Starting Early...

I am beginning a couple of days early for the CEDC (Creative Every Day Challenge) 2009. Being 'creative' does not need to be paper, pencil, glue and paint. Arting might be taking a cup of tea break a little further...laying the napkin, cookie ON a plate..seated at a table..working in the garden..write a letter! My point here is the art of being creative is everywhere...and anyone can be creative. Read more about the notion on the challenge button there to the right...

So, my 'creative' today is making a seat cover mend for Craig's truck seat cover. The side had worn and frayed out...as you can see I took the extra steps to make the repair barely noticeable..I am impressed how it turned out.
It DID help I happened to have some material that was the same...not faded but the same
I finished off the seams and followed along the edge seam so it would flow nice when he places it back on the seat...I even sewed straight...not that I can't but, trust me I am plenty lazy where it comes to sewing anymore.


Then I baked a cake from scratch! I baked 4 last week and I thought he had this out of his system, unfortunately he didn't and wanted another one...unfortunate because I eat it too!
I do not NEED any more decoration on me!
It is an old family recipe and it actually turned out to be one of the best ones I have ever made...and I have been making this recipe for many..many years!
We ice each layer that way it seems like more cakes...each layer has the top frosting too..yummy!

Cooler duty..Fergies

Perhaps only someone who has experienced having to clean and organize the cooler in a restaruant can appreciate my cooler duty today.

Here is the cooler before I began, it might be hard to notice but there isn't any organization anymore, spills, and left messes that occur when busy for too many weeks happen.

This isn't a huge cooler and I am cramped up in the farthest corner I can get to take the pictures.
I removed everything and scrubbed the racks and washed the ceiling and walls
then re-organized and rotated the stock.
The floor needs painting but it was scrubbed too. I began at 10 a.m. and 5 hours later emerged this...and I wish you could see it in its true state...this hides most of its glory.

Everyone ooeeed and ahheed appropriately...then I came home and took a nap!

Taurus...today

Your horoscope for December 27, 2008

TAURUS

"Dive deep into yourself today, Mary. Bring more of your own spirit into your physical. Take small sips from each flower you land on. Realize however that if you stay focused on one flower for just a little bit longer, you can extract an even juicier gulp from that bud. Go deeper today, instead of just floating about on the surface. You will be richly rewarded by what you discover. A slight off-the-cuff comment can lead to an amazing conversation. "

I find horoscopes amazingly on target sometimes.
Let me tell you what is happening with Mary these days.
I am reading "The Artists Way" by Julia Cameron (GET this book!!)

She has exercises to help a person get into themselves and learn what direction they might want to explore. Excellent book...and it is helping me a lot.
Leading me to having conversations with the owner's of The Creamery, the gallery in town where I work, about initiating an art learning center within the Creamery for teaching art.
This could be a nice addition to town!
Last night at Fergie's (the other establishment I work as waitress) a conversation I had with a daughter of an artist in town, who I plan to try to entice to come and teach with the art center...indicates that the artist in question is excited about the prospect...so the persuasion might be an easy conquest. :)

The other book I am studying is "Energy Medicine for Women" this book gives exercises that are massages for where acupuncture needles would go and in a sequence that aligns the energy of the body so the body runs smoother.
(Aides in pain management, injury healing, disease)
I am still just getting into this book but, I think it is amazing too.
Bringing my physical into my spiritual!

The horoscope gives me the message that in my wanting to get a deeper sense of myself and figure out where to go next...I am making the effort at the right time and the discoveries might come for me and be clearer..since the alignment of the planets are sending me this message.

One can only hope!

I think things are shaping up for some changes though both physical, spiritual...and personal (career).

I am a BIG believer in Horoscope, Faeries, Ghosts or Spirits...Supernatural ...the unexplained...that can be explained if you just open your mind...

Do you believe?

The gift of an award...

The Marie AntionetteReal Person Award

Sharon @ http://www.mystoryart.com/ awarded me this prestigious award this morning. My challenge is to place it on my blog! I think I might have succeeded in the placement, but probably not a link to the award place.

I name 7 other artists to give this award to. I always find this a daunting task, HOW to I name 'just' 7 people.

I am going to try to remember artist who I may have not seen this award given on their blog. Everyone should have the award... I only KNOW real people! Might not have 'met' them, but that is just a technicality.

Anne Gaal http://gaalcreative.blogspot.com/ check out her website too, as she is an excellent photographer

Annie Littlewolf http://annielittlewolfstudio.blogspot.com/

Dianne http://magpiesenvy.blogspot.com/

Kristy http://kristychristopherson.blogspot.com/

grrl http://dneese.blogspot.com/ for that really different perspective....

Linda http://lindavincent.blogspot.com/ you MUST check out her challenge site as well..http://bigartadventure.blogspot.com/

Christy http://averageamericangirl.com/blog/

Thank you for my award ms Sharon!

Barn Living

Welcome to the barn where we live in South Dakota. Originally Craig built the barn to use as his barn but, we would live in the center while we built a house on the hill in front of the barn. I moved out to SD in September 1999. As we were making house plans, the weather did its fall thing and began doing its winter thing...SNOW!

We have a kennel full of dogs that reside on the east side of the barn. Middle of the night checking on puppies, old, or sick/injured dogs requires just walking through a door while living in the barn but, trekking 50 yards or more if we build a house on the hill.
Since I am the one kennel checking, I decided to knock the roll out doors and put in windows and we will call the space plumb fine.

So, that is what we did.
If you click to enlarge the pictures you will see more of the details of the room. The quilts for instance I pieced and quilted...the painted lampshade on the side board of the dining room table I reverse painted using traditional methods (crushed glass and kiln not hobby paint and oven). The dog paintings I did...and any glass objects I did. The gorgeous painting over the fireplace, a lovely lady painted in pastel a local creek, Chris Cernitisch.

The fish were caught out of North Carolina...the various critter mounts came from Montana, Wyoming, SD...and Virginia.
That is all i can think to point out.

enjoy...




This is the bathroom where the 2 towels hang is the shower. Back in the foreground corner is the kitchen sink and the washer and dryer.

Standing at the kennel door as well as the entrance into my studio looking south through the building you see first the "dining room" that moves through the "living room" front door and then porch. The loft above is my "office" where I am sitting at the computer with a large plate window overlooking the "hill where the house was going and the creek where I watch deers move through.


Here is the kitchen. This center island is where I put most of the pots and pans. Through the door is the west side that I didn't go and take pictures of, but where we added 2 guest rooms and bathrooms.

This is the "living room" the fireplace was where a roll up door was. There is a door on the right behind the rocker chair to the front "porch".

Standing at the 'front door' is the view through. The door at the far back on the right goes to the kennels. Keep straight into my studio. The divider screen is glass. I made flat panels with centers that were fused medallions. Had a metal frame made for it. It is a 3 sectional.

The floors are concrete, with electric heat mats inside the cement. Toasty on your feet.

The door at the top of the loft over the kitchen is the master bedroom, originally the office to the barn.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

The next tour will take you through the before reorganizing the studio to a new floor plan. Stay tuned.

IF I did this right the pictures will enlarge

:)

this is a test!

Hope the Holiday was a pleasant visit with everyone and all are healthy and happy. Next is the new year!

Thanks for stopping in.

A Repeat Performance

Thank you everyone for such praise of my glass boxes, and your interest in the details. I am not sure why the pictures failed to enlarge in the memory box post. I am posting just the final box in this post so it might show you the details. There isn't much to see on a box this small. I am not sure how these pictures turned out...they may be a little blurry and the boxes have been picked up so this is all I have. Thank you for wanting to see them.

If it shows up for you to actually see...the corners have a star sculpted from the solder. 4 stars.

Fergies Christmas

A place I work is Fergies Pub and Barrister a restaurant in town. She decorates to the season or mood. Here we are decked out for Christmas. With the lights dimmed it is a winter wonderland.
well I had more pictures but it won't let me load them...

Merry Christmas

My Color

You Are Teal Green
You are a one of a kind, original person. There's no one even close to being like you.Expressive and creative, you have a knack for making the impossible possible.While you are a bit offbeat, you don't scare people away with your quirks.Your warm personality nicely counteracts and strange habits you may have.

went to Anne Gaal Creative blog and took the color test...I am Teal Green and the above is the description...fun test..

http://gaalcreative.blogspot.com/

check her blog out to take the fun test..

:)

Memory Box

The description to follow is for just one style of a memory box.
Clicking on the picture will enlarge to see details.
Well it seems this feature isn't working! sorry they won't enlarge.

Memory boxes are used for so many kinds of memories.
To hold the first rose...or tickets of that memorable date...a box with the family crest...or a bible box with any meaningful passage stained on the lid....or the ashes of a loved one.

This box houses the ashes of a loved one. [This is a sealed box]

My client is gifting her siblings with a box, made of 1 inch bevels and the solder is decorated ( a process that uses the heat of the iron to move the solder into a design) The final picture of the decorated solder doesn't show very well...so you will just have to see it in person.

Step one gather the materials and build the basic box.

Then everything gets cleaned up and the inside is acid washed. Then cleaned well again and the ashes are added.

I am getting the hang of this picture adding thing. This shows the tops sealed. (ashes receive a sealed box.) Boxes may also be made with a hinged top. Not this time.



Then the finished box decorated and polished. No picture I take shows the details well. This cube can be hung by the added loop. In a window or any space where you want to share your memory.

Memories deserve a special place to be kept. A beautiful glass box is a sparkly place to keep your special memory.

Thank you for your interest in the description of the concept and process.

Cabinet Doors

FINALLY!!!

I had two whole days for studio time!

I finished these cabinet doors.

The inserts were fairly generic.

Clear center with a stamped falling leaf pattern obscured blur. The edges were bevels separated by green variegated glass. Pretty doors of oak. A good selection for a cabinet door it will show what you want behind the door yet you don't have to have perfect order. Here is a picture of the door being constructed...then the lady holding the panel up for me.

She tossed them into the back seat! shocked me!!! I would have thought a little more tenderness would be given.

I hope they made it home unscathed.

I did these pictures so that when you click on them or at the least the door itself, it will become large.

You can get a close up of the soldering...if it does notice that I use a brown patina..it is like an antiqued copper when it is polished up.

Pretty with oak.

thanks for looking.

Different Picture

Here is the full size picture of the spread in my journal from the previous post. I learned that I put it up full size and then when a person clicks the thumbnail they will see whatever it is they want from a full size image.

In case someone else is not familiar with the process...now you are.

The full size image is re-sized to fit the thumbnail automatically. So now I know and will from this point have the image so a super large picture might be clicked up.

Thanks for asking to see it larger so I went ahead and learned this!

thanks for looking too.

An ART Day!

YAY!!!

I was scheduled for NO jobs outside the studio today. Last night as I was getting home from 1 job.. Chelsey calls from the other job asking me to work!... :( I said I would. She was trying to recruit Kayla for the shift, so it was still a hope in the air that I wouldn't have to go in. YAY Kayla!!!! /\/\ She will.

So I don't have to stop activity in the studio to get ready to go into job 2.

I spent the day happily arting

I soldered side 2 of panel 2 today so I am almost finished the cabinet doors with the unheard of rounded corners!...except for the round corners a fairly basic cabinet door job.

I did a journal spread to reflect what I am gaining from the 3 week challenge. Doing the exercises in the book The Artist Way, by Julia Cameron. This is an excellent tool. Help anyone in any media to get themselves going onto some kind of path.

My spread is digging into the cobwebs of my mind and digging for the path that I might like to see taken. A seed is planted and as it mulls and grows there comes the 'time' when it might be right to see it to the finish...in my mind I see the potential for a art learning center. It is still in the growing stage...which is why spiders are hanging around. If it happens I see it will be a magical place

where people will come and learn artworks for their joy.

I am adding a post script

Linda asks if I am just going to teach glass at this center?

No.

I am hoping to lure a local potter to instruct, and a local pastelest.

Between the three of us we can encourage a broad range of mediums.

Paper, canvas, metal, clay, glass. Oil. arcylic, pastel, pencil, watercolor and a mix of the range.

The learning center will maybe be located in town, as opposed to any one persons studio. Making it a more neutral location.

In my opinion, I think this might make a more desirable work space.

Teaching in respective studio areas is an option for private lessons, or small groups. I think with a learning center the teachers will have a better chance to let the public know they are willing to teach.

Giving the public a central place to go searching for their desired lessons.

Linda asked to see the piece large...i don't know what I am doing wrong to not make the page enlarge...until I figure such an equation out this is it.

I haven't even figured out how to place my newest awards, which I AM thankful to receive, up on the blog...I have a lot yet to learn about this electronic phenomenon...but, I am having fun doing it!

Thanks for looking.