Secrets

There is a secret world that lives in my garden. My poor, much neglected garden. Summer was first too wet and cold and then quickly turned to a heated oven and things passed away, faded from life. I had all but given up on my front flower beds. Jacob and his friend Ben did some aggressive weeding and pulled even plants that I liked that they saw no purpose for. Jacob figures, much like my father who he never met or knew, that if you can not eat it; it shouldn't grow. Out went color and ornamental grasses. Tossed to the compost pile were purple vinca, pink heathers, iris bulbs, and carnations. I am left with what I thought was a dead waste land of what once was.

I have made mental plans for next years' garden. The shame of being an artist without a pretty garden is too much to bear but on one recent rainy afternoon, hidden amongst the remains of a few plants, I found this -

a secret world all nestled  safely within. I think there could be fairies or little people living under here. Don't you?

White bronze.

Yellow bronze.

As silver prices rocketed to the stratosphere these last few years ( and really with no end in sight ) I found myself making charm designs bigger and bigger. I wasn't sure where that journey was taking me but I continued on creating large pieces. Finally, I have decided the time has come to cast them in alternative metals and I am making these pieces available for the first time! I am casting them in bronzes, red, yellow or white and I really like the results. They look almost like silver in the white yet at the same time have the patina of much older pieces. Now I can see that maybe the large pieces were not such a bad idea.

Saturday Evening

Last evening my friend, David came over and had dinner with us. He has been a friend and best buddy since the mid 1970's. I can always count on him to make me laugh. He doesn't even know what triggers my laugh but he gives me this little sideways look and a twinkle appears in his eyes and I know he is there for me now and in the future. I gave him last year's Christmas present finally, after dinner, too. I am a terrible person who just can not manage to celebrate a holiday or birthday on the date that is given to that celebration. I gave David one of his favorite stories, The Wind in the Willows. So quietly, with a sort of family reverence we gathered around as David began to read. We were mesmerized and reveling in the simple joy of an evenings' story read. David is also an artist and soon, I will post some of his paintings. He is my gentle, misunderstood friend that I can offer shelter, friendship and a good meal to warm all our hearts. 

Even Jacob put down his ever present cell phone to listen to the story. 

I love being read to. 

How is it...

.... that I have not written here in so long? I can blame it on many things: I am busy, the days are short and the evenings shorter, I work more in the shop now but really, the older I get, the more time just flies by. It must happen to all of us. I hear customers and friends alike repeat the same thing over and over to each other. I want to lasso the days and keep them here. I want them to slow down so that I can embrace the goodness and renewal that comes with each sunrise. I am hungering for connection with my days and in that connection I want to, no, need to find time to be creative. 

Creativity is something that I can not turn on with a light switch. It happens when it happens, a frenzy of work and color and jewels and silver. It sneaks up on me in the ways I arrange a display case. It pops up its little fireworks show of " making things " in the early morning or late evening or after a multi hour bout of watching TV. You see, I am never just watching TV. In my mind, the wheels are spinning and I am using my mental hands to craft or paint incredible things that may or may not come to fruition in no time.

This one piece, now in its second incarnation as britanium or pewter, is the result of one afternoon of free time when absolutely nothing had to be created. The image could have been in my head from days ago when something I saw sparked a memory of the texture that would later appear on this piece. It is a journey in the studio, in the shop, from thought processes and memories in the head to creation by the hands. A blessing to be able to make something with one's hands and heart and soul.

This Weekend

This weekend, I made some decisions. Every year fall seems to fly by in a flurry of activity after I had promised myself, all through the summer that I would linger in the season. I would spend time admiring the trees changing color, I would stroll on drizzly afternoons through the neighborhood, I would pick the apples from my over loaded tree and I would rest from the wickedly busy days of summer. And every year October would slide into November and then quickly become December and I would have missed the very season that I love best! Not this time, baby. This year, I decided to forgo my annual shop birthday sales and give myself more studio time and more time to just be in the store without a thousand page to do list. This fall I am slowing and enjoying my days. I am walking in the mornings, taking time for lunch everyday, stopping and photographing the bursting fireworks that trees become as the color changes in their leaves. Nuh uh, I am NOT going to allow this fall to get away any faster than need be. No way! I am going to enjoy every single            

breathable, do-able minute. So with all this in mind, and since the television is broken and I think I will leave it that way; I am going to just be this fall. I will just be fine. Look in on me and I will be in the shop or studio or kitchen or classroom making things. Look at me walking the neighbor hood, giving each moment the time it deserves! The time I deserve.

This morning was beautiful! Our walk took us by plants that were in their beginning stages of turning color for fall. Roses were a papery watercolor version of their summer selves. Crows searched the soccer field in a grid of crime scene investigation and I was on hand to see it all. I feel energized in the fall, full of creative energy and bountiful hopes for the coming months of serious studio work. Now, I am finishing the last of my dreaded office work before heading into the shop to begin a day of socializing; speaking with customers and fellow merchants, gabbing with friends, primping the classroom slash work room for tomorrow night's gallery walk; just the usual bustle of daily happenings in the world of Lois. Have a great day, my friends!

Today, a hot & blustery first day of fall............................

Days are flying by just like the seagull feathers that float down from the roof tops all over the downtown streets and into the building lobbies.  I sleep at night, rise in the morning, head to work and in a moment as quick as the intake of a breath, the day is gone. I am loving spending more time in my shop. Talking with customers, fussing with displays, creating new arrangements of treasured beads and bringing to life the fantasies I had of owning a shop from the time I was a little girl playing store in my parent's garage.

I have made so many new charms and religious pieces of late. With the mailman bringing a whole package of my new castings today; I am tempted to burn the midnight oil and make things.  I will get pictures up soon. Right now I am planning on Sunday being a studio day so perhaps I will begin the challenge of photographing  silver charms along with making new jewelry from the freshest charm designs. Hot from the casting process!

Today, I helped a friend set up a blog and in the process I totally challenged this old brain of mine. Too bad brain exercise does not wear off calories. In any event, here is a picture of her upcoming book. I can hardly wait to read it and I feel lucky to have such a well traveled, smart and talented friend!