Project SEARCH Silent/Live Auction Fundraiser

I remember when I used to work for a bank...

Oh, I still do, of course, but sometimes I forget. Because for the past year I've been working with a group of awesome individuals towards this event to raise funds to expand the Project SEARCH program across West Michigan.

What IS Project SEARCH? Well, it's a school-to-work program that takes high school seniors with physical or cognitive disabilities and places them into an actual work situation over the course of the school year, with the goal of finding gainful employment upon graduation.

The Auction to Benefit Project SEARCH will take place this coming Thursday, November 4th at Noto's Italian World Dining in Grand Rapids. A chance to do some early Christmas shopping (from a choice of incredible items!) while at the same time, supporting a great cause. Not to mention sampling a heavy course of some of Noto's most delectable hors d'oeuvres and desserts!

(Updated: This post was from last year! And this year's auction to be held again at Noto's on Thursday, November 10th promises to be even better... with a "Strolling Dinner" added, along with some even more incredibly awesome items to bid on! Scroll down for the link to our current FaceBook page for a preview.)

As for my part.... (besides hauling them up to our super secure storage room and eeeing and oohing over every single wonderful donation that came in)...


Save The Date


Poster


ThankYou Cards for donors


Ticket...


The Program...


300 programs in a box ready to go...

Anyway, it's been tons of fun living my dream of being a graphic designer... while still earning a weekly paycheck!

Please contact me if you're interested in attending. It's gonna be a SUPER fun night! And by the way, the auction items are WAY cooler than my artwork. *g*


You can find us on Facebook!

Rachel Mae

October 27, 2010

7 lbs 8 oz

Priceless...



Everyone's fine.
and resting...

But Daryn, did you do her nails first thing? Because folks are asking...

Tutu Cute... and also probably her last day being my only Grandbaby...

I don't know whether to laugh or cry or what! So adorable this one... What a beauty!

Daryn should be calling me at any moment about grandbaby (Rachel) number two!

It's Really Great Having My Kitchen Counter Back!...

Because this took me nearly three weeks!



The culmination of a homework assignment, which was to create a still life drawing conveying a light source, line value and texture (but without the use of shading.) That will be our next lesson I guess...

I haven't even thought of what to name this piece. Any ideas? Just off the top of my head I'm considering "Things That Haven't Been Out of My Kitchen Cupboards in Probably 10 Years"...


P.S...

I figured I'd share my classroom project in this blog as well. Same concept, same assignment... except that it's WAY more enjoyable to do these things at home, sitting in a cozy chair, listening to my own music rather than standing at an easel barely tolerating the freakish music my Professor chooses to play.

The upside to this classroom project, however, was that I didn't have to clean it up...

Drawing One Oh! One...

It's no coincidence that I didn't have any artistic talent prior to my discovering PhotoShop. Because I didn't. But then I got hooked on it and got this wild and crazy dream about going for a degree in Graphic Design. (no less!)

I've held off as long as I could on this ONE required class... But since I'm finally down to my last three I figured it was finally about time to go for it. But you see... I've never even been able to draw stick figures adequately! In my opinion, PhotoShop is a much tamer beast than the pencil!

So I'm now into my third week... and trust me, so far I've drawn a lot of junk! The first week was absolutely laughable! But at least now I've been given a few tools with which to make it all make sense.

A ruler... for one.

I think I've done about 15 pages like this so far. I've drawn, let's see...things from my kitchen drawer, my junk drawer, my yard, antiques, my bathroom, my garage, my lamps, my furniture, my basement, my guilty pleasures...pretty much everything and shoot, well, I'm still sure I've forgotten some. But they're all on the grading table right now except for this one, which I did this afternoon... of things in my refrigerator... which thankfully managed to meet the minimum number of 6 required items...



It's really strange how I'm now looking at everything I see...wondering how I can draw it. The whole concept of drawing is bizarre though. It's amazing how we don't ever really see things the way they really are. You really have to LOOK! So, hopefully, if I learn nothing else from this class, that will be an important concept that I can improve on.

Here's my first ever "Still Life"...


And another one... using "the ruler"...


I'm trying really, really hard to be positive and hopeful... even though I only got a C+...

It's Finally Here! The Weekend Forecast!

I actually thought maybe I'd dreamt it or something...






Single available at iTunes.

And if that wasn't enough of a Benji fix... check out this trailer for his movie Leading Ladies. This movie is currently only being shown in select Film Festival venues... but keep your eyes open because it's getting amazing reviews!

Hmmm... Wonder if I have the nerve to drive to Champaign, Illinois on September 25th...

I Wonder How Many Others Might Be Out There...

So somehow I got tagged in a photo on FaceBook from an old friend from my theatre days who, as it appears, had this picture of me that I'd never seen before. I don't know why that seems so strange. I guess I figured I'd seen about every picture of me ever taken...

I mean, pictures are pictures. And usually I just try to avoid being IN them as much as possible (unless of course Daryn has just finished doing my hair)...

I DO have a scrapbook... and my theatrical career is definitely preserved in it, enabling me to relive it over and over whenever I want. But seriously, when a new picture like this one surfaces?... well, it's like I never even lived it before... until now. And then I get to live it again for the very first time.

Does that make sense?

Anyway... I just LOVE this picture! Because there is just SO much going on in it!

In other words... it's pretty much a "Word Bubble's" dream!...


L to R: Me, James Bontempo, Rita O'Connor, Stephanie Eley, Tracy Shayne, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jamie Torcellini.

And speaking of the devil.... this just in!...


L to R: Tracy Shayne, Gay Marshall, Sachi Shimizu, Wanda Richert, Jannet Moranz, Rita O'Connor ~ Pre-recording for "Baryshnikov On Broadway."

Wow! I guess it's true about how if you build it they will come...