Fall - no....Winter is Coming!!

I love Fall, it is one of my favorite seasons of the year - maybe my most favorite season because of the colors and the fact that it is harvest time. In older days, when people relied on their own produce to feed them year-round and when they couldn't just go to the grocery store down the street anytime to get more food, Fall was a time of celebration and bounty.

Winter was a season for rationing, repair work around the home and on garments, and staying close to home. Indoor work was planned for winter, as well as preparatory work for the upcoming Spring and Summer. Winter was a time to relax a bit, but it was cold and could also be a time of hunger.

Spring was a time of hope and renewal of life. Many animals give birth in the early Spring - sheep come most specifically to mind since it seems that they always seem to give birth during one of the last snows of the early Spring. But Spring was also a lean time for food - a time when the leaves were just coming out and the produce from the Fall was almost used up. Starvation was still a real possibility.

Summer was a season of extremes - the crops were planted, the berries could be gathered and hunting would bring in needed protein. But, one bad storm could wipe out the crops, as could drought, insects, extreme heat etc. There was a lot of work and a lot of prayers in the summer.

But then came the Fall and all of the previous three seasons were suddenly worthwhile. Harvest time and a time of plenty had arrived again. Fall was the time to gather together with friends and eat those foods that could not be stored for the winter. It was the time to fill the larder for the next seasons and put aside the seed for the next year. It was time to dance. What a great time of the year!!! Enjoy yours to the maximum today :-))

So what brings about this reverie? The fact that this weekend will see our first snow flurries of the season. But...next week is looking to be sunshine and warm temps again, so I guess I'll survive seeing my first flakes.

TGIF

The Fall has truly arrived. The weather has gotten grey and rainy - icky :-( Grey skies are why I could never live in the Pacific Northwest - grey gets me down. I'm stuck in this weather system through the weekend, so I'd better work with some color this morning. I'll get the other headpiece for my "kinetic" piece soldered - the spessartine side gems will be a spash of color around the peridot centerpiece.

The other thing I'm working on at the bench right now are some mink skulls. Yes, mink skulls. I dipped several of them in polyurethane yesterday. Today I want to sand down the drip spots and dip them one more time. They need to be completely coated. Then, next week, I'll paint on the conductive paint and set up the rectifier. I want to electroform at least one of these as a gift for my favorite dwarfish barbarian pirate hubby. Money is tight this year, so I'll be trying to make him as many holiday gifts as I can, and this one has the potential to be fun and right up his alley :-) At least it's worth the try and it will get my rectifier out of the box and set up. That would be very good. If you would be interested in looking at wonderful electroformed work, check out the work of Kate Fowle Meleney.

Fabric and Stone

Yesterday was my studio day. It was a cold and rainy day, so it was absolutely perfect to immerse myself in my artwork. I had a long list of things that I wanted to accomplish with BronzClay, fabric and enameling (there is never enough time to do it all). Although I did end up with some success, I didn't get nearly enough done. I started out working with a piece of stone that I had gotten last weekend. Looking at it, I think it will make the perfect top on a box or new business card holder. There were two areas on the stone that needed to be ground down level with the remainder. I'd never ground stone before, but I'm game for almost anything - I pulled out my dremel and a grinding wheel and started making noise and dust. It ground down really nicely. Now I need to continue polishing the stone and then I'll make the holder - probably from sheet copper. Maybe I'll enamel part of it. The possibilities are certainly out there. It gave me a great appreciation for people who work with stone, so I thought I'd share this cute product. The artist lives in England and makes these, and other styles, to order. Really nice, clean work and the price is right. Check it out.




The other major project that I've had on my mind (aside from my metalwork) is a cloak. As I mentioned last week, I want a cloak similar to the one that Elrond wore to the camp of King Theoden. I have the fabric and the basic instructions, but I wasn't about to cut into mega-expensive wool without making a muslin mock-up first. I have a 15-yard bolt of muslin for just that purpose. So I cut the appropriate lengths, joined them together to get the right width, and started work on the mock-up. This resulted in a quick trip to the fabric store to get a new pair of dressmakers shears. Then I had to find a room with enough open floor to lay the fabric out on. Geez - this thing is HUGE!!! But I finally got it measured, marked and cut out. Now to make alterations so that it will fit properly and get the hood figured out. THEN I'll duplicate it in wonderful wool and satin.

We Have a Winner!

The announcement came through yesterday. The 2008 North American Design Contest results were announced. I did not enter a piece (or more than a piece), but I have seen the work of many of these artists and there are some very talented people who won. Carol Babinau won for this lovely piece entitled "Dancing Flower Sculpture" using silver clay and enamel. She also won two other awards. For a complete listing along with photos, visit Art Clay World (just follow the link to get directly to the contest page). Congratulations to all of the winners!!

Today is a studio day. I have a TON of stuff that I need to get done today. I'll start out on the bench - got some important soldering done yesterday and have to do a match on the other component today. Hope things go well - sometimes soldering is my friend, other times it completely ruins my project. I keep working on it - I'll never get good without practice - but sometime I want to get a better torch. I have a feeling that would make a huge difference. I'd better make a list of the things I need to get done today or I'll end up forgetting something and have to postpone things for another week.

Have a fantastic day!!!

Gorgeous Glass

My time is limited, so I don't read a lot of blogs on a daily basis. But one that I do read is the Daily Muse . Today she showed some of the most incredible glass I've seen, and I wanted to share it with all of you. Take a look at these two pictures:

The squash are made by Molly Stone and the bowls are by Michael Cohn. Their studio, in San Francisco, is holding three open house weekends in October. I wish I was anywhere close to their location so that I could see some of these wonderful glass items in person.

There is something wonderful about glass. It is magical - what it will do to light when they play together. My life's art has been working with glass in a variety of forms. When I was very young, I did beading and mosaic work.

My mother was a talented artist who tried many media over the years, and everything she did, I also did. (And yes, she was a beauty when she was young.) She made a number of wonderful mosaic items. Most of those were sold when she died, but I still have a few of her smaller items. She also bead embroidered until very late in her life. She did stained glass work when I was in college. It was too bad that I was no longer living at home, I could have played with that media as well. But I love glass, and because of that love, I am pleased to have shown you the works above.

Have a wonderfully artistic and productive day. Love people, play with color, smile - A LOT.

Check These Out

Just thought I'd show a few websites to all of you - various reasons....creativity, games and fun, thought-provoking, etc.




First of all, check out the wonderful beadwork of Heidi Kummli which is appearing on the newest Celestial Seasonings wellness Green Tea. I've been looking for the tea on my store shelves, but it hasn't made it there yet. Since I drink tea almost daily and love grapefruit, I know I'll be buying some of this. The artwork that Heidi created with her beads is truly wonderful.


And, just in time for Halloween, comes cat bowling. I do just as badly bowling at cats as I do on bowling pins at the actual lanes locally , but it's fun. Spend a little time to kick back and relax and hit a few black cats :-))


Have a wonderful Monday - start the week off on a good note!!!

Sunday and Rocks

I had been looking forward to Sunday all week. The Minnesota Mineral Club was hosting their annual show in Cottage Grove (a southern suburb of the Twin Cities). There are lectures, exhibits, demonstrations, and lots of rocks to buy. The dealers couldn't have been nicer and the day was simply perfect!! A wonderful Fall day with temps in the low 60's (warm for this time of year up here) and the leaves at perfect coloring. Several dealers gave me some wonderful deals on my rock slabs - even a few freebies. I am looking forward to cutting some of these slabs up into smaller pieces to use in my work.