most of the children are with their respective parents...it has taken a longer while to recoup and even began to think of what to do with myself without the parenting responsibility. although, there is still one child needing a ride to and from summer care - and at a minimum, every other day visits from the rest of the crew
i will post a couple pictures of the boat from plastic bottles we made a couple weeks ago - as we have said many times: hope floats
and then there is the snarkeyness that somehow just creeps into my viewpoint. i went to see the Hopeman Family Collection of Art at the All My Relations Gallery here in Minneapolis. Beautiful art, looking at each individual piece of art one has to have their breath taken away by the work of Sam English, RC Gorman, Kevin Red Star, John Nieto. Just beautiful work. However, my mind asked: just how many paintings of Indians with feathers can you display in one room? i told myself to be quiet but, the question kept popping up - and the reception area of the gallery was filled with folks i never see on Franklin avenue. of the 'lighter shade of pale' variety. like, i don't see them in Aldi's or walking the ave... but there they were to see the beautiful paintings in the Hopeman family collection (i tried to look them up on line but never did find a link - so i am only assuming they are rich and white).
there are also paintings by the Kiowa Five on display - who really did happen to be six, but the sixth was Lois Smokey (whose family paid the rent for the Kiowa Five) - a female from Anandarko.... who (i can only shake my head and relate) quit painting, moved home to raise a family and took up beadwork.... stolen shamelessly from Wikipedia: Flora Bell Schrock, Smoky's niece, said in 1995, "Aunt Louise was a hard worker... for her family. [She] started doing some beadwork, too. She really enjoyed it. And I think she had ambition [that] could have furthered... [her] art ability... But after she got married, she said, 'It's just impossible now with the children.'"[6]
and fritz Sholder - who barely, with his 1/4 blood quantum, barely makes it legally into the 'indian art' category - according to the site: Fritz Sholder: Indian/Not Indian - Sholder said he was raised white, not actually Indian....he said, 'you can't be anything if you're a quarter'. but - he is the one designated as the one who changed 'indian art'.... oh, the complications, dualities, and dichotomies of Indian-ness and what happens when others are left to do the defining... this indian guy whose german father was a teacher at the indian boarding schools which were created to assimilate the indian.... which is not to say his artwork isn't incredible - quite stunning in fact..... all that said, i do find the 'lighter shade of pale' folk's fascination with half-breeds quite fascinating.... he is lauded for painting indians with beer cans but the other paintings in the exhibit are all Indians with feathers.... ok, one is sitting in full regalia sitting on a horse smoking a cigarette...
ok...enough art snark...
back to boats made of plastic bottles and rabbit traps and snares in the back yard (which the rabbits have been quite successful at avoiding).
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