My Bass Girl

I seriously doubt she misses her bass as much as I miss hearing it around the house!

Laid off again...

I've been laid off before, but it's never come as a shock to me.

"Nancy, the company is announcing layoffs today, and your job is one of them." The words of my boss last Friday. Completely out of the blue - I had no idea they were even talking of layoffs. This company just does not communicate with its employees. In the 6 months I was there, I never received ONE company-wide office e-mail. Which was a blessing in a way, but kind of weird. I would overhear things that indicated they were ok, like, the machine shop's running 20 hours a day, they've added x number of machines, the fin shop is working Saturdays to keep up with orders, etc. And they had hired a bunch of people earlier this year... Now, I'm told, due to order slowdown at the boat builders, they decide to lay off 14 of us - that's about 10% of the company. And besides coming as a shock, I had to pack up my stuff and leave immediately, which was really bizarre. I drove home at 11am and just drifted around the house, mindlessly doing stuff like cleaning out the fridge, not really knowing what to think. I'm still waking up in the middle of the night, going "what the ... did that really happen?" "Aren't I supposed to be getting ready for work?"

Such a bummer; I was really hoping that I could hang with this job for the next few years - So now it's apply for unemployment, update my portfolio, hope that something opens up...

November 4, 2008

Main St. Sebastopol by Kathy Goetzel

Another talented Graphic Designer I worked with at HP was Kathy Goetzel. Kathy is an amazing painter, and has returned to her art in the last few years. She has painted many of the animals at Safari West, as well as botanically-correct local flora - you can see notecards of her work all over Sonoma County. She also illustrated the amazing book, "Miss Hallberg's Butterfly Garden." I love Kathy's work, because it always represents the things I love about living here in Sonoma County. This one is my absolute favorite! It depicts Main St. Sebastopol - the same intersection I photographed with the Buggs Bunny! I love it because of it's whimsical style, and cool perspective. I imagine myself in an old-fashioned hot-air balloon floating above Main St. I also love that she snuck a dachshund dog in, and because it shows "Earthchild" toy store, where Amelia worked for several years.

Click on the image for a larger view.

Two Art Exhibits of Note

For many years, I sat next to Pat Haley at Hewlett-Packard. Pat was the corporate photographer. He was my photography mentor. As I was taking photography classes at the JC, he would invite me into the photo studio and let me use all his equipment. I even got to fill in as his replacement while he was on vacation. This was in the days of film - using large-format and medium-format cameras I got to shoot a lot of products for HP. I learned a whole lot from Pat, and am forever grateful to him for his mentorship.

Pat is retired now, and lives part-time near Puerto Vallerta, Mexico. He has been able to get back to his painting, and has a studio in Santa Rosa. He has a show going on currently called "Impresiones de Mexico" at Uribe Studio on Sebastopol Ave. The show is open from 11-6 Fridays thru Sundays until Nov.25. His paintings are large-scale and depict life of the locals in Mexico. I especially loved his Folklorico paintings.



And, "Innovations in Fiber Art IV" is now going on at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. My "Popeye Gang" felt sculpture is in the show. Dave & I went to the opening on Thursday, and the show is super-impressive. Mine is definitely the least-Innovative piece, but it is the only felt sculpture. There are quilts made of hand-dyed tea bags, coats made of hog casings, weavings of wire, pine needles and more. The Gallery is open daily - M-F 11-5 and Sat & Sun 1-4. The show runs through Dec. 7th.

I Love Sebastopol

This is the main intersection of Sebastopol. One day, driving to work, I happened to notice something atop this building...