drink this now ramble

B2 shots gin

1 shot lemon juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 shot simple syrup

1/2 shot creme de mure (blackberry liqueur)

Garnish: lemon half-wheel

Garnish: fresh blackberry

Directions:

Add the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup into a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled

Strain into an Old Fashioned glass over crushed ice

Slowly pour the creme de mure over the top of the drink.

Garnish with a lemon half-wheel and a fresh blackberry

2023 Salinas Bastrop Youth Art Contest

This will be the 37th Year of the Salinas Youth Art Contest and Exhibit. Over 6500 students from BISD, including home-schooled and church schools will participate. We will have an in-person Salinas Awards Ceremony on the 24th of April 2023. The Lost Pines Art League $1000 Scholarship will be awarded at that time.

An exhibit of the top ten artworks for each grade will be on display at the Jerry Wilhelm Performing Arts Center from April 24th to May 20th, 2023.

Born in Bastrop County, Porfirio Salinas (November 6, 1910 –April 18, 1973) was an early Texas landscape painter best known for his oil paintings of the Texas Hill Country and bluebonnets. Largely self-taught, he was one of the first Mexican American artists to become nationally recognized for his paintings and is said to have been President Lyndon Johnson's favorite artist. www.SalinasBastrop.com .

In The Eyes Of The Artist

Vicky Balcou is an artist, raised by artists. While some parents push their children away from the arts, envisioning a career of struggle, void of financial security, Balcou's mother encouraged her and sent her to art school at an early age. She would tell her, "Everything you use, wear, look at or touch was designed by someone." Balcou followed her passion for creating and enjoyed a career at Dallas based Fitz and Floyd, known for their finely detailed ceramics. She retired in 2006 and moved to Bastrop to be near her college roommate, Tina Woodruff.

Balcou, an active member of the Lost Pines Art League and working artist, noticed her vision was changing about four years ago. She was diagnosed with macular degeneration which symptoms include loss of vision in the center of the eye. As the disease has progressed, Balcou's life has changed and so has her art. More impressionistic, less realistic, she has reenvisioned her art and found she now communicates beauty more freely. "Beauty doesn't have to have details," she explains.

Balcou was a featured artist in the Lost Pine's Art Center's first show of 2023. She is also a volunteer on the Salinas Bastrop Youth Art Contest committee which is chaired by C. j. Jordan. Balcou is eager to make sure young artists are encouraged, as she was in school and by her parents. She believes the addition of an art sale this year for the older finalists will make a statement to the participants and their families, that not all artists starve. "I'm proof there are good careers for artists that are both satisfying and financially rewarding." It's no surprise Balcou's daughter, Elisa Jimenez is also an interdisciplinary artist and fashion designer who appeared on Project Runway. She lives in New York City.

Balcou gives private art lessons including teaching other artists experiencing loss of sight to re-envision their work and their ability to communicate beauty.