Friday, September 19, 2008

Qualifications?

The presidential candidates educational records:

McCain:
McCain graduated from the Naval Academy in June 1958; he was fifth from the bottom in class rank, 894th out of 899.

Palin:
from the Associated Press
Published: September 4th, 2008 01:20 PM
Last Modified: September 4th, 2008 01:20 PM
SPOKANE, Wash. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin attended five colleges in six years before graduating from the University of Idaho in 1987.
Federal privacy laws prohibit the schools from disclosing her grades, and none of the schools contacted by The Associated Press could say why she transferred. There was no indication any of them were contacted as part of the background investigation of Palin by presidential candidate John McCain's campaign."
Her degree was in journalism.

Obama:
He then transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in political science with a specialization in international relations.Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988 and at the end of his first year was selected as an editor of the law review based on his grades and a writing competition. He graduated with a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991 and returned to Chicago


Joe Biden:
Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark,[10] where by his own later description he was a lazy student.[11] He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in history and political science in 1965,[2] ranked 506th of 688 in his class. He went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Syracuse University College of Law in 1968.

So who's qualified to run our country????

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Women multiply things

My uncle sent me this I thought it was wonderful!

Quote of the day:

'Whatever you give a woman, she's going to multiply it. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. So - if you give her any crap, you will receive a ton of......

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Jamie's journal


Jamie Sells and I have been emailing. She liked the Camp Creed I wrote and used it on her first page in her visual journal. I thought it was wonderful!

Sunday, September 14, 2008

A Great Loss?



Will we, the national art community, suffer a devastating loss?
From their site:
"The Latest News:
Statement of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts Board of Governors
September 7, 2008

For Immediate Release:
Members of the Board of Governors were unaware of the plan for Pi Beta Phi Fraternity to sell the property on which Arrowmont is located until late July 2008. In mid-August, the Board of Governors engaged an attorney to investigate every possibility related to the sale of the land, which is currently leased to the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts through 2011.

The Arrowmont Board of Governors is fully committed to the ongoing success of Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. However, the sale of the land on which the school is located represents a major threat to the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. While Arrowmont could be relocated and rebuilt elsewhere, the cost of doing so would greatly exceed the amount of money that Pi Beta Phi Fraternity has suggested it might offer. The Arrowmont Board of Governors believes that losing the historic campus and the professional craft studio facilities and dormitories would be devastating to the school, not only in the short term, but also because it would sever its long-lasting ties to the early heritage of Pi Beta Phi in Gatlinburg. Of additional concern is the fact that the immediate loss of revenue and constituents (both local and national students and conference attendees) while the new facilities are being built could prove catastrophic. "

My grandmother arrived in 1932 (?) to Arrowmont as a teacher. She was called by the Pi Beta Phi's from the dustbowls of Oklahoma to come to the mountains of Tennessee and teach children. She and my mother took me to Arrowmont after it had become an art school when I was in 3rd grade. My other grandparents lived around the corner and my grandfathers church where he officiated for 35 years was across the street from the Arrowcraft Gallery. To me Arrowmont became a symbol of what artists do. It was an icon for me my entire life. My life's dream was to eventually teach workshops there. I have taken two workshops and a conference there. Recieved a scholarship for one, attended auctions and assisted two workshops there, and underwent one of the most transformative experiences of my art career there. I have sat on the patio until 3am with Keith LoBue there, talking and sharing and watching the stars. Arrowmont is my artistic womb manifested as a place.
When I heard this news I cried so hard my eyes swelled for the next day. Robert didn't speak. He didn't know what to say.
My only hope is that somehow someway Arrowmont can morph and change and be reborn just a special in another place.
Maybe even a better place. Were I a millionaire....

The porch of Teacher's Cottage.













metals studio














The picnic tables outside the cafeteria.
















The fountain outside metals. I have soaked my tired feet in this many times!

Elation

I was searching for just the right thing this summer for my daughter to do. You know, she's at that weird age... old enough for some things, too young for others. Back when I was in middle school the world was a different place. There was less worry about leaving us home all day in the summer. We'd explore the woods, ride bikes clear across town, spend the day at the beach or in the pool, just us kids! Now people are spreadout in urban sprawl. She might be killed on a bike on our roads! There are child molesters and creepazoids everywhere... so anyway, kids camps seemed to young for her but I work and she gets bored at my studio space... sigh, what to do. I asked one of my students, a cool, smart, well adjusted but delightfully eccentric girl,"what would you say if you had to pick something that made a huge, positive difference in your life at 13? Was it a activity, a hobby, a person?" She said, "Horses! hands down" She went to a barn near her house and it changed her life. Then I asked a friend whose raised three fantastic girls what she thought really gave them self confidence and joy. She said,"horseback riding!" Odd they both, in the same week, said the same thing. So I signed her up at a barn for horseback riding camp. She went everyday from 8:30 to 2 for weeks this sumer. We all got hooked. She goes for lessons on Wednesday evenings. Her very first competitive show was yesterday.



Here she is with her trainer. She entered one division. And in the very first class of that division they called her name for first place. I missed seeing her jaw drop in shock as I was on the opposite side of the ring. The trainer and other mothers said it was priceless! She went on to get division champion. I could not be happier for her.
I bet she'll not take that medal off for days.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Teaching, Learning, John Cage and LEAF!





















Wow a new friend sent me this:

John Cage's "Rules for Students and Teachers." Here they are:

1 Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for awhile.
2 General duties of a student--pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.
3 General duties of a teacher--pull everything out of your students.
4 Consider everything an experiment.
5 Be self-disciplined--this means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
6 Nothing is a mistake. There's no win and no fail, there's only make.
7 The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things.
8 Don't try to create and analyze at the same time. They're different processes.
9 Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It's lighter than you think.
10 Break rules. Even your own rules. Leave plenty of room for X quantities.

John Cage (1912-1992) was a composer, print maker, performance artist, writer, philosopher, editor, teacher, mushroom expert, collaborator and poet. Fact is, John Cage had a lot of fun in his factory. Considered one of the most influential composers of the twentieth century, he produced works with one note, no notes, notes by chance, and a noted organ composition that takes 639 years to play.
"Life," he said, "is a workshop."

So wonderful! Thank you Dan! This is especially great as LEAF is soon upon us! Lake Eden Arts Festival in October is on the former grounds of Black Mountain College where John Cage spent alot of time as faculty beginning in 1948. He staged his first happening there. And oddly I am listening to Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour on NPR on which Michael Franti is playing live, and Robert and I saw him at LEAF last year! weird circles.....
(oh and sorry for the typos in the previous post. I can't seem to edit them!)

I know what you're thinking...

Yeah, at first I thought who cares what Matt Damon thinks, but wait! I mean I loke Matt Damon and all, but honestly he says what I am thinking about Sarah Palin!

Oh you Arfesters! Get a load o this!

It's on Etsy!! I love it!
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15156025 The user name is Postdesigner.

Horsey Talk

“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.” -Marianne Williamson

So I haven't posted in bit, thought I'd start anew. In fact, since Artfest packets are hatching in people's mailboxes I would endeavor to make the blog more "arty"! Thought this quote was lovely, and exactly what Artfest is all about.
I have three new activities that have been hugely stimulating to me. One is a collaborative I am in with 12 other women, the next is a little collage class I am doing on wednesday nights at my studio with four local women. I call it "Collage Camp for Grown Up Girls". We began with a "Camp Creed" that I wrote:

"Tonight, I will give my inner critic the night off!
I will let go, play, maybe even dance.
I will open a window to let in Possibility.
I will be kind to myself, using only nurturing, encouraging
mental words.
I will allow Imperfection to visit and have tea, maybe I will learn
from her.
I will allow Uniqueness in as well.
Finally, I will fill with gratitude for whatever happens tonight!"

And thirdly, I started Cape Fear Metalsmiths, a local club for people who've caught the metal bug. I had three of them in my studio last night for a lesson on rivets. Thursday is my LONG day. It starts at 5:45. I teach metals at 8am for three hours at CFCC. Then I hang in my little shared office, chat with coworkers, grade, answer emails, tweek the school/class website, do paperwork, eat soup, fix broken equipment and then teach metals again until 5pm. Then I chase students out (there's always some who don't want to leave) lock up and drive to my studio and eat soup while I tidy up for the night metals class there. I finish up around 9:30 and drive home...gasp, gasp. Last night I laid in the floor,nay I collapsed!

Meredith rides in her first competitive equestrian show on Saturday. I am so excited! She is nervous! She will ride one of the stable's horses, Tobey. I told her we would all consider a horse when she is 16. Then she can drive to wherever it's boarded, herself! And she can have a job to pay for it! I confess I would love having a horse and small farm but alas, for now its our little brick ranch on a little suburban lot. Robert and I do dream of a bit of land, a house with a porch and rocking chairs, a garden, herbs, brick paths, angora goats, making soap, I would set up my loom and weave, I would have a pottery shed and he a boat and kayak building shed, and of course the metals/collage studio!
We love little outbuildings and point them out to each other on roadtrips. Oh well, someday....

Meredith making the horsey talk...