Rose is a beautiful, vibrant and inspiring woman. She is a great painter... one of my favorite painters actually. I've always greatly admired Rose for the free and uninhibited way she lives her life. Her paintings are a direct reflection of this beautiful creature we call Rose.
She has recently moved from Bisbee Arizona to Bali, to paint and be with her new husband.
We just received that Rose has suddenly become very, very ill.
She needs everyone's thoughts, prayers and love right now.
Please watch this video to learn more about Rose and her art....
Two Hillary stories came my way to day, one hot and one cold.
The first is from a guy named James .
Hillary had said some complimentary things to Ron Paul a couple of months ago about his supporters.
James, who is a Ron Paul supporter, was very touched by her words.
Seeing that I had a Hillary blog, James wrote to me to ask if I knew what kind of hot sauce Hillary liked, as he wanted to send her a gift.
I told him that had no idea, but asked him to keep me posted.
James wrote me again a couple weeks later to say he had found the perfect jar of hot sauce, and had mailed it off to Hillary. Much to my horror, James had sent her a bottle of "Hog's Ass hot sauce", complete with a picture of a hog's ass.
I wrote back to James asking if that was supposed to be some kind of a joke.
His answer was sincere. "No, it was just the best hot sauce I could find. I tasted it and I really like it".
In my mind there was no way in hell that hot sauce was ever going to find it's way to Hillary's desk.
But I was wrong.
Here's the letter James received from Hillary today....
"Dear Mr. ----:
I do, indeed, love hot sauce!
Thank you so much for sending me two bottles of your favorite; I look forward to trying it. I remain deeply appreciative of your thoughtfulness and good cheer, as well as the enthusiasm that you and your fellow Ron Paul supporters have brought to the public square.
With thanks and best regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
Hillary Rodham Clinton"
HILLARY COLD
The other story I heard today came from a friend named Walt.
Walt is Jill Japan's husband, and Jill just came back from an event in New York City where Hillary was the guest of honor. Jill was off and running, so Walt gave me the basics about the event.
The event was a fundraiser for children's healthcare.
Tickets sold from $1,000 to $10,000 each.
The event was a huge success and Jill was overjoyed! Over 1 million dollars was raised for the kids.
Everyone was thrilled!
Everyone but me, that is.
Hillary Clinton was a no-show.
She apparently was caught up at the White House with President Obama solving some global crisis or other.
She did, for the record, talk to everyone on a giant screen.
I'm sure glad I didn't mortgage my house, or invent some elaborate scheme pretending I wanted to help save the children, just to go to see Hillary.
Apparently some people, like James, Jill and Hillary, do things for sincere and unselfish reasons.
Go figure.
I, on the other hand, would probably have sang this song just to weasel my way in to see Hillary, and then been profoundly disappointed if she didn't show up.
Webster's defines a nun as: a woman belonging to a religious order; one under solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience
My definition is slightly different.
To me, a nun is someone who devotes their entire lives, to the very core of their being, to something greater than themselves. They are perseverant, unstoppable, passionate, unwavering... focused like a magnifying glass though-out their entire lives, they are the true believers.
To me, Hillary Clinton is the Mother Superior of my definition of a nun.
But all nuns don't have to give selflessly to the world like Hillary does. They don't all have to be warriors against planetary problems.
They can give in other ways... though music, art, writing, science, fashion, dance, sports, acting or whatever their cause or life-passion is.
Another one of my favorite nuns is Siouxsie Sioux.
Siouxsie has consistently given the world excellent music with a very particular aesthetic for over 30 years. She doesn't fool around, she never lets you down. She is a nun of music.
Being unable to mortgage my house in time to make tonight's fundraiser in NYC with Hillary, I've decided to leave the convent for the evening and go on a pilgrimage with some friends.
My friends suggested we walk across the town of Agua Prieta, Mexico to go to a place they call "La Reforma".
My imagination soared.
So in a moment of fervent Hillary zeal and over-blown expectations, I grabbed an old Hillary yard sign and whipped up this quick painting.
(Click to enlarge)
I have since found out that "La Reforma" is a restaurant, and not a religious Hillary experience at all.
I then considered being a little decadent tonight and ordering a Coke. We are not allowed to drink coke here at Mother Eagle's Convent.
I have since changed my mind after learning that the owner of "La Reforma" was shot to death in his own restaurant last year over a similar incident with Coke.
Forget it, I'll stick to water.
Well, at least I've found a new use for that old stack of Hillary yard signs!
Today is my father's birthday. If you don't already know him, I'd like to share with you a little about Gene Baer.
Gene is a writer, a painter, a cartoonist, a musician, a wild food authority, a magician, a teacher, a devoted husband, and lucky for me, my father.
I know I'm extremely blessed to have two such wonderful people for parents. I was given the enormous gift of a magical childhood, thanks to Gene and Jackie Baer.
Growing up on Martha's Vineyard, my father spent endless hours treating us kids to all kinds of adventures. When he wasn't teaching art at our school, he was taking us on all kinds of journeys around the island. He often took us for trips hunting mushrooms in the forest, picking grapes, raspberries, blueberries or sassafras in the woods, hunting for watercress or fiddle heads growing by streams, or occasionally hunting for the elusive wild gorilla.
He taught us about the ocean by taking us snorkeling to his favorite underwater hide-outs. He taught us how to build and fly kites, how to make coins come out of our ears, and about a million other cool things.
Ask any kid who grew up on Martha's Vineyard who their favorite teacher was, and most will tell you it was the legendary Mr. Baer.
Besides being my art teacher in school, he spent innumerable hours teaching me, and any friend I had over that day, art at home. Every Sunday afternoon was "Art day", and I was allowed to invite my friends over to make art with my Dad at the dining room table.
But above all else, my father taught us by example. To this day he still draws constantly, always sketching his latest ideas. He's always onto new projects, contemplating ideas that are usually way over my head.
As far back as I can remember, my father's paintings have always been my biggest artistic inspiration. They never fail to completely capture my imagination.
This painting has hung in our living room for as long as I can remember.
Another favorite.
My parent's house is chock full of my father's, my mother's, and my Grandfather's art, plus a million other wild and wonderful things. If you ever get lucky enough to have Gene Baer give you a tour of our house, you're in for some fun. These days, Gene spends just about every waking hour writing. He's written and published children's books, art lesson books, and music manuals. He's currently working on a philosophy book.
I guess the stars were aligned the day I was born, to be so lucky as to call Gene Baer my Dad.
Today marks the beginning of my simple and austere existence as a humble nun living here at "Mother Eagle's Nunnery".
I begin my day by waking at the crack of 11 AM. I take my first sip of java and contemplate my day.
The grounds need to be watered, the brown rice needs to be cooked, my habit needs to be sewed. But most importantly, as one of "Mother Eagle's Royal Academy of Painting Nuns" I must serve my vocation and paint.
Once I'm settled in here, I shall invite you all to "A Nun's Tea".
Perhaps we may even take a short pilgrimage. I hear tell of a holy site near here called "Saint Elmo's". But I'm getting ahead of myself. I must focus on what's in front of me. Which right now happens to be coffee.
After this weekend of work, I will have 3 glorious weeks to do nothing but sit high in my cloistered Nunnery and paint the subject of my next art show, "The Myth of the Pantsuit".
I'm talking myths and symbols, baby.
Click to enlarge
Hillary Clinton will appear as an eagle, her followers as the pantsuit people.
All Partridge Family references will herein be symbolized as a Mondrian Shield.
Classic games are an obvious reference, except when it comes to croquet.
Today was my lucky day at the thrift store, and I simply must share my joy with you!
I was already feeling pretty happy about my score of a long black jacket thing with studs on the sleeves, but imagine my delight when I spotted this!
It's a nutcracker? It's a stool? Give up?
O.K. I'll tell you! It's both!
A nutcracker AND a stool!
My friend Bill happened to be walking by, and boy was he ever impressed, and probably a little jealous too! I'm sure glad I was already sporting a black and white look. It was as if it was meant to be! I can't wait for the next "Bring your own stool" party! And if ya got any nuts you need cracked, I'm your gal!
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling restless for an adventure!
I dream of Mother Eagle calling upon the H.C.A. for a Top Secret mission on the coast of Spain.
We must disguise ourselves as nuns in an ancient convent.
The evil nuns of the convent are secretly preparing to destroy the world and we must learn their secrets in order to stop them! (Click to enlarge photos).
We are sent to the convent disguised as "Mother Eagle's Royal Academy of Painting Nuns", and must paint ourselves out of some dire situations!
Under our habits we wear silver scuba gear to investigate these evil nun's secret underwater headquarters. Meanwhile, Hillary, Oops, I mean Mother Eagle gives her orders from the Eagle's nest. ( Click to enlarge). Mother Eagle and the Evil Mother Superior are mortal enemies, and Mother Eagle has vowed to avenge her.
After we bust this case wide open, a secret cache of Hillary art located in Bisbee Arizona, becomes worth A FORTUNE!
A panel of experts have determined that there are atleast 16 things wrong with this picture, entitled "Pantsuits and Croquet". Let's see how many you can find.
Sometimes it helps to look at things from a different perspective. Let's try it upside down to really shake things up. Whooo! Hang onto your mallets!
I recommend you press the button on the old juke box to your right to put your brain in the right frame of mind.
Actually I have none, but it sounded like a catchy blog title.
In truth, I come from a long line of regular working folk from Martha's Vineyard. All the way back to the 1600's, in fact. Teachers, plumbers, carpenters, fishermen, oh, and the first doctor on the Island, Abner West, was my Great, Great, Great, ( however many Greats) Grandfather. Interestingly, none of my ancestors had the foresight to buy property.
My Great Grandfather was a Sea Captain, which is way cool.
I bring this up because I am thinking about the subject matter for my next art show on Martha's Vineyard, August 15th.
I'm not abandoning my Hillary obsession ( heaven forbid!), but I probably won't be painting any more Hillary portraits for a while. The spotlight will be on pantsuits, and we all know Hillary and pantsuits are synonymous. The pantsuits will be in tandem with all those old blue blood games like Croquet.
Well, enough blabbing... it's time to paint! Croquet, anyone?
The Hillary Clinton Army has been disbanded until further notice. If and when our services are needed again... we will fire this blog back up, put on our Polyester Pantsuits, and kick some ass!
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Gretchen Baer
Journey to Hillaryland
Oil on canvas/4' by 6'/ 700.00 plus shippng
Baby Hillary
30" by 40" oil on canvas. 300.00 plus shipping.
Blue Hillary
30" by 40" oil on canvas. 300.00 plus shipping.
Buy some Pantsuit Art!
All paintings below are 50.00 each, plus shipping.
Contact gretchen@gretchenbaer.com and once confirmed, this button links to Paypal...
Envoy with raspberry pie
Envoys on moat
Gretchen talks with Envoys
Pantsuit Art
All paintings below are for sale for 50.00 each, plus shipping.
They are all 6" by 6", painted in oil on a 100 year old tin ceiling tile.
All proceeds help the Art Envoys bring more art and color to the world.
(Self-portrait of Rose in Bali)
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