Ornaments~Pendants?

so much fun is being had in my studio!!!!

Who will be in Texas?

Let's start the year off right! Come explore a whole new material.

I will be at Heritage Glass in Texas January 9,10 and 11. The 9th and 10th will be single day classes each will be slightly different, both an introduction to Borosilicate glass. The Saturday class still has open seats. If you have the time and inclination go to Mollys site and sign up! I seldom teach glass classes so if you are in the area or want an introduction to this fine material , come join us!

Sunday will be an overview of the many ways that you can manipulate wool fleece into a sculptural vehicle, we will use several wet felting techniques and then needle felt the surface for maximum control. Results varying according to students motivations!

It was fun for awhile.....

The ice encapsulated my world.

And kept electricity at bay on and off...and the internet up until now was unavailable.

It is amazing what a critical and particular temperature can do. As affected as we were there are so many people that have been affected much more significantly. My friend Louise will be w/o electricity at least until Thursday, she said that 5 utility poles were down on her road. Every tree had lost at least 1 branch.

As I watched the rain come down and freeze all around I knew we were in for trouble but I also knew that if conditions were shifted ever so slightly the ice would have been thicker and more damaging.

now I try to get back 'in the groove'. My email program has gone kaput. frustrating.

Think I'll go to the movies to see 'Slumdog Millionaire"......AGAIN, catch it if you can, really.

The weather will always win.

Weather conditions here in the northeast are less than ideal. Fun though. went to the sweet party next door last night as the storm started to pick up a pattern and awoke to the trees covered in ice, occasionally dropping their load on the house making way for more. A weather day with no power! All bets are off when your day is altered so drastically. Can't tell you how many times I flipped a dead switch or thought about what I was going to do next only to be foiled with the reality of the situation. Michael and I have trundled off to gather up water, grab a Mellita so there is coffee in the morning and log on for a few minutes.

The candles are out and will be accessible upon returning home. It might be awhile before we get power again. There were many trees down and wires across roads, etc.

For today I've thoroughly enjoyed the 'interruption' in my daily, 'take it for granted' world.

I had a lovely time yesterday....

Yesterday I had visitors...out in my studio, not a frequent event. I so enjoyed sharing my space with two fabulous and like minded artists. Soni said to me when I asked her if she had trouble reconciling the 'state of whirlwind' that accompanies a particularly fertile and productive time, she said, 'no, I just use a yardstick and push back the margins so I can keep on working'. This was referring to the mountains and piles that accrue as I (we) ransack my (our) space(s) to pull out more, different, and varied materials!

As different and separate as I sometimes feel it is touching to realize that we as artists face a unique set of challenges, over and over I hear , 'if I can't see it I forget that I have it to work with'. So, The piles get higher, they start to tumble and I need to remind myself to say... "so what"!, and clean up when that need outweighs the need to create.

This picture is one in a series of ornaments or pendants that I am making, what fun. This one will come along this evening as we go to a holiday party and will live on our neighbors tree.

When you can't get what you want.....

I can't stop messing with my images. In trying to do something I have been doing a whole lot of nothing other than gathering pleasure with the alteration of some images. Simple pasttimes...just my speed.

I'm always amazed....

The array of wonder that overtakes me when I get lost in the vastness on the internet. So cool.

When limitations prevail......

Doesn't it seem as though when limitations strike you just want to use what is being limited???? I am speaking of my hands.....
when they are the sorest and I wonder what I am going to do about their limited mobility I am flooded with ideas, the more intricate, the more exciting! Anybody out there with a successful plan, strategy, solution to arthritic thumbs?

On a more hopeful note......and an exciting prospect...these pictures are just one possibility in the realm of infinite possibilities of what you might choose to do in the class that Anne Mitchell and I have cooked up in Tucson, with two dates surrounding the Whole Bead Show. This link will take you right to a full description and a way to sign up for a day of fun and ways to bend and stretch metal into what you might want to say!

I am having a delightful time altering the shape of pre-existing stampings and adding pigments, throwing in some seed beads and sequins, fusing some fine silver and wah-la, a pendant from another world. In these times of creative abundance I must take the time to record my ideas as they happen much faster than my hands can keep up!

The Day After, letting the tides take me...

The colors of this sea anemone are incredible. I am just giving in to the feeling of letting the day take me where it leads......hope you can, too.

Lets Give Thanks.....

My own version of "Cornucopia".

With thanks for all of the good...and the bad....and all the in-between. It is all necessary, to realize that the pendulum just keeps on swinging!

Happy Thanksgiving!