pondering

I wasn't sure if I was going to write about this, but I've had some time to process things and  I have decided to share it. 

This past week I have been getting ready for Bead and Button. Mostly through a benadryl induced fog, after I broke out in mystery hives. 

I had to get work done for the show, but it was slow going and thank goodness a lot of what I do doesn't require much more skill then a helper monkey, so I plodded through. 

It was perhaps this time spent focusing on specific things I needed to accomplish that made me able to  move forward. 

A few weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that someone was selling a type of beads on Etsy that looked like mine. So much like mine that at first I wondered if they were perhaps mine, but they were not.  They just looked so incredibly close to mine that I could have been fooled. 

That was not the only thing that threw me. I have known this bead maker for years. I like her, she is a good person and someone I  would call a friend. 

So  I sent her a email about it, I was not angry, I was more confused and knocked off kilter more then anything. She sent a thoughtful response.  We did not see eye to eye on this particular issue and things were left as they had stood before. And I thought about it for a long time.  I thought about energy I have and how I wanted to spend it. I decided that I would move on and not dwell.  I can't control what other people do and for better or worse I am responsible only for what I do. 

So I am focused on moving forward, moving my work forward and finding new ways to do what I do. 

It so  much more exciting  and liberating then worrying about what other people do

 

Tick Tock

There are about 20 days before I head out to Bead and Button. It reminds me of the line from A Tale Of Two Cities, "It was the worst of times, it was the best of times."I am always a complete basket case in days leading up to it. There is always so much I need to get done and never enough hours. I dread the stress and I tend to crumble and get stabby. I have to remember not to let my prescriptions run out or  things around here won't be pretty.

  On the other hand, the show is so much more then just a bead show. It is still exciting after all these years.  I get to see friends and colleagues and people I have crushes on when I am there. It is like no other event that I go to. Not to mention the BEADS, no I haven't forgotten about the beads, those sparkly balls that drive otherwise rational people to do mad things. There are always the beads. More beads then a person can imagine in one place.

I am trying to manage my time (shut up) and be organized (shut up and remember what I said about getting stabby). I do try to make every year better then the one before in terms of my stock and display and always new items.

And just to add a little fun to my life, I have also been working for a show at the Michigan Artists Gallery in Suttons Bay, MI. Its called "The Mighty Miniature Show" with no work over 7" tall. 

I have 8 pieces in this show and I am very excited about it. It is one of the nicest galleries in Michigan, and I'm not just saying that.

These are some of the pieces I made for the miniature show. They are 4 1/2" X 3" and I am very pleased with my work.  Its always exciting to work within a challenge and stretch your inspirational bones a little further then you think you can.

It will be interesting to see how and where this direction creeps in to my beads, as I'm sure it will. Everything is connected, you just don't always know where the connections are until you trip over them. I'm hoping it will be a direction that surprises me. You never really know how these things will turn out. The universe has always been a trickster. I never can tell what it has up its sleeve.

Arlo has a blocky head

Happy Earth Day to you!

It is Earth Day today.  I like the earth, I like dirt. I like playing with mud in the form of clay. 

Earth Day has been around since 1970. It was started by Gaylord Nelson, a senator from WI. 

It was a response to a massive oil spill in California the previous year. He wanted to raise awareness of the effects crapping on our mother earth with air and water pollution.

The earth has been very good to me. In a very direct way, almost everything I make comes from the earth. I have to admit I take our Mother for granted more often then not. That is one reason why I a profoundly thankful for artists like Friedensreich Hundertwasser.

He was born Friedrich Stowasser  in Vienna in 1928, and  later changed his name to  Friedensreich Hundertwasser which means  Peace-Kingdom Hundred-Water.

I first saw his work in the 1980s. I knew nothing of him and his life but I was drawn into the energy his work (called straight lines "the devil's tools"). 

The more I found out about him the more wonderful his work became. 

He was as much an environmental activist as an artist. These things were so intertwined that one cannot be separated from the other.

Not only did he paint with genius and invention, he also approached architecture and philosophy with the same avant-garde concepts. 

He designed houses that not only incorporated nature, but they were in fact so intertwined that you could not separate one from another.

Roof tops on building gave back the space they occupied on the land. 

Apartment buildings had "tree tenants"

where trees literally grew out of the windows.

He also believed that people in rented apartments had the right to paint around their windows as far as they could reach with a long handled brush, and design of their choosing to express their uniqueness as individuals.

He fought against the homogenization  of people, of architecture  and of thought 

He lived a life that celebrated nature through his art.

Its been over 40 years since Earth Day was founded  and our turds of pollution  have just gotten bigger and messier. Our Mother must be really disappointed in us.  

As Hundertwasser reminded us  : 

YOU ARE A GUEST OF NATURE 

BEHAVE

For more of his work check out http://www.hundertwasser.com/

Happy Earth Day. To Everyone.  Lets celebrate.

I See Pips!

                                      

                                                                          Yay! It is spring.

 For reals. 

 There is something so life affirming hearing the birds chatter after the silence of winter.  Winter is  a lot like depression, when you are in the middle of it, you feel like it will never come to an end. 

I walk outside and I  see pips!  It's not like seeing dead people or Gladys Knight. Don't worry I'm not hallucinating this time.  They are little and green and poke out of the ground. They look  strong and serious on a mission like nothing can stop them. They will grow damn it! And don't get in their way.

  pip: 3. A rootstock of certain flowering plants, especially the lily of the valley

There are pips, there are buds even some flowers are brave enough to bloom.

You feel  a magic about the newness of everything even if you have seen it for the last 40-some  years. Even cleaning up the remains of winter dog poop in the yard has a merry quality to it.

I admit I may be exaggerating a little on the poop thing.

                                     

But as  the character of  sunlight changes from winter to the shimmer of spring something happens to people. It becomes easier to be hopeful and burdens feel lighter.The fertile energy of the earth makes me want to celebrate. I cant stop all the creative ideas that are popping up in my head. Sort of like my own little brain pips.

Happy Spring Everybody!

                                                    

Waiting for the magic

                                            

Its hard to believe its  a month since my last post.

I don't have a lot to show for the month.  I have been working, but mostly feeling like banging my head against  wall.  I have an idea in my head that just doesn't come out in my hands or my clay.  There have been a lot of tests  and disappointments upon opening the kiln. Nothing has been quite right.  The magic isn't there.

If I would stick to what I know I'd be so much more productive but so much less interesting.

Now I am starting to panic with deadlines approaching. I have very little work completed and a lot of  ugly beads that will ends up in my flower bed.  (Thats where ugly beads go to die)

I also have been sick for the last couple of weeks with a sinus/bronchitis  thing. Very bad timing. 

I have a show this weekend, Royal Oak Artists Market, and am scrambling to get work done in between the coughing fits. 

I also am participating for the first time in the Ann Arbor Art Association's 30x30 show where artists make 30 works in 30 days and sell them at  a special event.  I am excited about this show because its pushing me to work and think differently and that might just be the magic spark I am looking for.

Rust Never Sleeps But I Do

rusty heart earrings on Etsy

Rust never sleeps, but I do, except when my daughter decides to get in bed with me because she woke up early and is bored.  For some reason she believes she is doing me a kindness by waking me first thing on a weekend morning. I'd rather sleep. I'd actually rather sleep then do just about anything when it is cold and gray. Even with better living through  chemistry I still find winter turns me into a sloth. Or maybe I am really am a fancy species of bear meant to hibernate for months and come out when things start to turn green again. Or maybe I am actually not from this planet and where I come from we are not equipped to go through winter. I do not know. I would just rather be in bed under the blankets with a farting dog to keep me warm.

It's the end of January in Michigan which means things are going to feel forlorn for a few more months. The sun may occasionally  come out to tease us. I think it does this to piss me off by reminding me of what I am missing. Haha very funny. Just because someone is the center of the universe  it does not make them  nice.  Or maybe it's the clouds that are bitches and the sun is just minding its own business.

I could blame the clouds. 

For the most part its cold and gray and damp. Cold and gray and lots of rust. So I try to find beauty in things that are not pretty. You have to do that to live through these winters.

That and lots of 3 buck chuck.

Good Riddence Rotten Rabbit!

The first day of 2012 has been crazy windy outside. I half expect to see a cow blowing  by the window. Or maybe in my hood a rat would be more likely.

But is all good. This wind is blowing away the last of the bad juju from 2011. There was a lot of bad juju to blow away.  2011 was the  year  of the rabbit. I find it hard to imagine a little bunny  having such a nasty streak.  But I suppose there must be very bad rabbits. 

I will be the first to admit not everything that happened in 2011 was bad, as a matter of fact for every hard thing thrown my way I was able to find some goodness.

When people  in my life chose drama over reason, it allowed me to see them for what they really were instead of what I wanted them to be. Seeing clearly is a gift, even when the picture isn't as petty as you'd like.

When my husband and I walked away from our 25 yr. involvement in a large holiday show, rather then go along with someone's deceitfulness and manipulation, we walked away from a large part of our yearly income without any plan B. But we stood together and hopefully made an impression on our 10 year old daughter that right thing to do isn't always the easy thing to do. And we found out  that real friends have your back even when it's not the safest thing. 

When I lost my beloved Buster after 13 years of being best friends, people reached out with so much kindness and sympathy that I knew I was not alone in my grief.

And everything that happened this year made me stronger  and I hope wiser.

January 23 starts the Chinese year of the dragon.  The dragon is sacred, and symbolizes strength, luck and new beginnings.  That sounds pretty good to me.

Sunday Morning Cup of Coffee

This morning I am using the same mug I used in my last Sunday morning post. Maybe  its because the shape is familiar and comforting in my hands.  These last few weeks I have been more then a little bit out of sorts.
A few weeks ago I lost my best friend, my studio assistant, my companion of 13 years, Buster. 
He was smart and sassy and funny.
He was never far from my side as I created things, as I ate, as I slept.
I feel his absence deeply even with my two other dogs around me, as I sit at my desk and work, getting ready for Cyber Monday. It seems unreal that the world keeps turning without him by my side.

Sunday Morning Cup of Coffee

This Sunday's coffee mug is by my friend Lavinia  of Alma Pottery.

As you can see from this picture my bead table is full of projects. I have deadlines for the holidays and I have been trying to keep up.  I should do another Desk Disaster Friday post. It's been a while.

This Holiday season is a little different for me then seasons past. I am no longer doing a big show that I was associated with for more then 20 years. They chose to be scoundrels, so I chose to leave the show.

I may be a hooligan, but never a scoundrel.

So his year I am filling galleries  and will concentrate on website and etsy to get me through the season.

Change is good. Change is exciting. I used to be afraid of change in my life, but now I embrace it.

Even change that comes painfully and at a cost can bring you to new exciting possibilities.

I wonder what it feels like to be a caterpillar. Do they know what is in store for them, or are they taken by surprise? Do they embrace the change or do they fear and resent it? Do they even know that anything is happening?

Maybe they look forward to it like a kid looks forward to getting his drivers license?  Is it a rite of passage? Do the other caterpillars throw a party?

Is the butterfly scared when it comes out from the cocoon, or is it excited to feel its wings?

I am rambling, but if I ever come back as a caterpillar  I will blog about it.