A Relaxing Sunday of Discovery

DH and I had a lovely Sunday relaxing and watching a lot of National Geographic television. We got totally pulled into shows on what caused the death of Tutankhamun, what items truly were in his tomb and whether they were his or were hand-me-downs from other tombs, and also a wonderful two hours on locating the burial place of Genghis Khan and the history of China's First Emperor and his huge tomb. It was a day of relearning old facts and discovering new ideas. So fun! 

This death mask of Tutankhamun is the best known
of his artifacts. It features 20 pounds of gold and uses
lapis, turquoise and red carnelian (or agate) for the
colorful bands. It's had a rocky history but
hopefully will now be protected. 

Because I've been studying Egypt and the Pharaohs for what seems like my entire life, I couldn't miss new shows about Tut, but I had forgotten that Egypt was building the "Grand Egyptian Museum" which will open sometime in 2018. When? Well, that seems to be anyone's guess. The old Cairo museum is being emptied and everything on display, including a lot that had just been in storage because of lack of space, will be now displayed on exhibit within the bright, climate-controlled conditions of this new museum which is tucked into the Giza plateau. 

The Grand Egyptian Museum is located just 2 kilometers
from the Pyramids, on the Giza Plateau. It is expected to
have a provisional opening in May, but a firm date is still
unknown. Last week a huge statue of Ramses was moved
to it's new home in the Grand Egyptian Museum. 

Of course Tut is a major draw. Just that death mask would be enough to pull me there. But add in the more than 80% of the items from his tomb that have never been seen since their initial removal, and Egypt will set a magnet up calling me there. Of course that's all kinds of dangerous too, but I might take the chance within the next ten years or so. I've seen a lot of artifacts and several exhibitions on Egypt here in the USA; even followed one specific exhibit from Milwaukee to Denver to see it for several days in a row. I've flown to various cities to see Ramses and other Pharonic exhibitions and have loved each one. Spending a long time in the Grand Egyptian Museum should be phenomenal. 

The current Cairo Museum was built in 1902 and houses 120,000
artifacts, most of which are in storage. It desperately needed 
either an upgrade or full replacement, but Cairo is massive, and
finding room for a new building within the city was impossible.
Placing it closer to the Pyramids will increase tourism and it allowed
for a large, expansive building with climate-controlled storage for
the historic artifacts of this amazing region. 

So I'm dreaming once more - about travel, about Tutanhkamun, and about art - because it all comes down to the art. This coming Sunday won't be as relaxing. I'll be watching Super Bowl and trying to not eat too much during the game. But even if I do, there's always the pool waiting for me on Monday morning. Enjoy your day. I'm going to pepper this post with some photos, and then head out to swim my mile. 

Alexander McQueen - Anything But Mundane

I love fashion, even though my own clothing has never progressed past 1960-70 hippie. Nonetheless, I adore fashion and watch the trends and styles and what is put down the runways in New York and some of the European runways. A friend on FB posted the video below and I fell in love. The fashions of Alexander McQueen, although I had been aware of them, were presented as art in an exhibition entitled "Savage Beauty" and I was stunned and glued to my screen as I watched it. I dared DH's wrath and found a copy of the Met Museum's catalog book available second-hand and it arrived yesterday. Large folio format with huge photos of each item, it's amazing! I started reading the introductory essays last night and will continue today. What a phenomenal exhibit this was! I'm giving you links to the YouTube videos of both exhibits - the first for the Metropolitan Museum (8:30) and the second for the Victoria and Albert Museum (10:06) where the exhibit was the best attended in the museum's history. So amazing! So beautiful!




The weatherman says it will be a rainy week this week, except for today. But I work today, so it might as well be raining. I won't be out in the sunshine. The clouds and grey weather are why I don't live in the Pacific Northwest. It's beautiful out there - the ocean, the mountains - but I can't tolerate the grey skies day after day. I need blue skies and sunshine. I don't get enough of those here either, not compared to Colorado and New Mexico - the other two places I've lived in for long periods of time. But at least I get some. This week, however, it going to really pull my mood down. Grey skies and rain pull me into depression. So I'm going to be super diligent and try and focus on the positive for a while because it's much better to be positive than to concentrate on the negative. Here's the second video I spoke of - Alexander McQueen Savage Beauty.




It's hard to believe that April is almost over. I have done snippets of writing, but not a lot. At least I've been doing a few creative things in the studio, just not on the page. I've been wrangling with my desktop computer and may have finally gotten the assistance I needed to bring that one back into line. So, things are progressing. Here's hoping you have a fabulous Tuesday. I'm off to the elliptical and then a nice small breakfast with LOTS of coffee. I'm exhausted today.

A Helping Hand and Future Fun

My day off will start busy, but good. Last week my friend Cindy phoned asking if I could help her remove curtains and curtain rods from her living room. This is my friend whose husband passed away last year in April and her mobility is quite limited due to MS. I'll be happy to climb up with screwdrivers (and possible power tools) in hand and get these pulled down for her. She'll be moving to Indiana soon to stay closer to her remaining family and her daughter. I think in the long run that will be a great decision for her and despite her reservations, it will end up with positive results.

Yippee - power tools. Gotta love them!

A customer had mentioned that the Field Museum in Chicago was holding an exhibit on the Lascaux Caves while I was going to be in Milwaukee attending the Bead & Button Show in June. I emailed my roommate to see if she had the day free to go down to Chicago and attend the exhibit, but she has classes scheduled for each day. So I decided to go on my own, as I have done several times in the past. Yesterday I had a chance to go on-line and purchase my train tickets and my museum tickets. It will be a long day because I'll have a scheduled event at the Convention Center that evening from 8:00 pm until 11:00 pm and I catch my train in the early morning at 6:15 am (very long day), but it will be SO worth it.

The bulls are so beautiful - such economy of line yet holding
strength and motion.

So many of these amazing Paleolithic caves are being closed off or severely restricted for visitation because of the damage that people unintentionally bring with them. People's body temperatures slightly raise the temps as they look at the paintings. People breathe and their exhalations are warm and moist, also leading to degradation in the quality of the paintings. This exhibit offers an opportunity to actually see the cave paintings in true reproduction - as close to the actual caves as I will ever be able to get. I'm over the moon that I get to attend this.

Horses and other animals chase each other across the upper walls/ceilings.

I hope that they have a great gift shop with pictured catalog books of the art available for purchase. I know my DH would love to have been able to attend with me and unless the exhibit travels to the Twin Cities, this may be as close as he can get. A good catalog can make up for some of this and can join our other catalogs in our bookshelves.

If I'm correct, the exhibition will actually have the cave replicated and I'll
be able to walk through as if I was discovering them for the first time. How
amazingly wonderful!

I also heard of a book cataloging software app this morning that I'm going to look into. I have thousands of books in hardcopy that we have always wanted to be able to catalog. I'll look into "Book Catalogue" this afternoon and see if it might work well for our collection. Maybe technology will come through for me one more time.

I remember card catalogs similar to these for libraries. I searched for books
for hours when I was writing school papers and my Master's thesis. Now
these can be electronic instead of index cards. If this program allows me to scan
the bar code or just enter the ISBN, I'll be in 7th Heaven!

And one last note. I had written a revision of the Rumpelstiltskin story for Untold Press for an open call for their next book. Unfortunately the story was not accepted because it didn't quite meet the undead criteria that they were shooting for. Oh well. It's still a good story that I'm very comfortable with. I'll start looking for a few other venues to submit it to before either keeping it for a possible future story collection of my own or putting it out there in my archives for all of my readers to enjoy. I'm actually happy to have an opportunity to shop it around a bit and, possibly, to add to my virtual rejections wallpaper. Two steps forward and one step back still results in forward progress.

Potpourri

Today's post is a little bit of this and a little bit of that. To begin - today is class registration day for Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee in June. I'll try to register for four classes - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. I'll arrive on Sunday and leave the following Sunday. My friend Shruti just Emailed her schedule and she'll be there a day earlier than I, although it looks like we can check out at the same time. (Ellynn, I'm using your calendar for all of these dates - it's so wonderful!). The classes are expensive but DH said he'd help out a bit and I don't have to pay for them immediately. If I get what I want, I'll be taking two different enameling classes and two different metals classes. Shruti will be doing glassworking - it's her 'thing' and she does it well :-) I think what I'm most excited about is seeing my good friend again. We don't get to see each other often, Dehli, India isn't exactly close to Minnesota - LOL.

The entire thing is made from cast bronze, even the horses. 

This is at 1/4 scale, and still totally amazing!

I wanted to show two of the larger items that were at the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. These were in the general exhibit areas of the museum and photography was allowed. They are both replicas, but so amazing. First is a covered wagon in 1/4 size that would be the equivalent to a hearse today. The Emperor's body would have been transported to his tomb in one of these (full sized, of course). The real item doesn't leave China and it weighs a LOT because it is solid bronze.

The armor would have been hardened leather plates sewn together, so it 

offered some protection, but not a lot against a crossbow or lance.

I loved how the crossbow is mounted. You can just see the quiver 

with the arrows standing inside next to the driver and right near the 

crossbow. The lance is on the other side and the sword is a short 

sword - think "Sting" not "Glamdring".

The second vehicle is a chariot. According to the information card, this soldier would be at the head of a column. He was armed with a sword, a spear, and a crossbow with arrows. I loved the way that the bow was mounted to the outside of the chariot itself, within easy grasp. He, apparently, was the first target (can someone say "No job security"?). More pics tomorrow, but one more thing today...

Happy 71st birthday to Stephen Hawking. The renowned physicist has always celebrated the fact that he was born exactly 300 years to the day after Galileo's death. He was diagnosed with ALS while attending Oxford for his PhD. After fighting depression he focused on his research and found happiness. He has been chasing what he calls his Grand Unified Theory, or a Theory of Everything. Asked in a recent interview what he thinks about most in a day, Hawking responded: "Women. They are a complete mystery." Somehow that gives me hope :-)

Happy New Week...

DH and I had a fantastic time at the Minneapolis Institute of Art yesterday and I have lots of pics to share, but I'll try to get them organized tonight and post tomorrow on this. We wandered here and there, though, and ended up spending almost six hours walking through various exhibits, looking at art both old and new. I have to admit, this is my idea of a perfect day's activity. Afterward we were hungry and decided that pizza at Old Chicago was called for. Two beers (some stupid pale thing for him and Guinness for me) and two pizzas (leftovers for dinner tonight) while watching the football playoff game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Washington Redskins capped off a great day. We were exhausted and DH was asleep by 8:30 pm. Good grief! We're turning into our grandparents! LOL

It was against the rules to photograph in the exhibit,

but someone else took this one and I grabbed it for you

to see. The center figure is "The General" and he also

graces the cover of the catalog.

I have started cutting the frisket for my LOTR shoes. The stencil for the nine walkers (and Bill, of course) is very detailed and I can only cut a bit at a time before the exacting work gets to me and I have to put it down for a bit. but it's coming along very well. I splurged and bought pearlescent airbrush paint for the sky colors. I will have to test things out because I am NOT an experienced air brush painter. But it will be fun to play with new equipment - :-)

The catalog was quite comprehensive, and after spending

time looking through it, I decided to go ahead and buy it.

I'm happy with it, it's pretty kewl.

I'm in a bit of a rush today, so no major post today, but I do have to spend some time with my Bead & Button Show catalog today. Registration is tomorrow at noon and I still haven't pinned down what classes I want to try to register for. Usually I have this done more than two weeks ago, so I'm running behind. I'm just not quite into a Bead & Button Show groove yet, although I am looking forward to seeing my friends and rooming with my friend from India again. I'd better start reviewing the classes I was interested in and see what my budget will allow for...

Weekend Plans - A Day with Warriors

Even though I have to work today, it is the weekend and I have an open Sunday again. I have plans, though, happy plans. One of my favorite things is going to museums. In fact, my ideal vacation would be spending some serious time in Florence, Barcelona and Paris doing nothing but going to museums. I know - weird. But they make me happy. If I could have my sketchbook and camera, my happy time would transcend to my joyous time. But on Sunday, this Sunday, I'll be in a happy time at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. I have tickets for DH and I to see....

Terracotta Horse

China'a Terracotta Warriors - The First Emperor's Legacy. So kewl!!!!! It's only at the museum until the 20th (actually, due to heavy ticket demand, the museum just extended the show by one week and added/extended the viewing times) and I was adamant that I wanted to see it, so even though DH wanted to work on the bathroom ceiling in the small house to get the plastering done, he acceded and we will be at the Institute instead.

Terracotta Armored Kneeling Archer

I'm so excited. There are eight of the terracotta warriors and TWO HORSES in the exhibit (along with more than 100 other objects). I hope the exhibition catalog is good, I do buy exhibition catalogs if they are worth the money.

Terracotta Light Infantryman

So I will work today (and remove all of the store's last garlands since it is Epiphany and I don't need bad luck for 2013), have Chipotle for dinner (burrito bowls...YUM!) and be at the museum tomorrow, happy to see items of creativity made long before I was a mote in the eye of the Goddess. Happy weekend to all of you...

Weekend Plans - Memorial, Weather and Art

Today I will be leaving work early to attend my friend Rich's memorial/visitation in the funeral home north of the Twin Cities. Chickie will be helped by Jim and Chickie Mama to keep things going while I'm out of the shop. So I'll go up north in the rain and hug my friend's widow and daughter and wish that the whole thing was just a bad dream. But it's not.

We're supposed to be getting crazy weather today. Just a few weeks ago we were in spring with temps in the 60's and 70's. The flowers had popped on the trees, the tulips and daffodils were blooming and the grass was growing tall. What happened to spring, though? We've cooled down, and for the past week or so there has even been snow in parts of the state, some of it very heavy. I want spring to return. But, if it rains, I'm prepared. When I visited Milwaukee last year, I met up with a fellow writer, Zhie, and her husband a couple of times for dinner and drinks. They were really fun people and I fell in love with Zhie's Samuri-style umbrella. Since my own umbrella was broken, I needed a replacement. I just received my own Samuri-style umbrella in the mail yesterday. Now I'm set! Call me happy and bring on the rain!

My DH and I are tempted to go to the Minneapolis Institute of Art for Art In Bloom tomorrow. We happened to be at the Institute on the last day that they did this event and it was really interesting, even if it was more crowded than usual. The publicity text states:

  Join us for the 29th year of Art in Bloom, a four-day festival of fresh floral arrangements and fine art, presented by the Friends of the Institute at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. This splendid spring celebration and fund-raiser highlights the talents of more than 150 floral artists, whose work will be on view next to the works of art that inspired them.

 The interpretations of the artwork in florals can range from just the colors to the actual sweeps of figures and sometimes the addition of sculptures, etc to have similarities to the artwork. Then the flowers are placed next to the artwork that influenced their construction. It's really interesting to see the inspiration next to the created work. Some of them are fabulous. We'll consider going, but having a lazy day at home also has its charms so...hard to say what we'll end up with.

Catch Up and Thanks

First of all, thanks to so many of my friends who came through with website suggestions for my menu issues that I was talking about yesterday. Many of the sites suggested are quite amazing and I know I'll find the perfect one. The story, however, is expanding in my head and that's something I really need to nip in the bud quickly. I can allow expansion, but this one is acting more like a bad batch of bread - it is overflowing the bowl. I need to get things under control and figure out a structure that will allow some of the important points to come through in the story, still allowing the basic premise to be realized. I'm getting out my writing whip and preparing to whip those words back into shape - LOL.

Today is Saturday and, for a change, I don't have any specific plans for tomorrow. If we stick to the schedule we have had in previous years, I will only have this Sunday and next week's Sunday before I am on a seven-day-a-week schedule of work until Christmas. We might start our open Sundays a bit later, but I suspect not much. There are some museum exhibits I want to go to, but the fallen leaves are also calling me to rake and get things prepped for the winter that will be coming before I know it. Whatever happens, though, it will be very nice to have a day off. I hope you have a glorious weekend!

Titian and The Royal Wedding

So the news reports are increasing in scope.  The Royal Wedding is hitting the daily news reports with the same intensity as the revolutions in Lybia and Syria and the war in Afghanistan.  Why?  I fully realize that Kate may be Queen of England one day, but that is a figurehead position anyway.  It doesn't carry any true political clout, the power of the monarchy was eliminated by statute long ago.  She is cute, personable, and will no doubt be a refreshing change in the palace, but she's down the line a ways, isn't she?  Wouldn't long-suffering and generally unpopular Prince Charles move into the throne if Elizabeth dies?  Charles and Camilla would then become the King and Royal Consort?  I could be totally mistaken...I'm not a native British person and the royals have always seemed a little bit silly to me.  Fun, but silly.  But I'll be watching, like many others over here in the US, because it is a wedding and weddings are always fun to watch.  And I wish them all the luck in their lives and happiness with each other and any children that they may have. 

Titian - Venus Rising from the Sea

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has had an exhibit on Titian and other Renaissance Masters.  It ends on Sunday, and we had wanted to see it, so I quickly purchased tickets for Sunday this morning and we'll go and see it.  Then we get to find time to go see the King Tut exhibit at the Science Museum inbetween summer conferences and Renaissance Festival.  I'll just make sure we get to that too, since we both want to see it.  So at least I have something fun to look forward to on Sunday, I always enjoy going to the Institute. 

10 Things I Love

Continuing on with my personal lists...10 Things I Love

1 - I love art in all of its forms and varieties.  The expression of joy and angst into visual, audible and kinetic displays is basic to human-kind.  A small child will make artistic visions with colors and paints, an elder will pick up a pencil to draw, a musician will tap out a rhythmn or take an instrument in hand, a dancer will spin and move gloriously.  It is all art, and I love it all. 

This Dale Chihuly piece hangs in the Minneapolis Institute of Art

2 - I love museums.  Going to a museum is one of my favorite activities and one that I never tire of.  I have been known to travel to distant cities just to visit specific exhibits at museums. 
3 - I love reading, especially fanfic (non-commercially published stories and novels based on the published works of other authors) and cannot imagine how I could have lived so many years without exploring this vast resource of alternative literature. 
4 - In the same vein - I love my Nook Color.  OK, it's banal to mention a specific product in a listing like this, but after more than a month of using it every day for hours a day, I can conclusively say that this was the "Best Gift EVER". 

Nook Color - I love it, I love it, I love it!

5 - I love the world in which we live.  Even on these days of winter when the world is a dirty grey and the temperature is such that I would much rather not go out, I love it.  I love the animals and the plants, I love the breezes and the clouds, I love the waters and the mountains.  I just wish we, as people, walked with a lighter footprint on this glorious world. 
6 - I love my family, at least most of the time - LOL.  And I suspect that is true for almost everyone. 
7 - I love the sound of rushing water, as long as it is not associated with another basement flood for me.  Babbling brooks, the sound of waterfalls, the rushing of a river - I love all of them. 

This beauty is in Lesotho, Africa.  It's stunning, isn't it?

8 - I love Spirit - a word that can encompass so much.  I know that there is a broader universe out there and much that I can't perceive or understand.  I love the beauty of the Universe in which I am allowed to live.  I love that I am allowed to be a part of it and I hope that I am performing up to expectations/desires.  I look forward to walking into the next stage when it is time for me to do so, and understanding more of Spirit at that time. 
9 - I love attending the Renaissance Festival - several weekends of outdoor activities shared with others of like feelings in costume.  It gives me an opportunity to leave my everyday cares behind me. 
10 - I love making art - thinking about it, drawing it out, grabbing my color pens or watercolors, and then making it in metal and enamel.  My beads and my metalwork surround my life as creative bookends with everything else between them and I'm eternally grateful to find time to play with my art when I can. 

I was going to also deal with the things that I hate - a strong emotion, but I can't seem to just make short lists so I'll deal with that on a different day. 

Deadlines Looming

In one week I leave for the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee.  It's such a different time this year.  After years and years of my friend Pam and I going together to the show, she is staying home in California and I am cutting my trip in half.  Normally I would be leaving on Sunday, staying for a little over a week, and then coming back.  It would be eight nights in the hotel and nine days of parking fees.  This time I will be leaving on Wednesday, returning late Sunday, so I'll have my hotel room for four nights.  My friend Dawn phoned yesterday and will take me up on my offer to share my room.  She'll arrive on Thursday.  So I'll have some financial aid for my room fees and that will help.  I have one class all day on Friday, and one class on Sunday morning.  I have a variety of people that I want to meet up with, and I hope to get to at least one of the museums - The Art Museum and/or The People's Museum.  I have Thursday and Saturday free, although I will probably spend most of Saturday on the shopping floor. 

I am trying to determine how much cash to bring with me to the show.  I don't really need to buy anything except food and drink, but I usually find a little something.  I will bring my laptop, although I know that once I start getting busy then posts to my blog or more than just checking whether or not I have orders to process simply won't happen.  Last year I had the delightful cap to my trip of running into an old friend from college.  Unfortunately Seth won't be anywhere close this time.  He will pass through St Paul at the end of June though, and I hope I can get together with him then.  So...this year's trip will be pared down to the essence of why I go to Bead & Button Shop - to see friends, to learn a new technique, and to get out of my shop for a few days.  Yes....it is worth it! 

Score One for Studio Days

Originally I had intended to switch days off with my Manager so that I could register for Bead & Button at noon CST today. I was then going to work on Wednesday instead. Although I will still be off this morning and early afternoon, my Manager said that if I could come in for the remainder of the afternoon, I can still have my Wednesday studio day off to work on some new cloisonnae designs that I have been refining.

OK, I will be the first person to admit that it sounds weird when the owner of the store is being told, by one of her employees, that she can take an extra 1/2 day off. But it is give and take within my small staff. He spent November and December working 6 days a week with me over the Holiday season, and I started the new year by giving him extra days off here and there since the New Year generally starts out slower. By the end of the year, everything balances out and everyone gets an appropriate amount of time off to decompress and travel if it is their desire to do so. This extra time off for my studio time is my bit of personal balance and I'm quite pleased about it.

So today I will be on-line with many others, credit card in hand, trying to grab the two classes that I want to take at Bead & Button this year. They will leave me lots of open time, so I guess I'd better check and see what the Milwaukee museums have on their schedule. I don't think I'll be able to afford a trip to Chicago this year, so I'll have to go to the People's Museum or the Milwaukee Art Museum instead for a day of play. I'll figure it out - I'm already looking forward to it.

Busy Day Ahead

My kiln will be working overtime today - one way to heat the house, I suppose :-) I have several pieces of Metal Clay to fire for a customer, then I can start laying in my next layer(s) of enamel color and getting those fused in. I hope I'll have the chance to do more than one layer, but it takes 2 hours or so to lay in a single layer because the design is so complex and because I really need to think about my colors so that they turn out the way that I want. It's not as easy to strip a bad enamel job as it is to strip a bad paint job, so some basic thought is quite necessary. I have a feeling that it will be the layering on of color to get my mind's vision onto the silver that will be my quest in enameling for the next 40 years. What a fun thought!

Photo of some Gargoyles of Notre Dame Cathedral - the gargoyles are not original, but are relatively recent, added during a renovation a century or two ago.

I have museum envy. My dear friend Seth has been touring Europe with his latest job. He had some time free in London to go to the British Museum and in Paris he was able to get to the Louvre and Notre Dame (as well as the Eiffel Tower at night). I've been to London - absolutely loved it and bought WAY too many books at the museums out there. But I've never been to France or the continent at all. I want to go to the Louvre and I want to go to the Picasso Museum in Barcelona also. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna.... See??? Museum envy - LOL. One of these days I'll get there one way or another :-)

And just look at this image. When I first saw it, I thought it was some amazing fabric - folded and gleaming in the photographer's light. But it's actually the surface of Mars. Yup - Mars - that 4th planet from the Sun. This would make an amazing fabric so I saved the image. Down the line I may get the chance to do something with this and some careful dying on silk, or maybe with enamelwork. Hmmm, more possibilities. I love Studio Day!!!