You Gotta Give A Little

But sometimes you gotta do something for yourself.  Yesterday I met up at the local bead shop with two of my NaNoWriMo buds and we played beads.  I was a little apprehensive going in, as I was on quite a limited budget and there is nothing more frustrating to me than to find something absolutely fantastic and not have enough cash to buy it, especially when it comes to beads.

However, flow was with me and the piece came together as if it were already waiting out there for me to find it, and within budget.

 

The entire necklace, about 16” long.  The frog sits high up on my neck, hiding like frogs often do.

Most of the beads come from the local bead shop, but the frog is something I bought several years ago from Green Girl Studios.  I had strung the basic necklace with the flowers, coral and yellow beads.  When I showed my daughter, she said “It looks like a pond and needs a frog.” 

I remembered that I have two amazing Bali silver frogs in my stash, and when I got home I set out to find them.  They eluded me, but this fellow showed up.  I looked for the other two beads, but this is the only one I could find yesterday, so I figured I’d try him out and see if I liked him.  I think he fit perfectly.

Here is a detail of the coral and the yellow glass beads from China.  I had planned on using some Thai silver from my stash as spacers between the large yellow beads, but I came across this tube of mixed beads I had bought several years ago at another shop, and the red discs fit perfectly into the look of the piece.  It’s a perfect example of what can happen when you let go and trust and go with the flow.

Happy beading!

Ain't We Got Fun

Here's a sampling of some of the necklaces I've made this week. I'm really liking the graphic quality of the Mexican ceramic. I've been reading "Learning by Heart" by Corita Kent and Jan Steward, and the glaze on the ceramic beads reminds me of some of the serigraphs pictured in the book.

I've also been digging deep and using some of my button collection as well as some of the more unusual African beads that I've been hoarding for over ten years. I figure it's time. If what I make doesn't make me happy, what is the point after all? Another lesson I'm taking away from this week's explorations.

If you are in Athens OH tomorrow, we will be vending at Boogie on the Bricks. I will have jewelry and other small works, both old and new, and Izzy will have his awesome polymer clay work. After that, I will be posting more of the jewelry to my 1000 Markets shop. Fun times!

Have a great weekend, wherever you are!

An Open Letter to Governor Strickland

Dear Governor Strickland,

I am writing to ask that you reconsider the proposed budget cuts for the Ohio library system. Libraries are so important now, more than ever, as people use their resources for job searches, resume help, a non-judgemental place where one can find out about services for people in need, and yes, even as community centers. In our small town, the library serves as a place for our children to go after school, and provides snacks and activities during the summer for all of our children. These budget cuts would be catastrophic, as our library would be shut down, leaving the children with nothing to do after school.

We have used the libraries when our power or water goes out; they are always a haven, especially for those who are elderly or who are home with small children, giving people a place to go which is welcoming and free. The libraries provide gallery space for local artists to exhibit, exposing many people to the pleasures the arts can bring into their lives. The libraries also provide low-cost meeting areas for groups of all kinds from La Leche League to local conservation groups, and programs for patrons of all ages, including yoga, writing, local history and more. The loss of these services would be devastating.

Please, please, please reconsider and do not cut funding to our libraries. They are too vital and too important to let go by the wayside.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Andrea L. Stern

If you are in Ohio, find out more about saving our libraries at these sites
Athens County Public Library (lists the budget committee members)
Save Ohio Libraries (Facebook page)

Thoughtful Thoughts, Thinking

Because of that wonderful line in "Help" something along the lines of "I am a good shot, shooting" :) Who doesn't love the line of form fitted pants under a full tunic? (I also loved Emma Peel and Julie Newmar's Catwoman, what can I say?)

We are in the in between again, that odd place that some call "falling through the cracks" but is more like a place where time, while not standing still, gives us a little breather from being what the world considers "normal". I have signed on for Eric Maisel's month-long "productive obsession" group, and have set myself a goal of getting into the studio from 1-4 M-F in order to produce the big pieces that look so good in the museum settings. I have managed to get upstairs every day so far, not for the full three hours yet, life and allergy induced headache/lethargy got in the way.

Focusing on the work enables me to put aside the constant anxiety about the job situations, as when every time I was pregnant I had this odd sense of being safe/protected/free of all responsiblity except growing the new life we had made. Not really realistic, but the relaxation of letting go of the stress enabled me to be more productive and efficient in my life because it didn't matter as much. I had, as they say "bigger fish to fry".

Last night we went to see the poet/author Kim Addonizio give a lecture/reading on campus. She talked about mining already existing stories and myths for source material, about writing about the characters on the edge of well known stories, such as the current trend toward books about people like Jo's father in the new book "March" and of course Gregory McGuire's series of revisited fairy tales and stories. I had an epiphany about a story that's been percolating in my head about characters from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, that it doesn't have to be a novel, it can be a poem, and I am excited about playing with the idea again.

Words have been begging to come out, while I am sewing my head is filled with words: Frida telling me about blog posts we can write, ways to maybe help other people find good even in the middle of this economy, thoughts about the creative process that are "profound" and "thoughtful" and "mature" and all those things that all those "other" bloggers manage to write, but which stop just at the end of my fingertips when I sit down to actually write them, even though I know they are in there. (I am seriously considering a recorder to use while I am sewing, because this is maddening).

And I close with this, a sort of prose poem/morning page/free write that I made this morning, describing my trip home earlier this week in this place of magic and wonder:

"Green grass on the hills short and fuzzy like down on a baby duck. The mists surround the hills, bringing the sky to the ground once more. The words itch, they burn, they beg to come out and play, to do the somersaults and cartwheels I could not do. I hear the wet whoosh of the wheels as they slice through the water as we speed along through this landscape where gods used to walk. Today no gods, just me, in a turquoise Tempo."

Beaded Voyages

After a bit of angsting I was able to "hang" my show at the Athens Public Library yesterday. The person who had been scheduled cancelled with two weeks' notice, and Lanna Galloway, the person who coordinates the exhibits, contacted me about showing in the display cases. I said yes, hoping I had enough work to fill the spots, and knowing I had two weeks to finish anything in progress.

Little did I know Izzy would bring home a cold that basically left me unable to do anything but knit (sounds silly, but knitting for me takes less concentration and fine motor skill than beadwork). I started feeling anxious about the show, not sure that the cases would be ok, but trusting in the process.

Late last week I realized I could merchandise the shelves as if they were display windows. I was inspired by the HGTV annual show on the Christmas display windows for merchants such as Macy's and The Bay, and I knew as I talked it out that it would work. I came up with six separate "windows" and picked the work accordingly. I still wasn't sure it would be enough, but I felt really excited about providing something fun for the library patrons to view.

Imagine my glee when I walked in and realized there were exactly six shelves (even though I have often admired others' work in the cases, I never really paid much attention to exactly how much space is in them). And that the fabric my MIL had sent me earlier this month was the perfect base for the windows. With the help of my children, Aisha and Izzy, we set to work setting up the display.

Blogger is not cooperating, so I will caption from the top: the first picture is "A Walk in the Woods" and is in the bottom of the display case on the left of the doorway. It contains Pink Houses, a bead embroidered piece that I stitched to a canvas that I painted in complementary pink and beige polka dots. The dolls are peyote stitched on a base of a vinyl cake doll which has been painted with Pinata inks , and the trees are styrofoam forms cleverly disguised as trees. Izzy's snowman peeks out from the right hand side of the scene.

The second image is "Summer Day" and contains my bead journal piece from last July, titled "Waiting for Harvest", two beadwork popsicles that I made just for fun (well, as part of a larger beaded picnic scene that is still in the theoretical stage ), bead embroidered fairies, and more of Izzy's wonderful sculptures.

The last image for this post is the full view of the right side case. It contains, from the top "Back to School" which has a beaded baby dress I made after coming across a wonderful yellow and black striped button while cleaning the studio (sometimes chaos does facilitate creativity), the beaded pencil purse which was in last year's Beadwork competition, some beaded pencil earrings (also at my Etsy shop), a larger beaded pencil, a peyote stitch pyramid vessel, and my beaded milagro pins. "Under the Sea" with a bead embroidered and peyote "Water's Edge", multiple beadwork corals, a beaded coral necklace, Izzy's volcano and a scuptural peyote fish necklace. The bottom shelf on the right hand side is "Wearable Fantasies" and has a selection of beaded necklaces and a little purse that I have made over the years.

I will upload an image of "Space Odyssey" in my next post. It is the top shelf in the left hand case and contains the moon I posted earlier this month and other fun pieces.

It is funny, but I am grateful for the cold Izzy brought home because the show worked out perfectly without any extra finished pieces, and I really had a lot of fun with the knitting (which is a whole new post, probably after the new year).

Tyger Tyger

While working between larger more serious works, and while avoiding the larger work from anxiety, fear of not getting it right, etc, I sometimes manage to make something else. This piece is based on a tiger face I designed intending to create a handbag, but which morphed into a quilt square instead. The background is pieced of the various batiks I had sitting in the stash, while each tiger face takes advantage of the lovely array of Dutch wax batiks I have collected over the years from Becky at St Theresa's Textile Trove

On the back, which I have no photo of, I used some yardage of Detroit Tiger licensed fabric that I had bought at WalMart. I remember going to see the Tigers play once with my mom, Grandaddy and Uncle Sam. I don't remember if they won, but I do remember the ice cream I was able to get (we were constantly on diets when I was little). I'm sure the nearsighted thing also played into the not remembering the game. I do remember the game I went to in 1984 with my friends Beth and Wes, the crowds chanting "Louuuuuuuu" which sounded so much like "boooo". That year was great, though I made a faux pas when talking to Marty one day, not realizing that the Tigers and Orioles were battling it out that year "How about them Tigers"? Fortunately despite that and the fact that I woke him one morning with lovingly prepared peanut butter cookies, he still stuck around and we are together to this day.

Well, I digress. The stripes that divide the rows of tigers reminds me of the stitching on a baseball, and they were inspired by a stripe along the selvedge of one of the batiks (I also need to add that at the south side of Detroit off of I-75, there used to be a oil tank that was round and had the Tigers logo painted on it, for some reason I also thought of that while working on this piece). I quilted the piece with blazing neon orange Madeira thread, adding even more fun to it. It may not be a "serious" piece, but I sure had fun and it makes me smile when I look at it.
I think we all need something like that in our lives, something that is just for us. What do you have in your life that you do "just for you"?

Almost Finished

The Hillel piece is nearly completed. Yesterday I added the stars, the day before that the new backing and edging. This weekend I will begin the buildings and Monday confirm the quote that is to go in the bricks. Even though it's a large (by my previous standards) piece and so a challenge to quilt etc, I am enjoying it more and more as each piece gets added.

The Joy of Color

In the service of keeping the creative fires burning during the course of a long project, little things get played with. For instance, today while I was searching for the symbolism of the octopus (they have been appearing in my personal journals for about two years now, and I have been seeing them out in the real world during the past few months), I came across a link to the work of Judith Cornell. I have her book Drawing the Light from Within, and in it she talks about using prismacolor pencils on dark paper to bring out inner world out to view. This is the mandala I worked on this morning. A full shot is at my flickr, this just had a better angle on the color and detail.

I had intended a lotus in the center when I began, but it morphed into the dragon or octopus-like figure seen here. I had thought perhaps a golden sun at the top, but the bird is what happened. I think it is appropriate, in that deep way of knowing something belongs.

And this is the big project. Some would call the mandala avoidance, I would call it sanity saving. This piece is for the local Hillel and will hang in the lounge above the loveseat. The green will be divided into hills by strips of opalescent batik that will have fruits embroidered on it, and three buildings symbolizing the local communities will be nestled among the hills (those are what is intimidating me right now, though I know once I start they will go quickly). The base is the bricks that the local streets and buildings are covered with, and will contain a quote about being blessed in our homes and our communities. It's only 36" h by 54" w, I don't know why I'm so intimidated (after all "What Lies Beneath" is 69" x 42" and Bean Gildorf's Rambler quilt in Rice's new book is only 544" long!).

It's been raining a lot here. Good weather to stay in and work!

Sunday Morning Rewind

Sunday mornings back in the day (aka when Marty had a day job outside the home), Aisha and I would go to Donkey to review our week, prepare for the week ahead, plan and just get outta the house. We haven't been able to do that as much (mainly from enjoying sleeping in, but I digress) but yesterday we were both up and it was a perfect day for the new upstairs.

Here she is, looking thrilled to be photographed. I was sitting in the maroon chair.

Here's the view from the chairs in one direction. I didn't think to take a photo of the windows. It was balmy enough that they were open and the air smelled good (no smokers outside at the tables) and it was relatively quiet (college town on Sunday morning, do the math :) and it was sunny. The ambience was a lot like my studio when it is clean and sunny (it has been clean more than dirty lately because of the major reorganization and purge, sunny started being more regular as of last week). It's good to be home :)

Early One Morning

While the sun was still shining, dark clouds lurked. But it sure is pretty while the contrast is going on. This is the view out our kitchen window, from one angle.

My Hometown

Athens is a small town, as small towns go, but it is also a college small town, which means not only that when the students leave on break, half the area population goes with them, but that we do have the occasional funk, such as the alley that this restaurant is down:

Decorated with belly dancing women and painted patterns, even on the air conditioners.

And isn't the entry just too cool for words?
There are a few more details at my flickr, but this gives you the gist of it. More later.