new.

new year, near outlook, new hope.

studio in morning

 When they say 'follow your passion' I am sometimes confused. All I know is that when I sit down to operate/play/reconfigure seed pods I feel as though all is right with the world, I am where I should be and that all will be well.

 It was 1985 when I went back to school. 10 years in the fish business had taken its toll, getting up at 3:30 to make art before I went to filet fish was clearing the way towards realizing that art making was where I found a center, a glimpse at joy.

 A freshman at MassArt, 30 years old, taking core classes; my first and most rudimentary stab at interpreting the pod form. 26 years later I am still interpreting the pod.

 I am so excited about the trajectory of my ideas, what will happen, where will this go? These questions are often met with resistance, fear, trepidation. For whatever reason I am peaceful with the thoughts and knowledge that all will be well. I'll take it, gratefully.

 I am preparing at different levels for different things, some are not to be shared just yet, other things need a 'shout out'. My next outing takes me to Tucson, my yearly pilgrimmage. This year brings a new venue, I will be teaching a class with Anne Mitchell in 'Coloring and Connecting Metals; Filling the Void' a proven fun and informative experience as well as exhibiting at the To Bead True Blue show at the Doubletree, Reid Park. I hope to see many of you there! We still have spots in the class, if you are interested or know of anyone who might be, the link to Anne will take you to sign up.

 As I go through my life I am often conflicted. I have written about this before, the notion of living to report or living to experience, they feel different to me. How I frame my experience in the moment is rooted in the context of my perception. In the post office yesterday it was certainly a 'live to report' moment as I asked the employee to please use his elbow to cover his cough vs. his palm where he spread his germs to the whole world. His response was, 'well, everyone coughs at me all day long', this is a baseline strategy of many, I fear, and not just with regard to spreading germs. Let us rise above this angry default and 'cover our coughs with our elbows', using this as a metaphor for protecting the good and not trashing that which we are mad at. Soap Box over.