Learn something new every day

My mom always said, "Learn something new everyday." Well I've just stepped out of an Etsy Trunk Show hosted by the Precious Metals Clay group (P=MC).

Oh, my goodness! Such beautiful things. The trunk show was awesome -- such beautifully crafted pieces. Such talented artists. And they put their work out there for us to share.

And to top it all off, I was one of the prize winning participants. I won these beautifully crafted earrings from Liz Hall's Etsy shop: www.LizardsJewelry.etsy.com http://www.lizardsjewelry.com/earrings.html

I can hardly wait until these lovelies arrive. Happy, happy me! I'm as happy as can be!

Back to this learning something new thing. I had never chatted, or entered a virtual lab, I had never purchased something through etsy. And look at me now. I'm a winner!

I'm inspired.

A new adventure

Yesterday I spent most of the afternoon with two very interesting and energized individuals who now are team members with me in a new adventure. I'm going to be publishing an e-book for the Art Appreciation class I teach to non-art majors and they are my publishing team.

"I met with my editor and webdesigner" . . . I love the ring of that.

Me, a published author. I could have never imagined it.

Tapas and Talk

I'm crazy about food. For me it's almost a religious experience involving all the senses. It's especially wonderful when enjoyed with friends. And I have some fabulously artistic friends.

Last night these artistic friends (who now have a name: Everywoman) trekked to a distant suburb to have tapas and talk at Christina's house. There we had a variety of wines, lovely bread with olive oil for dipping and a list of yummies to long to describe. I was in my element!

Once we got to talking, time flew and it was time to leave. At the very end of the evening, we went to in Christina's music studio (she's a composer) to listen to a couple of her recordings. We were all so energized, we didn't feel the extreme length of our separate days.

The four of us commuting in the car ended up with nicknames too. Rene likes to "stir things up" so she's Spooner. Laura is a fiber artists so she's now Spinner. Karen does these amazing installations of walls made out of sandwich bags (no really, they ARE amazing!) so she's Bagger. And I like to make jewelry, so I'm Beader.

Spooner, Spinner, Bagger, Beader. We are "Everywoman."

Sharing the creativity

Today I was at our church's annual convention. There are always quite a few vendors who show and sell their religiously themed wares and I usually end up spending a nice chunk of change. Today was no different. I purchased an icon of John the Baptist (with his head on a plate), some beautifully hand-carved mother-of-pearl crosses for my rosary bracelets, and a gorgeous embroidered Palestinian dress, all from a gentleman who know the value of his wares.

I also talked to several "artists-types" who create jewelry. Some things were very expensive and others were sorely underpriced. I talked to one lady and while we shared ideas, I encouraged her to value her work more and let it be reflected in the price. Sometime, if a price isn't "high enough" the work's artistry isn't valued. Anyway, I think I gave her some encouragement.

Coming away from the day I felt inspired by what I saw, what I purchased, and the connections I made.

I'm not much of a blogger . . .

I can't seem to get in the habit of sitting down and downloading (or is it uploading) my thoughts into a digital format. I never was much for journalling either. Anyway, I've been happily making interesting things in my studio and enjoying the creative spirit of my "artist friends".

We're going to have a show in the spring and it will be amazing. More about that later.

The Faculty and Staff show had its opening reception on Tuesday. My piece "Peace and Caritas: Why can't we get along like peas and carrots" wasn't really displayed the way I had wished, but it still looks good and is in wonderful company. My piece is just a few paces from the Oil and Enamel on Wood with Gold Leaf triptych painted by my friend Pam Burnley Schol and they look wonderful together. Hers are incredible portraits/still-lifes of melons and shallots all tied in twine and mine are little poly-clay carrots and pea-pods with green freshwater pearls on a gold chain. We're right next to the ceramic creations of dean Robert Milnes. It's so exciting to show with such talented artists of all strips.

Speaking of artists of all stripes. My artist friends who will be showing together in the spring are from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and talents. Arvind is a documentarian, Rene is a sculptor, Karen is a fiber artist as is Lauren. Jung is a photographer, Christina is a composer (of music). And I'm a . . . what am I? I work in a bunch of different media, poly-clay, fiber, jewelry, found objects. We'll see what I become over the next few weeks and months.