They're all coming with me.....Tucson bound.

Anyone going to Tucson? I'll be at The Windmill Inn, come on up and say Hello.

I am close to being ready and organized. It always feels so good to have been in thorough chaos,like a whirling dervish, for an extended period of time, and then to be able to make sense out of all of the results.

As of right now all of my orders are caught up. If you place one between now and February 14 I will fill it upon returning! I hope everybody finds some time for some fun, I'm planning on it!

Fine Results.....

It's always a joy when things go better than planned! It has been a fruitful time, both in my mind and studio. I had a dream the other night where I constructed a huge mobile. Since, I have been trying to determine what would be the most appropriate material for the job, glue, gut, resin? Gemstones, glass, felt?

Madly making, packaging, organizing in an effort to be the most efficient I can be....a couple more days and I'm off to Tucson.

Evelyn Glennie...

My Luddite tendencies have foiled me again. I was trying to introduce you to a woman by the name of Evelyn Glennie, my goal was to download and add a link to a little video....wraanck, can't do it. So, if you are of a mind to do a little research...google can help you out! I watched a documentary on her last night, she's an inspiration ,doing some really cool work as a near deaf percussionist, the film took you to a great large empty factory building in Northern Germany where she and another man played music, made noise and reveled in the 5 second echo. I'm thinking that the real excitement in the video comes about due to the melding of sensory information that we encounter daily, in Evelyn's case she is just much more aware of it and in the making of the film gives us cause to look at it all a little differently, excellent!

I'm in the 'head down' mode of preparing for the Tucson Gem show, looking forward to my time in a more forgiving climate and to spending time with friends!

Happy Birthday Meesh!

It's Michele Goldstein's Birthday!!!!!

Lots and lots of work is being accomplished towards my trip to Tucson. Kits in many colors resulting in many and varied objects, these bracelets included!

I am in awe and wonder of many things, not the least of which is the healing beauty of the creative process. Another day in front of me, the possibilities endless.

Three new books on tape, doesn't get any better than this. Well, a few extra degrees towards 70 would be perfect but my wood stove creates a cozy enough space!

My Grandfathers Illustrations...

While at my brothers last week he told me how I could look up some of my grandfathers illustrations on ebay, how cool is that? from 1925 to 1945 he illustrated for many magazines including McCalls, Saturday Evening Post, and Colliers, here is one...there were lots of serial novels like this one. What a sweet, sweet man he was.

Such A Busy Time!

The Blashkas, who else?

Time well spent with old friends, good food, good company, great reminders regarding the importance of keeping current and taking the time to nurture the relationships that enrich, support and sustain us, thank you ladies for taking the time out to join us on Saturday!

Today was another day well spent. My eldest daughter and her friend Aly had me as their tutor towards the making of handbound journals which they will fill with the efforts of their labors over the next couple of weeks. They are embarking on an independent study project where they are surveying strangers to gather an oral history surrounding coffee shop haunts in Manhatten, Boston and rural MA. Oh to be 17!

Time Spent With Friends.....

I spent Thursday with my longtime, font of all knowledge and generous friend, Louise. She is in the process of distributing her mothers sewing notions, threads, fabrics, etc. I was the lucky recipient of threads, many, many threads, this beautiful box included. Always makes me think "they just don't do it like they used to", a sign of getting old? The wooden spools, the hand wrapped bundles, the 15 cent price tags!

Many of us are in the position to take on the distribution of our parents belongings, do we give in to our hoarders instinct or do we let it go and pass it on? My folks are currently in the midst of their final move, to a smaller place, culling through almost 80 years of acquisition.

The weather holds us hostage....again

As the weather dictates whether and when we come and go I've been working on my own botanical garden. This allusion to growing forms gives me endless inspiration, I like to think about what might emerge.

It's been a busy week, the delay in D.C. has compounded my time, add to that a computer glitch, a buying trip to Providence, taking our daughter to look at two schools and gearing up for a workshop here tomorrow....it equals go, go ,go.

A two hour delay for the children's school opening this morning gives me some time, bonus! May you be granted two extra hours today!

Took a Little Side trip....

While my rural home was getting blasted with snow I decided to stay in D.C. for an extra day and explore the Smithsonian, an excellent choice. I covered the Renwick gallery where my friend Beth Lipman was well represented with a huge piece on display and I moved on down to the Sackler~Freer galleries, onto the Hirshorn, Native American and Botanical gardens where I spent a few hours of highly regenerative time, the climate, warm and moist with such happy specimens!

A big thank you to The Baltimore Bead Society for a great show and thanks to the buyers who came out aplenty!

Pods and Bones.......

Really out of here... early in the A.M. ~plenty of organization took place today as I rerouted suitcases full of 'craft show' accouterments and replaced them with 'bead show' paraphernalia.

Be back Monday!

Off to Baltimore....

Any one going to the Baltimore Bead Society Show In Colombia, MD this weekend? Be there or be square is what I say! I'll be there with a nice variety of inventory including many new shawl pins/hair sticks.

One of the great things about my job is that I get to travel around and sometimes my travels take me close to family and friends. This trip to Maryland brings me close enough to stay with my eldest brother Michael who will turn 58 tomorrow so we will have a nice chance to celebrate!

So.... we have gone from the deep freeze of last week to unseasonably warm temps. which turns my world into mud city. It felt so good yesterday to actually have the sun warm on my face.

I'm off to assemble some more earrings....

No better combination....

....than an uninterrupted day at the torch and a book on tape. I'd rather do this than most anything else. My tastes are eclectic and I am as apt to listen to fiction as I am to non fiction, I'll intersperse some classics in with some totally non challenging entertainment, one of my library choices yesterday was 'Cell' by Stephen King.....he can certainly tell a story, and stretch and bend your mind. Not where my tastes usually lie but when I 'bite' I thoroughly enjoy it!

Scallop Eyes

Has anyone ever gone scalloping? Both lobstering and fishing for scallops offer the same type of surprises. When you either haul back the drags or traps you are apt to have any number of exciting bounty inside...crabs, fish, lobsters and in the case of the scallops....if their shells are slightly open...you can see a row of dichroic blue green eyes all along the rim amidst a moving ruffle, fabulous.

These fabulous creatures offer up their bounty on a daily basis. It feels good to collect and then eat their pure protein. They are an interesting collection of breeds, the Araucanas lay a light blue-green egg, daily! Imagine.

The Menagerie

It's so touching,the absolute vulnerability of a young animal. This sweet addition to our home plays until it drops, the most fun that we have had in a long time! Does anyone have a kitten AND a clothes rack? Zilla's jungle gym.

Flame on Olive!

I've got the felting bug in a big way lately, it has been a good way to stay productive while I work inside where the family is apt to be and where it is definitely warmer than the studio....temperatures are climbing, this makes me happy. Tomorrow will mean a return to the torch.

This flame scarf is the first in a series, exciting! I love the idea of juxtaposing an idea (Flame, fire) with a totally incompatible series of motions and methods, water and wool.

My version of 'bear skin rug'!

These pictures are the end result of the days efforts in front of the wood stove, I must have been considering some kind of hibernation outfit......

Oh my, but it is COLD outside.....

11 degrees below zero...it's just too cold to even try to warm up the studio this morning, instead I brought a table inside and will set it up in front of the woodstove so that I can create a felted scarf....I am excited about an idea, if it turns out like I'd like it to I will post a picture later.