'Nuff Said

Todays challenge

To day is good...Make today better and watch this...

http://www.wisdombook.org/

Now go do your day!

Me and the reason I make stuff

I have made things since I was a kid.
Our garage was stuffed to the gills with arts & crafts materials, tools, a tiny jigsaw my Dad used to fashion model boats with, scale trains, accompanying model landscapes and the ever present fix-it projects of my Mother. Even my favorite shows to watch, when I was little, were usually pretty creative. I'd laugh and laugh with my grandpa as the 'Lil'Rascals' would make a machine with a squirrel running on a wheel to power a wooden device that would send a snowball flying. All pretty outrageous and silly, but those kids seemed they could do anything and I kinda believed I could too.

I think my Grand Pa knew I could because my favorite place was in the garage, with him as he tinkered and puttered around, and he always welcomed me there. Always something brewing on the bench and Goddess knows it usually had something to do with electricity and a soldering gun. He would help me try out my hand if I was curious, guiding me and talking me through the process. That could be scary and thrilling but I would walk away feeling ever so powerful. There was one thing I was never allowed to touch though. The scariest thing of all was the table saw, sitting with magnificent, menacing glory in the middle of the garage. It had hideously large teeth and looked like if given half a chance, it would start itself and chase you down! When Grand Pa fired up the table saw, we all took a respectful giant-step backwards.

Now I have my own shop. My own bench, littered with things and stuff and what-nots. I work there nearly every day making metal and gems behave, trying to divine what the fey folk and the elven family heirlooms will be this season. Being a bit rebellious by nature, you won't find too many "conventional" jewelry pieces here. My favorite jewelers are fantastic artists creating wonders rather than common jewelry. Angela Blessing, Faberge, Sergio Bustamante, Erte and the divine, delightful Candace Stolley of Bindu Jewelry, all have had a major impact on my stylistic charge. I aspire to create to the visions dancing in my head, but for now I offer the trickle I am capable of tapping into at this time and welcome you back always!

Where to find things for sale...

On painting and unsufferably self-absorbed yearning

“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
T. Edison


This quote, attributed to Edison, strikes me as the story of my life. I am a worker. A maker. A creator. I like overalls and getting into my work with a zeal that requires a good washing afterwards. There are times, I must admit, that I wish I could find a quiet “cubicle” job where I poke at paperwork in an air-conditioned room now and again, but that feeling evaporates when I sit down and start working. Or when I have to take a break to feed myself because I have forgotten, again. Or when I look up, out of my space and see the Ancient American Indian sacred circle that denotes the long time use of this land for spiritual and divine use. I am blessed and I know that to carp about my lot is vain.

The Painting is coming along quite well. Today I am shooting to finish one more. Finish means I am ready for someone to see it. I am not too sure finish ever means finish, because I can work on these mandalas for quite awhile. In fact to a point of distraction and over work to some. It is hard for me to ‘complete’ a piece in a rapid manner. It seems to take an investment of myself, my time and a bit of contemplation of each work, then BAM! the next step presents itself to me and I move into the next layer of the painting.

I have 4 more days of painting left. This means I put away the paints and brushes and begin producing for the Farmers market , my Etsy site, the San Pedro Art Association and of course the de rigure holiday present giving season. My friends are so lucky I am a jeweler. They get silver and copper baubles instead of hand towels or candles! All kidding aside, I feel it is time to really examine the elements of my creating, the cycles, the pressures to move from one discipline to the other, the discipline of focusing on one craft or medium for an extended time....Theresa was right, I needed this time to really develop my works and to create a consistency, a style or at the very minimum a seed of icons to return to in a couple of months. I anticipate returning to painting after the new year. This will, with any luck, provide me with plenty of time to hunger for it again.


Or not.....