My Relocated Art Studio in Tennessee

Well I'm all set up now to start creating finally. Whew! Been a long time it seems since I've seriously worked at my art.  The little house we bought, is about 1/3 the size of my home we sold in Washington state, but I said I wanted to downsize, and so I did. A lot! Anyway, my craft room - it's smaller than my last one sort of. The other craft room had a whole wall which was just a sliding closet and to me that's just a waste of valuable wall space. This one has a big walk in closet, but with a regular door, and it's tucked into the corner of the room. Way better.

First thing I did with this new room is paint it my favorite Tuscan gold-yellow color. Just love it. So warm and welcoming. Then I pulled out the old carpet and bought some Allure vinyl plank flooring in Country Pine, which looks like old barn wood. Loved how it turned out! Next, I bought a bunch of bookcases (can't believe how hard those were to find here! No Ikea's anywhere to be found.) Once those were built and set up, I got to unpack all my craft boxes and start to organize.

I'm pretty pleased with it overall. The window in the room looks out onto my back pasture so I can see my wonderful horses grazing back there and can keep an eye on them. It's just so peaceful and inspiring to see them and nature all around.

So far I've done a couple of small paintings and am working on a sculpture as well. On top of that, I'm trying to find a full time job and work on home improvement as well, so there's a lot to keep me busy these days.

My best friend Ellen, (Bag II) of Macabre Webs, and I get together to craft about once a week or so. She does amazing Sculpy pieces and paints as well, so we get together and hoot it up and just have a blast! The other day we had a "Craftabagamania" as we call them. Two old bags getting together to craft and eat and shop! So fun!! She's been a huge help giving me a kick in the hiney to get creating.  I feel very creative in my new space and I see a lot of new By Way of Salem art ahead!

Oh My Gosh it's 2014! Where Does the Time Fly???

How about making a New Year's Dream jar? Cute huh?

I remember when I was a little girl, probably about 10, I'd wonder what year it would be when I turned 44.  I don't know why 44 was the magic number, but for some random reason it was at the time. Oh I know - because I was wondering how old I'd be in the very far away year of 2000. It was 44.  I couldn't imagine being that old! LOL! Now I wish I was that young!

Here we are now in 2014...I really want THIS YEAR to be MY year. I've been saying that for about the past 5, and so far no such luck. Maybe if I don't pronounce it as "my year", then maybe it will be my turn.

I've got lots of things in the works for this year. Some are top secret, so I can't say yet, but they are BIG! HUGE! GREAT! And I can't wait!!! The others are equally great, but not quite to that degree.  You just can't help but plan and hope and dream when a new year rolls around can you?

What are all your dreams and wishes for 2014?

Fall Fever!

Is there such a thing? I think there must be cause I've come down with it!  It's still in the 80's up here in the northwest, which is unusual even for summer around these parts, but you can tell Fall is on it's way. There's just that "something" you can feel; a stirring of air, a few scattered leaves zig zagging to the ground, and of course the sun setting earlier and earlier with each day.

This year I'll be welcoming in Fall by a trip to Tennessee! If you've never been, you really must go. It's so beautiful, and even more so in the Fall. The colors just explode with some of my favorite Autumn and Halloween colors of gold and orange!

The purpose of my trip? I will be visiting with my best old "Bag" friend/sister, fellow artist/creator and proprietress of Macabre Webs, Ellen. She's my Halloween pal, partner-in-crime and past life webweaver. And we actually lived to tell about it!

The "Bag" lives outside of Nashville on her own piece of heaven; 6 acres in the country, with her hubby and various critters. They have an amazing barn and a workshop where they create Halloween props and an assortment of monstrous effects for movies, as well as for her own art, not to mention throwing THE annual Halloween hoedown! The biggest pumpkinfest that side of the Appalachia!!! Yee haw Pa!

We have a full itinerary planned as you can imagine; Day 1: Heading east to Jack Daniel's in Lynchburg, then over to the Lynchburg Hardware and General Store, then it's over to Marvin's in Fayetteville. OMG - you haven't lived till you've eaten BUTTER ROLL.

Day 2: Paddling the Harpeth River out of Kingston Springs. I'm hoping the trees along the bank will be turning all my favorite Fall colors by then. Maybe Mondel's for dinner or to the Loveless Cafe.

Day 3: Franklin, TN and Belle Meade Plantation, then to downtown to check out the little shops and to CeCe's for frozen yogurt.

I won't bore you with the rest of the details, but we're going to go check out some properties while I'm there as well. I'm hoping to buy there so I can have all my horses at home with me, and then start a new business with her. I think TN would be a marvelous place to do that! In another post, I'll tell you all about that.

Besides running around to the point of sheer exhaustion no doubt, we WILL be going to all our favorite food places and are making a VERY lengthy list of all the southern food items that I must consume; deep fried pickles, butter roll (duh!), fried chicken, sweet potatoe pie, chicken and waffles, CeCe's yogurt, chocolate dipped cones from this place in Pegram, moonpies from Bell Buckle. Oh the list continues to grow, as does my expanding waist! LOL!

 

 

 

 

Elvis & Me - Birthday Celebration 2012 - Act 1

It's still hard to believe that Elvis Presley would be 77 this year. January 8th to be exact. It seems like yesterday that he passed, and I guess it's something I'll never get over. To non-Elvis fans, I suppose that sounds dramatic, but for us folks that have loved Elvis their whole lives, it's like losing a family member, at least that's how it was for me.

If you've read any of my postings in the past, you may remember me talking about my brother, Pierre Adidge, along with his studio Cinema Associates, produced and directed Elvis' last movie/documentary, "Elvis on Tour". The movie won a Golden Globe award in 1973. Out of Elvis' 33 movies, this was THE only one that ever won any kind of award, let alone recognition, and it was also the only one that Elvis was happy about doing, and was proud of. After Pierre passed away in 1974, my father had the Globe and then once my Dad passed in 1990, through the estate of our family trust, it was passed down to me.

Something happened to me this past January that I swear, if I died tomorrow, I can honestly say that I'd die THE happiest and luckiest person in the world! I was invited by Elvis Presley Enterprises/Graceland to be a part of Elvis Presley's world; Graceland, representing my brother at Graceland's celebration not only for Elvis' birthday, but for the 40th Anniversary of Elvis on Tour!

Now how this came about, well I can only say that I feel someone, or someones, had a hand in this. I say that because one night I had been praying as I usually do, but that night I said a special prayer and was talking to my brother Pierre in heaven, cause that's where I believe we're all going, and I also talked to Elvis. I said that I hoped both our families were together and that you and Pierre were hanging out, and that one day I hoped I'd be with you also and we'd sing together, even though I sing pitifully bad, but all the same I'd still want to sing with you, and I told Elvis how he had no idea the influence and impact he'd had on my life, and my family's life, and so it went. Well....the next day when I checked my email, there was an email from Graceland about this exhibit they were planning in honor of the 40th anniversary of Pierre's movie, Elvis on Tour and if I'd be interested in loaning them the Golden Globe which would be the featured item and that I'd be a guest of Graceland! Immediately upon reading this, I cried. I knew this was no coincidence. I truly feel in my heart and soul that both Pierre and Elvis had a hand in this, to really bring me into Elvis' life, as close as I could be anyway, while he was in heaven and I was here on earth. It was beyond anything I could ever imagine happening to me.

So Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) flew me to Memphis. I was met at the airport by Tennessee Limo and they drove me to the Marriott where I was greeted with an envelope with Graceland's logo. Inside was a welcome letter and my itinerary and passes to everything I wanted to attend. I swore I was dreaming! That night I laid in bed still in total shock and disbelief that I was really in Memphis and a guest of Elvis Presley!!!

Me in the back of the limo en route to Graceland!!! I'm dreaming...

The next morning, the limo came and picked me up and took me to Elvis' offices on Elvis Presley Blvd., next to Graceland. I went in and of course took a picture, and introduced myself.

The receptionist called over to the exhibit and DeeDee, the assistant archivist came and got me and brought me across the street over to where they were just finishing up the exhibit. EPE (specifically Angie) had put together a beautiful exhibit honoring the film which included artifacts from the movie. Several jumpsuits worn during filming, the purple suede suit he wore getting onto the plane, a beautiful red velvet cape, a very sexy white/green shirt, the key to the City from the Governor of Virginia, clippings from Colonel Parker's scrapbook, and the crown jewel of the exhibit: the Golden Globe. It was displayed on a 3' tall candy apple red, twist pedestal in the middle of the room. Angie Marchese, the head of archives for EPE let me place the Globe on its base, and when I did, it was as if it was meant to be there all these years. It was like someone turned on a switch; it just glowed. To me it felt like I had brought it home.

The Globe at home on the display - Beautiful!



Kevin Kern, Media for EPE, me, and Angie Marchese, Graceland's Archive-extraordinaire

After the Globe was placed, the rest of my trip was a whirlwind of events and dream-come-trues for this lifetime Elvis girl. Angie asked if I'd like to do some "media" and then Kevin Kern, the head of publicity for Graceland came in and then all sorts of news teams with cameras and lights. Robert, the Graceland photographer took a zillion pictures of me, and then Devin, Gracelands A/V guy recorded me as Angie asked questions about my life with Elvis, Pierre, etc. Then the news teams interviewed me several times asking about what it meant to bring the Globe for the exhibit and if my brother would be proud, which of course he would! and what the exhibit meant to me. I can only tell you that it was the proudest moment of my life, representing my brother and his accomplishment and knowing how much the fans loved his movie. I knew Elvis and Pierre were both watching from above.



Me doing some interviews with I think that was FOX news - talking about the Globe, Pierre, EOT, etc..

Next, I got to interview in the booth with Argo Memphis who hosts the XM Sirius Elvis Radio show which is broadcast live from Graceland. It is so fun to sit in the chair with a mike in front of you and chat! And Argo is so nice. He was talking to both Angie and me about the Elvis on Tour exhibit and upcoming exhibits.
 

In the Sirius radio booth with Angie and Argo - all Elvis all the time!

Once the radio interview was done, Angie's assistant, Dee Dee took me over to Graceland for a behind the scenes visit with Aleene, the barn manager at Graceland and who takes amazing care of Elvis' horses and who was actually excited to meet ME because I too had horses and loved them. She introduced me to all the lucky horses who now reside there; Max, Tucker, Bandit, and my personal favorite; Candy. They are all rescued horses with the exception of Candy. Each horse was immaculate, brushed and groomed so their coats were gleaming, and each one wears a leather bridle with a brass name tag inscribed with "Graceland" and the horses name. Their blankets too are embroidered with Graceland on them. These once neglected horses are in magnificent health now thankgs to Graceland. Priscilla keeps horses their because she wants to keep it as Elvis left it with the barn and the horses that he so loved. I saw where Elvis wrote names on the wall in red marker whose bridles hung where, and I got to hang out in the barn's "kitchen" area, where Priscilla hangs out and eats peanut butter stuffed pretzels as she chats with Aleene. I spent several hours at the barn, took pictures, groomed the horses, let them out into their paddocks, and just got to enjoy the beauty of the pastoral setting at Graceland. And I swear, any second it felt like Elvis was going to just walk right into that barn!



E on his favorite Tennessee Walking horse, "Bear" at Graceland



Me and Candy, a rescued TWH at Graceland

 

The beautiful pastures at Graceland, throught the back gates

Me and Aleene with one of the rescued horses, I think this is Max

After that, Dee Dee took me over to the mansion and I got a private guided tour. She actually used to be a tour guide for many years before she moved over to the Archive department, so she knew every single fact you could ever know! We took all sorts of pictures, and I had a blast with her!


DeeDee and Me on the porch at Graceland

Once all the "touring" was over, we met Angie back over at Graceland Crossing which is across the street from the mansion and it's where Elvis' car collection, airplane, and other exhibits are, and we headed over to Marlowe's for some Southern food.

To be continued.....

Head for the Hills Sister!!!

Hi y'all! It's been over a week since my last post and I wanted to catch you up on what's goin' on.

I'll be headed off to Tennessee tomorrow to spend some much needed time with my Bag Sister.

It's been ages since we've seen each other so we'll have a lot of catching up to do. Even though we create together, email, call, and all that, it's different than being in person. I can't wait to see her new house, and be carted around the countryside for Fall in TN.

I am still recuperating very slowly from my surgery, so that's another reason I'm headed down south. To get some rest. I haven't had much help around the homestead so I need a break. I will be taking it very easy while I'm there that's for sure. Hopefully my intestines won't blow up from cabin pressure on the plane. Oh that wouldn't be pretty!

As far as By Way of Salem creations go, I have my 2 WIPS that I still have not painted. And I've been working on a couple of ideas as well. One for sure I'm NOT doing! That's the Bag's Bags I spoke of earlier; a kooky collection of bags, purses, etc... Oh heavens! That is just not my thing. I'll leave that to you expert seamstresses out there! I did make something, but it just doesn't reflect BWOS. Check that one off the list!

My other idea is a better fit for By Way of Salem and what we're about, and I'm very excited about them! I can't wait to show you all our "ScaryCats". They're very whimsical and colorful, and if they work out like I'm hoping, we'll be previewing those very soon. And yet another reason I'm headin' for the hills! To go over ideas and patterns with Bag #2. Of course her creative input is much needed. And as I'll be resting, we'll also be doing some sculpting together which I'm really excited about too. And going over plans for redoing her art studio. It's going to be a very creative reunion!

To all our friends, followers and everyone - have a very Happy Thanksgiving!