May Photos - Necklace

This is one of my all time faves. It's called "Tree of Life" and is made of bead crochet and a huge glass focal. I made it to be interchangeable but I like this bead so much, I've never made another for the necklace!

May Photos - Art

Art is so subjective... and I know all to well, art is what your soul is drawn to DO and can take many forms throughout a lifetime. My practical mother and father didn't know what to make of an odd child who just HAD to keep her hands busy. Luckily they humored me...and bought me supplies!

Throughout my childhood, I was obsessed with: coloring, Mardi Gras bead crafts, macrame (jewelry and wall hangings), jewelry making,  cross stitch (often giant framed wall pieces), crochet, rug hooking, needlepoint, sewing, fabric applique, cake decorating... and on and on.

Can you understand why it seemed like destiny to work for The Queen of Crafts, Carol Duvall?? In my twenties and thirties, when there was a predictable lull in my career (April - June most years), I would teach.  Somewhere along the way, I bought a house with a really ugly bathroom (I've never had a nice bathroom since moving to California! Still don't!) and I bought a set of rubber stamps to get some little flowers around the mirrors I had installed to make it feel bigger in there. I used paint to get the images on the wall and colored in the little designs with bright acrylics. I cleaned those stamps and put them in a drawer for YEARS.

And then came the first HUGE career setback. Three different directors I was producing for got out of the business / moved away / stopped hiring me because I wouldn't put out. I was in a deep funk and couldn't seem to make anything happen. I started watching Carol... twice a day, every day. Before long, I knew all the guests and their respective schticks. I loved Mary O'Neil and her rubber stamped velvet. I bought  a bunch of her stamps and started making scarves and blankets. And soon I was fascinated with rubber stamping.

I went to a stamp convention at the Queen Mary. My brain was on mental overload...didn't buy a thing but when I left, there was a flier on my car for a new stamp store...1/2 mile from my house! I started teaching there and my students told me that Carol was produced a few towns over. And I sent in my resume and worked my longest gig in production! 3 years straight!

But it was rubber stamping that made me accept myself as an artist. I'm sure you're laughing...but as a kid who grew up with a teacher that made me feel worthless because I couldn't draw like Stevie ( amazing artist from grade school), I was so insecure of my drawing ability.  I refused to even try for decades!

By stamping the image, I was suddenly free to play with other art materials: colored pencil, watercolor, acrylics, oils, chalks. And all kinds of techniques: resists, embossing, debossing, layered papers, reverse imagery, gels and on and on. Suddenly, I had a proper art studio and I was no longer afraid. When I finally took drawing as a grownup, I knew it was a skill that could be honed.

Now I own a stamp line and rep a few others. And I draw my own stamps too! Sometimes on paper, often on computer...but I do it. 

And all those other skills lend well to glass...my other artistic love. By just doing and not giving up because of some weakness I perceived, I still found my way!  If there's something you love, are drawn to do...keep doing it. It is the work of the soul!

May Photos - Junk Food

This is a cookie bouquet made with food safe rubber stamps. I make a lot of cookies for the classes I teach and for demos and such. And since this is the only craft where you get to eat your mistakes... I eat a lot of cookies and so do my friends!Good thing we all love shortbread!

May Photos - Hairdo

I cheated on this one... My long curly locks are either down, freshly coiffed to impress or, more likely, up in double knot pony tail bun in order to not irritate the crap out of me. My hair IS my air conditioner and heater! I've been known to tie the ends under my neck like a scarf to keep warm when a sudden winter wind appears at the creek. And at the studio, I work with fire or a hot vulcanizer and the hair MUST be out of the way. Not exactly the epitome of glamor!

But I stole these pics from my glass bead blog. They were taken when I first became enthralled with making glass bellflowers.

May Photos - Abnormal

Bart - imploring us to throw rocks at him.

And... our not so typical "May Gray" temperatures:

May Photos - Nutritious

My favorite breakfast of the year is always the 2nd week of May when the Mulberries are ripe. There is nothing in world like standing before a tree or bush and partaking of her bounty! Enjoying her shade on a hot day and eating until your belly is full feels like such a simple, yet extravagant luxury!

May Photos - Nearby

The creek may not be nearby according to some definitions. It's just over a mile away. But in Los Angeles, that's nearby! Mabel is always nearby, often choosing to be right beside me throughout my day. Only wind or extreme heat will send her to the safety of a corner bed in the middle of the house. And if we are hiking, Bart is always near Mabel.

This is our favorite swimming hole. You may be able to tell that it's nearly dry by the fact that I'm standing in the middle of the river. It's gonna be a long summer without water! 

 Same spot, looking East...