Review

It's been a long and crazy ride this year. Some of my high points were:

My Beading For A Cure challenge piece this year was a challenge, but I was pleased with how it turned out.

Bead & Button Show and reunion with my friend Seth was one of the true high points to a year of swings. That we have kept in touch and will continue to stay in touch strengthens my spirit. I couldn't be happier about this.

Metal Clay World Conference and spending a day working with Alan Revere was a wonderful and creative experience. I loved my roomate, Shruti. The hotel was amazing. I actually had some friends there - people who recognized me and welcomed my joining them at lunches, etc. And I won a prize in the Mystery Bag contest. I was thrilled. An altogether fantastic experience!

And the year ended on a poisitive with one of my BronzClay pieces being accepted for Yvonne Padilla's upcoming book on BronzClay - due for publication very soon.

On a more down point...

The economy really sucked. It hurt my day job business, and it hurt my personal finances. This was a tight year and that is passing into 2010 as well. Money will be tight for me, but I think I'll still be able to pull it off.

Breaking my elbow at Bead & Button made the last two days very difficult. I was grateful that I didn't have a class scheduled for those days, but it was NOT one of the better times of my life. Of course, interspersed with the pain was the love of people that carried me through it - my roomie Pam, a constant help and long-time friend. My dinner companions Huib and Nancy who kept me sane through the first few hours of the injury. And my friend Seth who was with me the next night. The bartenders who have become my friends over the years who made me an awesome ice pack and kept me plied with alcohol to help the pain. This was ALL good.

And, finally, I light three candles for friends who have left the circles of this world this year. My friend Steve who passed in the fall - a friend since the mid-70's, he was a constant that we thought would always be there. We were wrong, and we miss him. My friend Lora who passed just before Winter Solstice. Lora and I met in person several times over the years, and had been internet friends since the late 1990's. A dear person, and a light that will be missed. And finally, my Auntie Sadie who passed in August. I had not heard about her until quite recently and even though she lived a long and full life, my heart is still filled with sorrow for the fact that I will no longer see her, and joy that she shared her life with me. For these three, I light memorial candles and I invite all of you to also light candles on this last day of the year to the memory of those who are close to you.

I hope that all who read this have a safe New Year's Eve and a wonderfully creative 2010. Keep those who you love close to your hearts, and open your soul and bodies to the wonders of the world around you. By allowing that wonder to enter into your art, you will inspire the world. Mitakuye oyasin (we are all related).