I heard this morning that the votes are slipping in the fight to keep gay marriage legal in California. I was shocked and saddened and I needed to help in some way. So I donated today. And now I’m adding a couple banners to my website in the hopes that it helps. Please, vote no…

Come on down! show dates: 10/13/08- 1/15/09 opening reception: wednesday, generic 10/22, for sale 7pm fly bar & restaurant 762 divisadero st. @ fulton www.flybarandrestaurant.com 415.931.4359

Just got this email from the person organizing the Phoenix Project Art Auction: Listen, Just wanted you to know – I had to walk around the office to “show and tell” your piece to some here who are involved in our project. This piece is WONDERFUL. We all are in love with it. You made…

They have their own lingo there. And I’m not talking about the whole Grande Venti thing. I’m talking about the automatic babble that comes out of the server’s mouths. “HasSomeoneStartedADrinkYetForYouMa’am” Um, what? “HasSomeoneStartedADrinkYetForYouMa’am” Um, are you speaking English? Do you know what you sound like? And worst of all, do I look like the kind…

As if just getting up and starting your week wasn’t bad enough. As is fear of another depression wasn’t enough. This article covers a report issued by the journal Science last Friday. “We estimate that one in four species is threatened with extinction and that the population of one in two is declining,” the researchers…

I got so much done at the studio and home yesterday that i feel a little better about this week. I had to finish a painting for the Phoenix Project Art Auction on October 16th… done! I really wanted to do a piece for Ehren Reed’s Take-out show at Fly Bar opening October 22nd… done!…

Lulu.com posted an article about how to get your work out there through the power of blogging.

“patches? we don’t have no patches. we don’t have to show you any stinking patches!” yeah, it’s punchy around here today.

Getting into this show seems to have exposed just how low my self esteem has sunk about my work. I don’t know how that happened, or if it’s been like this all along. Maybe it’s just from feeling like I’m not in the studio enough. Maybe it’s just how I felt like I never had…

remember these eight words: balance, search movement, emphasis, simplicity, contrast, proportion, space, unity

I will be in this year’s Bay Area Currents show at the Oakland Art Gallery. Opening is Wednesday October 15th, 5pm – 8pm. I can’t believe it! Here’s a video to celebrate persistence and determination.

Please pick me. Originally uploaded by Alanna Risse Pretty please with sugar on top. So nervous. One hour to kill before my studio visit. Do I dare open a bottle of wine with one nervous hour to kill?

My friend opened up an Etsy shop where she’s selling prints and pins and paintings. So go check it out because she rocks. Visit Little Black Fences on Etsy.

Limoncello is a sweet, lemony liqueur popular in southern Italy. It is usually made with everclear and is prone to giving you painful headaches. My version uses softer, gentler vodka. You can make this with any fruit, grapefruit or pomegranate are two good options. It’s important to use only organic fruits, especially if you are…

“I can’t wait til we have a place where we can compost.”