NWSS Youth Art Competition 2012

 Izabel has been working hard again this year on her entry for the National Western Stock Show (NWSS) Youth Art Contest.  Last year she won Grand Champion and she is hoping for a repeat.
This year's theme is "What will I see when I come to the NWSS?"  The show is in January (I am told the tradition in Denver is to take down the holiday decorations the day the show starts) but the competition deadline is this week.  Her work is titled "Seeing the Spirit of the Stock Show",  She drew the horse and filled it with signature items from the show: rodeo queen, burger and soda, corn (the horse's mane), FFA kids showing their cattle, bunnies, lasso, stage coach with Colorado's flag, hay bails, bbq pit, cowboy boots, sheep, pigs, bees, American flag, belt buckle, chickens, 4-H clover, blue ribbon, paintings, railroad tracks leading to Denver and the mountains in the background with the stocks in the foreground in front of the train.  She was inspired by spirit animal prints (click here for an example).  She painted with gouache and watercolors (for this project she is allowed to use up some of mom's paints), and used pen and ink for the details and aluminum foil for the belt buckles.

Once the horse was complete it needed to be mounted on a plain white mat board that has a 2 inch boarder no larger than 16x20.  Here is where the problems started.  We ended up going to 2 different Michael's lodging a complaint and being offered a mat board for ---- get this----$52!  At which point I decided that they were going out of their way to get me to NOT buy there so I made a few calls.  The problem is that they would not dry mount an original piece of art.  I told they guy that he did that last year for us and it isn't like this is affecting the value of some rare piece of art (like I would take a rare piece of art to them).  So I ask for mac-tack and a white board.  He asked me what mat-tack was.  I spelled out mac-tack and told him it is an artists adhesive.  He told me about spray adhesive and sent me to the fixative aisle for some mat-tack.  Even after spelling it he still hadn't listened and it is not a spray adhesive by the way.  I called 4 other framing places then the art supply store.  Problem with the art supply stores is that they are on the other side of town for us and I was not looking forward to taking the kids to one.  Too much stuff that they would want and/or could cause major problems if they get their hands on.  The lady who answered there couldn't be nicer.  Their mat board was $8-$10 and they do not have mac-tack but they do have artist-tack and it costs $5 for a huge sheet.  If we were in Cincinnati I would know exactly where to go in the UC bookstore or the artist warehouse down the street in Clifton.  It was all like being back in undergrad art class while working at the framing shop.

In the end I mounted it on a scrap of mat board a local purveyor sold me for $3 using rubber cement.  It was as easy as possible.  We had to finagle the approval from a teacher ultimately because of a state legislature who is focusing in on virtual academies while Denver Public Schools are crumbling and the piece was dropped off safe and sound at the Stock Show complex this morning before the snow came.

Another great surpise too!  Ms Amy came by with Asher for some hanging out time.  Izabel and Asher played the kinect and Seamus thought he was part of the fun.  The most amazing part?  Take a look at the pics of the shoes and guess which one belongs to me and which pair to Asher the 7 year old.

Working hard.

Ready for mounting.

Testing the chairs after dropping off the painting.  Apparently she thought this was funny.

At the doors to the Stock Show complex.

Hanging out, or reenacting Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Seriously

So Seamus gets a little time here - He started back to school after his 2-week fall break.  He is very excited about this and missed being in school A LOT.  He took in some of Izabel's Spanish lesson and gave out an absent minded boo-yah.