It's Almost Spring......maybe

Spring is heading our way. The blossoms on the almond tree in our front yard plumped out of the branches, budded and were in full bloom within five days, maybe it was even four. Each year it amazes me how quickly "it" happens. With this new-to-us house we also have an orange tree in the back yard. It remained green all winter while I noticed that others in our neighborhood had lots of orange "pops of color." I thought maybe we were passed over for the fruit this year. But no. Nature was just pacing itself. Little by little I realized that I just wasn't aware of all the work being done in the background. What I could not see were the hidden green balls, that would soon turn orange and make their visual announcement. Every morning I notice more. I know it happens but still each season I am amazed.


I participated in a local monthly art exhibit last evening - only the seond time I've shown any of my artwork in public and again got a wonderful response. I was happily surprized. I even sold a small ink and watercolor painting of a couple of sunflowers. I was and am ecstatic. I wanted to kiss the woman and thank her for buying my "doodles." And that's one that I wasn't going to take, and of course didn't keep a copy. I did get a lot of wonderful comments on my Kandinsky-esque drawing that I used a couple of summers ago when I taught Art Camp to kids.


At the same time I'm getting in to my art work, I'm trying to position myself to teach art to children. My first and very loyal student is Rita. Here she is working very hard. She's not yet three, but she clearly wants to be shown ONCE and then wants to do it on her own. If she said what she thought I'm sure it would be "Quit buggin me, I can draw by my own self."

With three year olds you've got to be faster than the spilling water cup, quicker than the brushes falling off the table and you've got to be in love with brown because no matter how hard you try, they want to mix those colors into each other until they're one uniform color. And it's much easier to work with chaos on your paper. Maybe that's why I like working with them - I think like that too. Here's Rita hard at work.

Getting In Gear

This morning as I read and flip through magazines and look at the pictures, I'm gathering momentum. I've already folded laundry, cleaned the kitchen, have chicken roasting for soup for later so I'm ready. The problem is that I look at so many "pretties" and glean ideas and think of how "I will do this" that my brain starts to get that feeling of 27 fat guys trying to all get through the door. No offense to fat guys...if I was a guy I might be one of them, but slow down boys....let's see how much more functional you can be if you form a single file line. I think we can get a lot more accomplished if we just wait patiently and hold our piece ......yes, piece.....a card with a single idea on it. Hahaha, you thought I was wrong and meant "peace" didn't you? I'll start with this pile of stuff and see what I come up with. Of course everything is up for change .....

SPREADING THE WORD

Since I've had an opportunity to be without work for a while I've given great thought as to what I should actually "DO" with my life. I haven't come up with a hard and fast idea yet, but I'm thinking really hard. In the meantime I've gotten some wonderful time to spend with my family just being a wife and mom.

I didn't realize that I'd sort of ditched my family to put them in line behind whatever my newspaper job required. For newspaper people it's an occupational hazard; you're listening, but with one ear tuned to hear things that could make an interesting story. "I'm with you but walk along with me because I'm heading over to whatever it is I think is REALLY important." "Is there anything that you're saying (child, husband, friend, shopkeeper) that could be the next best article-du-jour (that will earn me a pat on the head at my real job)." Like that. I hate to sound cliche' but it's true - I've gotten to spend time reacquainting myself with what's really important - my family, my real life.

My efforts lately are on my clay, knitting, painting, cooking and trying to get my Etsy shop seen. And, trying to find a job that really suits me and can keep me gainfully employed. As usual, my timing isn't the best. I'm not seeing any jobs that are interesting so I'm going to try to make my own and teach art/craft classes to children. Posters are in progress to slap up on my local utility poles and I'll have a sandwich board style sign in front of my church because I've pretty much gotten the okay to use our Sunday School classroom for my class. I'm really hoping that I get great response. It will be great fun to meet for a couple of hours a week and be creative.

I'll let you know how that goes as it's going. In the meantime, I've been knitting scarves for my practically all adult children, pictures attached.......I can knit....only a long rectangle, but I can do it, and evidently they like it because with each scarf I knitted, the other kids wanted to know why they didn't have one.

And I've been painting, picture-not-quite-done is also attached here. I've been invited to show some paintings at a salon show Feb. 12 so I've got much to do in finishing and framing. And I do really well when I'm down to the wire. I wouldn't recommend THAT to anyone, but I tend to thrive that way.

I'm off for now... helping decide on a Valentine Dinner menu, creating the tickets this morning to have them proofed by this afternoon, finishing knitting a scarf and baking a chocolate cake for my youngest young man whose birthday is today. Later I'll post some terrific websites I've found for really cool bags (that I amazingly do NOT want to try to make myself) and some wonderful resources that I'll be using in my artsy/craftsy curriculum.

So long for now,

Kate

Who Knows Where My Mind Goes?

I seriously go AWOL on here, don't I?
I don't mean to, I just get busy and it's seems like it's been a hectic few months. I don't even know why exactly. I've got more time to do the things I really enjoy, but I also get called out to do volunteer things as well, so the time zips by and here we are in December.

I've been doing lots of things. Lots of different things. I almost don't like to sleep because it seems like every time I close my eyes I get some new vision of a different thing in my head, and I have to make an effort to stay focused on the project at hand.

Right Now, Right This Minute Today - I'm working on tiny, tiny houses that will have alphabet letters on them so that folks can spell out a greeting of their choice, or a name, or Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Yay, it's Kwanzaa.......or Nice to See You, Now Go Home. You get the idea. I saw these somewhere but they cost a LOT of money and they had one saying - Merry Christmas - and it was over $100. I decided I could do it for $3 a letter and people could spell out what they want. That's what I would want to do. So that's Thing #1.

Thing #2 - Don't we all just LOVE baby's hand prints? You have to! They're so tiny and pudgy and adorable. I loved the ones that I still have, one from my youngest sister and one from my almost 30-year old daughter. They are precious to me. SO.... when I was watching my friend's granddaughter last month (she's two) we had "art" time and played clay. We made a delightful hand print from stoneware and I thought it would be so sweet to give to her Mom for Christmas. You know, hang it on a ribbon like the rest of things like that. But then I found a simple frame that my husband had made for me for some other whim I'd had a couple of years ago and thought, "how cool would it be to have it in a frame? Very! And how even cooler would it be to have it in a frame with wood blocks on the top to spell out her name? Even cooler! So, that said, I've got three in the works - pictures here.

Thing #3 - Maybe I am the only one who sees things and immediately I have my own idea of how I'd like it, how I would do it differently, how very "if that was MY work, I'd do it this way" of me. I don't know if that's good or bad, but that's how I roll.... so when I saw some very simple paintings, very simple, with scriptures on them, I thought - "Now THAT is something I would really like to do, and put MY favorite scriptures on them." I've only just started so I don't have anything to show - yet!

Thing #4 - Some Random stuff I've been working on.... salt and pepper birds, a fat round cobalt blue bird....etc.
Thing #5 - This probably isn't new, but I'm always drawn back to my sewing machine to make my patches or to work on one of the art quilts I've got started.

I know - I've got more "things" in progress than you probably have on your keychain, but that's how I think. That's how I work and it suits me. I feel like this is exactly what I was meant to do. So I'll make no more apologies for it. Now if I can make it lucrative - THAT would be heaven!

Kate

P.S. That's PLENTY of stuff to look at, but if you're looking for some other really cool toy kind of stuff, check out this website, full of cool Etsy toy-type things!
http://app.bronto.com/public/?q=preview_message&fn=Link&t=1&ssid=12675&id=46j33dsyk9omocda24gyikn67suz7&id2=2hw3amk7njlva2o70sttuzsp349nl&subscriber_id=bcqeievnkdhxayrkgoxvomgboaiubjn&messageversion_id=brbizkxyzxisxuicuqatrmvdyqjtban&delivery_id=aooevmzdnjpxdxkjwrggyemxqeeoblf

Bird Work Interrupted By Seemingly Random Questions

I've been working non-stop, pretty much, to get ready for a showing of my birds that will be included in this month's Third Thursday Artwalk to be held downtown. I'm excited about being included and can't wait to show what I can do with a little clay and a brain that keeps me up at night.

Since I do not go to 'a place of work' to work, I don't interact that much with people these days. Most communication is computer based, or text based with the occasional real live phone call to my mother which is always great because we volley ideas around and I love it. She is the one who, along with her brother, my much beloved uncle, gave me my love and great appreciation for art in its many forms. I love texture you can touch, color that you see even when you close your eyes and many many different kinds of art. So it makes sense to me that I would try my hand at everything, settle with some things for a time and then move on.

For the time being, and the last couple of years, I've been enamored of clay and it's many ways to use it. Right now I'm about all things "bird," and I'll post some pictures of what I've been doing. My endeavors today will be to make cookie jars. Bird cookie jars... and I'll post pictures of them when I've got them to the drying point. I want to get at least a couple of them done before next week when I can actually show them to the public. We'll see how that goes.

So, since my interraction with people is fairly limited to the internet, I get blesses with some of these random questionnaires designed to help someone know me better. First thing the sender surely must understand about me is I am not, nor have I ever been, limited nor held in bondage to directions. Nope - I care not for directions and even less for recipes, although there have been a time or two that I could honestly say that they were helpful.

I'm still trying to figure out what the following questionnaire was designed for, I think the only thing anyone could tell about me from this is that I create my own rules for THEIR stuff, and that people are both my main annoyance, and my main delight. See for yourself. Bird pictures follow.

35 Seemingly Random Questions That Surely Must Indicate SOMEthing.

1.What time did you get up this morning? 8 a.m.
2. How do you like your steak? Medium-rare
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? “Julie and Julia,” loved it. And since I love the whole movie experience, I’ll go back and see it again. Before that, “The Ugly Truth,” clever and somewhat endearing but really, I mean really, do we need ALL the sexual innuendoes? Seriously? And before that was “The Proposal,” I say, completely without shame, that I’ve seen that three times at the theatre.
4. What is your favorite TV show? Right now? Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, Royal Pains (sort of), Joyce Meyer Ministries (because she offers great insight and it’s usually along my same lines of thinking). All About Jim….oh yeah, and that’s not the most embarrassing show I choose to watch – I love the New Jersey Housewives – I love it and …….and so what?
5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? I’d divide it up between Seattle, New York, Ojai and Alaska.
6. What did you have for breakfast? An antibiotic and a pain pill……..if this gets drooly, or I start typing with my forehead, that’s why.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? MexAmerItalian…. Will that count? Love all things taco but they run neck-and-neck with MY Perfect Cheeseburger……which I can send a picture of to your cell phone if you give me the number, and good pizzalasagnaspaghettirigatoni is always good. Mostly anything I make.
8. What foods do you dislike? Liver, and chicken liver, all things liver, and though I’d love to use beet juice for coloring fabric, the fruit of such will never pass over my lips. I don’t even know why they were made, but the color is beautiful.
9. Favorite Place to Eat? This little Mexican place right by the the state beach in San Luis Obispo that makes really good margaritas but even better, (yeah, I know, I’m an obvious ‘foodie’ )– they make the absolute best shredded beef stuffed chile rellenos! I’ve found nobody else who makes them, nobody! And are they great, oh yes …. And did I come home and try to do it myself? Oh yes. And was I successful? Definitely. And am I making this list of questions even better than it was? Of course,I always do, and I now turn the mic back over to you Kelly.

10. Favorite dressing? Paul Newman’s Ceasar, my own Thousand Island, and a newly homemade Ranch.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? A ’95 Thunderbird, but my heart belongs to Volkswagen. But if I had a serious butt-load of cash, I’d be driving a Chevy Tahoe.

12. What are your favorite clothes? Bohemy (my word) skirt and t-shirt all the time.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Santa Fe – Oh shut up! I’m going there for the balloon races in October. Hello! Oh, so that means I have to choose another……the whole Eastern Seaboard…..and I want to see wherever it is The Outter Banks is. Why, you might ask? This is why – this one part of dialogue in "Message In A Bottle"- “To all the ships at sea and all the ports of call... to may family and to all friends and strangers - This is a message and a prayer. The message is that my travels taught me a great truth. I already had what everyone is searching for and few ever find. The person in the world who I was born to love forever, a person like me, of the outer banks and the blue Atlantic mystery; a person rich in simple treasures, self-made, self-taught, a harbor where I am forever home. And no wind or trouble or even a little death can knock down this kind of love and be healed by it. If my prayer is heard, then there will be an erasing of all guilt and all regret, and an end to all anger. . . . “.
14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? 3/4 full, and I've got another one in the cupboard.
15. Where would you want to retire? Santa Barbara

16. Favorite time of day? Early morning, late at night. The middle of the day is no creamy filling to me.

17. Where were you born? Pasadena, Ca.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? Surfing, all surfing, all the time.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back? Beats me.

20. Person you expect to tag you back first? I have no expectations.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Everyone!

22. Bird watcher? Why thank you, I love to watch birds.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Yes.

24. Do you have any pets? Yes

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Hmmm……….can’t think of any on such short notice.
26. What did you want to be when you were little? A torch singer in a piano bar.

27. What is your best childhood memory? Any time, all times with my grandmother.
28. Are you a cat or dog person? Dog

29. Do you work? I pot. I'm a potter. I'm an artist. I am. At the moment, that’s my job. Do I love it? I love it. Can I make a living at it? THAT is the multi-bizionnaire question. Am I any good at it? I think I could be headed in that direction. Will my timing be perfect? I would hope so but who can tell?

30. Always wear your seat belt? Who wants to know?

31. Been in a car accident? Not exactly

32. Any pet peeves? OMG…… let’s see, stupid people, people who drive with their cell phones..and it’s not that I mind THAT so much, but when they’re obviously engrossed in a long conversation so they can’t pay attention to who is around them; people who don't take the time to delve deeper into any kind of meaning whatsoever; trendiness, it's gets old; cliches, those get old fast; people who talk with their mouths full; people who are like the interrupting cow......Moo; people who KEEP mentioning themselves and all their accomplishments - get it folks, humility is a wonderful thing, if you're that great, we're not going to forget about you; people who think they have rhythm but they don't - oh wait a sec, that's just seriously funny, never mind; and finally, and I mean this, people who just don't "get it", and it's not because they are in any way impaired, but they don't want to exert the effort, nor do they want to be responsible for anything in their own lives, they want to lean so absolutely on you, on your work, on your life, on your effort at figuring life out that they think they're coasting - but they're not, because still, at the end of the day, at the end of their lives, still - they'll stand before God and have to account for what they've done with what God gave them, not what they latched themselves onto. ****and thank you folks, that concludes my message for this morning****

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings? Pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, bell pepper, onions, mushrooms and olives…..all the time. Perfect combination!

34. Favorite Flower? Gerber daisies

35. Favorite ice cream? Yes! Ice cream is my favorite!

So there we are!

TECHNOLOSER

See those keys? The keys, just to the left, on the keyboard?

THAT keyboard is what is familiar to me. That's what I grew up with, know how to do, and that is what is evidently creating in me a horribly aged and inept feeling that keeps lingering close by.

I have a cell phone, and I even know how to text, much to the amusement of my children's friends whose parents are apparently not quite so hip.

The other day, in all of my smug, techno-coolness, I was ripping off the beginning of what was to be a very long, very funny, email to my daughter. I wasn't looking at the keys because I was so confident in what I was doing - it's all in the counting of the keys, I told myself, tap, tap, tap on the "7" key gives me an 'r', one more tap is the 's'. Most letters I use, I have come to realize are three taps on different keys, I use a lot of 'r's, i's, o's, and c's. Who knows why? All this to just say, that my hip-mom, techno-coolness world came crumbling down like ... hmmm. .... like what?......I should be good at the adjectives here, ... came crumbling down like .......like leaves falling in an autumnal breeze? No, too slow and lingering. Like water droplets off a shaking dog? No. That's too wet and dog-smelly. Maybe it's just as simple as a house of cards, crashing down quickly in a mille-instant. Yes, that's probably it. All at once I looked down at my phone because some letter didn't feel right..... what did I see? Two and a half lines of jibberish. In less than one tenth of a breath, my self-appointed coolness was gone. I felt really silly dumb. I had just wasted probably three minutes getting thumb cramps and probably signing up for early hand arthiritis, for what? Nothing. All at once I wished my daughter was there becasue she would have cracked up, and glad that she wasn't at the same time because I would never live it down and it would have been future fodder for all family gatherings to come. I couldn't tell you now what the funny story even was. And it was a good one, too!
And so, uncool, I'll go back to what I know - showing what I've been working on the last few days and trying to figure out how to get my voice and my art, out to the world.

Kate

I Can Only Stay A Minute...

I can only stay a minute - it's sweltering here in mid-Central Calif. A lovely 106 at the moment and the air conditioning is being rendered decidedly ineffective. Fortunately, the house we're in right now has a pool. We've never had anything more than a dough boy pool when the kids were little and that was great for then, but now..........oh Mommy.........a pool will drop your body temperature down so quickly and it will stay like that for hours afterward. It's wonderful! It's a blessing. We lucked out. Among many things that are wrong with this house, the pool is not one of them.

What I've become enamoured of the last week or so are birds. I started making small ones, then as I got a feel for them, they got a bit bigger, and now I want them to have wings, and after I play with the wings for a while I think I'll give them hats or crowns. I like this big one, she reminded me of how birds splash around in my bird bath and make big watery splashes as their feathers fling water up and over them. I think it also reminds me of my kids when they were little and would play for hours outside with the hose. Something so simple could keep them captivated for hours. Simple. It's a gift to enjoy simple things. To not be concerned about anything else, just focus on one thing for a while.

Here are pictures of the flock I've been working on, but now I'm going to take a break and refresh. I'll be back soon.

Kate