Words of Wisdom

A wise person once told me....

• We're all new.
  
• You have to take care of yourself.
  
• Chasing tools should be shaped like fingertips.
  
• Let the tool do the work.
  
• Take some time to get to know your subject.
  
• Slow down.
  
• Pick your battles.
  
• Tell the truth
  
• Life is good.

These are all things that people have said to me, that have stuck with me. Of course, I've learned much from people in other ways as well. This entry is only about the seemingly insignificant phrases that make a big difference. When I consider how these phrases have impacted my own life, it helps me to choose my own words more carefully.

Elaine joined me with this topic. Her blog entry is at http://creativetexturetools.com/news/2008/07/13/words-of-wisdom/

Please share the words of wisdom that have impacted your life. If you blog it and comment, to let me know the link, I will add your link to the post.

Back once again

I got back Tuesday. After ten hours of driving there, then ten hours back, with 2 kids in the car, I can honestly say that I'm still worn out.
The family reunion part of the funeral was much fun. Click on the photo titles, beneath the photo mosaic, for the full picture and a brief description.

1. WWII veteran, 2. for the military salute, 3. all the photographers, 4. all the cousins, 5. Mom and I, 6. all the cousins Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Things I'll always remember from Grandad,

• a big white house with green roof and shutters
• a big yard with lots of trees, grandad always planting a few new trees and updating us on which ones and how they grew
• rides in the tractor wagon when we were still little
• cocktail hour at the VFW
• the best tvs, 'cause Grandad owned a tv dealership when we were young.
• cardboard houses made from appliance boxes

Everything is a little dry and faded there now, without him to keep that particular American dream alive. Still, I see that I continue it in my own life, right here.

• a big white house with a green roof
• lots of yard and always planting new trees or thorny roses
• telling my kids and husband how the trees and roses grow
• cocktail hour at home, usually while playing Pirates online (potco) on a good computer (rather than tv)
• and more, we continue some old traditions and build new ones.

With all of this travel, I haven't had any time in the studio. Believe me, I do have lots of metalwork to get done. I will have some new metalwork to show you sometime next week.

We had six yards of mulch delivered for the rose garden. Husband tackled 3/4 of it and came down with a nasty case of tendonitis. Poor guy! He's definitely suffering. Now it's my turn to tackle the mulch, hopefully without any injury.

I am such a wimp. You think a blacksmith would be strong. No, this blacksmith is just smart with a hammer, not buff. I think I should have paid someone to do this.

Roadtrip!

Didn't I just get home? Well, I hit the road again.

This time it's bittersweet. My paternal grandfather died on Father's Day after a long good life, and a decline into alzheimers. Now the entire family will be gathering to remember him in Southern Illinois (10 hour drive for me). Yes there will be a funeral, but it will really be more of a family reunion and a big party. Funny how funerals are often the biggest family reunions. I expect a lot of stories, laughter, and joy.

I'll tell you more about him, and the parts of him that have stayed with me, in a few days.

Smiles and Leafy Stuff

Hi There! 

I've been busy with lawn work, roses, paperwork, shopping, chauffeuring, re-organization, and catching up on Pirates online.

I have to giggle every time I see myself as a swashbuckling cartoon pirate, with those clothes.  My character is wearing the pink shirt.  I think I forgot to give my character hips when I started off.   (I'm a fairly happy person and am easily amused.)

Stay on track!  back to metalwork!
So I mentioned our fieldtrip to Doug Wilson's shop in my Haystack journaling. While there, Doug demonstrated a fairly simple veined leaf, with the vein created by folding.  It's a great intro project because it works the basics- tapering and spreading, with no special tooling.   While he was demonstrating, I remembered my first blacksmith class, over 16 years ago.  Rick Smith taught me how to make the exact same leaf, telling me that it was a Doug Wilson leaf.  I made variations of that same leaf over and over again for a long time.  So many years later, I've changed the leaf, evolved it into my own style.  My leaves are curvier and have an implied rather than folded vein.  The artistic style overall is different too. 

It was really wonderful to meet the artist and the leaf form who, in a roundabout way, introduced me to the skills I needed to follow my own creative path.  (Coincidentally, Rick Smith is teaching at Haystack right now, the session after mine.)  After Doug's demo, back at Haystack, I made these little forged steel leaf pendants, bringing me back full circle, reminding me of the way knowledge is passed through the craft and how the little simple things do change lives.

Click for details

click for details



Click for details

click for details

Back from my travels!

back home!
Saturday morning, 7:57am
It felt so good to sleep in my own bed last night.  Our driveway is a rutted mess.  I've never seen it like this before, not even after the August 2007 floods.

I'm a white-knuckled airplane passenger.  Need I say more on that? I managed to get home on time last night, despite a delay in Bangor, storms around Detroit, one successful stand-by bid, and funky hydraulics during the final descent of the final flight.

8:27am  I'm reviewing all of the blogs I read.  I'm skimming them for major news, but there's no way I can get back to commenting on all of them.  Same thing with with flickr contacts.  I really do love to read and interact with many of you through your blogs. 

Sunday morning
We are not prepared for Father's Day!  I'll have to find out what he wants to do.

My rugosa roses are all blooming and smell heavenly.  They are surrounded by tall green weeds.  I don't know if I'd weed for vegetables, but I might do it for the roses.

  
  

Sunday afternoon-  What do we do for fun in Wisconsin when there's no snow? 
Lawn sledding of course! or is that lawn surfing?  That's a steep little embankment and they are just starting their slide/fall/crash down.

Haystack journaling

6-10-09

Tuesday evening after dinner

I have a little bit of time, after dinner and before the staff slide show. It's cold here again, with clouds and storms rolling across parts of Maine. I'll be using the electric blanket tonight.

We took a field trip to Doug Wilson's blacksmith shop. We saw his gallery, his shop, and a fantastic demonstration. He's an outstanding artist and teacher. He took a good 2-1/2 hours out of his work day to spend time with us.

1. Doug Wilson's gallery, 2. Doug Wilson's gallery, 3. outside Doug Wilson's workshop, 4. Doug Wilson's samples, 5. Doug Wilson demonstrating, 6. Doug Wilson's workCreated with fd's Flickr Toys.

later Tuesday evening - I keep hearing the news out of Wisconsin from my husband, horrible rains and flooding, less than 10 months after the great floods of 2007. Some people have lost everything twice, especially those people living near the Kickapoo and Root Rivers. We've gotten a lot of water in our workshop and are losing much of our driveway. That will cost us, but still it can be fixed for a reasonable amount of money. What about the Wisconsin Dells community? With the dam/levee (?) break and Lake Denton draining, they've pretty much lost out on their summer tourism income. That's a very big deal for Wisconsin.

6-11-08

7:30am Wednesday morning, last full workday. On Thursday we work a half day and spend the afternoon cleaning up. From 4-6pm there's a public studio walk-through. Dinner is at six. The auction starts at 8 and is open to the public. The auction raises money for the scholarship fund and the general operations.

1:45pm   There is a moment when walking along the coastal forest path, when it feels very quiet, when you make the mistake of thinking that perhaps the silence is inside you, the mistaken sense of yearning.

1. IMG_7830, 2. IMG_7836, 3. IMG_7832, 4. IMG_7831, 5. IMG_7833, 6. IMG_7843, 7. IMG_7835, 8. IMG_7838Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
But really, all romanticism aside, the silence is just your standard noisy forest silence.

7:15pm taking a break after a fantastic pizza dinner. Ok, so I took a 2 hour break before dinner too... I'm bored, which should not reflect upon Haystack or Deer Isle. At home I have it all; supportive husband, super-smart wild kids, rural landscape, rural lifestyle, and all of the high-tech amenities. (Rural Wisconsin telephone co-operatives are Good.) I'm at Haystack and I don't have all of those wonderful things that keep me both busy and entertained. So I get bored, primarily mid afternoon and right before bedtime.

7:25pm I think this segmented journaling really has been good for me. I write in short bursts, then edit, and then post later with pictures. I'm more disciplined about my writing, while still being spontaneous. I may keep this up, with my handy little ASUS eeepc for journaling.

6-12-08 1:30pm  Nancy of http://www.docksidequiltgallery.com has sent me a few very friendly emails.  She remembered that the lobster boat tours are run by Old Quarry Adventures.  I really recommend the tour if you visit the area!  You should be able to get contact info through the Deer Isle Chamber of Commerce at http://www.deerisle.com .  

Haystack Journaling

Monday 6-9-08

6:30am

Stuart Kestenbaum, poet and Haystack director, took the faculty out on a lobster boat cruise around the bay last night. I will ask Stu for the name of the tour/lobstering company and our driver. (Stu didn't actually do the driving.)

As you might expect, it was beautiful. We saw all the various islands, a non-functioning quarry, a lighthouse, and plenty of seals enjoying the sun. We looked at the map, the charts, read all the names. I dont remember any names to pass on to you. Our driver was of course guided by his GPS navigation system on a monitor, which looked like a fun video game to me.

1. on the lobster boat, 2. on the boat, 3. our tour boat, 4. Me on the lobster boat sunset tour, 5. Maine, 6. an old quarry, 7. Stonington at dusk, 8. IMG_7795Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

It's Monday again, so time to get back to work.

I hear that some of my readers are looking for pictures of their friends, taking my class. So today I will be sure to take plenty of good pictures from the class to share.

(see, I took pictures.)

1. IMG_7811, 2. IMG_7810, 3. IMG_7809, 4. IMG_7807, 5. IMG_7806, 6. hard at workCreated with fd's Flickr Toys.

6:45pm
I went onto the mainland, to fill the van's gas tank, find my wireless hotspots and upload photos. I fully intended to do a brief blog entry, with lots of pictures. I started reading my flickr comments, blog comments, and emails. I uploaded all of my photos to flickr and forgot to double-upload them to Xanga. I realized I'd miss dinner if I stayed longer to blog.

6:56pm
I am sitting out on a deck after dinner, in the faculty housing area, drinking a paper cup full of pinot grigio, thinking someone might join me. Two people chatted on their way through, but didn't stay. I missed the regular faculty happy hour. I can hear studio buzz, lobster boats, and seagulls.

7:24pm
I see some of my students up by the paper and fiber studios. I feel the deck shake any time someone walks on it in a hurry. No one has joined me yet and I'm pondering the second glass of wine.

I haven't seen anyone fishing here- all this water and no one fishing... I am used to looking at the Mississippi River and always seeing fishermen, especially near the dams. They fish the Mississippi all year round, on docks and boats in summer and on ice in winter. Even the Amish drive their buggies out to the dam for fishing. But I haven't seen any fishermen here on Deer Isle, or anywhere I've driven by water.. Are they all lobstering? Is it not a good place for fishing? Is there a hidden fishing dock somewhere?

Tuesday June 10, 7:42am
Stu told us the day and date last night, so I think I am on track.

I haven't done as much work as I thought I would. I made two larger hearts (chasing & repousse on steel). One is ok, but not as I had envisioned.

The other was total flop and is now mangled in the scrap heap. Last night I finished up two small steel chasings that I feel pleased with, one heart similar to my felted hearts and one oak leaf. I have not brought any of my finishing buffs with me. I'll do that part at home, a good strategy that gives me time to think about the pieces before making any final choices. They will either be jewelry or very small artworks. Maybe they should be both? I've always hated those jewelry pieces that pretend to be sculpture, the kind where a brooch can be worn, but also sits in a sculptural setting on a table or the wall. No matter what you do, it's still jewelry. Throw it in the jewelry box. Hang it on the wall on a nail, without pretense, if you must. It's jewelry.

Ok, I answered my own question, made my own decisions... I need to start putting nails in the wall for all of my jewelry when I get home.

6-8-08

3:36pm

For so many years, I have confused boredom with yearning. I thought I was yearning for something unreachable, needing something, maybe a person, maybe a path, maybe a god... There had to be something to fill that void! Now I realize. I was just bored. I should have taken up video games and MMORPGs a long time ago. At this point I've filled my life with so many other things; I hardly have enough time to play my video games, and certainly not enough electronic accessories to do it right.

I've also realized that boredom really isn't so bad. Real-life boredom is better than real-life drama.

3:44pm

Some people here have asked me what my blog is about.

um
yeah that
me, me,me, and my art- all me, remember?

3:45pm

I left this morning early, before breakfast. It was cold and gray. I wanted to warm up in the car. As soon as I left the island, the clouds faded, the sun came out and the air reached the perfect upper seventies temperature. Gorgeous! I stopped at my favorite wireless hotspots, uploaded my photos and blog, checked email, bought yarn, and stopped at a tool barn.

I was ready to drive several hours off to another tool barn. I thought about the time (2pm), thought about the gorgeous day, thought about the lobster-on-the-rocks picnic scheduled for tonight... I said to myself (optimistically), maybe I should go back to Deer Isle, so I don't miss the beautiful day and the picnic. As soon as I crossed the bridge going to the island, the sky greyed over and the air temperature dropped about 20 degrees.

Now I can't decide whether I should leave again, crochet a hat, have a drink, work in the studio, keep writing- or some combination of all those things.

psst...hey, do I look like I'm nearly 40?

Sunday, is it the 8^th or the 9th? Am I still a day off?

Today really is a beautiful day, both on and off Deer Isle. I left Haystack fully intending to drive hours to visit the Camden Rockport area and Liberty Tool. Then I stopped in Blue Hill and got lazy. I sat outside the library and uploaded all of my photos to Xanga and Flickr. I decided I'd rather browse than blog, so I started ambling down the Main Street, whatever it's called, Hwy 15 anyway. I bought most of my souvenirs, tshirts for the kids, a few frilly things for myself. Now I'm sitting at Wescott Forge ( a restaurant not a smithy) waiting for a posh little breakfast. One of the storekeepers told me that it's graduation weekend here in Blue Hill, as it must be in many towns across Maine and elsewhere.

Now for some scenery

The lupines are blooming



Lichen is everywhere in the coastal areas.


 Lobster on the rocks-  cold, but scenic.

Some studio shots from ceramics and wood

Haystack Journaling 3

6-6-08

Yesterday my T.A. drove me all the way to Ellsworth so I could rent a car. I stopped in a town and tapped into a wireless system, so I could load my email at high speed and Skype the family. Now, much like cocktail hour, I will need to drive in toward a town every afternoon to catch my internet connection and get my daily fix.

I'm also looking forward to driving to Liberty Tool, to Doug Wilson's blacksmith shop, and maybe even to the dump. I'm not much of a scavenger, but some of the students just love the idea of the dump for treasure hunting.

I have 8 students, 4 art college students, 2 independent artists, and 2 with other professions along with their art practice. I've never taught a 2 week course. At Friday, we are usually at the end of the course. Today it's only a mid-point. This process, chasing & repousse, is a slow meditative process. I do very few demonstrations and find most value in the actual work process. I wonder as I go along, with everyone tapping, if I am not doing enough. Do I need to talk more, show slides, give assignments? Or is it enough to say, here's the basics. Now work. Ask questions when you need to, and just work. There is a great value to quiet consistent work, working through the problem and then doing it all over again.

Friday after lunch- It's so loud here! The environment itself is quiet, but a large group of people in an enclosed space makes a loud and constant din in the group areas. The metal studio has the 8 students working, plus music, plus some talking. Put together, it's loud and disorganized.

It's chilly, similar to Wisconsin, but no heat. The weather is supposed to warm up on Sunday. I guess the blacksmith shop is hosting an alien dance party tonight after 9pm.

back to work....

Saturday morning, 6-7-08

The aliens danced last night and it was great fun, cold but fun.

I'm taking the day off and going sightseeing today out toward Acadia and Bar Harbor – tool hunting and nature watching. I would love to find an internet cafe or open wireless hotspot where I can sit and use my computer comfortably.

I feel like I should get some work done, while everyone else is hungover, but it's too cold for me to work in the shop. I'm quite sure that's it's been cooler than the 55 degrees I keep my own shop set at. The weather is supposed to start warming up today, which should boost my morale immensely.

When I am working in the shop, I am working on small steel chasings, pieces that can turn into jewelry, belt buckles at the largest. I'll go to bronze once the first 2 little ones are complete.

Photos!

Haystack Journaling #2

It's still Tuesday late afternoon. We've had an amazingly productive workday. The students have gotten some tools done and their chasings started. The students come with a wide variety of experience, and lack of experience, which keeps me on my toes. I love seeing the moment when something clicks, maybe the heat color, maybe the flop of the hammer, maybe the tapping motion.

No I did not work on the commission design at all, well maybe 10 minutes, but not enough to price, copy, and fax out.

I've really tried hard to figure out a way to bring the photos to you. The internet connection isn't fast enough. I tried to cellphone them in to flickr, but no luck. Alltel is fantastic, but US Cellular is bad. US Cellular handles the lines around here and doesn't allow data transfer on their lines. Alltel customer service, real people, spent lots of time on the phone with me, figuring out the problem.

So I'll write for 2 weeks. It'll build character...

6-4-08
Jodi, I'll try to get the dates right for you. No promises. I rely on my computer at home to tell me the date. Even then I get it wrong at times.

It's Wednesday morning. I'm having my first cup of coffee in the lodge/dining hall, rather than out on the rocks. But yes, of course I will go to the rocks today. There is a very rustic path that winds around the perimeter of the school property, mostly following the coastline. It's lightly marked with blue paint dots on trees, yet still hard to follow at times. The forest floor is a spongy layer of spruce needles and moss, grown up thick over huge solid rock. Some of the trees are tall, towering overhead. Other sections, where the spongy layer is thinner, are like bonsai forests, miniature clumps of spruce with lichen shrubs and wild strawberries for flowers. Roots twist all over the forest floor, making these bronchial (?) structures, that remind me of the anatomy diagrams of our lungs. Combined with the spongy nature of the forest floor, it feels like I'm walking on the huge respiratory organ of the coastal forest.

6-5-08
It's Thursday morning, I think. Do I have the date right? I'm lazy here. I feel tired. Usually I work late at workshops and get up early. Maybe it's the ocean chill. Here I like to sleep under my electric blanket for my full 8 hours and then wake up slowly, enjoying the warmth. I meant to walk the path in the early morning today and write about the abundant mosses and lichens. Still, I'm being lazy. I dragged myself out of the bed, dressed in layers, and walked groggily up to the dining hall – to sit on a soft couch in front of a cozy wood fire, with a sweet milky cup of coffee.

My skin is super soft here. At lectures, or any time I sit idle, I put my hands up my sleeves to feel my smooth silky elbows. I think of those lotion commercials, with alligator skin and the lotion that cures it. Those lotions never work. But here my elbows are perfect. (I really should check my knees.) It must be the salty moist ocean air and perhaps even the cool temperatures.

I have finished one chasing, on a 6x6 inch enameling steel panel. Enameling steel is the lowest carbon steel easily available in small quantities. The lower carbon makes it not softer, but more malleable, more stretchy. I can push this stuff. So I did. I made a very high relief steel heart. The idea was to make a steel heart, asymmetrical, one larger higher side, with a staircase lifting out of the highest side. The heart and the height were successful, but the staircase is just, well, not great. If I want to follow through on the idea, I need to re-sketch it and do it again. I'm trying to decide if it's an idea that I should follow through on, or if the idea will lose its appeal once I leave the wood and root staircases of Haystack. I've got another steel heart nearly done, that will stay more leafy and swirly. Which ideas do I make next? Do I make them in bronze or steel? Do I make them with men or women in mind? Do I make them jewelry scale or small art scale? I've got requests for dragonflies, fish, acorns- all sorts of things that could keep me busy. I've got those designs to finish and fax off. 
I have work to do.
I'll think about what's next and let you know.

Haystack Journaling #1

6-3-2008
I'm here at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. I do have internet access, but it's dial-up and it's not wireless. Oh sure, there's a wireless transmitter, but it's not transmitting anything. So I'll type, save, and perhaps transfer it to this blog, connection permitting. If nothing else, you will read this after I return.

It's beautiful here, all spruce forest along a rocky oceanfront. I hear the ocean waves as I go to sleep at night and and can see the ocean from my cabin window. I brought along an electric blanket, so I would be cozy in the unheated cabin.

Still I have to admit. I was much more impressed 14 years ago. Perhaps enchanted is a better word, because I am still impressed by this beauty, but not so enchanted . Fourteen years ago I was younger, much less focused, much more romantic, much more dreamy and didn't have any kids. Now I look around and think that it's a beautiful place, and that's it. No more. No less. It's another beautiful place.

I used to need a beautiful place to find a center, or to find inspiration. Now it's centered inside me and the rest is frosting. If I required seclusion to make art, I'd never get anything done.

Bring me back! Give me kids, husband, distractions, chores! Give me Disney Pirates online! Give me a lot of coffee, super dark chocolate, and a little gin. Give me my own quiet studio out in the country, with fully equipped high speed dsl and satellite tv, at least Dr. Who.
Give me life with all of its mundane interruptions. Just don't expect me to get the housework done.

6-4-08
Tuesday morning now.
I was first to give my digital presentation for the session, my reasonable 25 minutes, all done last night. So that minor stress is done, and was actually enjoyable. This morning I've brought my coffee and my Asus eeepc out to the rocks over looking the ocean. I prefer a wood surface in the cold mornings, but the yoga folks have taken over the oceanside deck. I edited my last entry and promptly spilled all but one mouthful of my coffee. Grrrr. I haven't sketched any of the leafy stuff around here, tucked into struggling pockets of sun under the spruce canopy, or at the edges of the forest where the sun brings out the fiercest weeds. I may get to that in a few days. Maybe I'm having a leaf rebellion.

A client called the house inquiring about a design that I've neglected. My husband told her that he thought I had it done. So today I may work on a rough for that design and fax it out, assuming that they do have fax. I'm not sure I have time for this commission, but right now it seems manageable, or at least appealing enough to fit in.

My butt is getting cold out here on the rocks and it's time for a coffee refill. Hopefully I can get this text posted, for you all, sometime today.