A visit with Stefanie diStefano and FlamingO Ranch!

Our artisan field trip class also had the wondrous good fortune to discover the Austin treasure trove that is FlamingO Ranch and it's proprietor, Ms. Stefanie DiStefano. I had seen some work of hers around town and was amazed to discover that she is a protegee of Isiah Zagar... one of my all time heroes after visiting Philadelphia Magic Gardens a few years ago. Stefanie also turned me on to this FEE.NOM.EENULL. documentary about Isiah, In A Dream... made by his son, Jeremiah... if you want to ruminate about life, love, family, and most of all art, please watch it. I found it to be totally amazing.

Anyway, can you dig it? I rubbed shoulders with someone who knows this guy (that I admire so very very much)very very well! Celebrity alert! And her ranch is a wonderland. It had the same immersive, provocative quality that this crazy place Buffet Flat had on me as a kid.... as if you were walking into the heart of someone's brain. I hope (and have little doubt) that it was an electric, never-to-be-forgotten experience for the kids who came with us.

And we even got to make a mosaic with her! Hot-cha!