Homeless people with mental illness and substance addiction are homeless by their own volition? Really?

I was so stunned by claims in the Daily Sentinel's editorial "Homelessness and Vagrancy" this morning that I had to write this post.

Here is the part of the editorial that so shocked me: "One group, we believe, are the true homeless. They are families and individuals who may have lost jobs, gone through home foreclosure or lost their homes by other means. They are actively trying to improve their lot in hopes they will soon leave the ranks of the homeless.

"The other group is largely homeless by their own volition. They reject the conventions of society — although they accept its services when it suits them. Many have addictions to alcohol or drugs, or suffer from mental illness, or both. We have chosen to refer to this second group as vagrants."

Really? Addiction is a choice? Mental illness is a choice? First of all, it is obvious that...

Recent national political attention on Mesa County; what's that about?

How is it that Mesa County continues to garner so much national attention? From the nation’s number-one ranking in quality healthcare at the lowest cost to world-class outdoor recreation to a steady stream of presidential candidates, Mesa County is of obvious national importance. In the past four years alone, we’ve had visits from Barack Obama, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Kathleen Sibelius and Mitt Romney, to name a few.

But when I learned that three of the top four political TV ad markets in the nation were in Colorado in July, with Grand Junction at number two (Colorado Springs at number one, Denver at four), curiosity got the best of me.

After an afternoon of phone calls, I learned that Colorado is...

Collared lizard: Ancient secrets, dreaming and foresight

The colorful collared lizard or Crotaphytus collaris auriceps is a common sight in the Western Colorado landscape, and yet it excites us to see them.

The name auriceps comes from aurum (gold) and ceps, which means head. Our most common collared lizard auriceps has a golden-yellow head and vibrant blue-green body, with a long, round tail.

Our rocks and canyons are ideal habitat for collared lizards. They burrow under big rocks to sleep and lay their eggs, then venture out in search of insects (but they’ll settle for an occasional side salad). The lizards do stalk their prey, but they’ll adjust to whatever’s available at the time.

Most Native American lore associates the lizards with ancient secrets, dreaming, and foresight. Maybe that’s why an encounter with auriceps so often produces a sense of awe, surprise, and reflection.

As a child, I always thought of the collared lizard as larger, with long sweeping wings, offering sage advice. Blue dragons, I called them. Little blue dragons. From high in the sky to shadows of the red rock, they see and sense what’s been, what is, and what could be. Ah, the imagination of a little girl.

So the next time you’re out hiking in the canyons and rocks around the Valley (or in your yard if it has big rocks), watch for Western Slope auriceps and have your camera ready. (I’m usually so taken with delight when I see one that I wait too long. Yet sometimes, once they realize I’ve seen them, they’ll stop just long enough for a quick photo op.) Then, as you continue your hike, let your imagination wander as you reflect on the auriceps encounter. Ancient secrets, dreaming, and foresight. Not bad for a little lizard.

Technical Notes
Family: Iguanidae
Genus: Crotaphytus
Species: Crotaphytus collaris

This post is excerpted from a story I wrote in the July 2009 issue of Grand Valley Magazine. Because I've always had a soft spot for the collared lizard, I wanted it here on my blog.

Making art while writing ... in my head

"Amber" by Krystyn Hartman.

Ended up doing two pieces today while writing my column for this week. Again, I am hooked on working with these alcohol inks on yupo paper. Can't get enough, apparently.

I made this one, a very green tree with a big silver circle in the center, which I call "Amber."

The circle is the shiny top from a Jello snack pack that I brought back from Nebraska a few weeks ago. I included it in this piece because the Jello was shared among family when we were in Nebraska and I wanted as many family elements in this piece as possible. Of course, a very leafy tree is also very representative of family. It was important to include a lot of family elements in this piece.

I made this one for my friend who is moving to a new city to begin a new life. She's nervous right now; this is a challenging transition for her, but I know she will do well. She is strong, smart, beautiful and, well, she's just fabulous.

I also felt the need to make a piece featuring a lemon tree. As with the other piece, this one has a family connection for me.

"That Lemon Tree" by Krystyn Hartman.

I actually wrote most of my column today (in my head of course) while painting the lemon tree. (I still need to get the column out of my head and onto paper, but that should go pretty quick now that I know what I'm writing.)

Lemonade is the name of the yellow ink I used for the lemons. I didn't realize that was the name of the color; I just grabbed the bright yellow. When I'd finished and was putting the inks back in the tin, the label caught my eye. How appropriate!

I started to add more to the piece, but there was something about the simplicity of it that just felt right and stayed my brush.

Overall, had a very nice day painting family trees and writing (in my head)!  Okay, better get my column to paper already!

I call this piece "Treehouse"

I still can't believe I lived 50 years without making art. I can't believe how incredibly fulfilling is the process. No matter how it turns out, the process is indescribable. The clay class I took at the Art Center a few years ago opened my eyes, but the collage class earlier this year unleashed something in me, meaning, an overwhelming need to make art, to create. I can't explain it; just that I have to do it. (Well, seems that after a week or so of not working on a piece, I just have to make time to do it.)

"Treehouse" by Krystyn Hartman. Alcohol ink on yupo paper.

This is a piece I finished yesterday. I call it "Treehouse." My favorite part of the process was painting the chili ristra. I started with three chilis then couldn't stop! Had I started with the chilis rather than finished with them, I likely would have filled the entire piece with them! I had no intention of adding chilis to the piece when I started; shoot, I didn't even think to add them until the very last! Oh, the moon is actually the top off a bottle of orange juice. I like incorporating "found objects" into my pieces.

I write my column on Wednesdays/Thursdays, so I'm going to try painting a lemon tree while thinking about my column for this week. I'm going to write about the Olympics and how it is the one event that brings the whole world together to celebrate the beauty and strength of human performance; an event of common ground. I so need that right now as I'm truly sick of the political venom and horrendous killings; just sick of it. I'm excited to write about the Olympics in my column for this week.

And, through the art process, I've realized that my brain calculates, ponders, organizes and all that while I paint. I know, how cool is that?

Grand Valley Magazine "comeback" survey results help define editorial direction of new GV

Taking time to do a "comeback" survey was critical in our decision to re-launch Grand Valley Magazine.

There were 14 questions ranging from reader topics to advertising to digital and print platforms. The results are not only fascinating but serve as an important basis for the direction of the new GV, which is targeted for re-launch with the November 2012 issue.

Here are the reader-focused questions with results. Responses are listed in ranking order.


Do you use an iPad, Nook, Kindle or other E-reader or Android-based tablet?

• Do not use 42.0%
• iPad 37.0%
• Kindle 19.6%
• Nook 8.4%
• Other 4.2%

 As a business owner/manager, where is your customer base?

• Local 62.4%
• State 32.4%
• National 19.2%
• International 7.6%

Each edition of GV Magazine focused on five main areas. In which areas do you have the most interest?

• GV Culture 74.2%
• GV Outdoors 71.4%
• GV Living 59.1%
• GV Working 48.8%
• GV Wheels 31.3%

What other topic categories and features would you want to see added to a new GV Magazine?

• Tourist attractions 60.6%
• How-to's and do-it-yourself 42.6%
• Intellectual discussions 40.5%
• Debates on local issues 34.8%
• Investigative reporting 28.6%
• Energy development 22.1%
• Politics 13.9%
• Advice column 9.4%
• Gossip column 6.1%

This content feedback will most certainly be reflected in the new GV!

Avalon Theatre is the ballpark of our cultural community

Colorado ranks fifth in the nation for concentration of creative talent. Only New York, California, Massachusetts and Vermont place higher, according to a State of Colorado’s Creative Economy report by the Alliance for Creative Advantage (based in South Carolina).

So significant are the creative enterprises that they comprise the fifth-largest employment sector in Colorado’s economy.

Our cultural amenities are increasingly attracting innovators, businesses and tourists — and they all bring dollars and jobs to our state’s cultural arts destinations. But Mesa County isn’t as high on that list as it could and should be. That’s despite our burgeoning wine country, nationally renowned Art on the Corner program and world-class outdoor adventure opportunities.

How do we engage, capitalize on and ride the Colorado creative wave?

The Grand Junction City Council’s recent decision to add $3 million to the Downtown Development Authority’s $3 million to fund a $14 million renovation of the Avalon Theatre is a bold move in that direction.

Harry Weiss, director of Grand Junction’s DDA, told me back in May that...

Semper fi, Grandpa -- and thanks for all the stories

Recently, I received the most extraordinary and unexpected gift. My mother and my uncle handed me an old book, the binding long gone, titled Columbia Standard Illustrated World Atlas. I was touched because they know I adore and collect interesting maps. But my delight at first seeing it paled in comparison to the emotions I felt when I opened the cover. Their full given names were handwritten on the first page in a script I recognized before my eyes moved to my grandpa’s signature with “1942” written next to it.

As I turned each page, careful not to tear the aged and delicate paper, I saw many place names underlined. “He underlined every place he’d been when he gave it to us,” my mom told me. “We were kids of course.”

China, Chosen (“formerly Korea” written in ink beside it), Cuba. The nations were listed alphabetically with brief overviews under each name: England, Finland, France, Hawaii, Japan, Mexico, Labrador, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Philippine Commonwealth, Puerto Rico, Sweden.

Grandpa didn’t spend time in these places as a tourist. He was a United States Marine, enlisting when he was 14 years old, lying about his age, convincing an elderly...

Labels are for camp undies and canned goods, not for people

All artists are Democrats. All rich people are Republicans. Only teenagers text while driving. All unemployed people are lazy. Citizens against the war hate America. All children from single-parent homes are destined for a life of despair. All illegal immigrants are draining our resources. All attorneys are sharks. All corporate directors are money grubbers. All Muslims are terrorists. All accountants are boring bean counters. Mesa County doesn’t care about its schools because it voted down a mil levy. People who post about politics and religion on Facebook should get a hobby.

Really? Of course not. Where one sits depends upon where one stands; and where one stands depends upon where one sits.

Even though 99.5 percent of our genome is the same for all humans, it is that...

People-friendly communities require more than sidewalks

I was saddened by the death of the tourist hit by a car while crossing Horizon Drive last month. Welcome to Grand Junction.

Anyone who has walked or cycled along Horizon, Patterson, North Avenue, Broadway, or 12th Street through Colorado Mesa University knows how scary it is to travel those corridors by any means other than by car — and even that’s risky thanks to speeders, texters and multi-taskers.

We’re justifiably proud of our beautiful downtowns, but like most cities in the U.S., our communities’ designs favor automobile traffic over pedestrians and bicyclists.

The City of Grand Junction’s decision to purchase the burned-out Whitehall building on the corner of 6th and White streets is a prime example of commitment to the economic importance of a people-friendly downtown. Fruita and Palisade have nice, people-friendly downtowns too.

The June 10 editorial in the Daily Sentinel supported the city’s decision. “It will either be an indication that people here don’t care about a dangerous, unattractive, charred shell remaining in the core of their city, or a representation of a community’s determination not to let the city deteriorate a little bit at a time,” the editors stated.

Our city centers are success stories. But what about derelict buildings and unsafe areas beyond downtown? Don’t they also merit our “community’s determination not to let the city deteriorate a little bit at a time”? Aren’t city council members elected from districts throughout the community?

We can’t all live and... 

More art using alcohol ink!

I had a bit of free time while visiting family in Nebraska this weekend, which means I was able to sneak in a little art time.

"Roots" by Krystyn Hartman. Alcohol Ink on Yupo

My husband's youngest sister was in the hospital when we arrived and was eating a yogurt when we walked into her room. (She was released the next day and is doing much better.) I told her that I brought some of the alcohol inks with me and she asked if I would paint something for her. Seeing the shiny yogurt top on the table next her, I told her yes of course then asked for the yogurt top.

Here is the piece I did for her, incorporating the shiny yogurt top, complete with sell-by date, into the piece.

Thinking family, and that her brother (my husband), and other two sisters were all together, I decided to paint "roots" in the piece over and around the yogurt top.

There is no art supply store in Chadron (if there is, we sure couldn't find it), so I found a nice little frame for $4 at Walmart and voila! A personalized piece for her and good practice for me.

"Dichotomy" by Krystyn Hartman. Alcohol Ink

On a roll, and eager to do more, I decided to try another piece the next evening. It was so blasted hot out that I was reminded of the bare red slick rock in our high desert of Western Colorado but was also thinking how refreshing it would be to jump into some cool fresh water.

The result of that mood? Desert rock, a lone juniper, and thundering waterfall. I named this one "dichotomy" because of the beautiful contrast yet harmony between the hot desert rock and cool water falling in the distance; from the vantage point of the rock.

I do so love painting with these inks! I may try something more abstract next. Something purple, I'm thinking... Of course, by the time I get around to making another one, my color mood may have changed!

Great fun. I'm glad I had the chance to do some art while away because I have a super busy few weeks ahead so it is doubtful I will have much time to do art for a little while. I take advantage when I do have time!

My first art piece with alcohol inks!

I am completely hooked on this medium: alcohol inks on yupo paper! Artist and poet Wendy Videlock gave a demonstration of the inks on the yupo yesterday at the Blue Pig Gallery in Palisade. (Wendy's alcohol ink paintings are extraordinary; she is the featured artist at the Blue Pig this month!) I sat there and watched and asked questions for about 45 minutes; taking copious notes! She is delightful! I was completely fascinated, mesmerized, hypnotyzed!

This morning, I dashed over to the Artists Haven for the basic supplies and this afternoon I broke out my notes, opened up the inks. Wendy said, "play with the inks at first, each color behaves differently, so get familiar with them -- and have fun." So, that's exactly what I did and I am completely hooked!

"For My Uncle" by Krystyn Hartman. Alcohol Inks on Yupo.

Here is my first art piece using the alcohol inks on the yupo paper! Fun!

I used six colors (Brand: Jim Holtz Adirondack), applied them using H2O brush pens, spritzing the piece occasionally with acohol blending solution.

I am so in love with this medium!

Can't wait till I'm more familiar with it so I can incorporate objects like sticks, stones, and metal into the pieces. I just love it!

Circle skirts: Fun, comfy, and easy to make!

Last Saturday, I had this overwhelming want to make and wear a black-and-white polka dot circle skirt for some reason. Something about it; fun, breezy.

So, I headed to JoAnn's Fabrics in the mall, discount coupon in hand, and found an inexpensive, light-weight cotton polka dot fabric, then thumbed through the skirts section of every pattern book there but could not find a circle skirt pattern. Finally, I took a chance and looked in the "costumes" section, and voila, a 1950s "costume" poodle skirt, full circle with waistband (Simplicity 5403).

But it required fabric 60 inches wide. The fabric I'd found -- the only black on white polka dot fabric in the whole store -- was only 44 inches wide. What to do? I was immediately distracted by a jolly but loud customer chatting with the store clerk behind me. "No, I'm a custom clothier and needed more thread."

I turned around. "Do you have a card?" I asked, then explained my problem. She took the fabric, unrolled several yards, then with great enthusiasm, told me how to make it work, including tricks and tips on how to put in the zipper. She was absolutely delightful!

"My name is Dolly Jo," she said, extending her hand. I thanked her and made a note to myself that when times get better, I'm so going to her for some custom dresses!

I made my skirt that afternoon, using all the tips and tricks she explained to me and I couldn't be happier with the results! (Important note, if you decide to use this pattern, it runs extremely small! I normally wear a size 4 skirt, but had to use the size 12 pattern, which fit perfectly -- so, on this pattern, size 12 is actually size 4!)

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to wear it, finally! I was speaker for a small group of retirees who meet every Friday morning to discuss politics -- local and national. I had a great time and my polka dot skirt was quite comfortable and I was happy as a clam.

Then, last night was the First Friday reception at the Art Center (I have three art pieces hanging there as part of the Instructor-Student exhibit -- me being a student obviously) and, again, I felt so happy in my polka dot circle skirt!

So happy, in fact, that this morning I rummaged through my fabric box and found a fawn and ecru light and breezy cotton fabric that Margaret Allyson, my dear friend and editor, had sent to me months ago in a happy box. It too was only 44 inches wide, but thanks to the tips and tricks by Dolly Jo, I knew what to do!

My husband came in out of the garage and saw me with the fabric. "Another skirt?" he asked, then added, "I have to run to the store, need anything?" A zipper, I said, laughing. "Are you serious?" He asked, shaking his head. I handed him a small fabric swatch. "I can't believe I'm doing this," he mumbled, taking the swatch and headed out the door, still shaking his head.

Long story short. Ta da! I made the second skirt -- with zipper support from my oh-so-understanding and wonderful husband.

I do realize this is a silly topic to blog about (I'm not even sure which topic category to post it with), but I had such a great time making them, met Dolly Jo, and well, just had to share!

Now I'm hoping I can find time over the next few weeks to make another one, because I have a few more fabrics in my fabric box that just might work! (Unlikely though, as I have a pretty full plate the next few weeks. But, we'll see!)

What to do with those empty big-box stores?

I was so happy to hear about enthusiasm for revitalizing North Avenue here in Grand Junction. Intended efforts are clearly under way as reported in the June 3 edition of the Daily Sentinel. The extraordinary transformations of downtown and the Horizon Drive corridors over the past decades were made possible with a lot of foresight and commitment by dedicated members of our community, so the North Avenue project looks promising. But it has three major challenges the other revitalized areas didn’t have.

North Avenue, as Highway 6, is owned by the state. And until recently, the City of Grand Junction has pretty much taken a hands-off approach.

North Avenue is about four miles long, covering considerably more commercial frontage area than downtown and Horizon Drive.

Third, and the point that most...

Hey, what happened to civil discourse for solving our nation's problems?

Is it time for a national chill pill? What has happened to get folks so darned mad at one another? Schoolyard bullying seems to have replaced civil discourse. When did we start fearing rather than celebrating the richness of our diverse citizenry and differing points of view?

I’ve heard way too many vicious, hateful statements over the past few months — in the news, from lawmakers, from acquaintances, some subtle, some in the form of crude jokes, and some just plain ignorant. And a disturbing number came from people in positions of leadership.

Maybe I’m naïve, but I simply don’t understand the growing intolerance in these United States of America. After all we’ve stood for? Fought for? Sacrificed? Wasn’t freedom our goal? And doesn’t freedom include tolerance?

Where are the civil servants willing to at least try to represent all of us? To at least try to work together to solve our nation’s problems. What has happened to civil discourse in the halls of Congress and the Senate?

What happened to the ...