Transitions and Progress

Christian, our grandson!

Most of you know we came within a gnat's hair of losing this beautiful little guy to a 1-in-48 million case of the flu last February.  His healing is nothing less than miraculous.  We have the honor and joy of entertaining him at our house this week.  He is such a fun little soul.  And he will be celebrating his 8th birthday on August 6th!  We are so excited to have him here and continue getting to know our youngest grandson. Life is good!  Just ask this little man!  His attitude is so encouraging to me.  He is such a sweet little spirit.

Our friends, Mark & Janine have been discovering a bit of a hidden snake world on their property since they have begun a construction project on an out building that apparently was housing snakes ~ lots of them!  There is a song out there some where about a Snake Farm that is operated by Buck and Roberta.  Things have gotten way past "casual" with the Snake Farm i.d. so I felt it appropriate to mosaic this snake for Mark's birthday!  Then, I fell in love with mosaic glass (as opposed to tile work) and have gone crazy with gathering all the tools appropriate for glass cutting and etc.  Oh my gosh! I love getting excited about new things!  You will see more of this soon --- not snakes, necessarily, but I have an owl on the table now.  And I am in the process of cutting a zillion feathers out! Practice makes perfect!

Christian and I went to see the movie RIO yesterday and the blue macaw has inspired an entire new series of glass to come!  Oh my gosh! The colors in that film were amazing!  The movie was a great creative genuis of music, dance and color!  I found a sweet little glass shop in Elizabethton, TN yesterday, so I'm all set!!!  Transitioning to glass ... at long last.

I love flowers --- all flowers.  These black eyed susans and geraniums are in my front garden.  They make me smile ... ear to ear.  And they have nothing at all to do with this post! I'm all over the place this week.  Gheesh!!!

Shannon (my Clayzaics business partner) and I went to the Southern Highland Arts and Craft Guild show in Asheville, NC on Friday.  It was incredible and inspiring.  There are so many very talented and gifted artists out there.  It's simply amazing! We also visited the weaving store and Highwater Clay.  So, in addition to the glass, I have a new shuttle so I can weave a purse and journal covers (!) and some earthen red clay so I can build some fun little pots.  But for now, I'm getting ready for the Mt. Mitchell Craft Fair August 5 and 6. 

 I am following along with a quilt making with Chrissie ... check her out here.  I haven't made a quilt in several years --- like since the mid 80's.  Hope I get through it in tact!

But this week I'm playing.  a little art with Christian ... but mostly playing.

Happy Tuesday to all!  And the rest of the week too.

Blessings.

Art Art everywhere!

I LOVE summer when we have so much access to art and no snow on the road so we can get to it!  The tour de art is again this Saturday in Avery County.  If you are local on Saturday, DO THE TOUR!  It's a fabulous treat for a day.

I finally was able to order some prints from this fabulous artist!  They are in the framing stage now and will be going on my studio wall ASAP!

on the left, "Surrender"; on the right, "every saint has a past ~ every sinner has a future (Oscar Wilde)"

 PERFECT!  and AMAZING!

If only I could draw! *sigh*

 They are the exquisite work of the incredible Lisa Ferrante!  You can find her site right here!

Lisa is featured in this month's Somerset Studio!  Grab a copy - you will be SO glad you did!

Nina (my step daughter whom I refer to as Cinderella) and I went to a local art show on Saturday.  We found some great stuff there too!  It was a shame most of the High Country would not go out in the rain to visit the vendors.  We totally scored!  Happy 25th Birthday, Nina!

 This cool little poppy field is made out of a game board, a flash card, a vintage bridge tally sheet and other vintage goodies.  This is the work of Blockhead Arts' Marian Baker.  You can find her here!  I love her work because of the whimsy!  Perfect!

 This, of course is from Tammy Brinkley's Periwinkle Pass.  So sweet!  On a canvas board and ready to hang.  Her site is here!

This piece is by Teresa Hollmeyer, a fine art glass mosaic artist out of Charlotte.  Her very gorgeous work can be found in Ciel Gallery in Charlotte.  Her work is so incredible and like nothing I have ever seen before.  This is of course, is just a small pendant.  She has some beautiful wall hanging pieces that I have begun saving for!

I picked up this book while I was in Barnes and Noble the other day waiting for Harry Potter to begin.  This is a wonderful conglomeration of artists' information they have generously shared.  I LOVE this book!  So I bought it.  A great resource if you are looking for information on how to be an artist and live at the same time!  It will be a good ad needed friend to me now.

I finished this commissioned journal I have been working on!  It turned out lovely, thankfully!  And my client seemed to love it.  Always a great thing!  I'll share more photos of the inside later as this post is LONG ENOUGH!  AND I have a date with my studio!

Thanks to all you artists!  A happy heart is a good thing to have.

Happy Tuesday to you all!  Happy Creating!

Blessings,

Changes and Heart's Desires: a Proclamation

Most of you know I'm a retired dancer/instructor (ballerina, tap & jazz dancer) and these days I'm REALLY retired.  Until this past winter I still kept my hand in by teaching dance, but since the program I was involved in was "iffy" at best, I have pretty much stopped dancing (except for the occasional Just Dance 2 Wii session I might get in to).  I don't move like I used to, and my body is a living testament to that.  I'm frustrated by that because I have always had an athlete's body, but it is what it is and I now understand what my mentors were talking about when they retired - or slowed down to a crawl as I have done.  I am still addicted to dance in my heart and watch So You Think You Can Dance with all the passion I have ever had as a teacher.  I don't seem to watch it as a dancer though.  I also try my very best to keep up with the dancers I taught and loved in Orlando at The Dancer's Pointe.  Things change.  Most of my students have graduated.  Some of them have their own children who are enrolled in dance!  I miss everyone of them.  But I don't want to dance ... unless maybe I can open a dance school for petite princesses between the ages of 3 and maybe 7.  Maybe.

I remember making the decision to be a dancer one night while watching Jackie Gleason's variety show when the June Taylor dancers were in a formation on the floor and doing patterns with their legs and arms while the camera was shooting them from above.  I was 5 years old.  It was my "aha!" moment.  My mom thought I was nuts and kept telling me I needed to learn to type so I could make a living! (she was right, incidentally) My dad thought it was a little girl's dream and I would out grow of it.  But my heart knew what I wanted and pursued it at every level.  Even when mom put me in roller skating classes (which I DID NOT like).  I always needed to get back to dance.  Skating backwards - are you kidding me?  There is no substitute for your heart's desire.  But there is apparently change.  Change is good.

I love the artist's world.  It is free-er than most and allows me to be the gypsy I am.  And it allows changes that other careers can't handle.  So I have floated on a cloud from the dance genre (and all the performing arts) to the visual arts genre.  And I am proclaiming my passion here and now because it seems necessary in order for my stubborn, red headed, Capricorn self to commit in writing to myself and others.  Because there is a part of me that is literal - UGH! (the part that has the IS degree and loves all things techno)  And there is no paper contract to sign when you are a free lance artist! However, there is a contract with your heart.  And that is what I'm trying to say.  I have a new contract ... and it is with visual art. It feels weird to be proclaiming NEW at this point in my life because I'm certainly not a young woman in age.  But, by golly I am young in spirit!  And I have no control over it --- it chose me, so to speak.  So, here I go again, mom.  A new launch.  A fresh start.  Wish you were here to tell me what I needed to do to make it work.  But I will listen for your words on the wind.  And I will watch for a hint in life.  Thanks for always believing in me --- even when I didn't realize you were there, mom.  I wish I would've paid better attention.

So ... off I go with my changes, my hopes, my passion and my will.  Dreams are such wonderful things!

 Taking my heart with me. 

My hope for you is that you have found what your heart is committed to, have made the proclamation and are aspiring to be filled to the brim with the passion and joy it breeds!

Blessings,

Moderation and Chalk Paint!

Oh Moderation, where for art thou?

In a household with a maniacal, all or nothing Libra and a workaholic, intensely focused Capricorn, moderation has gone missing.  Oh Moderation, I miss you so!  In your absence I have a very long list of compulsive accomplishments.  Won't you please come home?

Amongst the journal mania, I decided to paint the black vanity in the bathroom.  Just not enough projects already going, I suppose.  I have a Victorian style main bathroom with soft greens and pinks, and that black vanity was getting on my last nerve with it's bold out of balance presence.  SO, I went to the Rusted Periwinkle and got some chalk paint!  Best thing EVER!  Tammy came by yesterday to help me decide what comes next.  So I will be waxing it today and finishing it off, maybe adding a little distress to it (only fair that it should ALSO be in distress, don't you think?).  And then, because it looks so incredible, I will have to also paint the rest of the furniture in that room since it no longer even remotely matches.  (We live in a 1924 house.  There are no built in vanities, cabinets, closets or any of those types of things.  It has allowed us to be very creative with our decor!)  One project begets another ... it is a law.  And it is still in effect.

So here is what I have accomplished thus far:

 Before - black vanity.

This is the best picture of what the color looks like.  I cannot get my little camera to grab a real depiction of the color --- but this is close.  It's got a beautiful light lavender cast to it.  I LOVE it.

This is the piece before I wax it, which will be at some point today. (even though it looks white, it is not)  After I finish eating breakfast, going to the shoppe, finishing the BEAUTIFUL journal I am working on and making arrangements for the contractor to begin and hopefully complete work on a building we are putting on our property for a business.  Also there is cleaning for company coming in this week/weekend, and finishing all the other projects.  I really need to make a dozen phone calls, and pay some bills.  The laundry is in mountains of opportunity and the flowers and garden need some water.  Again I beg, moderation, please come home!

I hope to have our newest member of the Clayzaics conglomerate posted soon!  Oh yeah, that's another thing I must attend to ... getting ready for all the shows coming up!  Well, we are not bored around here!

Happy Monday to all!

Blessings!

Davis

You MUST know about this!!!  So I'm going to tell you ;-)  In fact, just go here for Davis.

This woman has SUCH a calling that she is on her mission to let us all help her.  And it is a GREAT calling.  Please, please {at least} go to the site and read her story. 

It will give you pause, if nothing else!

Thanks.

and Blessings!

Journal Production!

Art work by Tammy Brinkley at Periwinkle Pass.  Visit her here - she's awesome!

My life has been busy with stitching for a change.  No glue ... no grout ... no tiles or glass ... no wood!  It's very strange ~ HA!  I'm loving it.  I've been working with some different styles and ideas for a bigger variety of fabrics and cover designs to appeal to a larger group of journal enthusiasts!  It is always fun when something I start can be finished the same day - completely - DONE! No waiting for anything to dry, cure, rest, bake, or anything!  Just DONE!  Hopefully by week's end this little bundle of journals will double in number!

And hopefully by week's end I will be back up to 100% health and will not be as distracted with resting so I can heal.  It is really beginning to interrupt my production time!

And production time is paramount right now as Shannon and I have a show at the end of this month (local centennial celebration), the first weekend of August (Mt. Mitchell Craft Fair) and now an amazing addition of the Unicoi Apple Festival in Erwin the first weekend of October!  Whoop!  We are super excited --- and aware of the need for production!

On the way home from visiting my slightly overworked potter friend, Patti, this view was before me.  It suddenly struck me how very blessed we are here to have this scenery to accompany us to and from our errands and such.  This is the most beautiful time of year around here and the frequent rain has created the most LUSH green scenery you could even imagine!  I just wanted to share with you ... and yes, I was driving while shooting (shhhh - don't tell!).  Wish I knew how to erase the vehicle in the picture ... it would be prettier!  But if you just put your fingertip over it on your screen, it's a gorgeous shot! Enjoy!

But for now, it's time to rest again!  *sigh*

Blessings!