Arts in Angles

Crazy ready. I was already prepared to leave when Kimmee arrived minutes after Tawny at my apartment around 9am. There must have been an astrological alignment that caused such a rarity of meeting, more importantly: Sprinkles was not only being on time but crazy ready!

I drove us to Ybor City where Tawny gained us access to the garage parking of her new art center: Arts on Ninth. She and I were just there for the soft opening last evening. The grand opening is next weekend which will have some media coverage, a band playing live and lovely beings who share the love of art.

We made our way to La Creperia for some much needed breakfast and cups-after-cups of jolting java. The waitress now smiles more as she recognizes me from my recent visits. I finally made my introductions to her so I could call her by her name for future visits.

There was a Fiesta of sorts in Ybor where food and product vendors were setting up their wares for another event. I swear it has been nonstop since the weekend before the Super Bowl was here. Several snaps were taken on the way back...

Please forgive me but after searching 15 minutes to get the name of the shop that housed the following two pics, I gave up at trying to find it. Recognize them? They are like that old Brit show Spitting Image where the puppets were also in Genesis' "Land of Confusion" video.

Meet Sir Paul..


And Robert DeNiro with The Godfather in the background.


From my vantage point at the crepe place, this guy had made several passes back and forth. I was pleased to be able to capture him as we walked back. I totally dig the bubbles he was blowing as he walked by us.



I love trolleys especially the ones in New Orleans. Settling for this now.


The tiles were begging to be pictured. These are found in front of the movie kiosk in Centro Ybor.


Inside Arts on Ninth: Two artists who happen to be roommates living in the same house as Tawny's eldest son agreed to showcase their work as the first artists at the center's debut. Damon has shown all over the world while Reuben was awed at his work hanging in public for the first time. They are quite impressive and genuinely nice guys.



The building's owner is letting the art center borrow these breathtaking chairs from the 1920s. They were recently steam cleaned to bring out the fabric's splendor. For now, they are displayed in the middle of the Skylight Gallery. It is called that because of multiple skylights above the two-story ceiling.



The gilding on the scallop design is beautiful and has held its age incredibly well.


Drove Kimmee back to my place and left Tawny with her hubby who was busy preparing his area for the grand opening. Hours later Tawny came to pick me up so I could spend more time at the art center. We ended up in their studio room to make beaded necklaces. Tawny asked me to design a necklace for her mother-in-law using certain silver tube beads as focal points which she later strung and finished. We drove around a crowded Ybor to see the different kinds of character of people milling about before making our way back home.

My mind was filled with how I would stretch out my Filipino cooking series at the art center. Tawny and the other partner John had railroaded me last night at how I could start my cooking classes. Egads! I am still trying to figure out how much I can produce in sellable art for the shop.

In other AGOL news, I ended a casual relationship with someone after a year. He seemed to take it well enough. His voice during a call on his way home suddenly didn't affect me like it normally had and that's when I knew. Several days later, I discussed it with him. Perhaps the re-feng shui'ing my home feng shui'd him out the door? Ha! Also, a decision about my blog: a complete redesign is coming. I've already sent color and element ideas to Tawny's daughter who designed it originally. She has college finals at the moment so I will have borrow patience until she completes those. We have plenty to look forward to, don't we?
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Arts in Angles

Mardi Gras

Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Let the good times roll!

I, Sarah Sprinkles, only need the slightest glimmer of an excuse for any kind of party. This time it was for New Orleans' Mardi Gras. My Asian Mafia had a special lunch. I brought the main dish of Gumbo over rice. Bridget was able to find a local bakery offering King Cake pastry which was crucial to an authentic Mardi Gras celebration. We also had fruit, veggies and chicken wings...

Work has been very demanding especially now that my boss is emerging as the golden boy within our new group which means that his employees have to keep up the good work and surpass each success more success. The pressure is on all time.

In a recent post, I mentioned losing someone in the office. We lost an amazing human being named Dan who also happened to be Korean Kim's boss. The last time he went out to have a good time with friends, I was there. One of the last times I saw him, he was walking around in a bit of pain but still carried around his signature smile and humor. He had survived leukemia and now was attacked by numerous tumors in his spine. There was no way he would survive the surgery or surgeries to remove them. Around twelve weeks later, he was gone at having just turned 50 years old.

This well-loved man saw me in a few compromising scenes at work during my naughty joking moments with the Asian Mafia. He would not let me forget each one and would break us into laughter every time. Actually seeing his handsome smiling face in an elegant black and white picture, dressed for his daughter's wedding, displayed at his memorial service undid any resolve I had to maintain composure. I could only imagine what his life partner Bruce was going through. He will surely be missed by many.

With all this heavy stuff, I couldn't stand it any longer. We needed a small break and here came Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)...

A bit of Mardi Gras tradition: King Cake!


This was a Sunday afternoon cooking effort crammed into a weekday night timeframe right after shopping for the ingredients. Don't believe me? Here's Paula Deen's recipe link for Gumbo.

AGOL's homemade Gumbo reheated in crock pot which made anyone near the conference room where this was set-up hungry and curious as to where the aroma was originating. You have to watch out for sneaky Filipinos, you know.


Korean Kim was the lucky recipient of the plastic baby embedded in the cake symbolizing luck in the new year. It's a good sign when she is trying to sell her home to move into something newer and smaller.



Check out the beads I gave out to the girls around Kim's neck. I also made flowers out of metallic goldtone pipe cleaners to embellish and fulfill the Green/Purple/Yellow Mardi Gras colors. The girls thought I was insane. Maybe a little. They came away from the lunch with a memento they can hang in their cubicle.
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Mardi Gras

Nesting in the Gold Palace

You know when you've gone to the hardware store enough times: the cashier recognizes you, remembers what you bought the last time and the special angel pin you wore. It was my third trip in two weeks. Well, I promised you pics and I am almost loathed to post them since they are not the best or when I have everything in place. Here they go anyway before I receive more not-so-subtle hints via text messages...

It started out with these colors: Ocean Whisper, Hayloft and Du Jour (White).



My how everything 'pops' out from the walls. I love this aqua color. It reminds me of the water off of Mexico when the water goes from sand to where it is just yards away from a darker teal and navy blue. Ignore the sofa, it is not in full AGOL glory in this shot with the slipcovers off and the mountains of pillows in disarray. I took this right after I put everything back on the walls. This color is even better during daylight especially when you see it wrapped around by the front door, most of the living room and all to way to the bathroom.



The first brush of this dark mango/saffron color was startling. I cut the color in the walls and had no choice but to color the rest in and now I can enjoy a golden glow day and night. The warmth makes me feel cocooned. It doesn't show well but the mermaid picture by Howard Pyle has teal colors that match the walls so visually it carries through from the outside.



I attempted to buy the items that would allow me to do the fabric treatment in my bedroom. Apparently, I am shopping in the wrong stores, because I can't find whatever it is. I am one of those "when I see it, I will know it" kind of person. The quest continues.

You can barely see this in the above photo (bottom right), but this is my whimsical idea to have the fish 'swimming' towards my bedroom. The big fish was a gift from my aunt and uncle while the small fish was a memento I picked from Mexico years ago.



I decided to take the Hayloft color to the wall opposite my living room and also to the counter/pass through in the kitchen. (I'll post a pic of that counter later.) From the sofa, all that gold looked too overwhelming. I decided a bit of stencilling would relieve it a little. No, I didn't take it all the way to the baseboards or all the way across the band to the right. It doesn't need it when this bit just anchors and frames the dining room nicely. The stencil started out with a medium purple in the middle of the leaves followed by black for the rest. A recent purchase of a pink gold rub on color was brushed randomly to lessen the starkness against the gold.



An AGOL doesn't forget about details in her nesting delirium. This morning I redressed three pillar candles. Out are the sage, white and decorative sequin/seed bead fringe; in with the ombre aqua, grosgrain gold and bold seed bead/stone fringe. The colors compliment the new walls. Did I mention I repainted the dining room with white and how painful it was? I forgot that you can buy a pink tint additive that dries white so you can actually see where the hell you are painting. The temptation to buy another bold color halfway through just to avoid painting white over white almost won.



There are two more major painting projects yet for your AGOL. One is a piece of furniture that will end up a deep cinnabar red with a crackle finish to reveal the undertone of black and then there is the wall in the bigger bedroom aka Sin Room (home art studio) that will rock this color. Oh yes, she is mighty sexy. Purrr..


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Nesting in the Gold Palace

Happy AGOL Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, my little loves!

I meant to blog midweek, but received some sad news about a friend at work which took the wind from my sails. More on that on another post. I will also have pics of my repainting of my humble little space. After I hired a company to clean all the carpet, they lifted the built up dirt resulting in the apartment's energy being uplifted as well. The disarray of having tabletop decorations and extra furniture staged outside the patio left me with no other choice than to paint while it was still not put together. That was last Saturday morning. By late afternoon, I had two gallons of paint to start my "painting without fear" project. It is called that because I chose very bright colors -- you'll see.

You know today is my day. Yesterday the Asian Mafia shared a decadent homemade lunch at work. A pot of chocolate fondue with a medley of dipping items topped it off. We were painfully full. Ha! Also, amid the chaos both at home and at work, I still found time to bake and frost four dozen cupcakes and put together little candy treat bags filled with chocolates and X's & O's pink sprinkles for dozens of people I know at work. Bridget had to help me bring all the Valentine Madness inside.

Spreading love is serious business, but worth the happy smiles I get back. I always think that maybe one of those receiving the candies may not have a special Valentine or have another opportunity to receive a Valentine treat. For one moment they can say that someone did think of them and they had proof in their hands.

Here are several of the cupcakes I made...My piggish boss ate three!



Everything with Love,
Sarah Sprinkles...your Asian Goddess of Love
xxxooo
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Happy AGOL Day!

KEES KEES KEES

LOVE LOVE LOVIN' THIS NEW AT&T COMMERCIAL:



I can't help it. My favorite cartoons are old school. I adore Pepe Le Pew and his antics with Penelope.
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KEES KEES KEES