year of the Rat

something's in the air, i tell you. it seems like EVERYone EVERYwhere is cleaning up, purging, re-doing, redecorating and generally Simplifying and de-cluttering. even me (scroll down through my previous posts regarding my own Big Dig). my friend/neighbor/person my height and artist Deb from down the street is a Feng Shui consultant. she said it's the Chinese year of the Rat. sounds yarky, but according to her, the rat is a very home-and-family type animal (who knew?) and so all these urges people have to revamp their home and make it more workable and less stressful with clutter....thank the rat. now as i write this, of course i'm biting my cheek and resisting the urge to make husband jokes, but he's been in my good graces lately, so i'm going to be good. i pre-ordered a book about how Other Artists have organized their studio, but before it had a chance to get here, the urgings took over and, well, you know the rest. this weekend, for your reading enjoyment...Hoo Boy! husband & I are painting the kitchen. those of you that know us are already clutching your sides laughing....and unplugging your phones so i can't call and ask if i can move in. well, to set the stage (because i feel i must - this has all the warning signs of a future epic), once upon a time, the stepdaughter and I decided to do a "while you were out" episode in the kitchen (while my husband was out). the veeerrrrry short version is that we ended up with 7 coats of R-E-D paint on the walls (and anything we hadn't moved out of the way), and husband hates it. hates it. for 3 years now he remarks on how much he hates it. every time he goes in the kitchen. so he got a good end-of-year bonus and decided we were going to re-do the kitchen. so 3 months later, we still can't agree on countertop colors or floor colors/materials. and part of the problem is that Nothing Looks Good next to the R-E-D. so we're going to paint the walls and take it from there. i can tell you No Progress will be made from there though, because the Home Show is at the Fairgrounds in 2 weeks, and of course we'll have to go there first. i just want this done done done. i can picture it. he can't. so we wait. but i'm okay with that i guess. more studio time! **so i think i may apply to be on Mystery Diagnosis. so far it isn't: MS, lupus, MD, Lyme disease. 8 vials of blood were drained on wednesday, with some more fun to come next week. aaarrgghh. i'm just tired and hurty. not to mention that whole period thing. so stay tuned and thanks for your calls. well little Diva is now deciding she may want to go out, so i'm off to cart her caboose....L.

a quick peep

so it's time to decorate my cubby again. here's the start of it.......

i have to find little PEEP-sized cellphones and accessories to complete the picture, but it's a start. hopefully i won't get a contact high sniffing that sugar all day. so today was a PJ day...got up at 7-ish, had coffee, actually had a conversation with the stepgirlchild, then back to bed at noon. woke up to a tap-tap-tap on my eye around 5pm...diva still can't turn the doorknob. damn those posable thumb issues. let her out, threw a roast in the oven, ate, and am counting the seconds till i can go back to bed. gravity must be strong today. i feel like the entire weight of it is pushing on me. i don't feel sick sick, just weak, aching knees, and my finger joints...ouch! hot and hurty. typing not fun. but oh well. so last week i went to the 2nd (or was it 3rd?) meeting to plan this art show/event. there are 5 of us...and how i got included in the mix is a mystery to me. i am flattered, honored and confused. 4 of the most incredible, notable women i have met (outside of you) and i'll tell you, i was overwhelmed and speechless. yes - me- speechless. well, mostly. the best thing to come out of it is that 1 of the women leads a group of teens to Ghana every year for 2 weeks. so i'm sending my mom with them this summer. last summer she told me her deepest dream was to go to Africa. now - BAM - here's the opportunity. of course her husband has already gotten his agitation going. he's afraid she won't come home...he's reminded her that there are spiders there that will kill her. spiders. for real. she mentioned the fact that they live on Social Security and don't have any money. i reminded her that she put more than the trip cost on her charge card to fix up her husband's daughter's trailer last month. the one who doesn't work? who's main job is to visit her son in the local jail or prison? whichever he happens to be in. so that made her feel better. i asked her if she felt she deserved the trip. she was confused by the "deserved" part. not deserved like "i did this good thing so i can have that good thing." but deserved, as in - am i able to accept a blessing when it comes my way? do i feel that i am worthy of something good happening to me? the Bible verse "let the dead bury the dead" kept coming back to me over & over. her husband's 1st resistance was that mom has to drive her friend to dialysis 3x/week. well, mom is not the only person with a vehicle. in fact, this woman's grown son who lives with her rent free has a very fine vehicle. i mentioned that she could accept or not accept the offer of the trip...either way. but to stay home only because her husband is afraid to leave his same little house and routine would be unacceptable in the long run. i am not putting opposite resistance & pressure on her. this is hers to decide. i hope she will go...it's a chance for her to fulfill her dream in a controlled way - with a group that she'll feel comfortable with, that knows where to go and not go, and has a plan to see the people & culture, and to work within the village they will stay in. not a Carnival cruise atmosphere, where you wake up in a nice hotel and wonder if you're in Boston or Bangladesh. so i'll get the info for her and stand aside. on a similar note, this year has been marked as one where much will be required of me. i didn't know quite what that meant, as the phrase continued to come to me during my shower/meditation time. a little nerve-wracking. sounds like everything will be pulled out from beneath me and that would truly be a scary thing. but actually, the day before this trip thing came up, it was made clear that what would be required would be to help facilitate some things for other people. i can't say what, but as i continue to think about it, it makes more and more sense. throughout my life, in various jobs, i've met people in high and low places, as the song goes. sometimes, it's a matter of knowing a need and making the connections to get it taken care of. never one to fear imposing on someone to ask a favor. the worst they could say is "no" right? so things, i believe will be happening along those lines. and for some reason, i think my insecurity about my job security has been part of that. my job is secure. but i think that i love it so much, i needed to feel like - hey, this is not your life. as i tend to do with jobs. there needed to be a "step back a second and distance yourself for a minute" mental thing. so the feeling that it was time to let go of it was to remind me that there is a bigger world out there. and darn it, my MOTHER is about to see more of it than i have! i don't feel a need or desire to go with her. usually i would - to protect her and guide her, as they say. but i think she'll do best on her own with no one there who has expectations of her. she can just ...be. she probably won't want to come home! then my stepfather will haunt my doorstep. oy. so it's definately time for bed...even diva is calling from the other room. i let her sleep in the Big Girl Bed today with me. she is in heaven over that.. i do so miss her snuggly little butt next to my chest. and ...CONGRATULATIONS to Georgia Popoff!!! her NEXT new book of poetry has just come out and it's a meal. Doom Weavers. incredible. incredible. so night night y'all. Linda

completely unretouched

here's another reason i crave spring.....sunsets over My Lake. summer and fall actually offer the best opportunity to lose your breath over the sight, but by gosh, this is nothing to forget about, eh?

but to where?

i love this assemblage....i made it during The Summer Of Mom. we had decided, as you may remember, to spend wednesdays together. at first awkward...soon warm and intimate. the 1st wednesday, we couldn't decide what to do or where to go. we ended up having breakfast at a little diner near my house. the birds in this piece remind me of us on that day...the door swung open on our cage - but now, where to go? what to do? is it safer to stay put in our familiarity? anyway, we got over it and flew. L.

hungry for spring

i am so ready for spring! i made this doll to celebrate the seasons....well, 3 of them anyway! spring moss, autumn leaves, and on the back of the cape - feathers from summer. winter...not so much to celebrate. it's a cozy season with plenty to enjoy....wood fires, crunchy snow, cozy-ing up with a book and a puppy. but. i do not like the cold that takes up residence in my bones and makes my hands ache in the morning. so here's to the seasons....for the most part. L.

the top picture is taken from the area between my desk and my NEW task table. the bottom is the task table - complete with this kick-butt lamp i found in the garage UNOPENED. bright as the sun, and even has an outlet in the base. i just kept walking in here last night and smiling. the shelving next to the black chair will be going to it's new home in a week. i just love it love it in here. check back in a month and we'll see how pristine and organized it is! but, hey, i got curtains! Linda

TA DA!

i'm not real impressed with these pictures, due to all the SUNSHINE pouring in through my new CURTAINS, but here's a view of the completed project! i just keep coming in here and giggling! this is the view from my desk...you walk in the room, and there's an 8' walk-in closet to your left. on the right, is Bill's office. a few steps further and then my desk. the top of my chair is peeking out at the bottom of the picture, and this is looking slightly to the left.

oh just shoot me NOW

look y'all....i just spent the last week - every SINGLE day - uber-organizing my studio...tossing, trashing, saving, packing, giving away, purging, cleaning (yes i said cleaning). and just for fun, i also organized my husband's desk. and decided to FINALLY make some curtains for the huge windows across one wall. so i came home tonight and said, "ok...work first, fun later." i had, like, 10 items to deal with yet...little things to toss or find a home for. then i had to pay bills. THEN i could make curtains. see, i found a huge wad of sheer silk in with my fabric stash and there's actually much more than enough for these windows, which are approximately 20' X 45" give or take from sill to sill. ok. dealt with the 10 items. yippee! now. pay bills. errrr. aaarrrggghhh. oh NO! i can't find them. i cannot find them. i CAN NOT FIND THEM. panic panic. they have vaporized. poof. pffft. be gone! do you understand they are g-o-n-e. now i don't especially like paying bills, but the weird thing is that the people waiting for the cash get a tad prickly when they open their mailbox and there's nothing from me. (not that Visa sits around going, "Hunh. nothing from Linda yet?"). and the husband gets annoyed when they call during his busy day making money to support my obsession du jour. i'm rarely late on bills. just when I LOSE THEM to organization. the last time this happened was after a purging binge. so instead of regaling you with tales from my oh-so-exciting day, or posting a sweet Valentine's day message, i am going to be going through whatever trash didn't get hauled yesterday LOOKING FOR MY BILLS. so...how is YOUR valentine's day???? L.

mostly done!

just a few more things to find a home for and i'm D-O-N-E done. the original plan was for the shelving to cover the entire 16' wall, but we couldn't find the last section (36 x 18). there was plenty of 36 x 14, but i wanted it all to be matchy matchy and even steven. glad we never found it! one of the things i came to realize was that i need more than 1 work area. i have the gi-normous work table Bill built in the room, but i needed a smaller table for times when i wanted to do some beadwork or soldering or some small thing. i hated to have to tear down everything i was working on just to use a small area. and that's where a lot of clutter came in. i'd just heave it Somewhere...on top of something or near the box it belonged in. hence the post-armageddon style of my studio. SO. i kept thinking that if i fit everything in in a usable yet organized way WITHOUT needing the extra unit, i'd have room for another table. that set the tone for the Big Dig Out & Purge. every tool & object had to justify the space it would take up. "is this more important than a table?" i'd ask myself. the result...ta da! space for a table. now, the livingroom is a nightmare with all the purged stuff sitting down there waiting to be picked up and taken to it's new home, but the studio is blissful. there is literally a vanload of "stuff." most of it very very good stuff, but stuff i don't really use anymore as my medium of choice has gone from fabric to metal-and-a-bunch-o-other-stuff. and i have a veritable Container Store of containers that used to hold that stuff. plastic ones, metal ones, wicker ones, all sizes and shapes, drawers, lids, even a dresser. yikes. i knew i was a pack rat, but sheesh. i put my mother on notice: no more chotchkes. none. not a single one. she means well, but i have 70 teapots, and i stopped collecting teapots about 25 years ago...but she still brings 'em when she sees them. i had a swell collection of odd teapots. that's what i collected...not your average run-of-the-mill teapot. odd pots. when i moved into this house, i kept 5 of my very favorites. but anytime mom saw a teapot...any kind of teapot...she'd gift it. then what do you do?? you can't throw out the teapot your MOM gave you, can you?? i think it's okay if you do, i say with some hesitation. and my mother-in-law is worse. she stops at the dollar store and grabs who-knows-whats by the cartfull and brings it over. so my husband and i have agreed that if we won't use it...out to the curb. our house is crammed with guilt gifts and it's making us crazy. it would hurt her feelings to tell her to stop, so we'll just quietly purge after she leaves. my mom is understanding about the un-gifting. perhaps even relieved. as soon as i clear out the last piles of debris from the room, i'll post some pics. actually Bill is in Dallas and has my camera, so it'll have to wait till the weekend. i am so pleased. i can't wait to work. i feel more artistic even. oh. and then, because something snapped in my brain around 1pm, i started organizing his desk. not a lot. because it is his desk, and i'd go ballistic if someone messed around with MY stuff. but he gets absolutely overwhelmed with the piles of papers and not being able to find anything. lost orders and quotes that needed to go out and phone numbers, etc. so i just shredded the whole mess and he can start over when he gets home. just kidding. i made 2 piles of the paperwork stuff that didn't look like they were In Progress and needed to stay put. over one pile, i took a sheet of paper and wrote "home." the other said "work." so that's not as overwhelming to find homes for...just 2 little piles. and i dusted. oy the dust! so hopefully i'll be able to get the rest of the trash out before he comes back friday and it'll be all feng shui and clean and organized in here so he can concentrate and Make More Money. ha ha. of course now my eyes are swollen shut and itchy from the dust, so the ROOM will look nice, but i'll look like i went a few rounds with George Foreman....all of them! diva is sooo unhappy that she hasn't had my totally undivided attention for days. (that's 240 years in dog time). her wag is droopy and she keeps launching herself at me... PICK ME UP PICK ME UP. then the howling. it would break my heart in two if i didn't remember that i had just put her down 5 minutes before (which is 10 years in dog time). she still does not have bed privleges...March 14 is her follow-up. so when Uncle Bill goes out of town, i sleep on the couch so she can snuggle. she isn't supposed to be jumping up & down from the couch either, but there are only so many rules i can enforce. and i miss her warm belly belly sleeping by me. although she snores about as bad as Bill. truly. i may look into getting her a doggie CPAP if she doesn't start closing her mouth at night. or maybe some of those Breathe Right strips like the football players wear. well i need a nap and my back is shot so time to lay it down. i can't wait to show you the room! L.

i'm too tired to think of a fun, quirky title, so i'll just jump right in. i still have quite a mess going in my studio, but the end is in sight. i plan to NOT go in on wednesday and just organize myself into a tizzy. today we got our taxes done...how is it possible that we owe the govt MORE money?? how? i must move to texas where there's no personal income tax. so i grudgingly made out the check for $2000.00, spit on the envelope and mailed it before i changed my mind and decided to go live "under the radar" in some rickety shed in some forsaken outpost of the world. crimey. today it seemed like every caller was in a contest to be named Cranky Pants of 2008. by 5pm i'd had enough and was ready to just hang up on ANYONE who started whining and moaning. i do swear it's like working in a freaking kindergarten some days. but these are adults. i mean, you wipe off a $200 debt someone Really Owes You, and they still want to try to emotionally dismember you. i did crack at one point and told this one really really Really bad man that i was adding back the money i just forgave since he seemed intent on wanting me to give him a cavity by cavity explanation of how he owed the money in the first place, even though i'd just said i'd give him a courtesy discount of $200 dollars, making his debt to us now $7.50. now if it were me, i say Thank You Plenty, hang up the phone and say a prayer for extraneous blessing upon the person who just did me this kindness. but noooo. i don't talk to people like that on a day-to-day basis. there is the odd one here and there that call demanding my superviser which i am all too happy to connect them with, as it means one less bell for me to answer. then they spend a few moments singing my praises to my boss. that's what makes my job worth while. so the next time you get good customer service, TELL SOMEONE. tell a boss, write a letter, call the corporate office. do something to improve the poor schlep's day. nowadays, "good customer service" is defined as someone who actually does their job...remembers to give you napkins with your Big Mac, silverware, or actually helps you find the toilet plungers down aisle 11 because they see the look in your eye and realize this is not a casual shopping item - you are on a mission. you didn't sit at home all warm and cozy and say, "hunh. i think i'll run down to Home Despot and look at some toilet plungers. cause you never know." nope. this is an item that is often overlooked until the VERY moment you NEED it. usually after a stepson returns home for a brief yet chaotic weekend. so if the guy went the extra aisle to grab one for you...TELL HIS BOSS. after the situation at home is straightened out. that's my day. except for the part where my cub-mate came back from lunch and told me my tire was flat and the guy from the auto place came and filled it to 48 lbs pressure because he was all interested in his Blackberry and maybe wasn't real sure on the pressure thing anyway and i drove home all lopsided with one Monster truck tire and 3 non-Monster truck tires and the guy at valvoline said "hunh...the other 3 are at 28 lbs. lucky it didn't just blow up." indeed. and then found out about the tax return except i have to rteurn EVEN more to my Uncle Sam. oh and yes, there's still a gi-normous pile of trash to go out tuesday night except Bill is leaving for Dallas tuesday morning at 4am so i'll have to heave it myself. again. now i'm seriously falling out of Glitter Princess mind mode so i'm going to shut up before the reality of my day sinks in so far i'll need a crochet hook, bottle of wine and a therapist to recover. guess what! Guess! i get to do it again tomorrow!! lucky girl! lucky girl! i know you hate me with envy. L.

update

STILL GOING! oy. so far i have 3 gi-normous piles of "stuff" to give away, 4 extra large trash cans filled to the brim, and 4 1/2 shelves left to fill. all this after (what i thought was ) a pretty successful purge a few months ago. poor diva thinks she's having an invisibility weekend. at one point she was doing her Poor Me whine, and i kept telling her SHH! it turns out she was blocked into a corner. she was hiding one of her 4-thousand Greenie bones and i moved a large tub in front of her exit. i am exhausted. i took a short nap about 30 mins ago. have i showered yet today? nooo. why? because i know if i was public-presentable, i'd find some reason to go out into the blowing, bone-chilling weather and escape this madness. so now i'm debating....do i shower and relax for the last 3 1/2 hours of my weekend, or push on? i think a shower sounds (and smells) appropriate right now. i'm a shower freak and this is killing me. so here are 2 of the aforementioned piles of give away stuff...fear not QOTU...this will soon be your problem, er, blessing:


This was as far into the closet as i could get...the rest is stuffed in there. i may have to go to work nekked tomorrow.....

and the corner is packed too! ahhhh...the feng shui of it all! L.

update on the Big Dig

so with help like this, what's to worry? so in case you thought i'd spend the day mucking about in a tub of procrastination and hand-wringing....here's an update....not so bad if i do say so myself. 15 shelves left! oh and the pile of stuff that has no particular category that's filling up the rest of the room. hmmm. maybe a bonfire.

backwards

so you have to start about 2 or 3 posts down to follow the proper progression into my decent into hell..............

AND NOW SOME PROGRESS....

here's the view with 2 shelves in....2 more to go. the stuff on them is just tossed there to make room for shelf-making...it's not the stuff that will stay there like that all messy. then i'm done, right?? oh no my friends. THEN i have to fill them. not that "filling" is an issue...more like Organize them. oy. i wish i was I Dream Of Jeannie (actually in more ways than I care to admit). just **blink** and it's done! i am so overwhelmed right now. which explains why i'm blogging and not organizing. okay i'll go, i'll go. sheesh. L.

what was i thinking?!

okay, so after being inspired by all those pictures of beautiful studios, and after stubbing my toes 1 too many times, i decided to re-do, re-structure, re-design, re- re- re-....blah blah. so last night...ta da! we got The Shelving. beautiful chrome. i like the cleanness even tho it's silver. this morning, we moved everything aside & set up the shelving. sounds so...i don't know, umm, easy? quick? here's a peek at the 1st stages..............

BY THE WAY!!

check out my friend Holly's blog....she is uber-talented! http://fingerlakesart.blogspot.com

STILL not much in the way of excitement...could be a good thing! last year was chock full of drama & mayhem. a few weeks rest is good by me. diva is feeling much better, unfortunately! she is still not allowed to jump, go for walks, or sleep on the Big Girl bed. that bums her out and she has a serious case of cabin fever. the other night, in honor of the Chinese New Year, she found herself on the dining room table (the fairies must have lifted her) and lo and behold there were 2 fortune cookies! not one to waste food, little diva snatched them and promptly gobbled them. she did leave the fortunes behind on the floor for me tho. little teeth marks on them. ah ha! evidence! when i asked her if she had done it, she became very interested in a spot on the ceiling just over my shoulder. proof positive. so she WANTS so DESPERATELY to do ANYTHING but with just 4 more weeks to go, i am not risking it. although. last night at 3am, a horrible wailing ensued from the Puppy Palace. i opened the door and she shot out like a bat from a hot place and made for the gated stairs. still groggy, i grabbed her, ran down the stairs and she made it outside just in time to take care of whatever needing taking care of. once back inside, there was No Way she was going into the Box. so up on the Big Girl bed, where she shunned me (ME!) and walked across Bill's head and snuggled him. i mean sheesh! who feeds and clothes her?? who just broke from a good sleep to pace-car down the stairs and out the door ? who kisses her little paws and tells her she smells like chocolate? that would be m-e. oh well. of course today when i'm trying to get some soldering done, she's all about me. little turncoat. well i'm off to (hopefully) finally get some new new contacts/glasses today. yes i know. but this time i'm going to a real opthalmologist with her own Big Girl office...not a drive-by department store eye doc who may or may not have ever graduated from eye school. hopefully by this time next week i'll actually be able to see. cross your fingers or eyes for me. tonight...VERY EXCITING! i get my new shelves! i am going to finally re-do and organize my studio space - an ongoing battle. but i'm certain this will be the right configuration....floor to ceiling, wall to wall chrome shelving, with task areas. the wall is 16' long but has a weird cape cod-ish slant about 5' up. so the shelves are going to have to be customized. husband is all about that, as he gets to use his favorite tool...the Saws-All. he is the envy of All Men on our street for that 1 tool, let me tell you. he will no doubt open the garage door when he slices & dices, so that all men can hear the thunder of it. whenever one of the Testosterone Trio has a power tool going, the other 2 stand in their driveways and look down the street. pathetic. then one of them will go hunt for a bigger, louder tool to run. which is why my yard is being slowly deforested. chain saw wins everytime. plus the THUNK the tree makes when it hits the ground, just after the warning "thar she blows." granted, most of these trees needed to come down, as they are only providing woodpecker buffet, but there's was a tall, lanky birch that met an untimely death last fall. it was crowded in, but it made me sad to see it go. so i'm off to solder-land. and hey - after another round of calls, i am still unable to get a callback from SallyJean. now what is up with that??? i WANT to spend some money girl! if you see her, please tell her to call. Linda

a nancy kerrigan morning

a quote...."WHYYYY??" So my left brain husband is trying to be nice, and helpful. this is a recipe for disaster. i am re-doing my studio space. i had found The Perfect Shelving. I just want my shelving. as it turns out, his friend sells the industrial version of these shelves. so armed with an entire pad of graph paper, a calculator, many #2 pencils, and a kick-butt measuring tape, my dearest is turning this into a Project. he has measured everything except diva dog, and i swear she'd be catalogued if he could get her to stay still long enough. i am trying to be patient. he is trying to do a nice thing. BUT he, being left-brained, cannot visualize what it will look like. so until that #2 pencil makes magic on his little blue and white squares, No Progress will be achieved. Plus, since it is Me Me Me that will be actually using the space, i know what i need in regard to work flow and storage. however, he is trying to make it all nice like a garage storage thing. N-O. so i ignore him as he calculates and figure-ates and know that should the shelving ever arrive, i will do it my own way when he goes out of town. which is questionable ...at this rate, there will never be an arrival of shelving. now there's the annoying part. this EXACT same shelving is on sale at Sam's Club down the street about 15 minutes from my door. Exact Same. and reasonably priced. very beautiful. could just pop down there and get going. and i don't want this Reorganization to become a life's work. oh no...now he's talking about L-shaped shelving. i really need an award for not spewing fire right now. i am smiling and thanking him for his help, but being firm about What I Want. THIS is why i do not ever want to be in a management position again. i would end up with an employee that i'd just want to bitch slap and say, "CAN YOU JUST DO WHAT I SAY???" it's not that i think my way is the only way ALL the time. or have a need to have it MY WAY all the time. but in matters of my studio...just do it. listen to Mother Nike. Just freaking do it. now i'm off to have a stroke. will post later. L. ***so diva is over her moping... somewhat. she loved her kitties. she misses her kitties. last night she decided she IS a kitty. she found the twine that the kitties were playing with and she herself began to roll on her back, clutching the little string and playing like a cat. when that wore off, she whined to go upstairs and demanded to be let into her kennel/palace. demanded. she definately needs a friend who speaks her language. or at least has as many feet to keep track of. so in march, when the doc clears her for take-off, we'll look for a kitty. ***listen i just have to go....he's talking about casters on the shelving now and this has got to be stopped. L.

secrets and segregations

is it REALLY feb 1st? yow! this year is in a rush! although i must say, i'm in no mood to rush through it...my craft-bone has started to tickle again, so i've put up all the hoidy toidy stuff for a bit to get with the flow. it feels good to be back in my studio without guilt or stomach pain! at least i'm doing Something here! and since most of it looks like Someone Else's, then there's no stress about showing it or selling it....it's all for me me me. and maybe a friend or two. there's so much chatter lately about art vs craft, and also copycatting someone's work. you know, i don't feel like there's a difference between art and craft. yes, i look at a Jackson Pollock differently than i would, say, a crochet TP holder, but trying to define the difference sometimes just seems like a waste of time. they can each be an outward expression of a soulful musing that needs to see the light of day. each are crafted with the fiber of the artist interpreting the urging within them. if you tell one they are "just" craft, then where do you draw the line? and really, is it just the U.S. that needs this distinction? and then what about folk art? some would argue that those rough hewn wooden roosters are tacky tacky tacky. some would look at a Jackson Pollock and wonder who's kid got into the Paint-N-Spin. so let's all just get along, huh? GO MAKE SOMETHING! as for copying....i am okay with the notion that you take a class to learn a technique to incorporate into your bag-o-tricks. some classes you go to are set up to teach a specific project. some just show you some techniques and then...off you go to use your knowledge. my work is a gumbo of all i've learned from others, all i've made up on my own, and the rest - that comes from a place so special and wonderful...my soul. i'm sure one famous artist could look at some of my work and say "hey! i do that!" another would notice their technique here or there. however...and this is the crux of it...NONE of my work ends up looking anything like any of their work. it is my vision. i may solder 2 bits together, but that does not make me a copier of opie o'brien or sally jean. i may use wire to hold beads on, but that does not mean i'm copying nina (as if i could come close to her magnificent work!). there is certain satisfaction and fullfillment in kanoodling and meditating on a shadow of a flicker of a feeling of an idea until you can snatch it from the air as it flits past...taunting you...then bringing that idea to birth. that is where the meat of it is. i don't give workshops that teach things i feel proprietary. i don't want to share those techniques. it would hurt me to see someone else copy them, knowing how hard i worked to bring it from start to finish. it's not that i am the only one in the world to do such-and-such, but the technique feels like a child that i want to hold close to me for a bit. so i will teach other things, or share tips and tricks that have already grown and left the nest, but some things....not yet. i guess this reflective mood is coming from the ice storm outside....the house and trees are encased. remember those trick ice cubes with the fly in them? that's me right now! little diva was up most of the night with tummy trouble. today she's mopey. it's hard for her to walk on the crusty-topped snow, so i'm trying to help her. we keep shoveling a path for her out back, but the untouched areas hold her interest more. she has a little splotch of pink on her forehead. blush from a compact. she loves pink. you just say the word "pink" and her ears are up like radar. silly girl. well i guess i've procrastinated here enough. time to get something done. but i can't tell you what. :) L.