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Sunday, October 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Hooked On Wire 2009
I just returned from teaching at the Hooked On Wire Retreat. What a blast! The students were great, the projects were great, the hotel was great....pretty great time! I will be taking pictures this week of my demo samples. But for now, here is one.
One of the perks of this retreat is all the project are brand new. So as instructors, we have to come up with a new project and then teach it to 30-48 people without having ever taught it.....hummmm, sometimes that doesn't go so well. But this weekend, it went great. As I demo'ed I came up with more and more ideas. The room was buzzing with creativity.
I wil be teaching the bracelet at Bead Fest Santa Fe at the end of March, and as a 7 hour workshop at the Bead&Button Show in the beginning of June. I will also be teaching this pendant (this exact pendant in this picture) at the Bead&Button Show as a 3 hour class.
Thanks to all the lovely ladies (and lovely David!) who came to the retreat this year. I hope you had as much fun as I did :)
One of the perks of this retreat is all the project are brand new. So as instructors, we have to come up with a new project and then teach it to 30-48 people without having ever taught it.....hummmm, sometimes that doesn't go so well. But this weekend, it went great. As I demo'ed I came up with more and more ideas. The room was buzzing with creativity.
I wil be teaching the bracelet at Bead Fest Santa Fe at the end of March, and as a 7 hour workshop at the Bead&Button Show in the beginning of June. I will also be teaching this pendant (this exact pendant in this picture) at the Bead&Button Show as a 3 hour class.
Thanks to all the lovely ladies (and lovely David!) who came to the retreat this year. I hope you had as much fun as I did :)
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Felt like sooooo long ago?
There are chapters in my life where the years just kinda come and go. Yeah, there is always good news and bad news and kids growing and changing and such but all in all, pretty smooth sailing. Well today I realized that it has been exactly one year since my first Thyroid surgery and it has me reflecting on the passing of this year. This has not been an easy year. Was it really just a year ago? Feels like longer. I am not writing here to blab about the details but more to explore this whole thing called time.
How often do you recall an event in the past and say "man, that seems like ages ago" or "seems like just yesterday"? So here's my question; if there are positive or negative feelings associated with an event, do those feelings define the perceived passage of time? My first surgery, and all the hell that came with it, seems like waaaaay longer than a year ago. My wedding feels like "just yesterday" but maybe that is because it was a blast and I wish I was still there. I certainly don't feel like I can possibly have a 6.5 and 9 year old. Seems like their births and toddler hoods truly were just yesterday. Watching my step dad take his last breath seems like forever ago, yet it was just in March. Maybe the bad and yucky things feel like forever ago, and the positive things feel more recent.
Hummm, not sure if I am coming up with a proper theory here. I will sit on it.
This is the kinda stuff that keeps me up at night pondering. I tend to get hung up on the stuff that has no explanation, go figure!
How often do you recall an event in the past and say "man, that seems like ages ago" or "seems like just yesterday"? So here's my question; if there are positive or negative feelings associated with an event, do those feelings define the perceived passage of time? My first surgery, and all the hell that came with it, seems like waaaaay longer than a year ago. My wedding feels like "just yesterday" but maybe that is because it was a blast and I wish I was still there. I certainly don't feel like I can possibly have a 6.5 and 9 year old. Seems like their births and toddler hoods truly were just yesterday. Watching my step dad take his last breath seems like forever ago, yet it was just in March. Maybe the bad and yucky things feel like forever ago, and the positive things feel more recent.
Hummm, not sure if I am coming up with a proper theory here. I will sit on it.
This is the kinda stuff that keeps me up at night pondering. I tend to get hung up on the stuff that has no explanation, go figure!
New art....i'm a big girl now
We recently bought a new painting. It is the most expensive piece of art I have ever bought and well, that kinda makes me feel like a grown up.
My daughter Izzy attends an art class on Saturdays to learn to paint oil on canvas. This piece was painted by her amazing art teacher, Bernard Beneito. He is this wonderful gentleman from France who is highly influenced by various cultures, Blues Music and New Orleans. This painting depicts the beloved Marianne, a national emblem of France, relaxing over Paris. This is one of Bernards very favorite pieces and I am quite proud to have it on my wall.
Izzy is on her 12th painting. Bernard has been trying to push her to paint people. He knows she is ready but she has been reluctant. He finally got through to her a few weeks ago and she is 3 weeks into this painting. Here she is working on her 2nd layer. I am gonna need a bigger house soon with more wall space!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Viva la Mexico
A few weeks ago, I returned from a most excellent trip. Me and my daughters, my mom and one of my sisters went to Cabo and stayed at the Dreams Resort. Yep, all girls.... girls gone wild....not so much. More like girls go relax and read and swim and eat! If that is wild, then we were out of control.
It was a great trip. My mom and sister are both amazing women who's company I cherish. It was so nice to spend so much time with my kids, especially in an environment that was so fun for them. Lucy honed her swimming skills and Izzy honed her swim up to the bar and order a drink skills (she was quite proud of her independence). I got a lot of sleep...a lot...much needed. And I got a bunch of work done on my book. I know, lame, I brought my computer and worked. It actually worked out great because I had to bring the girls inside for at least a few hours each day (so they didn't melt), so I worked then and after they went to sleep.
It was really beautiful. The first two nights hosted a full moon. The moon rose over the horizon each night like a fireball, bright red.
My favorite picture from the trip is this one of Lucy checking out the ocean from our balcony. The pose, the colors, the sassy suit....I love it!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
I can feel it....it's gonna explode....
Do you ever get that feeling that if you don't sit in your studio and make some jewelry (or create whatever it is that floats your boat) you are going to explode? I have that feeling right now....I have been so inspired lately and it's gotta squirgle (a Lucy word) it's way on out soon. When I am done writing this book (by the end of next week) I have a serious hot date with my studio. I need a nice chunk of alone time with a mess o' wire and some pliers.
What's with this recent surge of inspiration? Is it the simple things in life, or is it the big "in your face" stuff? Is it the weather, is it the Renegade Craft fair I went to last weekend, is it Izzy's messy hair, is it Paul's guitar, is it the music in the park, is it my new shoes, is it the smile on my moms face, is it my bike rides, is it the plethora of apricots in my yard or the nearly ripe tomatoes? Perhaps it's a pinch of each, combined and stirred together. Is it from a general feeling, or an exposure to beauty and color.....can ya pin it down? Can ya put a finger on what lights that fire? I hope not, because if you can clearly define it, you will try too hard to chase it or artificially recreate it. I am happy to have it pop in when it wants, when it finds a clear and appropriate passage. And when it is absent I will wait, and be, and observe. Will it wait for me?
It sure would be nice, though, if inspiration would strike when you aren't completely busy with something else....I know, I know, don't push it, be still. In fact, I will stop questioning it and just be grateful ;)
What's with this recent surge of inspiration? Is it the simple things in life, or is it the big "in your face" stuff? Is it the weather, is it the Renegade Craft fair I went to last weekend, is it Izzy's messy hair, is it Paul's guitar, is it the music in the park, is it my new shoes, is it the smile on my moms face, is it my bike rides, is it the plethora of apricots in my yard or the nearly ripe tomatoes? Perhaps it's a pinch of each, combined and stirred together. Is it from a general feeling, or an exposure to beauty and color.....can ya pin it down? Can ya put a finger on what lights that fire? I hope not, because if you can clearly define it, you will try too hard to chase it or artificially recreate it. I am happy to have it pop in when it wants, when it finds a clear and appropriate passage. And when it is absent I will wait, and be, and observe. Will it wait for me?
It sure would be nice, though, if inspiration would strike when you aren't completely busy with something else....I know, I know, don't push it, be still. In fact, I will stop questioning it and just be grateful ;)
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