Dearly Departed

Skooter

A few months back a friend of ours lost her cat rather suddenly.

I am a cat lover myself, so I couldn't resist memorializing little Skooter in silver clay.

I gave him an emerald to represent the month he was born (May).

I hope to present this to our friend sometime before Christmas.

I still need to finish the chain, but I'll post an update with a photo when it's done.

Maybe my friend will let me post a picture of her wearing it!

Another view.

Though not my usual style, I did enjoyed the opportunity to try my hand at something so cute. I have a feeling that, when finished, he will be very happy in his new home!

R.I.P. Skooter!

Snow Day

  Hang on; what happened to fall? 

Not even out of October and we are on our second snow day- in a row!

Not that I’m complaining. Quite the contrary, there is something about a snow day that makes me just want to snuggle up with the family, blow of responsibility for the day, and snuggle up with a hot cup of mocha laced coffee.

  But October? When we moved to Colorado from the blistering crucible that was central Texas, I was anxiously looking forward to the gentle merging of the four seasons that is the Rockies. For the most part, I have not been disappointed. Each season has merged with the next bringing the classic blooming, ripening, color changing, and snowing that I have always loved. You can almost set your watch by it. You come to count on it.

  Since settling here, nearly five years ago, we have been planting pumpkin seeds. And every year, just before Halloween, we get to harvest the fruits of our labors (okay, ‘labors’ is a bit of an exaggeration since pumpkins require zero effort, and frankly, I can’t keep a houseplant alive) and carve out the family Jack O’ Lantern to adorn our front porch. This year was to be exceptional, since our annual pumpkin had failed to turn orange, but had remained a deep green, we were all excited to have a change of pace and sport a ghastly ghoulish Jack O’ Lantern this year. But within the week of our yearly harvest we had skipped Fall altogether and found ourselves smack dab in the middle of a premature winter. Alas, our poor ghoulish pumpkin froze solid, and is now, as I type, a ghastly green mess of mush. We are all decidedly disappointed. Oh well, nothing a trip to the grocery store won’t fix, and the 2 days free from school have served as a sort of consolation prize for the kids.

  But sometimes the unexpected disappointment can tow along behind it the equally wonderful. The silver lining, so to speak.

  As much as I lament losing the gentle evolution between summer and winter that is fall, there is just something about the silence of the world as big fat snowflakes drift softly outside my window that makes up for the temporary loss of a season. Perhaps it is the subtle contentment that comes when one is given the unexpected bounty of a whole day at home, let alone two, to enjoy the warmth of family and fire, or an extra day to do those things you never seem to have the time for. Two free days for one ruined pumpkin. Not a bad trade.

  Anyway, Saturday is supposed to be in the 60’s. Just a little break from the grind, and we are back on for Halloween. I have a little witch, a cheerleader, a princess, and an evil robot bounty hunter that are starving for some candy and they will not be denied!

  Maybe this all means we will get an early spring to look forward too or at the very least, a few more snow days!

Emergence of an Entity

I think I am finally beginning to hit my stride. After devouring books and videos and after hours spent fixated on the work of other artists, (envious of how they can have such a marked style and still make each piece look different from the rest) I think my style is finally beginning to emerge. As much as I love to look at other artists work, I don't want to look like other artists; I want to look like me, to have my own personal style.


Lots of things inspire me. My Buddhist faith, my native american and european ancestry, the desert that helped to shape who I am through learning to survive in it with next to nothing, the Rocky Mountains where I live now and by which I grew up, and the Universe itself with all its suns, planets, comets, nebulas, dark matter, and black holes.

As giant nebulas coalesce into a stars and planets through the forces of gravity and centrifugal force, so my style is beginning to take shape from particles of silver and various materials and through the forces of imagination and creativity. Not just my creative energy either, but the talent and creativity of those who have been creating long before I started.

The lights are off but something is home....

Okay, I am a long time horror fan. I remember watching Poltergeist and Jaws as an elementary aged kid and had read Stephen Kings 'Pet Cemetery' by age 11. Call me a glutton for punishment, but unless I have to turn the lights on for a few nights after a book or movie, then it just doesn't register on my scare-o-meter. (Sorry Freddy and Jason).
Last Saturday night I saw a move that literally scared the living shit out of me, to be perfectly blunt.
"Paranormal Activity" registered a whopping 10 on my scare-o-meter, a feat not accomplished since the night vision camera scene inn the 2005 movie 'The Descent'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5I1q4KhKNU

Paranormal Activity follows in the vein of The Blair Witch Project (also in my top 10) not only in style, but in the fact that it only cost about 14,000$US to make and had a small, relatively unknown cast of 4. The movie begins slowly, lulling you into a false sense of security. The script was free flowing which allowed the characters to seem very real and it was all shot from one camera angle.
The plot begins simply enough with a young 'engaged to be engaged' couple who have been experiencing some weird stuff around the house and the boyfriend, Micah, wants to start recording said activity so goes out and purchases a camera and some recording equipment to shed some light on the strange happenings in the hope of finding a solution.
I'll admit that about a quarter of the way through I was wondering when something was going to happen. I was not disappointed. Like a roller coaster, the movie clicked slowly to a peak and then descended into a series of jarring and disturbing moments only to climax at the ending and leave you rattled.
I'm not going to offer any spoilers, but I will leave you with a bit of free advice: See it in the theatre before you find out too much about it. The less you know the scarier it will be. Enjoy!
Here is one of the better trailers:

http://www.paranormalmovie.com/trailer.html

Remember, 10 on my scare-o-meter. Don't say I didn't warn you!

My eyes are bigger than my stomach

Well, metaphorically speaking anyway. I keep running into the problem wherein I imagine all sorts of wondrous things I could make from my metal clay (my newest passion). I spend hours on a sketch, and pour over the work of others, soaking into my cerebrum every detail of every step of their fine work. Then I go for it and, well, it doesn't always turn out like I planned, but then again, sometimes I surprise myself.


I began working with Art Clay Silver in December of 2007. I threw myself into it, way to impatient to read all that pesky literature (i.e. instructions) and, of course, lost several grams of clay to poor torch firing. My frustration finally convinced me to sit the hell down and actually READ about this amazing product. So I did, and I learned that patience was the key to working with precious metal clay. I dabbled a bit with gold clay, which because of its crazy price, kept me much more patient with it and myself. As I continued working I realized that I did have a knack for this stuff. Frustratingly though, as I admired the PMC work of others, I realized how much further I have to go before I get the consistent results that those exasperatingly gifted artists enjoy.

So there I was, content to work patiently with the silver clay and gemstones, pairing them with other comfortable mediums when lo and behold I discover Poly Clay! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

It is a substance created from the imagination itself and, oh the humanity, it looks absolutely heavenly paired with my new beau, Metal Clay!!! The sketch book is out and the designs are issuing forth and once again my dreams and aspirations are light years ahead of my actual physical talent. This leaves me, once again, in a state of euphoric excitement and frustrated apprehension. I can't wait to see what treasures issue forth from THIS turbulent cauldron! MUAHAHAHAHA! Post Script: There will be pictures!

So much to do, so little energy.....

I'm sitting here watching my 3 youngest race around the living room and I just came to a realization.....Those little twerps stole all my energy! Okay, they aren't always twerps, I'm just jealous.

I am trying to be an artist and a mother all while dealing with the minor inconvenience of being disabled.
Disabled....that word was not even in my vernacular until 2003 when bundle of joy #3 got stuck on her way into this world. I should have had some assistance getting her out of me, but it was shift change, and while I should have been the center of attention at that particular moment of my life, I wasn't. The exception to that was my husband and with his hand firmly gripping mine he leaned in and whispered into my ear, "You can do it, Beautiful." With the beeping from the monitor indicating my daughter declining heart rate, and the threat of an emergency c-section looming after a long night of hard labor, I did do it. I dug deep and found 'the monster' as we called it in the Marine Corp and I forced her little occiput posterior body through my pelvis.
The overwhelming sense of relief was mingled with an equally overwhelming sense of foreboding because in the moment that I had compelled this new life into the world I felt something give in my low back. The lingering epidural masked the consequences of my panicked childbearing for a few hours, but all too soon it wore off and the ensuing pain has yet, in 6 years, to leave me.

It is difficult to make someone who does not have chronic pain understand what unrelenting pain can do to the soul of a person. The day in and day out of it. It is the last thing on your mind as you drift off into a narcotic assisted sleep. It steals your restful, rejuvenating sleep and it is what finally wakes you up in the morning. It pillages your personality and leaves you wondering who you are anymore. It also changes those around you. I won't go into the details of this aspect now, but will say only that you learn who really values your friendship and find that it becomes not only necessary, but imperative to distance yourself from toxic people and organizations.
After a six year metamorphosis I have finally emerged, at least I feel, a better, stronger and more whole person. I shed a controlling and elitist religion, I took up a new hobby, I have narrowed my circle of friends to those who have withstood the test of time, and have learned to take time to maintain my close relationships with my husband and children.
Now to bring us back to the present and give who ever reads this some advice: In life we have only three resources- Time. Money. & Energy. We don't all get equal amounts of these and, like all resources, some or all will eventually run out. The idea is to use the one we have the most of at the moment to get things accomplished.
Right now I have no energy, but I have enough money to pay for my internet connection and laptop, and I have the whole day to get done what I need to get done. I would really like to get things done more quickly, but time is my greatest resourse for now and my energy is in pathetically short supply.

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Another Addition to the Bloggersphere

Greetings to all those who have been in the web-logging world for the past decade!

Fun Fact: Web Logs first started in 1999 and were comprise mostly of geeks (SA's) who needed to communicate updated info to the rest of their Geekdom. The ever efficient geeks got tired of saying/typing w-e-b l-o-g and shortened it to the now famous (or infamous, for those of you who found embarrassing family secrets laid out by more extroverted relatives for all the cyber world to read) BLOG!
Since I was in labor for 24 hours in 1999, and am just now finally getting a moment to myself, I get to join the ever-expanding world bloggers. (Applause)

Disclaimer: I promise I will try to remember to use spell-check, but my spelling is notoriously lamentable. My DH got the gift of spelling; I got the gift of vocabulary. We make an awesome team, but, alas, this is only my blog, not his. While I can promise some very cool and underused words, I advise you not to cut & paste or you may end up looking as silly as I do. :-) Greetings to all those who have been in the web-logging world for the past decade!