Beads and things

I am getting ready to change my life into some new directions.  Part of that involves retiring which is an odd thought as I’m not really at retirement age yet.   My dad always thought I was too young to retire yet but I’m taking the plunge.   The other part is to start doing more art not just in my free time and to make more art.

My one big news is that I am teaching at both Beadfest 2015 in Sante Fe and Bead and Button in Milwaukee.  I’m looking forward to trying this new adventure.  It is part of me trying to become myself and to realize my dream of being an artist.    It is part of the journey of my life that I am traveling on, to see what is at the end of that path that I am now choosing to follow.

What am I teaching?   Two classes – and one using polymer clay and one using metal and embossing techniques.

I wouldn’t be doing any of these jewelry pieces, if I hadn’t taken classes myself with both Susan Lenart Kazmer and Lisa Pavelka.    Both of these ladies have been very inspirational and such fun to take classes with!  I hope that I am able to be the same type of teachers that they are.

I also highly recommend taking classes with either of them.  If you love metal or are curious about it at all, Susan is a great source of knowledge.   Also her ice resin and embossing powders are great.   If you want to learn about polymer clay, magic glos, crystals or even viking knitting, go to Lisa.   I cannot even imagine how my art would be without having learned techniques from these guys.

But I also need to credit my local Polymer Clay Guild for learning this particular polymer clay extruding technique.   A guild is a fabulous place to meet other people who are interested in what you are, hang out with them, laugh with them (at times cry with them) and build up a community of support that you didn’t realize you needed.   The Tucson Clay Guild is such a place.  It has turned the Tucson Gem and Mineral show into a party week with dinners and the annual polymer clay party (thanks to another great artist, Christi Friesen).

I am very grateful to all these artists and friends who I have been able to learn from and who have joy to my life.   I think that we can all continue to grow and expand our lives by taking classes and learning new things no matter how old we get.   Or at least this is what I am going to try to do.

And so my new adventure begins.

Down the Rabbit Hole – A Year of Finding Balance

I started this blog to talk about creativity but this year  has been more difficult than I thought  it would be.  It has felt as if I have fallen headlong into a rabbits hole and have been  trying to find my way back for the past year.

Today is the one year anniversary of my mother’s death.   There are many things that I have spent the past year remembering my mom for.  But today, I want to thank her for the love of fabric and and fiber that she gave me.

Admittedly, I was not my mom’s favorite daughter.  I was too opinionated, questioned everything, and was a feminist. All these things that gave us many reasons to clash.   And we did for many years.

But as I got older, I came to see that my mom did still love me even if I choose to walk a path for my life that she didn’t wan  me to.  And I spent the past many years, visiting my parents and learning who they and who my mom was as a person.

My mom to most of the people who knew her in Schuylerville where they retired to, remembered her for her corny jokes.  She knew the names of all the checkout people at her grocery store and all the wait staff at the restaurants they went to.  And their families as well. She knitted sweaters for her neighbor’s kids and other friends. Baked cookies and muffins for her next door neighbors.

But I  want to remember how my mom could knit and sew amazing clothes, quilts and blankets.  As a child, I always got homemade clothes but at a time when that was  not popular.  But due my mom making stuff, I acquired the passion to do the same.

So I would go visit them, and we would go to the local fabric stores, yarn shops and craft stores together.  And as long as she was in good health, this was what we did together.  And  it was  fun to have this on  thing that we could share  together.

I would also bring various projects that I was working on.  My hooked rug, knitting, polymer clay, knitted beaded purse, and my large batches of bleached t-shirts.  My mom would be knitting something herself at the Sam  time.

After my mom’s death, it took me a few months before I could walk into a fabric store and not feel like crying.  It’s taking me a while to find my creative balance as well.

But as with most of my life,  I have fought to find my balance again.   It is still hard for me to want to sew, but I can buy fabric.

I miss having my mom around.  But I do think of her whenever I start to make a new scarf, go to a fabric store and look at her quilts that cover my bed.  I hope that I can honor her talents that she gave me as my life unfolds in the future.

Mom, I love you and miss you.