Friday Feature: Debra Keirce

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  "Handle with Care" by Debra Keirce 4" x 6"

  I met Debra through facebook.  She predominately paints in miniature which fascinates me.  I'm astounded by the amount of detail she can get into such a small space.  She has been influenced by the modern masters of photorealism and Trompe L'Oeil.  

  To see more of Deb's work visit her blog, website and facebook page

  How did you get your start?

  I started "arting" when I found a set of charcoal sticks and a book on how to draw perspectives (trains) in our basement when I was around 7 yrs. old. I haven't stopped since!

  What’s your artist journey so far?

  I have been painting and drawing commissions since I was in 10th grade. My art teacher actually bought my first painting - a watercolor of St. Basil's for $15! By the time I was in college, I was selling 5 to 10 pieces per year, and once I started working as a chemical engineer in the corporate world, I built that up to about one each month, sometimes more. Art was always a great escape and stress reliever for me.

  

  "Come Sit a Spell" by Debra Keirce 3" x 5"

  Where were you born?

  I was born in Detroit and escaped when I got an engineering job in Boston after college. I have not been able to convince the rest of my family and childhood friends to move, so they are all still there.

  If you could live anywhere where would you live?

  I'd love to get out of suburgatory and live right off the Main Street of a small town near a big city on the east coast. Cambridge, MA near Boston would be great, as would a smallish city just outside NYC, D.C. or Charleston!

  What’s your favorite thing to paint and why?

  Still Life and Urban landscapes are my favorite. First, I love painting them because after so many decades of painting commissions, I can paint portraits, pets, churches, schools and houses in my sleep. Second, I love finding street scenes or still lifes of objects on shelves in antique stores or in displays at retail shops.. The set up is already done for me, and there is something spontaneous about just picking an angle, photographing the scene and sketching the parts you know the photograph will distort. My painting process is so laborious. I love when my reference images come alla prima! Finally, I love painting colors! Flesh tones and earth tones do not excite me as much as reflections from light bouncing off colorful objects. Glass and wet surfaces are especially fun to paint.

  Could you talk about your painting techniques?

  I paint in oil or acrylic. When I use oils, I use alkyd medium to make them fast drying. So the two are pretty interchangeable for me. I paint dry on dry and with oil, I take full advantage of its blending capabilities. With acrylics, I find them so easy to manipulate and create special effects with. I do a lot of dry brushing and glazing and scumbling. With both media, I "cut back" with exacto blades quite a bit to create the tiniest of details, especially if I am painting in miniature under a magnifying lens. I also like to use substrates like wood panels, clayboard, or illustration boards that I can actually sculpt a bit with embossing tools. This is how I sometimes define edges or create sort of "living shadows" that change depending on where the viewer sees the painting from, and where the light source is.

  

  "The Triune" by Debra Keirce 3" x 4"

  Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites?

  With oils, I like the Rembrandt translucents, the C.A.S. alkyds.
  I LOVE midnight blue and diox purples for darkening colors. For highlights, lemon yellow or cad orange mixed into whites can't be beat. I recently took a workshop to study colors with Dreama Tolle-Perry and she has me loving ice blue and permanent rose at the moment as well, for adding punch to highlights.

  Do you have a favorite artist? Who has been your biggest inspiration?

  There have been so many... Of course, all the representational artists of years gone by are an inspiration. But I have to say I am most smitten by contemporary artists. I was so inspired by M.C. Escher and Salvador Dali for the longest time. I went through a Terry Redlin phase. Then, I started studying the photorealists like Richard Estes and Chuck Close. Charles Bell had me with one gumball, and Eric Christensen had me with one glass of wine. If I could only pick one, it would be a toss up between Max Ginsburg and Daniel Gerhartz. I hope to meet them both someday.

  

  "Favorite Label" by Debra Keirce 7" x 9"

  What have been some of your crowning achievements?

  Besides marrying an amazing guy and raising 3 incredible kids, you mean? Besides being featured on your blog?! I guess I achieved some great things in my engineering career, and the uber volunteer mom years after it, but those would sound boring here.

  My crowning achievements art wise would be the wonderful societies that juried me in - Art Renewal Center, Hilliard Society of Miniaturists, Miniature Painters, Sculptors, Gravers Society of Washington D.C.

  Also, during the almost 30 year relationship with the custom puzzle company, Lucretia's Pieces in VT, I have painted around 60 to 70 pieces that have been mounted onto wood and cut into one of a kind puzzles for collectors who will no doubt pass them down to their children. I love when art is intimate. That is why I like miniature art paintings that fit in your palm so much. When your art is turned into a puzzle, people are looking at the details in each tiny piece, separate from the whole, and handling those pieces until they guess at the construct and put the whole image together. That feels like a really intimate bond between art and viewer, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

  What are five things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)

  Okay - you said big!

  1. I would love to be featured in a major art publication like Fine Art Connoisseur, Southwest Art or American Art Collector magazine.
  2. I would like to win best of show in a major contest like Oil Painters of America or The Art Renewal Center Salon
  3. I would be tickled pink if at least one art gallery from a major art city like New York or Scottsdale came to ME and asked to represent me.
  4. I'd enjoy selling paintings at a price point that justified signed limited runs of giclees.
  5. I'd feel like "I made it" if I sold enough work to be able to donate a substantial amount of money to a charity like ARC that promotes emerging visual artists.

  

  "The Gaming Age" 10" x 20"

  What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career?

  DON'T let the dogs out! I mean, only post, donate or exhibit work that you are 100% proud of. It's so easy to get sucked into that phenomenon where even your not so good art sells, so you think maybe you aren't sure what is good and what is not. I have art from 5 to 10 years ago that never should have seen the light of day, because with the internet, their images still come back to haunt me on occasion. Unfortunately, as humans, we are often noticed because of the one bad thing we do, not the 1,000 good things.

  What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?

  I think I heard this from several artists, but it took years before it hit home with me...The best advice was to treat my studio like a sacred place. My sons are taekwondo instructors, and every time you enter or leave the dojo, you have to bow as a sign of respect. I don't go that far, but I do now restrict who can be in my studio. It used to be a place that friends and visitors, my kids' friends, bunco participants, book club buddies and the whole world felt free to enter, nose around and play in. Not anymore. It's a place where I work, meditate, study, and live out my passion for art. I feel like this simple change in attitude really transformed the way I work.

  

  "The Grotto" by Deb Keirce 7" x 9"

  
  

  

  Debra Keirce showing you the amazing size of her paintings

  
  SPEED ROUND!

  Chocolate or vanilla?

  I have been vegetarian / vegan since the 1980's and have been on a raw diet, which I am loving, for a few months now so raw ice cream is very different from the Baskin Robbins version. My favorite is frozen bananas whipped up into a sorbet in my Vitamix. (Sorry, I'm not so speedy, am I?)

  Your dream vacation spot?

  The Outer Banks of North Carolina. I've never been to Hawaii, but I dream it is similar, but with everybody wearing leis. Just noplace with Speedos - That would be nightmarish.

  Book or movie?

  Movie. Or a book on my kindle with speech enabled. I listen to both while I paint.

  Favorite author?

  Right now, Nicholas Sparks, but I hate that his books are not speech enabled on Kindle, so I have to wait for the movies and listen to them when they come out.

  Favorite movie?

  Lord of the Rings

  Romance or comedy?

  Romantic comedy (sorry to be difficult, but I think romance is funny)

  Favorite dessert?

  Currently, these Blueberry Cardamom Cream Pops by Lisa Pitman on RawFoodRecipes.com. Even if you don't think you would like raw food, you should try these! Since we have established that I suck at speed round, here is the recipe:

  Ingredients

  Cream layer:

  1 cup raw cashews, soaked and drained

  1/2 cup water

  3 dates, pitted

  zest of 1 lemon

  pinch of salt

  Blueberry layer:

  1 cup blueberries

  2 tsp cardamom

  2 tsp agave or honey

  2 tsp lemon juice

  1 tsp vanilla seed powder or 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

  pinch salt

  Methods/steps

  1) In a blender combine all of the ingredients for the cream layer and blend until smooth.

  2) Remove a 1/2 cup of the cream layer and place in the refrigerator to chill.

  3) Add the ingredients for the blueberry layer to the blender with the remaining amount of the cream layer. Blend until smooth.

  4) Scoop 1 tbsp of the blueberry mixture into four silicon muffin cups (or any mold you have). Set in the freezer until firm (at least an hour).

  5) Scoop 1 tbsp from the reserved cream layer into each muffin cup and return to the freezer.

  6) Once the cream layer is firm divide the remaining blueberry cream between the muffin cups.

  7) Insert a lollipop stick in the center of each muffin cup. Return the muffin cups to the freezer to set.

  Night owl or morning person?

  Morning...At least I had this ONE short answer 

  
  

  Thank you so much Deb:)

  
  

  Carrie

Work In Progress Wednesday: Emerald Waters and Gallery Pictures

"Emerald Waters" 6" x 9" watercolor by Carrie Waller

My gallery wall at Local Colour

Thought I would share with you my in progress pictures of "Emerald Waters".  I also have a picture of my gallery wall, you can see all the results of all my painting mania:)

Carrie

Emerald Waters

"Emerald Waters" 6" x 9" original watercolor by Carrie Waller

This is the 5th painting in my rainbow bottle series.  "Emerald Waters" is a favorite of mine, I really liked the cropped in compositions.  I just love these colors and could look at them all day.  I thought this was kind of beachy.  You have sunny yellow, the green "Emerald Waters" and the blue skies.  Pretty tropical.  Maybe I'm longing for the beach:)

Carrie

Friday Feature: Karlyn Holloway

Hi Everyone,

"Between the Lines" by Karlyn Holloway

It's Friday!!   I swear they come faster and faster each week.  This week I have Karlyn Holloway as my Feature.  Karlyn  lives in Arkansas as well.  We live in neighboring towns.  I just love Karlyn's work.  I love monochromatic pieces and she has added a twist.  They are beautiful.

To see more of her work visit her website and facebook page

How did you get your start?  What’s your artist journey so far?  

When I was very young I started drawing models out of the newspaper.  In high school I always had a sketchbook with me and drew portraits of friends. I had a dream to go to college but it took a few years after high school before I was able to go. I loved art history and learning the basics of drawing and painting. I think it helped me grow as a artist and a person. It was after college I realized what I didn’t know.

"No Leaf Unturned" by Karlyn Holloway

Where were you born? I was born in Little Rock, AR 

If you could live anywhere where would you live?                                                                                                                I’ve always lived in central Arkansas and its home. Seems everywhere has its advantages and disadvantages, though I would like to have extended visits everywhere. 

What’s your favorite thing to paint and why? 

I’ve been painting a lot of florals lately. Each one has its own unique character and a story to tell.

For me the light is very important because it’s a symbol of God’s love. 

"Call it Timeless" by Karlyn Holloway

Could you talk about your painting techniques?                                                                                               Each time I start a painting I plan out everything from composition to each color. I don’t have a set technique I just experiment till I get the effect I’m after. I tend to work slow.   I’m always on the look out for a subject that has a message to convey.   I take a lot of photos and look for ones with interesting light patterns. Sometimes photos don’t show the details so I paint from life if I need to. I like photos to paint from because that moment is then  frozen in time and can’t move or wilt. The details are the fun part for me. So my work leans toward being realistic usually with an abstract design. My love of drawing has influenced my work in the past few years. That’s the reason I started the monotone paintings, you can say a lot with just value. 

Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites? I’m not real picky about brands but lately I’ve been using Gamblin and M. Graham for oils and Daniel Smith watercolors are my favorite.

Do you have a favorite artist?   Who has been your biggest inspiration?

I can’t pick just one favorite artist because I have a favorite for every style and movement through art history. My biggest inspiration has been Georgia O’Keefe more for her spunk and willingness to be frank about her life and work.

"After the Rain" by Karlyn Holloway

What have been some of your crowning achievements?

My most important crowning achievement is my daughter and my marriage.

Having a painting accepted into Watercolor USA is very high on the list.

What are five things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)

1. To continue to grow as an artist.
2. To be accepted in a Oil painters of America juried show.
3. To become better organized.
4. Travel  everywhere.
5. Learn to be bolder about teaching workshops.

"Imagine the Day" by Karlyn Holloway

What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career?

Try to draw or paint everyday its important to stay in practice.

Learn the fundamentals of art.

Strive to be original, but true to yourself.

Join an art organization or at least get together with other artists, it’s amazing how much you can learn.

What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?

Always strive to do your best and not beat yourself up when its not perfect.  There is only one creator that is perfect.

"A Unique Find" by Karlyn Holloway

SPEED ROUND!

Chocolate or vanilla? Mixed with hot fudge on top

Your dream vacation spot? Europe

Book or movie? Both

Favorite author? Bruce Wilkinson and Max Lucado

Favorite movie? It’s hard to pick just one but Fried Green Tomato’s is on top of the list.

Romance or comedy? Both

Favorite dessert? Molten chocolate cake

Night owl or morning person?  My nature is to be a night owl.

Thank you so much Karlyn:)  Have a good weekend everyone.

Carrie

Work In Progress Wednesday: "Painted Ladies"

"Painted Ladies" 6" x 9" original watercolor copyright Carrie Waller

Here are the work in progress pics for "Painted Ladies".  I have to thank Sherry of Crimson Leaves blog for the title:)  I think it's perfect and went well with the "Rainbow Row" title I have of Charleston SC fame.

Is it only Wednesday, feels like Friday!  I'm ready for Friday:)  I'll be heading out to see the Louisiana Watercolor Society's International show at the Garden District Gallery in New Orleans.  I'm excited to see my piece hanging in person.  In the mean time one of my friends sent a pic of the space and my painting.

LWS International Show, my painting is the one in the corner the green bottles "Going Green".

Also had an unexpected delight this week.  I was working at the gallery I'm part of this weekend and dropped one of the local magazines and it popped open to  a full page print of my painting "Summer Kaleidoscope".  The painting is in a local show here in Little Rock and the gallery sent in images and the magazine decided to use my painting as the full page opener for their events sections.  They of course talk about my painting at the bottom and gave me credit.

My painting "Summer Kaleidoscope" in Soiree a Little Rock magazine

If you're in the Little Rock, AR area my gallery Local Colour is having an art show Thursday, May 9th from 5:30-8:00pm, 5811 Kavanaugh Blvd, Little Rock.  Spring into Art is the name of the show and there are some wonderful paintings.  Stop by if you can.

Rainbow Bottles #3

Needs a title, help 6"x9" watercolor by Carrie Waller

My 3rd in the Rainbow bottle series.  I have come up with titles for the first two.  This one still needs some help.  I'm trying for something that goes along with places and colors.  Rainbow Row (Charleston) and Blueberry Hill,  My Blue Heaven.  So for this one do you have any ideas?

I have 2 more small paintings to finish by Thursday, wish me luck:)  Local Colour's spring show, Spring into Art is on Thursday May 9th 5:30-7:30, so if you're in the Little Rock Ar area stop by.  5811 Kavanaugh Blvd, Little Rock, AR

"Rainbow Row" 17 x 35 watercolor by Carrie Waller

" My Blue Heaven" 6"x9" watercolor by Carrie Waller

"Blueberry Hill" 6" x9" watercolor by Carrie Waller

Spring Sale 20% selected paintings visit www.carriewallerfineart.com or details

Friday Feature: Nancy Standlee

"Pump Up the Volume" by Nancy Standlee

Today's Friday Feature is Nancy Standlee.  When I first saw Nancy's work I was immediately drawn to her colors and whimsy.   You just can't help but smile when you see her work.  On a side note I lived in Arlington, TX when I was a kid so I thought that was a neat connection between her and I.  Nancy is an Arlington, TX, award winning contemporary artist who has a hard time choosing her favorite medium. She paints cheerful and joyful paintings with bold expressive color in oil, acrylic, mixed media and collage.

To see more of her work

Website: http://nancystandlee.com
Online Gallery:  http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-standlee-1131
Facebook Fan Page   https://www.facebook.com/nancystandleefineart
Blog: http://nancystandlee.blogspot.com
Contact Nancy @:  nancystandlee@sbcglobal.net

"Turn Left on Bird Lane" by Nancy Standlee

How did you get your start?  What’s your artist journey so far?

First, let me say thank you for the opportunity for the interview.
I've always wanted to "make things". My parents were very creative without training or workshops. My mother sewed all of my clothes and one of the earliest memories of my father was me complaining that my doll was bald. We lived in a little unpainted frame house on my grandfather's place far out in the country and little money or stores nearby. My daddy took the scissors to the family collie and got some snips of hair and glued them with good old school glue. During the elementary school years, my father would help me decorate my Valentine shoe box for the classmates to drop in their cards on the party day and I always thought mine was the best looking of the lot. I've always loved taking any classes and workshops from hat making to batik stuffed wall hangings. In the late 70's I belonged to a craft cooperative in Yorktown, VA and showed my batik caftans, head wraps, and hangings there after taking some summer workshops at Vassar with Morag Benepe. An early foray into collage was decoupage. I bought lumber, distressed it with a chain, stained it, cut it up and decoupaged small fine art prints and sold on the streets of Williamsburg, Va. I took an online course in papier mache, made candlesticks, then on to buying old tables and cutting off the legs and antiquing to make more candlesticks. Hat making and quilt making and some knitting all are in there somewhere. Since my retirement in 2000, all of my time has been devoted to  the development of my fine art skills in watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, gouache, sketchbook journaling and collage and in January 2012 I took my first oil painting workshop in California, after saying  I would not explore oils as I had no more room for art supplies. I've since made more room. I have not had any formal art training in college (with degrees in Home Economics, Special Ed, Library Science) but I've taken many, many workshops in the U.S., Europe and Mexico with some of the better known instructors of our day. I belong to a group (there are 8 of us) Canvas by Canvas and we paint collaboratively and I suppose that association helped me define myself as an artist. I've taken 14 workshops with California artist Robert Burridge and his influence can be seen in my figurative paintings and I want to explore adding some collage elements to these figurative works. I continue to gravitate back to putting a red haired woman somewhere in these works.

"Spur me on Sunflower" by Nancy Standlee

Where were you born? 

Gorman, Texas (about half way between Fort Worth and Abilene) a small community near my little country home in Duster, Texas. We later moved into De Leon, about 2200 population when I was in the fifth grade. My Texas roots run too deep to ever want to leave at my age but I sure like to travel. 

If you could live anywhere where would you live? 

See above.. will just stay in Texas. The thoughts of packing up this house would deter me from ever moving even down the street.

I've lived in California and Virginia for extended times but I will choose Texas because of my children and grandchildren who are in the area. We may not see each other for months but I know they are near. I have painting friends and we travel and lunch together and that is an important connection to me. 

What’s your favorite thing to paint and why?

This is such a hard question for me as I've often said I'm like a fickle lover, loving the one I'm with. I tend to love the medium I'm using at the moment. For instance in acrylic I love painting the impressionist figures with mixed media. In collage, I enjoy fruit, food, and fish and a few birds. (See what a fickle painter I am?)  In oils I seem to handle still life better and I'll tackle anything in my sketchbook journal. Some painters are know as flower painters, some for their pets but I just can't be put in a category because I'm always and forever wanting to learn something new without fully exploring the previous one. I've had people tell me "Oh, you've changed your style." My answer "No, I've just added a new one."

"California Roses" by Nancy Standlee

Could you talk about your painting techniques?  

Sometimes I think it's hard for an artist to recognize their own "style". My friends can pick my work out of a group of paintings which I've always found amusing. I have had a hard time settling on one medium and feel like a dilettante at times, taking up one medium and then wanting to learn to work in another. Bold color is the one factor I believe throughout all the different mediums. At age 77, I really don't have the time to settle down to one medium when there are so many avenues to explore. When I'm working in acrylic, it's splashy color with lots of water and working from the imagination. I want my paintings to be joyful and colorful. I'm not sending any messages about social reform but just wish to paint happy little paintings. In collage, there is more control, especially with the portraits when I trace the image to get a good likeness because the collage will distort the image during the gluing process. When I'm using my own painted papers for collage, I tend to paint with acrylic first to get an idea where the colored papers will go. I'm such a newbie in oil in January 2013 I took on the challenge of painting 30 paintings in 30 days and these were small and done faster from still life set ups or from my photos. In sketchbook journaling, I enjoy recording something in my journal each day to help remember the day. I don't feel guilty if I miss a day, a month or years but its something I always like to go back and review and always glad I've made the effort. I will use a pen and  watercolor for these entries.

Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites?

Right now I've been printing off lists and putting in my journal what other people have on their palettes for their watercolors. I really enjoy reading about someone who is so sure of their colors and can say "This is my palette."  I always enjoy reading their supply lists and I am so easily swayed by their suggestions, that I want to try it out also. I guess the one color I always want to have is a little bit of turquoise. I also enjoy wearing turquoise jewelry - the more the better and all at one time. 

"Who's Going to the Gala, Don't Wait Up" by Nancy Standlee

Do you have a favorite artist?  Who has been your biggest inspiration? 

In acrylics, it has to be Robert Burridge (http://robertburridge.com) since I've just finished up my 14th workshop with him. It is so strange to be how one image can change your painting life. Several years ago I saw his painting of cups on the cover of a Cheap Joe's catalog and it really called my name. I found out when his next workshop would be and signed up for my first one at the Wenmohs Ranch (http://wenmohsranch.com) in September, 2006. I've never had so much fun in a workshop while learning how to paint loose and colorful, besides he has always shared freely his techniques. I was honored to be able to attend one of his mentoring workshops in California last year.  

What have been some of your crowning achievements?

lol... When I sell a painting I feel like, wow, this is great that someone likes my art enough to pay money for it. It is very rewarding when someone emails saying I've inspired them to try an art technique or especially when I hear "I want to be like you when I grow up". (These are not children saying this but other artists thinking about their golden years.) I was published in 2012 with three of my images in "Painting with Mixed Media" Paula Guhin and Geri Greenman and that was a milestone for me. 

What are five things you would like to happen in your life in the next five years? Dream big here:)

You know what? I just want to be here in five years learning new stuff. I've recently taken a plein air two day workshop with Don Getz in Dallas and realize how much I don't know about drawing and sketching. I've joined new groups on Facebook and have ordered new books all about Urban Sketching. I think I'd like to learn how to be a better drawer and sketcher in the coming years. When I went for a painting trip to Italy I had some goals and guess they are still in effect -- don't fall down, don't get lost, don't get sick, and don't let your purse get stolen.. all negative but these still tops the list.

. 

"Sweet Summer" by Nancy Standlee

What is your advice for other artists who are just getting started in their career?

I saw this quote on Facebook this morning from Chuck Close and thought it very good if in effect it's from his as with FB you never can tell. but here it is:

"The advice I like to give young artists, or really anybody who'll listen to me, is not to wait around for inspiration. Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work. If you wait around for the clouds to part and a bolt of lightning to strike you in the brain, you are not going to make an awful lot of work. All the best ideas come out of the process; they come out of the work itself. Things occur to you. If you're sitting around trying to dream up a great art idea, you can sit there a long time before anything happens. But if you just get to work, something will occur to you and something else will occur to you and something else that you reject will push you in another direction. Inspiration is absolutely unnecessary and somehow deceptive. You feel like you need this great idea before you can get down to work, and I find that's almost never the case." -Chuck Close

I like to stress to beginners in my art journaling class "Love Your Life" it's not about making a perfect little drawing but it's yours and your life, so love it and make just a small little entry, make a beginning. If your life doesn't have room, time or space to make a large painting, at least keep your creativity nourished by making a small quick sketch in your journal. Do some art related activity each day. It doesn't have to be painting, Read an art blog, or read a book about art. 

"California Cupcake" by Nancy Standlee

What is the best advice that you have received as an artist?

Robert Burridge "It's all been done before but not by you." and "If you have to ask the question, the answer is always YES."

Added comment: inspiration comes from

Inspiration comes from art books, as an ex. school librarian, I love my books so much there is a storage problem and from seeing other artists work and painting with them in workshops. One of the perks of a workshop is the energy in the room with 15-20 people painting and sharing their work. I'm always happy on a Monday morning beginning a new workshop somewhere in any medium, seeing some old friends and meeting some new ones.

SPEED ROUND!

Chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate 

Your dream vacation spot?

The beach

Book or movie?   book (art books of all kinds) Arrived yesterday "Freehand Drawing and Discovery" by James Richards

Favorite author?

Anne Lamott, and can't leave out the Bible

Favorite movie?

Midnight in Paris  TV Lonesome Dove (I think McMurtry did us all a disservice when he killed of Gus. Can you image all the sequels we could be enjoying, Gus and Clara Move to Texas, Gus and Clara and Their First Grandchild", etc. "Woodrow and Gus on the Road Again."   

Romance or comedy?

Romance 

Favorite dessert? Pie, just pie. all kinds..(maybe coconut cream, but then there's apple? hmm) I have a pie story. I learned to cook making pies from the red Betty Crocker cookbook because my father loved pies and every time I made him one, he'd say, "This is good, but I think you can do better" forcing me to try again. When I left for college majoring in Home Economics in 1954, I had my own copy of Betty Crocker with me and I still have it. Trust me, I am no Betty Crocker these days, preferring to eat my pie out to give me more painting time. 

Night owl or morning person?  Night owl 

Thank you Nancy:)