Pain and Paying Attention

This is for a friend of mine out there somewhere today in pain. Thought I'd share this excerpt from Julia Cameron's "The Artists Way":
"In writing about attention, I see that I have written a good deal about pain. This is no coincidence. It may be different for others, but pain is what it took to teach me to pay attention."
How amazing is THAT! It was a bolt of lightening, reading that. I mean we know these things but do we KNOW them? My midlife cyclone (as I like to call it) and its ensuing rubble, did just that for me, taught me to pay attention, to live in each tiny precious minute. Some of that sensation has faded for me in my comfortable post chaos life. Some days I have regrets and I have consoled myself with thoughts like- well,I wouldn't be where I am now, or with Robert, etc. When really the journey I went through had a far greater, and simultaneously simpler lesson for me. EXPERIENCE! Pain was transmuted into wisdom and experience! But these lesson fade so quickly for us slow humans. We need more konks on the head!
Maybe pain and crisis has this lesson to teach all of us. From the moment we are born through pain, we continuously are reborn through it, over and over.
Julia goes on,
"In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to the right now. The precise moment I was in was the only safe place for me. Each moment, taken alone, was always bearable. In the exact now, we are all, always, all right. Yesterday teh marriage may have ended. Tomorrow the cat may die. The phone call from the lover, for all my waiting, may not ever come, but just at the moment, just now, that's all right. I am breathing in and out. Realizing this, I began to notice that each moment was not without its beauty."
Just beautiful.....
This is one of the truths of life that must be discovered by each person on their own. I think this is the core of so many journeys books, lectures.... how to find the soft tender center in the present moment. And so, my friend's pain and crisis and my watching her go through it, reiterate for me the fragility and beauty of life's processes. She will be hammered out smooth, shiny and new when it is over.
(picture borrowed from here)

Boo Ya'll!

So thought I'd report in about one of my family's favoritest of holidays, HALLOWEEN!
We had a good time. Meredith was with us for the festivities and we did a fine job. I had wanted to have a blow out party but getting life rolling after Portland, and applying to Portland for next year with new projects, and teaching, it was just too much. Next year! I did find out that my daughter is a whiz at pumpkin carving and wields a mean exacto blade. She did the Jack Skellington pumpkin and many of our luminaries including this fierce cat. Meredith and her friend rampaged neighborhoods trick or treating as zombie school girls replete with pleated plaid skirts and battle with a bottle of fake blood. I was thrilled to have LOTS of trick or treaters in our new neighborhood THANK HEAVEN! I mis the halcyon days of my childhood in the suburbs of the 70's. Days spent on costumes parents lurking and scaring each other. Those were the pre-razorbladed apple days. You couldn't wait until the Halloween cartoon special came on preferably Charlie Brown! Ah, the good ole days! Well, in my neighborhood it seems they're alive and strong!

The Invisible Man

Liu Bolin paints himself to blend in with his background more images here.

Ouaggahdougoo Fertility Punch

Yes folks, my brother just told me that he and his friends years ago made up a drink, "Ouaggahdougoo Fertility Punch". Hey, they were in college, they had a blender and a fridge and heck, it seeeemed like a good idea. They also had an Atlas and named it after an actual city.
It included rum, peanut butter, grape jelly, beer,muscle protein powder, grapes... He's forgotten the ten other things. Hey said they never knew if it worked because they couldn't find a girl who'd drink it. He said it didn't hold a candle to the drink they made up called "Brown Mafungo", it included maple syrup, or the "Dirty Ashtray".

Swamp Sunflowers

Helianthus angustifolius, ah, I am in love. Swamp Sunflowers! I have seen them in years past, but didn't know what they were. They bloom on tall shoots in the fall. And oh how I love fall! That first break in the ever present blasted heat around here. It's been in the high 80's since I got back from Portland. But today its almost cold! and drizzly too! Oh I love it. I love sweaters out of knubby fabrics and sheep's wool and handmade, hand dyed yarns. I love tea and coffee, moss and damp rocks.. I adore moody skies and cool breezes and dripping ferns. And now I love these flowers. They are so explosive and vibrant with fiery yellows. My friend Kim gave me this big bouquet on Thursday. Oh, the joy they bring! I have recut their stems, coaxing them to live longer. I sit in a sweater, in the gloaming with my tea in my handmade stoneware mug watching their fragile petals quiver in the slight breeze through the open window.
I have a friend who says the fall makes her sad. To her it is an ending time, end of summer, end of sun and beach which is her best time. I love the beach too. I love the marsh and the birds. But honestly I love them when it is not so hot.
To me fall is the beginning! I have fallen in love numerous times with the best of men in the fall. The leaves become golden tree crowns. The word becomes crisp and busy again, readying for winter. The slow bees are buzzing happily. There is honey to be harvested, beer to be brewed! The ancient people felt the glow the harvest, the plenty, the end of the years hardest work. They celebrated with gratitude and overwhelming joy that they would indeed survive another winter. Samhain- end of summer... the time of bonfires, rejoicing and feasts! And oh how I love fire! This cooler weather is so much more suited to creative fires. I can metalsmith, enamel, fire up the ceramic kilns without melting and dying from the heat! I was born to live in the mountains I think. But alas we are where we are and that is that. I do enjoy the beach when it is summer, but now it is my time. Robert loves the heat, the hotter the better. Not me. I love my tiki stuff and my banana trees, brugmansia and sago palms, but I am good for no creative work in the summer. My brain doesn't work so well in the steamy August time. I am only good for dreaming in hammocks then, or lazing down rivers. Now is the time I feel alive and full of song and long for my hammers and metal and chili, stews and squash and bonfires!
My friend who sees the end when fall comes along, just needs some swamp sunflowers and a lovely cup of flavorful tea!

Late to the Ball

Dang! Robert and I have discovered Serenity and Firefly and are hooked. Why am I always late to the ball! Robert is freakin' I found a Serenity lunchbox... do I hear Christmas bells?

Nov 7th Benefit for Autism

Nov 7th at Poplar Grove Plantation from 12-4pm.
I'll be donating jewelry to the auction. There will be four great bluegrass and handmade music bands, beer tent, auction, pony rides, food, free admission!
Hope to see you there!

All proceeds got support http://www.asapcares.org

Art and Soul 2009 Portland

So! I got back from Art and Soul Portland late Monday night with a teensy headcold, which fortunately was gone quickly. I am tuckered out though!
Here's a pic of the Art & Soul onsite store a temporary satellite of "Collage"



The folks in my classes were wonderful!! These little beauties are from my Sunday Goddess of the Tines class:














And my roommates were amazing. Traci Bunkers and Juliana Coles are two phenominal women! I was honored they let me room with them this time. Met so many great folks hope to go back again!
didn't see any of Portland really, but took a short walk.

Meredith's Belt Buckle

Happy Birthday, M!
I made this after she did most of the designing. The pistol on the right spins!

PAINTBALL!

Our family is now officially addicted to Paintball! Robert's already looked on craigslist for paintball guns.

Steampunk Buckle

Here's my easy squeezy steampunk belt buckle. Hopefully a new workshop available near you! TBA

Tie Dye Cupcakes

My daughter and her friend bought neon food coloring and made what they dubbed tie dye cupcakes. They used matching colored bowls for the batter.

Camping on Masonboro

We had a lovely Saturday night camping on Masonboro Island recently. It was blustery on Saturday as we paddled over, but warm, and then cooler on Sunday. We were visited by a fox and saw signs of many others as well as deer tracks. Robert found the remains of turtle eggs where something had eaten them, such a shame. He said the State reported no successful hatchings of shorebirds such as terns or oyster catchers on Masonoboro. There are just too many foxes and too many huge blow out parties over there with the ensuing drunken behavior, littering, fouling of the water and dunes, dogs unleashed, etc. Many shorebirds don't make twig nest, they just hollow out the sand a bit. Too many people don't care. Those that do are trying to do something about it. There will be a public meeting to increase awareness of the MBI Reserve and to discuss management options for use and abuse, with public comment invited. It will be 10/6 at the UNCW Center for Marine Science, 5600 Marvin Moss Lane, Auditorium, 6pm

Dawn on Masonboro.

















Turtle egg shells



















Wind writing with sea grass.

















Ghost crab tracks.

Steam!

Here's my bracelet! I will be taking orders on this at vendor night at Art and Soul, Portland this coming weekend.

Steampunk

Well what goes around comes around again. Now that summer is on the way out, sorry but THANK GOD! And now that I am over my annual Tiki obsession, it's on to other distractions, but first a prologue:
Many years ago I made found object jewelry. My quirky brother saw what I was doing and at the time he worked on clocks and started bringing me clock parts. I was enthralled.
So a lot of my work in the 90's had clock gears in it. I still have hundreds and I have huge plastic buckets in the yard full of grandfather clock mechanisms all rusting in rainwater, waiting for the last decade to be taken apart and the parts salvaged. I grew out of using the gears and got tired of the "oh how cute, look Madge, earrings made out of watch parts.... my uncle, cousin, sister, friends makes those" comments I was getting at craft shows. First of all I seriously doubt their friend used actual solder and not hot glue, and secondly mine were not clusters of junk all glued to matboard. So it grew old. But all this time I couldn't bear to part with my gears. I've sold a few here and there, but they still sit in drawers, boxes in the attic etc.
I got some out the other day and made a fine bracelet! I am very pleased and intend to make more. So my 14 yr old daughter comes in and says,"Oh no...now you're into steampunk TOO?!" Steampunk??? "into"? I have been seeing steampunk stuff on etsy and thought it was cool but does that qualify as "into"?
Hm, let's see.... I started looking stuff up about Steampunk. And a young girl in my metals class came to my studio open house and said that I should look into the anime conventions that have steampunk stuff. So that was it... I guess what I do appeals to the steampunk crowds too.
Then I started thinking... maybe, just maybe, I've been into steampunk my whole life!
My first favorite, adored Barbie wasn't actually Barbie at all but was instead the Truly Scrumptious Doll by Mattel. She had the whole striped costume and a pink daisy chatty ring and five different sayings. My brother and I had the LP of the soundtrack and my mother sang Hushaby Mountain to us all to get us to sleep. The first video I asked for for Christmas when videos became available for purchase was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (I think I was in college.) It is extremely difficult for me to pass up a good "dress up in saloon garb and have your picture taken" salon without partaking. I have owned two pair of vintage safety goggles with the side covers for the last 6 years. One is for soldering and they're black, the other are silver with clear perforated sides with holes, very chic. My first job in life was as a costumed tour guide of a Victorian era plantation house. Let's see...hm Oh! I ADORE 20,000 Leagues... Love all that stuff, gadgets...the old show the Wild Wild West. I mean how cool was that!? So I guess I'd better head out and buy me a candy striped corset and bustle mini skirt and heeled boots! Ooooo! a little top hat. I used to actually wear a gold glittered one in high school.... hey, it was the Rocky Horror days and I was experimenting with my theatrical side....
So who couldn't love fantasy steam gadget airship wild west pirates? well only if they were on an tropical island! wink wink....

MAKER FAIRE

Looks like a blast!

Adorn Me!

Join me in Houston at Adorn Me next March!

WAWAs

Yep, its official I'm a WAWA.
This Friday is the September WAWA First Friday Studio Crawl
Studios will be open from 6-9 in the Winter Park region of Wrightsville Ave. Just look for the blue and white signs and/or balloons. For more information about the other WAWAs click here.

19th Century Hunks!

Wish I knew who the photographer was so I could give credit, but I got such a kick out of this!

Wishes

My wish was granted!
I didn't have to leave my new pad at ALL today! For any reason!!! Such bliss! Even Gorman our resident monster (made by fiber art queen Keely Benkey) seemed relaxed and happy.




















I puttered in my studio, made a new flag for our mailbox out of pieces of a stop sign. I'll post pics when I get it on the mailbox.
I mean who'd want to leave this??!

Amazing Dolls

These porcelain dolls by Marina Bychkova are truly amazing

The Summer of Moving

STILL moving.... it never ends. We moved the household, took about two weeks, and I had to maintain everything else during all that, like submitting to retreats, teaching private lessons, my part time job. Now I have painted my new work space and hung a few shelves and moved a few things that I could lift by myself. In the midst of it all, on the 31st of July, the head of Humanities emailed and said,"I know its short notice but the college is moving you out of E, four blocks away to the basement of A building. You'll have to pack up the metals studio for the move." So Meredith (bless her) helped me inventory and pack the whole CFCC metals studio for two days last week! Classes start next week! I have to go down there and UNpack on friday. So tonight its back to my studio, so I can finish packing and Robert and I can hopefully move the rest tomorrow.....sigh. To anyone who's wondered where I went, I'm still here just living in a sea of boxes.

Smashing Pumpkins - Tonight, Tonight (Video)

So, I have liked this song for awhile, but not having TV now for years I never saw the video! My brother Joe has pestered me to see it and today he called and said ,"Tonight! write this down and watch it tonight! Trust me, you will love it!" Boy has he got me pegged...

New Digs

Well after almost two months, I am STILL moving! We moved the household already which took weeks, packing... actual moving took a couple of days and then cleaning, spackling, etc. I am still unpacking boxes. Then I take those boxes to my studio and repack them (hurriedly) and throw them in my Jeep, and drive them home only to do it again an hour or two later.
I now officially HATE being a pack rat. I am temped to give up art all together! Being an artist you make things, and often I make things out of junk I collect, then you have to store said things! That is unless by some miracle they sell, then you're in luck, someone else has to store it! :-) So I head to the studio again tonight *sigh* Hopefully I won't become completely disheartened at the site of things. When you drive away with your car full, you feel you accomplished a lot, and then when you come back you see you hardly put a dent in the mountain of stuff! However when the studio is up and running I will be excited to possibly join a group in my area that do open studio tours once a month. We'll see!

Local German Food

Hey if you're local and you love The German Cafe in downtown Wilmington then vote them one of the best German restaurants in America! I get their soup almost everyday and LOOOOOOVE their Napoleans, but my spare tire needs deflating so I don't get those much anymore. They have a fab selection of sandwiches and their house dressing is great. I have purchased it on the side to take to parties and people always ask me about it. If you haven't tried the German Cafe you'd better!

My brother and his Saraswati guitar

This is a short documentary on the making of a 21 string hybrid instrument.

Melting of the Globe - Jay Manley & his Saraswati Guitar from nic beery on Vimeo.

Polynesian Pop

"Oh we're goin' to a hukilau...."
Took Robert and Meredith to the Tiki bar in CB. One of my favorite spots. I figure the only way to combat the feeling that I would much rather live in the mountains to Washington state is to immerse myself in a sort of tropical tiki kitsch fantasy world. then when I am sweating in the rusty Jeep at an interminably long stop light in the blazing sun, hell, in other words, I can imagine myself somewhere else, on a breezy beach with a tropical drink and flowers in my hair.
We were lucky enough to catch the Da Howlies. Awesome dudes... have enjoyed my cd today. They'll be back again in a month.
I just can't get enough. I have searched the internet for tiki swizzle sticks, carved tikis, how to carve tikis... in fact I started searching for who tiki actually is! (in many Polynesian myths he's the first man) I guess somewhere in my youth I equated tikit bars with mirth. My parents adored the Enchanted Tiki room in Disneyland when we lived in San Diego in the late 60's. They and my grandparents had tiki mugs from Bali Hi and other bars. My grandmother adored anything tropical and anything with coconut in it. So I naturally grew up thinking anything Polynesian must be completely magical. So I have always harbored a love of Tiki. I tortured my fellow prom comitee folks in high school. I got appointed their evil overseer and insisted we create EA Laney's gym into a tropical wonderland replete with glowing, smoking 10 foot high volcano. I made 40 paper mache parrots, cut bamboo myself to transform the bathrooms and cut out hundreds of giant tropical leaves. The sophomore servers wore sarongs I thought it was fantastic. Not everyone enjoyed it. They all wanted a southern antebellum plantation theme with a giant white Bellamy mansion and belle gowns. I thought that was lame and over done and frankly unfair to those who were not privileged white plantation owners decendents. Anyway, my love of tiki lives on. there are two rubbermaid storage containers in my attic full of strings of tiki lights, grass skirting, silk leis, palm leaf platters, tiki shot glasses.
I mean its fun! You can't sing Pearly Shells while thinking about biopsies or cell phone bills, or dental crowns.
".....by the ocean, lying on the shore, shining in the sun... when I see them, my heart tells me I love you more than all the little pearly shells!"

Abby Spangel Perry

I want to share a friend and colleague of mine's fabulous artwork! Abby Spangel Perry
I FREAKED over her thesis work. I'm sure you will too!
Check out her site.



I keep trying to get her to scan and print this one and put it one Etsy. I think she's investigating the most ecologically sound way to do so. I'll keep ya'll posted!