another month....December already

It has been a long time. I can't seem to get my joy back up enough to blog. My mind is overoccupied and I'm learning new things about life and myself so bear with me. I have been working some and painting and glass work are in my head also. I think I have too much going on and I want to do so much in the years I have left on this earth. There is never enough time.

A new piece that I really like, front and back.

Making sweaters for my pup and wanting to learn to felt! I cannot fit it all in....depressing....but exhilarating!

Christmas is coming too.

migraine...

is it the heat or is it because I ate sugar today? I feel blurry all over.

having determination.......

Reading Kathleen Dustin's blog this morning and coming away with renewed hope that if I keep working at all the various things I do they will all come together and actually be something that I am completely happy with. Of course her talent is bigger than life and what she does so innovative and daring in ways that amaze over and over again. Her work is stunning. here is one of her purses. All in polymer.

..... Working today but I continue to want my new grandchild here so I can just sit and stare at her. She is so cute...and already funny!

hmmm.... and Happy Birthday honey!

No healthy breakfast drink today...just had many cups of green tea instead. Tomorrow maybe.

Got to babysit a little today ...Vivi slept the entire time! Now upstair to my studio...and start packing a box to go to Colorado....leaving Tuesday.

Today is my husband's birthday...I wish him everything he most desires and many more years. Our days are full and happy!

This is a sweet photo of him.

out of kale...

Almost 11 at night and I'm thinking it's time to get back to the green drink in the morning. I have no kale but maybe celery and basil , blueberries and protein powder in some coconut water. Now, that is an interesting thing....the coconut water. It is really coconut milk, is very very good for you and since I have eliminated all dairy milk from my house, a nice alternative to almond milk. I have a few other things and will post a picture of my drink tomorrow.

My lunch these days consists of fresh wonderful tomatoes with turmeric and ground pepper and some salt. Delicious! I feel very very healthy...and weigh what I did 20 years ago. Also Barleans omega swirl fish oil is so full of lemon flavor that you actually want to take it every day.

recovering...

Always hard to recover from the weekend.

Today is a studio day and if I ever get it just a little neater and more organized I will be able to go in there and work without fear! Lately I am spending more time going through things and cleaning out than working...that is not good.

Full moon last night and while looking at the sky I remembered the way the sunsets looked when I lived in a high rise. Many people don't realize how beautiful the sky is at dusk in Atlanta..I think you have to be up high or on a lake to see it.

saturday am...

Saturday morning ..farmer's market... ..reading on the front porch with rocket sitting in the grass and iced green tea....quick nap on the couch...three cups of espresso.......all befor 11 am.

This neighborhood feels like a vacation all the time. I feel so lucky every time I drive onto my street. This summer has been very hot but especially full of birds and little critters. I can't think of a more perfect place to have grandchildren be a part of. A short walk to Phipps Plaza, Starbucks, movies, and so much else. Thank you to the powers that be.

Corners...

In a desire to remember to take photographs on a daily basis and to get myself to make a new contraption for ttvs I walked out my front door to just take some quick shots in the confines of 30 seconds from my door. These are neighborhood little corners..

Trying to make myself notice more...the way we did when we were 7.

movies....

I forgot to mention that Tuesday was our anniversary and rather than let the day slide by I requested going to see I am Love with Tilda Swinton. It was somewhat like an opera and very very beautiful. A big change though from the last movie I saw, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I loved almost as much as the book. All three books are way up there on my list of favorites and I managed to get the transparency movie poster on eBay from England also. These Larson books speak volumes about how strong women have to be. Lizbeth Salander is not a simple character and the author did a superb job of letting us inside her mind without letting us know every single thing. I'm a little obsessed by these. Isn't the poster great!? It's 40 by 30, i think...too lazy to go downstairs and measure.

One of my bird cottage necklaces......

Ships and sails and flowers....

Discovered Ann Wood this week and her gift to everyone of a tutorial on making one of her ships. They are quite spectacular and I am in awe of every single one. Someday I will have one. In the meantime it has given me an idea about my back porch in Colorado where I usually hang a huge basket of lobelia or petunias for the summer. I'm not there this year and looking at the translucency of her ships and sails I thought that for the two weeks that I am out there I will hang a sail. I have actually started working on one. My fabric swatches will have a wonderful use and if it doesn't look great I can make a strip of frayed banners instead. There will be no hanging baskets available in August...it'll almost be fall there!

This is how it usually looks. I think lovely banners or a sail type piece of fabric will do, and maybe inspire!

A year later...and no time to waste.

It has been almost a year, perhaps not the most productive year of my life but changes in my family and good feelings abound. I can't quite get my head around my age but I'm working on that and I kind of feel like this picture of Josie looks."queenly".

i have been making simple structures and have been happy with them. That is very good.

Ridgway Colorado......

I am here in Colorado for the next 2 1/2 months. It is a blessing to have this special place and as much as I know that, I still have trouble being away from my girls. Two daughters and one grandchild....each amazing in their own way.

I try to take this time to work and it always takes me a couple weeks to settle in. Now that my kiln seems to be working I will get going. I wish I had brought my polymer things with me since my oven always works! I could have fit a few other things in since we drove. I wonder why I brought the Tupelo honey???? .... there is wonderful honey here. Things like that make me shake my head in disbelief at myself.

just plain annoyed at myself ........

Under the best of circumstances kilns are the workhorse of my kind of creativity. When things go wrong, all you can do is start over and think of all the work you did as practice.

With 4 sculpted and refined silver clay pieces ready to go, I made the mistake of not test firing after traveling with my kiln. We cannot actually figure out what happened...perhaps a wire came loose, but it seems fine now. Of course the 4 pieces are blobs of CZ's and vermiculite and fine silver. Paragon and Laura Miller, one of their gurus, and Arnold, himself, were immediately helpful. They had me test and open and check. Thanks to them, I still have confidence in my SC2. I don't believe I would have received this kind of attention from ANYONE other than Don Mckinney, who personally, by hand, made my bead kiln. Thank you!

It was very strange because I had a brief feeling to only fire one piece....and I even thought to do a test fire....but I did not follow my instincts. That is very unwise.

This is what one piece would have been similar to. Too bad for me! Plus everything else was new and different. Practice. Another big thank you to Paragon!

preparation .....

I like this theme so far. In fact I love this theme. Smooth untextured areas with something added. I used no patina on this, and have not decided whether to keep it or not ..and the way to keep it is an entirely different story. Several choices there. Size is 1 3/4 x 3/4 inch.

The world is still in an uproar and it feels a little strange. Perhaps I need to get out a little more. Of course, I say that and tomorrow I will be out all day and all evening so I will be so ready for my studio on Thursday. Girls night...going to Stevie Wonder...and dinner. I am actually going to a painting group tomorrow morning also so ... new things! Taking my pastels instead of watercolor.

Differences.....

Trying to work and keep abreast of the news.

Very sad that so many people seem to believe the Iranians are not like us. Only some of us have empathy in this situation. I feel so frightened for the people who have spirit enough to fight for their rights.

Even my dreams are restless and full of frustration.

working ...

I am taking a break to jot a few things down and show what I made for my friend Jeannie's  birthday. Our birthdays are the same and I am lucky it makes it easy to remember. Actually, I'm just very lucky she is such a close friend. You know, a special person. 

I did get this idea from a project in a book and although I feel very iffy about constructing other's ideas I also know that until I put my own spin on this I would not sell them and I always say they are Sherri Haab's design. The artichoke is special to us because I am not only set back in time to my family making the most incredible Italian style artichokes but I was privileged to be included when Jeannie's  father in law made the most delicious ones many years ago, at a very special get together that was so much fun. I wish for everyone that they have a friend that is always there and makes them laugh. We laugh when we hear each other's voice on the phone. How great is that!   I think she will be thrilled by this little gift. 

I am constantly ordering more metal clay so I finally ordered two large packages and hope it lasts for a while. I love this process still and I am making beads again and incorporating them into my work so I am busy and happy.

design...and decisions

Earlier I posted a fine silver pendant that I finished this week and then I thought...ok, it is a great shape, let's try it with a beautiful glass bead with a long silhouette and also make it young and current looking instead of just pretty. This is what I came up with and those of you who help me so much with your opinions, please feel free to do so. I am designing more things of this type and I really believe they add a little of the mixed look that I have always loved and is becoming well loved by all.

Through the viewfinder photography .....

It's so very, very nice when you are noticed and I was very happy to have Spearmint Baby ask me about my Children's Room series of TTV's. Shari Engleson ' site is a wonderful source for all things special for baby. Take a look.

Here is that series Children's Rooms and they are available in my Etsy store  . Just convo me.

I should expound on that series because i love the old fashioned look when it involves toys and the joys of childhood. The most fun of all to create.

This is my favorite one but not most people's. I don't even know why I love it so except it sets me back in time.

it's all about the finish.....

One thing is for sure. Until you actually work with metal clay it is very difficult to know exactly how you are doing as far as finishing and designing work. The few pieces I did last week have become guinea pigs and that is good because now they are much better. I have resanded, refired and worked on them the hard way.....after firing them. Believe me ...not the way to accomplish the best in a decent amount of time.  Also, because of them,  the pendant I just finished is much better in every way. The photos are of the front and back, 1 1/4 x 3/4's of an inch. Almost all the work was done in the greenware state so that I only had to soft burnish with my brass brush after firing. What a difference it made! I think reading Barbara Becker Simons book more and more has made me very aware of how important "the eagle eye", as Barbara puts it, really is,  for a great finish.

I also refinished my hinged pendant and it is much better but it took forever and will never be perfect.  The door is gold leaf on  polmer clay. I'm not sure if I like it better without the colored door??

This week has flown by.......

It is Friday night and I have been in my studio all week except for two shopping trips (my least favorite thing) and this is what I have to show for it.

First of all I decided the earrings I made were boring so I covered the fired pieces with paste type and used the syringe for some very loose squiggles. I think what I came up with is younger and they are a great  mother's day gift for my daughter from her daughter. Fine silver and pearls. Then,

 after watching Hadar Jacobson, so generously,  on her video do a hinged pendant I was determined to do something similar in type so I have these... 

Eventually, there will be a colored and gold toned door in the front of the pendant and I am thrilled with how they came out. I do not have my finishing down yet but now that I see how

 every little mark shows I will work on that. 

I am amazed at the generosity of the metal clay community. They have made so much information so very easy to find and that makes it possible to learn and practice a lot on your own. 

Tomorrow King Tut exhibit and then,  on Sunday, some weekend fun with my girls, tea at the Botanical Gardens..daughters and grandchild. A nice, actually perfect, Mother's Day!

 

I also had to change the little charms...The Sakura opaque pens work beautifully on fine silver and I smudged the star a little with alcohol. Happy with those now.