Where these favorite things lead me....

The eggs lead to larvae which leads to explosives.

Sort of like the inside of my brain this morning as my ADD really gets rolling. I leave tomorrow EARLY AM to head for Las Vegas, I'll spend three nights, hopefully with my friend of 45 years! Nothing like last minute decisions. Tomorrow evening there will be the Saul Bell awards dinner, followed Sunday by a photo shoot of all of the winners to be used in next years ad campaign. Also going on in L.V. is the Wholesale Crafts show, I'll plan to stop in as well as sniff out sequins in the land of glitz.

Tuesday I head right to Milwaukee where I will meet up with so many of my friends and acquaintances to laugh, teach and sell things at the annual Bead and Button show. Always a good time.

If you place an order I won't get to it until after June 8. Thanks for your patience.

My favorite things.......

Yesterday was just great, from early morning as I headed into Needham to meet up with a powerful group of women artists..... where we showed and told and talked of our creative motivation and examples of our inspiration, until the evening. These were some of the topics of the day. In my case the forms that continually pop up are eggs, seeds, pods, shells. Simple forms that house potential....with a hint of mystery.

Mid afternoon I headed into Lexington and met up with my dear friend Plum. We had an early dinner prior to gathering at The Lexington Center for Crafts where I was scheduled to give a talk on essentially the same topic. Notions, we all have them. Some are grounded in experience and reality and some are just bizarre accumulations of percieived untruths. The title of my slideshow was "Evolution of an Idea: Illustrating a Notion" which is really a survey of the last 25 years of my artmaking. In thinking of this presentation I was able to identify some of the common threads that permeate my mind and work. My reception was touching, many people showed up and they had comments and thoughtful questions, many people went home with a new creation in their pocket, or around their neck. Many thanks go out to Bead Designer International and all of the people and the efforts that go into keeping a society of like minded people together! Thank you.

I am thinking ahead. For all of you Pacific Nortwest people. I will not be exhibiting at the Puget Sound Bead Festival this year but will be in your area a few weeks earlier than that. I am scheduled to teach 3 classes and have a trunk show at the new Beads and Beyond/Pacific Quiltworks newly combined superstore! I'll be teaching classes in Bronze clay, Coloring Metals and an Embellished Felt Brooch class. I would love to see you there.

Green, the color of the season.

Everything is GREEN. Growing , growing, growing. My fertile ground is working overtime. I am always amazed at how quickly we go from stark to lush.

Inside as well as outside.

Michael and Bradley

An addition to this mornings' post. While I was away, Bradley, from The Farm School came down with his two plow horses and they extended the garden with the help of these two great animals, so sorry to have missed it, just glad that there was a photographer who thought to capture the moment!

A new therapy to me.

My husband went out to the bee hive this morning and brought one of our honey bees into the living room and offered to have him sting me, we lined him up with the most uncomfortable part of my thumb and turned him loose. I have never been in a situation where I was 'ready' for a bee to sting me, kind of a trip, exhilarating in a queer way. I am willing to give this a go.

while looking through my iphoto library.....

It is always interesting to see how your children view things. These two pictures were downloaded to my iphoto program and I came across them. Olive took them, I really think that they are great, the composition, exquisite.

Awoke, wishing I had a sfogliatelle....

Sfogliatelle

I must be feeling better. After 9 days of misery following a most brutal tooth extraction I finally am THINKING about something to eat other than yogurt, hummus, eggs. Sfogliatelle are one of my all time favorite foods, the look, the texture, the nuance. It seems as though every Italian bakery has their own recipe, with huge variation in flavor. Bostons' North End had a particularly great version at the Modern Pastry. In Northampton, MA, La Forentina Pastry Shop has a great one also, though they only make them on the weekend....hmmm, weekend is near!

I guess that I need fuel to gather together my wits, my kits, and a bunch of good energy to head to Studio Beads next week for a full week of fun, a two day trunk show followed by four classes, won't you come by?

newly in command.

This Rooster has 'stepped down'.



After a winters worth of literally being cooped up, the roosters have undergone a shift in command. The white 'Mr. Chicken' is now in charge! They have been SO happy to be out of doors, taking dirt baths and chewing up bugs, the bad part is they have taken to having fun in the woods, makes it hard to round them up at the end of the day. Always a concern is the looming coyotes.

Update: Michael got some new fencing so they can frolic until dark in relative safety!