Get Excited and Make Things!

Creative people are adventurous!

So, if you would like to participate,please leave me a comment and your e-mail. The first five people will receive something from me in the mail. Here are the rules, and happy posting!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. This is an adventure!

2. What I create will be just for you with love and good wishes. It will be made of actual materials, not of cyberspace.

3. It will be done this year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be!

5. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your Blog and create five things for the first 5 people to respond to your post.

6. Send your mailing address after I contact you.

IIMPORTANT: This offer is null and void if you do not post on your own blog to pay this forward.

This text was used from fabfibers.blogspot.com

Thank you and spread the love!

Spring Busy-ness

It is the busiest week of the year for us, well, for my husband. Between last Sunday and this coming Sunday (Easter) he will have conducted or attended 12 church services. I will have attended most of them too. It is Holy Week, the opposite of Mardi Gras which kicked off, this whole Lent thing. (Technically, it was the day after Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday that started it, but you know what I mean.)

This Lent has been one of the most introspective I have had in a very long time.

Along with the expected “denial thing” more time was spent working out my “stuff” than ever before and I have actually made some changes for good that have impacted the way I see myself and the way others see me. With the help of good friends and fellow seekers at church, I started a group, a support system, to help me get my chaos in order. My universe is by no means well organized yet, but I have made a start.

I have been working feverishly on my e-textbook with all its stops and starts. I have only just begun taking advantage of two or three hours a day that I did not acknowledge before -- the time between “alarm-clock Lindi” (our pushy little b*%$#h mini-schnauzer) and “make tea for Hubby and Me” usual beginning of my day. I have said it before, but not here, I do some of my best writing in my pajamas.

One of the things that I do each day is to read the blogs (see the left-hand column) of artists who love their work and their creativity and whose words resonate deep in my chest. I want to be creating beautiful things too, but cannot seem to find the time. So much to do – teach, write, church, family, home.I am looking forward to our time in Amsterdam, to get some perspective and to relax in a different environment without all the usual tugs at my time and attention. I will be working, but I am sure it will not feel quite so much like work.

Proving Myself

Friday we had our Taxes done and it was a harrowing experience.

I know, I know . . . everyone hates to do their taxes. Well, let me tell you that as a clergy household and with me working part-time teaching at University and part-time being an artist, and this year also being an author, this was the worst ever. A bunch of the expenses I was hoping to deduct didn't pan out and we ended up having to pay a pretty penny . . . money we had set aside to pay for our trip in May to Amsterdam.

What's more, I felt I had to justify myself. The preparer asked about my art quilts saying with a smile, "Are you sure you don't make blanket-type quilts?" Fortunately, I had my laptop with me and fired it up to showed her all my art I had recorded there. I showed her my Reluctant Accomplice quilt . . .
I showed her my presentation quilt . . . (to which she said, "that's -- interesting.")

I showed her two of my larger quilts (48"x72"), one a contest quilt in an international competition (finalist out of 900) . . .and the other, a commission . . .

and a published piece (Quilters Newsletter Magazine December 2004) . . .

and what was most lost on her was the direction my art is taking now -- art jewelry. Hopefully it will be better next year. In the meantime, I'm proud of my portfolio. My question for you is, "Have you ever had to justify yourself or your art?" Tell me about it, I want to know.

Tiger-sized Dust-bunnies

Yesterday was very eventful and rewarding. My friend Rene (as in Irene) came up for a working visit. She's a highly organized, neat and tidy, clean queen. We opened up the french doors in the den to the backyard and took out all the "stuff" except the heavy furniture. She then sat me down on the deck to deal with all the papers -- piles and piles of it. I had to toss, shred or keep every little bit of it. Meanwhile, she was in the den tackling my tiger-sized dust-bunnies and cleaning like a fiend! We made so much progress.

When we came back from lunch and an errand, she sat me down at my newly uncovered Arts and Crafts Movement antique desk I purchased last year but didn't immediatley occupy. She brought in all my jewelry tools and supplies and I organized and made homes for them in the desk. Here are some pictures of them in the wild (at the consignment store) before it cam home with me. (By the way, does anyone know anything about the furniture manufacture "Stone's Patent"?) I must apologize for the quality of these photos.

Inspired

This weekend has been amazing. Friday I spent with my quilting friends, taking in the Dallas Quilt Celebration -- beautiful quilts and wonderful vendors. And of course, I spent too much money. Saturday, I was back in Dallas with three of my "art school" friends (that's not to say my quilting gals aren't artist, they truly are). Saturday I visited my alma mater to see the Etruscan Exhibit at SMU's Meadows Museum. Dallas is the only venue for this exquisite collection. There were objects from as far back as 900 BCE. The craftsman(women?)-ship in all of the piece, without exception, was breathtaking.

Speaking of breath-taking: that is exactly what happened as I approached the ancient gold-leaf diadem, above, in the glass case where is it displayed. You might have seen the laurel leaf crowns on ancient statues and frescoes. Well, I was looking at the real McCoy. The gold was so fine and thin, it looked as though it could blow way if a strong draft were to enter the vitrine. What a thrill it must have cause for the archeologist who unearthed it. There were a number of stunning gold pieces -- fibulae ("safety pins"), and many, many bronze pieces too. There was a whole room filled with terracotta pieces and stone statuarey as well. All in all, there are about 400 pieces on loan from four museums in Italy. The exhibit closes May 17th. One of my friends said it was, by far, the better exhibit when compared with the Tut exhibit also in town.

Not much is known about the Etruscans (people who lived in Tuscany between 900-100 BCE) except that they may have been immigrants from Turkey and that they were very religious people who believed in equality of the sexes, much to the horror of their Greek and Italian neighbors. Almost everything known about them comes from temple and tomb excavations.

In other news:

Richard Shilling, the English Land Artist I have mentioned before, has had a few very fortunate turns of event. Check out his blog to read the news and to see his new work. We have discussed some sort of collaboration for one section of the textbook I am writing for my college class. How exciting!

This is Spring Break in my neck of the woods and I hope to get a lot of writing done without interruption (Ha!).

Our May vacation in Amsterdam is taunting me and whispering to me to spend some time online checking out all the places to go and things to see (but I have to write, darn-it!).

By the way, my little counter says I've had just over 300 views of my blog -- I think a few of those are me checking in, but I'm glad to see the traffic. Thank you, especially, to my faithful "followers". Sorry I can't seem to post more often.

Questions for your comments:

Do you find inspiration alone or in collaboration. Do you find that being with others inspires you to create? I'd love to hear your thoughts, so comment below.

Great Day

Today was a very good day! I walked with a friend, worked on my book, met with my Acquisitions Editor, had a doctor's appointment and found a place to write without interruptions!

That last bit is the most important.

I set up a meeting with Stephanie, my editor (still love saying that!) at a locally owned coffee shop. This shop is ALWAYS open, has great coffee and tea, a couple of sofas lots of tables and chairs -- and free wifi access. It came to me like a lightening strike as I was getting ready for this meeting: "this coffee shop is your new workspace!" Well duh!

I won't be interrupted by phone calls, or knocks on the door. I won't have to get up and take out the dogs every hour. I won't have to choose which dog gets to sit on my lap to help me write my book.

I will purchase coffee or tea.

I will move my car however often is necessary.

I will be grateful for the quiet, anonymous space. Yea! (and I won't abuse these priviledges.)

Back to the meeting: Stephanie was quite impressed with the work I have done so far and told me that I was right on schedule. I thought I was running behind. We had a great brainstorming session and I feel like I can take on the world, one chapter at a time.

Yes, today was a very good day.

Roses are red, and blue and yellow, and . . .

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=36352&in_page_id=34

Happy Valentine's Day to all my artistic, colorful friends and fellow bloggers. Have a great day!

Scary Friday the 13th? Happy Valentine's Day!

This Friday the 13th wasn't such a bad day -- in fact, it was great. The evening before, I had a bit of a mental/emotional melt-down and had a heart-to-heart with my beloved husband. We decided we would start Friday off with two hours of serious cleaning, well -- sorting and tossing. Cleaning comes later.

I'm a hoarder, a pack rat, collector of junk.

There, I've said it.

Our home is not so much our castle as a rubbish heap. I have a VERY hard time letting go of perfectly good clothes, magazines, useful potential art supplies. In fact I have a hard time letting go of just about everything but junk mail. But even that chokes up the already cluttered works. Junk mail is my sweetheart's bailiwick.

Over the years my messy little office/studio space has spilled into almost every room of our little house. I hate it and I've been hating myself and beating myself up inside because of it.

But I'm not lazy. I work from home and I teach at university. I have a very full schedule of teaching, meetings, volunteering, etc. I have to stop and start my projects in mid-stream. I'm writing a book, I'm working on jewelry, I'm staying up late to grade student works online. I just never got in the habit of tidying up before I go to bed, like my mom has suggested. So stuff has just piled up.

So. Today was very good. I have momentum. My husband understands me a little better (after 18 years of marriage).

This Valentine's Day I have a new, deeper love for my beloved. And I feel the tender, caring love of my sweetheart in a new and more profound way.

He loves me warts (and wrinkles and love-handles) and jewelry-finding and fabric swatches and all.

The Joy of Teaching

This week I am lecturing about Earth Art/Environmental Art and some of the great prehistoric sites I mentioned a couple of posts ago. I get all excited about this material because I have personal experience with it. I have walked around Castlerigg, the oldest stone circle in England (NOT Stonehenge). I have traipsed through sheep pastures to visit the Neolithic burial cairns at Kilmartin Glen. I've placed my foot in the spot where early Scottish Kings proved their worth to be crowned on Dunnad Hill Fort. I have also visited Orkey and encountered the wealth of Neolithic remains of astronomical technology and housing settlements.

Castlerigg in the Lake District of Cumbria, England

I try to share it with my students to varying degrees of success. It is hard to "get it" if you haven't actually "done it".

This section also introduces them to Andy Goldsworthy and his art. This they get -- mostly because they can relate to a guy working patiently on a fiddly project, only to see it collapse before his (and their) eyes. I also have them create works inspired by Goldsworthy. It is a real treat for me, because I never know what I will be opening up in the next email from the students.

A few years ago, I developed the visual arts aspects for a team-taught Study Abroad program which travelled to Scotland for four summers. To see students "get it", to have students take me by the arm and tug me to a specific location so that I could experience their vantage point in a newly learned experience just gives me goose-bumps. So often, I plant seeds and never see the fruits of my labor. But in an experience like those Study Abroad learning environments, the seed is planted and grows to fruition before my eyes -- not always, but most of the time.

I love planting seeds and seeing them flourish. I also love to see the lightbulb go off over someone's head. It thrills me to teach and to help students "get it". That, for me, is the joy of teaching.

If you teach, what excites you? If you learn, what helps you "get it" the best -- experience, observations, kinetics (hands on), listening to lectures? What has been your most exciting learning experience?

Be prepared

I've been making Anglican style Rosary bracelets for about four years now. I haven't taken them to a wider audience, such as an etsy shop (I have a storefront, but haven't move in), but word of mouth has been good.

This weekend, the visiting mother of a friend sought me out at a meeting to ask about a special order. Luckily, I had several bracelets in my purse, ready for such a request. However, she wanted a special cross that I didn't have in stock. After doing some research with my sources, I discovered I wouldn't be able to order the cross, so I made one.

What do you think? Have you ever had a situation where you had to 'punt' to make a sale or meet a deadline? I know a lot of us wear our pieces, but do you carry stock in your pocket/purse?