Dori DeCamillis

The effervescent Mary Kay Culpepper dazzling her public at the Making Faces opening Scott Bennett and Adam Snyder's work on pedestals Janese Evans (in black top) came all the way from Minnesota to surprise MK at the opening. Cupcakes and champagne made everyone even happier. Dr. Cullen Clark, on left, a frequent Red Dot go-to guy and husband of the artist, dazzles more of the public. MK did a self-portrait drawing or tile work per week for a year, and we honed the show down to under 15 pieces for the exhibit. Her charming and poignant pieces remind us how different we can all be from week to week, and how many ways our hands and faces can express themselves.

Cupcakes, champagne, and art tonight at Red Dot, 6-8 pm MAKING FACES Selections from a year of weekly self-portraits by Marykay Culpepper Exhibit runs July 15 - August 19, 2011

Our dear friend, Susie Bowman, owns The Kiln Studio and Gallery in the charming and somewhat luxurious town of Fairhope, Alabama . She is now hosting an exhibit of ceramic work inspired by baskets. Scott Bennett, my illustrious husband and ceramic artist, has a few pieces in the show (see below). The photo above is the shadow cast on the floor by her window sign. Susie Bowman Scott Bennett (ceramic basket inspired by car door handle) John Rezner Another Scott Bennett original masterpiece, also car door handle inspired. The bottom reminds me of a bottle cap. Ron Meyers Janice Kluge Lynnette Hesser Ronan Peterson

I am spending a week in Mobile, AL giving workshops and lectures to kids, teachers, and the general public on my current exhibition, Prominence of Place at the Mobile Museum of Art . Here are some photos from an outreach program I did with kids at the public library. Using one of my paintings as inspiration, the kids traced or drew leaves, colored them, and cut and pasted them on colored paper. You know they're having fun when you don't hear a peep out of them.

I took these photos for my lecture at Mobile Museum of Art, Sunday, July 10, 1:30 pm. One of my paintings of Alabama favorite places is inspired by Jones Valley Urban Farm. My daughter, Annabelle, is peeling onions in the greenhouse: below. JVUF, located in downtown Birmingham, has small garden plots for locals, sells produce at local Farmer's Markets, and educates about sustainable, organic farming.