Eureka in Mesquite, near the Arizona border just before you pass into Utah. For a sampler of what part of the drive is like, click here. I admit I was slightly irked to make an unplanned trip yesterday, especially when I thought we were avoiding the lure of the Victorian Casino Auction, but I'm glad I got out of the house. It put me in a better mood.
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I'm finally getting around to posting about last weekend... my excuse is that I've been painting and haven't felt much like writing! Bad me. I really did have a good time in Las Vegas. The convention, Xanadu, was quite small but we had fun and to top it off made a profit even after our adventures. The location was the Plaza at the end of Fremont Street, so in the evenings we had but to stroll down the way to get food and drink. My table in the dealer's room was located between the tables of the wonderfully gifted Lubov and the amazingly talented Popeye Wong WARNING: MATURE CONTENT. It was really great chatting with them and meeting Popeye Wong's lovely and gracious wife, Anita. It made the time pass quickly to have them as neighbors. Popeye gave us this stunning original piece and I'm looking for just the right place to put it! I also got to chat at length with Shaughnessy, creator of many fabulous things. I met a number of other people, had some great conversations and got to hang out with my BFF Michele Gault and the Grumpy Wolf Robert, who was true to his name after a 10 hour involuntary World of Warcraft marathon, until properly fed. We had many tasty meals, including one at Shizen Japanese Restaurant where I got my sushi and sashimi and tempura fix, the Original Pancake House, and Mickie Finnz where we got a great big fruity alcoholic drink served in a fish bowl with four straws as well as some pretty tasty food. There was a Scottish event going on in the Fremont Street area, so bagpipe bands were playing all around in between the "Experience" showings. The funniest Fremont Street scene I saw was a drum major from one of the bagpipe bands having a conversation with a grass skirted hula girl with tiki torches blazing in the background in front of Mickie Finnz... unfortunately, we didn't have a camera with us. On Sunday after taking down the convention display, we hurried over to another part of Las Vegas to attend the wedding of the incredible sculptor and all around great guy Jim Humble to a lovely lady named Brianna. They live in Denver, but decided to tie the knot in Las Vegas, which was great for us because it meant we got to attend. It was a very nice ceremony and I'm very happy for them. I know I'm forgetting something, but I just feel lazy right now...like being a couch potato and breaking out my new Venture Brothers season 3 dvds for a marathon, lounged on by a fuzzy old kitty of course. Nothing like being a slug, especially after a busy week. Maybe I'll even pop open the J Lohr cab I bought for an added touch of decadence.
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I'll be in Las Vegas this weekend at a brand new convention called Xanadu. It's at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in the downtown area, right next to Fremont Street. I'll be in the Artists' Alley. The general public is allowed into the Dealer's Room/ Artist's Alley area, so even if you don't have time for a whole convention, you can stop by and say hello. My friend sculptress extraordinaire Michele Gault will be there too. We finally got around to adding new dragon prints to my shop. While they're not all brand spanking new art pieces, they're new to the shop. Edit, 2:15 p.m.: Have added the 12 original paintings for the Chinese Zodiac series to the Originals page in my shop. They are 4 by 6 inches, acrylic on stretched canvas and $125 each including shipping, choice of frame.
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The weather has been nice so we took a couple of days off and drove to beyond Las Vegas to Red Rock Canyon. With the frequent rains this winter, conditions are right for wildflowers in the Mojave. We saw lots of wildflowers on the way there, and the desert was quite green compared to how it normally looks. It is almost always in the triple digits in summer, so spring is the best time to visit unless you're masochistic. The animals were out and about too- we even saw a desert bighorn sheep strolling by the side of the I-15 in the Virgin River Gorge. The Joshua trees were all flowering, which they only do after experiencing a winter freeze and sufficient rains. There are pretty dense stands of them in the Red Rock Canyon area.  ( more pictures,including petroglyphs, clicky here )
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