The Holidays are Upon Us!

Cardinals, colored pencil on film, Heidi Snyder

Let's celebrate the joys of the season - the friendships we share through our organization. Good food. Family and friends we haven't seen for awhile gathering together. The peace we've been granted this holiday season. Our thoughts for safety for those in harm's way protecting that peace. Crisp weather and pine-scented festive rooms. Cookies! The list goes on and on! Best wishes to all. Let's each be a light in the winter darkness this holiday, helping those in need, remembering friends near and far, and creating art to illuminate the world of plants.

Under Useful Documents you'll find the minutes from our Holiday Meeting which took place on December 11th at Susi Olson's festively decorated home. There's lots of good news there. New for 2012, RMSBA will have a meeting every month on the last Sunday of each month, instead of meeting quarterly, as we have done in the past. Julie Terry, our industrious program chairman, has been hard at work finding programs and venues for meetings for the year. She and her team created a bookmark that lists scheduled activities. Here's what's happening:

 

I think the appropriate comment here is, "Wow!" probably followed by, "Way to go, Julie!" Thank you for all the work that has gone into this project. We will all benefit from increased contact through the year.

Officer listings have been updated, to the right. Take a moment to say "Thanks for working for us," to the folks on the list. Lots of commitment and hard work there. Also look at Events, where exhibits and other goings on are listed. Dorothy DePaulo, our hard-charging president, has secured exhibition space at the Denver Botanic Gardens for our RARE II exhibition, and it will hang while the ASBA 20th anniversary conference is here hosted by the RMSBA in Denver. What a coup! Many thanks to Dorothy!

Our first online exhibition, Remembering Summer, has ended, but it was a wonderful display. During the 3 to 5 weeks that elapse between postings on this blog, we generally get 200 viewers. While the exhibition was online we had over 500 viewers. You're work is being seen! Congratulations.

The next online exhibition will be open for entries February 15, 2012. It's theme is Winter Wonders, and we're looking for your work during these colder months. So many saved specimens, hardy grasses. and luscious imported exotics from the florist will become works of art. Be sure to send your entries in. I'll post the guidelines in early February to remind you. Happy creating!

And finally, there are two new little gadgets on the right. One is a search block, allowing you to search the blog and blog links by key words that you determine, and the second called Bulletin Board. I welcome you to post your wants, needs, heck - even your desires! - there. You submit for the Bulletin Board by emailing the blog at rmsbartists@gmail.com. Make your announcement, wish list, help wanted entries, and they'll be posted for up to 6 weeks. It's another service we provide to members to make your art life easier and more productive.

Happy Holidays, and Best Wishes for a wonderful New Year in 2012!