Adventures in Living!

I (sorta) wish I was going to Pennsic...

This is mostly for my readers and friends who are familiar with the SCA...

There will be an auction held on August 7th, in the Atlantian Royal encampment at Pennsic. This is a private auction to benefit Duke Valharic and assist with the many medical expenses from Duchess Arielle's long struggle with breast cancer. There will be many beautiful items on auction, all from an amazingly talented HUGE group of people all around the world. I have donated two sets of lampworked beads to the auction to honor Arielle's memory and help Duke Valharic.

This set is a cobalt blue, Roman period in style and construction. Twelve beads with 3/32" bead holes.

And, because Arielle LOVED pink so much, and was also known in the SCA as Arielle the Golden, I am donating this smaller set of beads, "Pink Duchess":

They are so much more sparkly in person. This photo just doesn't do them justice. I think Arielle would have liked them. They also were made on 3/32" mandrels.

I hope that people who are going to Pennsic will attend the auction and maybe even bid on something wonderful. I know we all want to help out in some way. Hopefully, these beads will find a good home.

Aaarghh!

I haven't posted in a while, mostly because every time I thought of something good to write about, I would forget about writing it by the time I sat down at the computer.  I hate when that happens.

It's been an interesting few weeks, creatively speaking. I have been getting all kinds of fantastic ideas for new work, both glass stuff and other stuff, but I have been having a hard time making the visions become reality. I keep running up against a number of factors that are limiting my art-making. To begin with, I can't draw. Well, that's not entirely true. My drawing skills are...unrefined. It's not a simple task for me to sketch out an idea and have it look like something I can turn into a piece of art later. I can rarely make my sketches match my visions and that frustrates me.  I always see other artists' sketchbooks, where they work out ideas and plan projects, and I can never seem to do that. I know I shouldn't judge myself too harshly...I'm self-taught in everything I do, pretty much, so any drawing I can do that even remotely looks like what it's supposed to is a good thing.

Anyway....so.....what I really think my artistic issue is, is that I am having a hard time finding my 'voice'....making art that has depth and reflects my inspiration or thought process for the piece. Some of the work seems random and disconnected. I guess I shouldn't judge here, either, because art is truly individual and I know I spend too much time comparing myself with other artists. I just have such a hard time getting a project going and keeping it going and seeing it through to the end. I'm working on it though. I think it all just takes time to develop.

I have to say that I am also kind of sad about missing out on a glass class with someone I kind of idolize a little. Brad Pearson is a local glass artist who teaches fairly regular beginner classes at the Visual Arts Center (used to be the Hand Workshop, which I liked better...). I have been totally struggling with my glasswork lately, so I searched for and found his class....hooray, it starts in August!....and I registered and paid for it. Then later I got a phone call from the center that the class was actually full, so I'd need to call back and get a refund. I was upset, more than I thought I would be, actually. The likelihood that he will teach another class in the fall is pretty high, I think,  but I am feeling more than a bit desperate for some technical and creative help and inspiration and a chance to try out a dual-fuel torch. NOW. I have been burning and breaking glass and destroying colors and copper foil like a crazy person...everything I touch lately has turned to crap. Blah.

Hopefully when I call the art center, they can tell me if he will have classes in the fall. I hope so.

It's taken me about twelve actual tried to get this entry down, and although I am not sure if I have completely emptied my brain of all the junk flopping around in there, I need to be done. Noah has been in here at least six times, dragging me off the chair, and we need to get to the store for some things, too.

Picking up Kira for the weekend tonight! Hooray! I miss my girl.

Ketchup and Further Thoughts....

Ok, not ketchup....just catch-up...

Let's see....to start with, we're not going to Sapphire Joust this year. This will be the first one I've missed in nine years, but there is nothing fun about taking two rambunctious and highly curious little ones to an event right now. I'd rather entertain them while wearing shorts, and let them play in the pool with access to air conditioning. We've discovered that Noah, at least, did not benefit from my olive skin genes.

I could only imagine how many times I would be grabbing one or both of them off the listfield right before someone needs to yell "HOLD!!".

I'll miss all of you guys, but there wouldn't be any hanging out anyway, more like fragmented conversations while I run after either or both of the kids. Have fun for me, and somebody drink a beer or three in our honor.

Next....I finally finished the two large custom orders, and managed, kiln issues notwithstanding, to get them done and delivered early! Woo!

The daisies, for a parent of a child at a local school:

And the boats, for another school-related thing:

I'm starting my local market season this Saturday, with a market at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. It's a brand new market in Richmond, and already it is popular. I hope it really takes off and I do well there. I won't be doing my previous market, the South of the James market,  and that's a shame. I loved that market, and this year it is wildly busy, but due to communication breakdowns, I wasn't able to be a vendor. I was angry, but I am over it now. I think the new market will be popular, it's in a nice section of town, and it's also a community outreach project of the church's, so that's a good enough reason for me to support it. Plus, the vendors have some really nice things! Come see me, if you're local.

And check out my A Hot Piece of Glass page on Facebook!

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And now for the further thoughts.....

I posted a little while ago about thinking about going back to school.  I realize that I always feel this dichotomy in my life, between art and a 'real career'. In one incarnation, I imagine myself in a high-powered, high-paying, very important career, administrating or managing some crucial organization, being the Director of Something Really Important, or the Chief of Whatever We Need. But when I think about it, there's nothing, except the thought, that really appeals to me about having a job where full-time equals more than 50 hours a week, where I might be expected to (gasp!) wear a suit and heels, where I'd have to use words like 'accountability', 'productivity', 'contribution to the bottom line', and 'revenue-based'. 

I never really was the corporate type.

In the other incarnation, I find myself dreaming about daily work involving creating, helping people to create, and teaching some of my many skills. An art therapist, or art teacher, or even using art therapy and speech therapy combined. And then there's this idea I have that doesn't necessarily require I go back to school. I don't want to share the idea yet, because it isn't fully formed, but it does have to do with art, and with people.

I'll tell ya later.

Lots of crafty goodness!

So, yesterday I did my first public demo of lampworking at the ArtWorks Gallery here in Richmond. It went really well, and I had a decent number of people attend the 45-minute workshop. About the only things that didn't go the way I would have liked was the fact that my new sparklighter failed to light my torch, and I had to borrow a barbecue lighter from the gallery owner, and I was sitting a little higher than I usually do to work, and couldn't rest my elbows on the table like I usually do. Shaky hands make for imprecise bead decorating.

Oh, the beads. I think I made some of the crappiest beads I have made in a while while doing that demo. Out of practice. My bulk tank was empty and I haven't made beads for a few weeks. We got the tank filled on Saturday, so I should be remedying that situation this week.

What else?

Been doing some more sewing....Kira has been reading devouring books from the Warriors series. It thrills me to no end that she is obsessed with reading at the moment, so I am doing all I can to encourage that habit. I made her some fabric books covers for her books, and she loved them.

The outsides....actually, I made the one at the far left for me....now I need a book to put it on...
And the insides. It's a great quick little project that doesn't even use a whole fat quarter, which is nice.
I've also been doing some baking....bread, this time...honey-wheat...
MMmmmmm...there's another couple loaves in the oven right now.....

And Kira and I started a new weekly tradition...Kira and Mom Night! This past week was for origami, which Kira is insanely good at. Here's the proof...
Folding.....folding....

Ok, so we cheated a little bit and use a Flash animated folding guide for some of the more difficult ones. Some of those diagrams are impossible to figure out! (for me, anyway, Kira nails it most of the time)

The crane gave both of us fits!

But, then we ended up with these, which was fantastic!
It was a really fun evening! We laughed a lot, and Kira told me how much fun she had about twelve times on Friday. This week's evening is going to be a Movie Night, I think. Gotta remember the popcorn!

I've worked some more on The Skirt, but I haven't photographed it yet (so yo'll have to wait!). It's sort of at a slow spot now, while I ponder it some more and design the buttons for it.

Ok, time for the bread to go in the oven, and to enjoy a cup of tea and some blessed, blessed silence before Kira gets home and the little ones get up. I think Wren must be getting sick or something....she is actually, no-shit, honest-to-God asleep upstairs. I can't remember the last time she had a nap.

I so needed her to have a nap today.

Watch Me Create!

I've got a new post up on the collaborative Watch Me Create blog that I write for. Check it out!

FINALLY!!

Ok, so I didn't get to sew (yet!), but I did give myself an hour to work on the glass torch.  Woohoo for some quiet creative time! Here's a quick and dirty picture of the beads I made this morning:
Sorry for the slightly fuzzy image. I wanted to get this up before the kids get up from nap.

It's been a really long time since I have made anything at the torch. For a long time it was WAY too cold (and hot glass does not like the cold!). I work with the windows to my utility room open so I couldn't do anything until it stayed above 30 degrees.

This batch is destined for a few things....the orange/green/blue ones are going to become the top of a tassel....the black crosses are for a friend of mine, and the flowers are just because spring is coming. They will probably get turned into a necklace or something. All of them are soaking in water right now so I can get them off the rods, and then I will kiln-fire them on Thursday.

I have a plan to write a tutorial for making decorative tassels out of lampwork beads and cones and perle cotton. Coming soon....

In other news, I just finished a blog post for a collaborative blog I write for, called Watch Me Create. It's a neat site where a bunch of different artists talk about their creative process and what inspires them. I'll let you know when my post is up.

In other, other news, I got back to yoga last night.  I wonder sometimes why I let myself get away from it because it feels so darn good. Planning on getting on the mat again tonight, at least for twenty minutes or so.

Okay....I've got things to make, and work to photograph. More later.

drinkin' a beer and....

It's Friday, the Tour de Central Virginia is done for another week, and I am drinking a Blue Moon. Could life get any better? I'm sure it could, but hey, I aim low these days.

We're not going to University, nor to Ymir. I'm not feeling the SCA love right now, not for any particular reason, but I'm just not. I guess I am overfull with general life stuff lately, plus work is royally kicking my ass, AND I am awaiting the letter from VCU about my acceptance (or lack of acceptance) to their doctoral program.

Genevieve and Guiliana and I had a successful Venetian bodice fitting/drafting last Sunday, so I am hoping to wear a gown that resembles this in time for Kingdom Arts and Sciences next month:

It will be green, though and not red, as there was just not the budget for the silk I wanted right this minute, AND I have a perfectly serviceable old Elizabethan gown that really needs rescuing from it's lack of authenticity.

I'm trying to work on that, some tops for Kira (of the belled-sleeve hippie-like tunic variety), and my glass items in this next month. Too. Much. Stuff. (never enough time)

It'll get done, though. The Venetian bodice is really not a difficult one, and the glass projects are actually of the very small variety. I just have to fire the kiln, and allow myself enough leeway to remake as necessary, in case of kiln failures. I can write the documentation for the pieces in a couple of hours of quiet time, so it should be fine.

So, I've been thinking lately....it seems to me that my interpersonal skills are maybe not that great. Not that I have done or said anything truly asinine of late (that I know of), but I'm beginning to think I'm just not that good of a friend. Travis is so good at maintaining friendships. I am not, I fear. I like people, wish I could spend more time, do more things with friends, but somehow, I just...don't. Truth to tell, I hate the telephone. I despise calling 'just to chat' with someone, because I always feel awkward and stupid. And I always feel like I am disrupting someone else's routine, or calling at an inconvenient time or something. Maybe that's just in my own head.

I guess I'm somewhat of a loner, actually. Maybe. I've been told that I am difficult to know, that I don't really let people get to know me, but I'm not sure how that could be. I feel like most of the time I wear everything right on my face, that it's impossible to not know, and that all I freaking do is talk about myself. And here I am, writing to the world about my life and my issues and my general boring bullshit. Man, do I even want to go out on a limb and post this??

I think I should maybe drink more beer. And eat something, too, to soak up the beer. It should be a great weekend, though, even if the weather is teh suck with all the rain and lack of snowfall and all. Have a good one.

Year-End Review

January 2006: 2005 was a fantastic year -- I got to tell Travis I was pregnant, and we got to add a wonderful new family member a few weeks ago.

February 2006: Ok, so I couldn't resist trying on some work clothes this morning....seems that I am fitting into two of my eight pairs of pants.

March 2006: Two of my projects for Kingdom A&S Fest have broken.

April 2006: It's been an especially trying and challenging and frustrating day, so instead of whining some more about all that, I will write about my weekend and Coronation.

May 2006: I'm at work, taking a break from the mountain of documentation I am trying to catch up on.

June 2006: Sapphire was terrific. See earlier post for why it was so terrific.

July 2006: Let's take stock of this week, shall we?

August 2006: Ok, I have the No-Pennsic blues. :(

September 2006: Maybe an out-of-town event what just what I needed.....

October 2006: I haven't updated in a while.

November 2006: I had been considering taking a break from writing in this blog.

December 2006: Wow, having seen pinkleader's blog today and the terrific pictures of her cute new 'do, I really REALLY want to get a haircut.

Kira took a riding lesson this Sunday as part of our Girl Scout trip to participate in a Council-sponsored riding program. I haven't seen her on a horse since she was about...14 months old?...and that was only because I was sitting behind her in the saddle.

The girls had fun, and behaved well. I was proud of my troop, and I think they really enjoyed it all. I'm sure they will be clamoring to go back in the spring.

I have no update on any glass project. There haven't been any of late, besides my personal heraldry window. I'm thinking maybe this weekend if I muster up enough energy, I would like to finish the Virgin and Child window I made last year. Right now it looks like this:
I want to surround it with aqua blue glass to make it rectangular and then frame it in zinc channel so I can hang it in my dining room. I am so tired of not hanging any of my own work around this house!

I had actually cut and shaped almost all the blue glass pieces to go around it last year....and then I found out I was pregnant, so I put everything away.

I want to hang my heraldry, too, but that piece is supposed to go into a quarried background, which looks like this,  and I have not made the pattern or cut any pieces.

After that is my new pet project, which is ramping up to have a ridiculously slow start. More vessels. Core vessels made using a period method of making a glass paste and then molding it and kiln-firing it. Oh, wait! I can't do that.  Seems my kiln has died a disintegrating death.

Well, that may be a bit dramatic. Some of the insulating kiln brick has been knocked out of one of the sides, likely when folks were loading/unloading the Pennsic trailer. I have no idea how to fix it, so there it sits, unusable.

While we're on the subject, my favorite sewing machine has also suffered some sort of decline. My Bernina 1090 will not center the needle automatically when it starts up. I have to use the needle adjustment dial (which allows changing the needle position two places right or left of center), and I have to shift the dial all the way over to the left in order for the machine to place the needle in the center.  I'll be calling the local Bernina dealer this week, too, I guess.

Since I have expensive hobbies, when the equipment breaks, it's not cheap to fix it. I pray my sewing machine only needs adjusting or something. I hope the computer in it didn't die. I love that machine, it's a workhorse and runs like a dream. Please be okay, please be okay, pleeeeeeease be okay...

Maybe I am being punished for not sewing in such a long time.

Anyway, work proceeds apace. It's stroke season, so we're seeing a lot of folks with that diagnosis. Unfortunately, some of them are having their second and third and fourth strokes. Add some multi-infarct or vascular dementia to that and you have the makings of....a real challenge for the therapist, patient and family.

Sometimes I feel like I have forgotten how to rehabilitate someone who is post CVA with a prior history of total independence with communication and swallowing. Most of my folks lately have been in the already-impaired category and it's hard to muster up the hope for recovery when you are already behind the 8-ball, so to speak.

Now if only I could stop eating.....

an event

Maybe an out-of-town event what just what I needed.....

We went to Coronation. As is usual for me, I was AT Coronation, but didn't actually SEE the Coronation. Sigh. That makes....six?....Coronations I have actually been physically present at, but have not seen the actual act of the crowns being placed on the heads.  I'm a Coronation albatross!

Anyway. The Compagnia dei Maestri del Vetro had planned a Big Glass Thing, since we had the run of an entire small building at the event site. It was really cool -- five of us were there, which made for about five lampworking torches, a small kiln, and a flat glass setup. It was unbelievably hot in the building once we all got to flaming and running the kiln, but we were able to show off a lot of interesting glasswork to the populace. Wren was there, as well, safely ensconced in her pack 'n play near my workspace.
I didn't get to make as many beads, nor work on my next rpoject nearly as much as I wanted to, but I did get to teach the Baroness of Black Diamond how to make a bead. I also got some things prepped for my next glass (ad)venture. Hopefully, my plan is a good one.

Iseulte had her stained and painted glass, and was showing people how to cut glass.

Mistress Caitlin worked her magic as well, and also gave me two rods of a beautiful aqua blue that I had admired.

It was hot at the event, and baby-wrangling all day long was hard. I did put my new heraldic panel in the Tempore Atlantia competition, and got some nice feedback. My lamp wasn't working, so I couldn't illuminate the piece from behind, but it was nice anyway.

I did get some nice comments.

What with the baby wrangling, I didn't get to take as many pix as I usually do, but here is the only one I managed to snag of Elspet becoming a Laurel.

The day was fun, and I was looking forward to getting home and going to bed, but then people started to ask us if we would stay the night. We had planned to go home after Court and dinner out, but....we decided to stay, after a Wal-Mart run for supplies. Wren needed food and diapers and formula, and I needed a toothbrush, among other things. There was space in the cabin with friends, and Travis got to go out and run around with his friends. Iseulte and I baby-wrangled until Wren finally passed out in my arms while being rocked on the prch of the cabin. I think the cool breeze and the sound of the rain helped.

We came home the next morning, and I still feel like I need about 12 hours of sleep. Today I plan to get out of the house without the baby, at least for a little while.

My brain is full of ideas now, things I want to make and do, and so maybe I just needed to get my sorry butt to an event and have a good time and remind myself about the fun stuff there is in the SCA.

Crown Tourney is coming up. Maybe I will ask my mom to come and help me at the event with Wren. I have to start making plans for the household's field presence, we only have two months....at least two, maybe three people need garb, and the easy-up needs a cover to be respectable enough on the tourney field...and we want to have some hospitality and of course banners.....I guess I'd better get on that.