Artful Adventures

It Was a Great Day!

 

Jessie, our first born, came out to spend the day with us for my birthday a week or so ago.  It was nice, very nice actually, since we don't often get those "one on one" kind of days with her.  It was just a low key day, just the way we wanted it.  We decided to go over to The Flying Pig, since I've hardly been there at all this summer.  I think I've mentioned that recently, but you seriously feel like family when you're there, and you'd miss your family, right?  Gary likes to always drive a new route to wherever we go, always promoting a car full of groans, as some of short cuts add on a ton of time:)  But this one was perfect!  I couldn't make it to the Art Studio Tour this year, and I really wanted to see Bren Sibilsky's sculpture work.  If you haven't clicked on her name, do yourself a favor and do so, seriously, she's so talented!  Brenda lives just on the outskirts of Algoma, but coming in from the other side of the Flying Pig, so we took that route so I could see where she lives and her sign proclaims that "The Idea Factory"-it's perfect!  Can''t wait to call & go see her!  For anyone wanting to give sculpting a hand, she also teaches at the Peninsula Art School.  So, on with the tour----we came up on this little park, and I do really mean little, but it's charming in a rustic teeny kind of way, and I do want to go back. 

We stopped & had to do a little exploring, the place was full of tangled tree roots and even some of the trees-couldn't you just see those couple of archways for fairies? 

Everywhere you walked, there were those crazy roots and green rocks that lined both sides of the water.  Having been raised "up north", this kind of thing is like going home, finding little creeks, swimming in a river, finding magic wherever it seemed it should be.  Now on to "The Pig" for a cup of coffee, a little birthday treat, and a glimpse of their fall gardens.  Come on up here sometime, and we'll show off the magic that's hidden in this farmland!

  
 

How's Summer Treating You?

How's the summer treating you?  Are you enjoying it, looking around you to see what might be hanging around for just these few months?  If you're not, you'll never know what you may be missing that could be right in front of your eyes.  Here in WI, the summers are short and can go by as fast as a blink of the eye.  And all too often, myself included, I've seen folks so very busy, focused on a task, worrying, working too hard-----insert any word or phrase that fits, and then stop & think-----is that you?  Or me?  Or those you love?  Slow down then-just long enough to look around, drink in what nature's offered up for us, breathe in-then out-then in again-do you feel better?  Don't get me wrong, I know we all have responsibilities and can't ignore them for months on end, but we do all deserve a break now & then, a well deserved break, the kind that you don't feel quilty for having taken.  Life's just too short!

For instance, even though I'm terrified of spiders, here's something I've never seen before-a ball about the size of a ping pong ball that was a mass of baby spiders, probably hundreds of them, but I wasn't about to get close enough to count:)  They were hanging on a fern frond, and would travel around to different fronds, but stayed in a group and always ended back up in that ball shape. 

And look at what this peony looks like, up close & personal.  The parts are so intricate and grow so quickly, but the entire flower is spent & gone before you know it.  Even though the flower as a whole is beautiful, look closely next time at your flowers, they're really pretty incredible!

A butterfly that stopped for a rest just long enough to snap this picture, I think most of us are used to carrying a camera around, but if you're not, try it-you won't regret it.  Having been limited this summer as to where and when I could venture outside this summer because of my surgery, has renewed my appreciation and passion for nature.  Funny how when something is taken away from you, it becomes something that you want more than ever.  For me this year, I spent the beginning of the summer in my studio, non stop, getting ready for my show,(still time to get there, it's at Off the Wheel Pottery until Aug.22) and then had surgery 4 days later.  With this all planned months in advance, everything for the remainder of the summer was planned around all of this, including choosing classes at Valley Ridge Art Studio forgoing early classes for late summer/early fall classes, making sure I'd be able to travel.  But the one thing I hadn't factored in, was just how much that wonderful little slice of heaven has become an integral part of my summer-like I said before, take it away & you want it even more.  It just feels "wrong" to not have been there yet!  But the wait will be worth it, my first class will be Nature Inspired, taught by Tracie Lyn Huskamp, and I can hardly wait!  Not only is Tracie a sweetie, but she's combining her class with the debut of her first book, Nature Inspired: Mixed-Media Techniques for Gathering, Sketching, Painting, Journaling, and Assemblage , and she'll be throwing a party!  So come join us, Gary's taking the class along with me me (he's not missing out on this one!) and help Tracie celebrate her book release, and help me celebrate finally getting down to Valley Ridge!  I know that money's tight, but some things are just so worth it, and a
Valley Ridge experience is one those things, something that I truly wish you all get to experience at some time.  Another thing we haven't been able to do enough of this summer is get over to The Flying Pig for a dose of inspiration and some good company.  But now that it's getting much easier to get in & out of the car, and I don't need the walker anymore & am back using a cane, it's easier to get around, making me feel like now I can start my summer.  Watching the sunset at Red River Park, sitting around a bonfire, watching fireflys, listening to the night sounds, watching the landscape change as flowers come & go-some more of the things that define summer for me.  What's yours?  I'd love to hear what your favorite summer things are, favorite summer memory, favorite summer anything-if we'd all share something, we may end up finding a new & favorite thing to do.  Are you game to share?  I'll bet you are!  One last picture, 3 families of geese down at Red River Park one night with all of their young ones-that sight made a favorite summer memory.  See how easy this could be:)

Watching Roy paint-A Buried Treasure

Lately, you've heard me speak about Roy Bedward quite often, here, then again here, and you can read his own words here.  If you haven't been following along, those links are your chance to get caught up to date:)  This past Saturday afternoon, we had the unique opportunity to spend some time with Roy and watch him paint.  Thanks to a lot of cooperation and planning, Roy was brought up to The Flying Pig from Madison, enabling him to be able to see his own exhibit, which ended the following day. 

From left to right, we have Susan of The Flying Pig, Ariel, (he & Roy share a house, he's such a gentle soul!), Tish (a staff member that drove both Roy & Ariel up), Jeremy (my son who has worked with Roy for about a year now), Roy, and Alli with her baby Penelope.  Alli & Susan were the driving force behind making this all happen, and she's the one that sees to it that Roy gets time in his life to paint.

Jeremy kept Roy company, while Roy was taking in the atmosphere inside The Flying Pig.  This is actually his second trip there, and although he can't speak, using a facilitating communication device he typed out "I love it here", and he certainly appeared to.  But then we all love it there!

The easel was set up outside, underneath a cedar grove in the greenspace for Roy to paint.  I learned a thing or 2 while watching him set up!  He squirts whatever paints he wants to use in glass jars, a jar & a brush for each color-brilliant!  No washing out brushes everytime there's a color change, an idea that I just might try myself. 

In no time at all, 2 hours had passed and Roy had completed 2 paintings.  For the most part you could have heard a pin drop within the crowd of us that were watching him, now that would have freaked me out if I had been the one painting in front of a crowd, but he just did his thing, and did it well! 

I don't pretend to know a lot about autism, but I did learn a little more about it on that day with Ariel & Roy.  There's a lot going on inside their heads, they just have a rough time communicating it.  Never take advantage of the fact that you can speak, or type by yourself, or live on your own, or do any of the things that we all take for granted each & every day of our lives.  And be grateful that there are folks out there like Jeremy & Alli, and all the families that live this life, that care enough to help them, to help make a difference, to be there to celebrate their successes and get them through the rough patches.  I'm truly grateful that I met Roy & Ariel, and am so happy that Roy is willing to share his gift of art with the world. 

The Ultimate Recycling Project

As of May 1 (hooray, hooray, the first of May-----) The Flying Pig started their grueling summer schedule of being open 7 days a week.  But just because they were closed a few days a week, didn't mean the creativity stopped flowing through that place-not a chance.  This past winter, the project was to turnwhat couldn't be recycled, into art.  In this case, a gigantic flying pig (what else?) hanging way up on the gallery wall.  The idea was for folks to chip in their trash that couldn't be recycled, give it it Robyn, and then the magic happened!  Mind you, I thought we did na pretty good job of recycling, but this certainly raised the awareness of how much we actually contributed to the landfills, I was shocked actually!

See those cd's?  And then see the 4 things on top of each cd that makes it look sort of like a flower?  Those are the empty syringes from the injections that I had to give myself this winter to help keep the blood clot under control-they look much better on there than going into my stomach!  Which reminds me---there's GREAT news----word is that the blood clot is gone-absolutely gone, no evidence left of it at all kind of gone!  Now is that cool or what?  They told me that I'll be at high risk for forming another one for the rest of my life so some life style changes will have to be implemented.  But that's ok, I don't EVER want to have to sit around with my foot up for 4 months again, ever!  Now I can go ahead & get my hip surgery done the end of June, I can move around again, and I can eat veggies again, which you have no idea how good they taste after having them taken away from you.  So that light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter again-lets keep it that way! 

But I digress, take a close look at the curly tail on the pig-it's all plastic eating utensils.  With summer just around the corner, it makes you more aware of those days when you eat outside, using paper plates & plastic forks, to make our life easier by tossing them in the trash instead of washing them, doesn't it?  I know I'll think twice before I do that again.

Check out the pig nose-lol!  Junk jewelry, well that could have been repurposed many ways, but the eyes are bottle caps.  Why can't we recycle those, dumb design on the manufacturer's part!

And look at all the electronic bits & bobs on the head?  At this rate, we're going to have the landfills heaped with our junk!  Fortunately, most of those who read here don't toss a lot out knowing that somehow, somewhere it will be used in our art.  So now we have even more reason to save junk and recruit everyone you know to do the same and see what you can cme up with.  Wouldn't this make a great neighborhood or community project?  Save stuff all summer, create with it all winter-or something like that.  Bottom line, I'm hoping that once again, the gals at the Flying Pig have inspired us all to reach, and do bigger & better things!

Growth

 

Now isn't this the most innocent, unassuming, walk right past it & never give it a second look, kind of potted plant?  You couldn't be more wrong:)  When I first bought this plant about 15 years ago, it had 1 little stalk and was in a 4' pot.  What you're looking at in this picture is not the plant at all, but the flowers that grow after a winter dormancy.  When they open, the flower is a gorgeous burgundy almost calla shaped bloom-that smells like the most rancid rotting whatever that you could ever imagine thing, which is why it also goes by the name "corpse lily".  You don't water it all winter, the bulbs form in bone dry soil.  After they're cut off (as soon as they smell) then the plant grows, and grows, and grows.  Much like an artist, give us the right tools, the right mindset, cultivate our style, and we grow.  Yep, we may produce some stinky stuff in the process, but can thrive if we take care of our needs, learn, and grow.  A growth that can actually be measured daily, as the flowers can be!  If you want to learn more about the plant, it's at The Flying Pig right now for entertainment as it was wintered there, and you can see more photos of it here.  And for even more history and to find out why it's called the plant that only a mother could love, go here and be amused:)  It is spring after all, time for some plant knowledge! 

Even though spring is almost here, it's not nearly far enough along for this peony bloom, not to mention that I've never seen one colored quite this this.  But it's a good example of how things change.  If this bloom were an artist (and that's how I'll refer to it from this point on) you can see that it's changed, some may say for the better, some may not agree.  But this artist has changed her style a bit, enough to still be recognizable as that artist, but has learned new things, new techniques, has morphed into whatever she is today, and who knows what she'll be tomorrow, but still has & always will have, the same roots, same essence that makes her what she is, it's just that today her work looks a little different, mediums have changed, skill levels increased, and different tools used to make her work look like it does today, instead of that plain peony that her art used to be-now it glows a bit, and has a little more confidence, but humble enough to always remember where she came from and not let go of everything, see that touch of original color left?  That's needed to remember who she is, was, and will be.  Still with me? There's a point to this, really!  If you click on over to my friend Debi's blog, The Junkin' YaYa , you'll see that she does a biweekly feature of an artist, and this week it's me!  She had a computer crash and lost the images that I had sent her, so she chose the ones that you'll see on her blog instead.  It's all pieces that I had done 6 or 7 years ago, how things have changed!  If anyone had told me back then that today I'd be painting or making jewelry, I'd have laughed in their face, seriously.  But you know what-I am doing those things!  Most of us look back at our older work, say a quick "blech", and quickly get away from it.  But you know what?  This is where I started, this is what my art was built on, so in all honesty it would be foolish for me to not look at these as a measurement of sorts.  If I'd have chosen to stay stamping, fine, but I didn't.  But I also wouldn't have learned anything new if I hadn't figured out how to do those pieces first and then move on, step by step, inch by inch, and sometimes even a step or so backwards.  I've often heard artists say that they're embarrassed by their older work, or can't believe they used to do______fill in the blank with whatever, but we all had to start somewhere.  And this was my somewhere!  So where did YOU start?  I'd really like to know!  To end this post , one day last week, we went over to the Flying Pig for a cup of coffee, and as we're sll sitting there talking, we noticed that we were each wearing a different pair of Solmate Socks.  It's a line of socks that has mismatched pairs, which is just too much fun!  They say "Life is too short for matching socks", and I have to agree!

Still celebrating!

 

This morning we woke up to our first snowfall of the season, and it suddenly felt much colder than what it really is.  But we have a nice toasty warm house to stay in, so I can't complain.  In fact, it's something to celebrate-yes, even though I haven't been posting daily, I have found reason to celebrate everyday.  Have you?  In fact, we even picked up more candles, this is fun!  And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, you'll need to scroll down & read the previous post.  Done reading?  OK, then on to more celerating!  Gary had a follow up post op appointment last week, and is now the proud owner of a leg without a cast, still on crutches for another month, but the cast is gone & he can ditch the sweatpants & go back to wearing jeans-that's the part that he's celebrating:)   

Yesterday we made a quick stop at Kele Alpaca for the artists reception held for those participating in the Holiday Sale.   It always feels good to walk in and see my mixed media collages hanging on the wall, wierd, but good.  The place was packed, I mean seriously packed with a line you wouldn't believe waiting to check out.  Crowded to the point that we didn't stay long (we'll go back maybe tomorrow) and headed up to the Flying Pig for a cup of coffee before going home.  Robyn & Susan are back from vacation looking well rested, and gearing up for the holiday season.  Welcome home-that was worth a candle or 2!  Hanging from the cupola above the 2nd floor of the gallery was this sculpture of 2 boys climbing a ladder, it's made from packing tape with the willing models being 2 little boys that frequent the place with their parents.  Isn't it cool?  Directly beneath them is the ground floor and the tables where we sit for coffee, what you're seeing behind them is the 2nd floor.  If you want directions how to do that packing tape thing, you'll have to email them!   

You can sure tell that Gary's more mobile these days, I have pictures to post again:)  I'm so bad at that, just can't seem to take a decent photo to save my soul, but Gary does have an eye for it-light a candle for that one because this blog would be awfully boring without his pictures!  Now if I could only get him to take it more seriously, just enough to even just enter a few local photography contests or something.  But maybe he wouldn't enjoy it then, so it's up to him.  Last week I had my annual physical and came out of there with a clean bill of health.  While there, I noticed that my ortho doctor's name was on their board-what the heck??  This man is the best, seriously!  He replaced a hip over 8 years ago, did some repair on my knee once, but he'd been out of network on our insurance for a few years, so even though I knew I had a bad hip I was toughing it out (after a bad, horrible experience with another ortho) as long as I could stand it.  Turns out he's been back in network for about a year (why don't insurance companies keep us better informed?) and he was coming to the clinic the following day.  And---they got me in-yay!!  I've never been so happy to see a doctor in my life!  As I suspected, the other hip is bone on bone and needs to be replaced-but he can do it & get it done this year before our insurance coverage changes on the first of January when it would cost us a chunk of change.  So on Dec. 17 I'm going in for a hip replacement with a doctor that I trust, and I'll have a matched set of metal hips:)  Lots & lots of candles for all that!  Between getting that hip fixed, and the magic that the pain clinic is working on me, I'll be a new woman by spring!  The last few years I've dropped the ball more often than I care to admit, and haven't been myself at all, constant pain will do that to you.  But there's a light at the end of the tunnel, and it appears that Murphy's Law has quit circling overhead & has moved on. 

It's deer season here, I hate the thought of deer being shot, but after hitting a few with a car over the years, I do understand the need to keep the numbers under control-I think.  As a kid, we were raised on venison, but with Gary not being a hunter, I haven't eaten any in years.  A friend was telling me yesterday that her husband had gotten his deer & she was cooking up steaks for dinner, and I told her much I used to love a good venison steak.  About 1/2 or so later, she comes in the front door with a steak for me (she lives across the street) wrpped in foil, still warm & ready to eat.  What a treat!  It was delicious, but I have to admit that I had to make a conscious effort to not picture a deer in our yard while I was eating it.  But I do the same thing whenever I eat meat, I just can't think about it.  And it doesn't stop me from eating a good steak!  To change the subject, did you read this post on Tammy Vitale's blog?  it's a great one, well they all are, but I particularly enjoyed this one where she shared an article by Christine Kane, well worth reading.  So much so that I ran right over & signed up for Christine's weekly e-zine called "Live Creative".  Somewhere along the line I'd lost the link to her blog, so thanks, Tammy, for bringing it back to my attention!  And if you aren't already signed up to recieve Alyson Stanfield's Art Biz Blog, give yourself an early Christmas gift & go sign up.  Today it was about showing gratitude, not just showing it but really feeling it.  She's right, and it seems to fit in with our 37 days of celebrating, we're all trying to live better lives, right?  And on that note, it's time to go watch the Packer game, but not before I share my steak with you:)

Thank You!

 

Now that Gary's a few weeks post op, has a new slime green cast that he can put a little weight on while still walking with crutches, things are slowly starting to get back to normal here.  Maybe not normal, but at least more manageable.  Enough that I can start trying to play catch up a bit, kind of like a puppy chasing it's tail:)  We're calling Monday morning to have the hospital bed taken out of the living room, now that he can manage steps-carefully.  Life will slowly return to normal, it will.  But he did want to make sure that a huge THANK YOU was said for all of you that sent him cards & well wishes, we both appreciated it more than you can know.  I owe so many people for all the help we've had, generous friends that gave up their time to help us out, so much that another post soon will be devoted to just that.  See, another "catch up", not necessarily in the order of events, but it'll get done-one day at a time.   

Jeremy's home for the week end, perfect timing as a quarter of beef we ordered was ready to be picked up today, so his help in hauling it down to the freezer in the basement was more than welcomed.  We got the meat from a couple that we met at the Flying Pig, actually it seems like everytime we'd go there, Lynn would walk in right after us, something we've joked around about with him & his wife quite often.  This was the first time we'd been to their farm, named Guardians of the Field Farm, an absolutely perfect name for a beautiful place.  They have a huge old farmhouse painted yellow, with the widest wrap around porch that I've ever seen, all of the outbuildings painted barn red, and all of this on the end of a dead end road.  It's a beautiful, peaceful place, perfect!  And so fitting for their personalities, as Jeremy commented when we left that Lynn was such a gentle soul, and he's so right.  The whole family seems to have that trait and are in perfect harmony with all that surrounds them.   

Now I'm backtracking a little, the first stop for today was at Kele Alpaca where I dropped off some collages for their annual Holiday sale coming up next week end.  We had a chance to peek a little at some of the handcrafted art that was already there, but by next week end it'll be packed to the rafters with everything from paintings, jewelry, purses (I always get a purse there!), yarns & fibers, clothing, and everything in between in the old restored log building where the sale is held.  It was nice to have a few minutes to visit with LeAnna & Amanda for a bit and then we were on our way.  Our last stop was at the Flying Pig for a cup of coffee and to have a few laughs with 2 sisters ( they could put on their own sister act!) Pat & Marcy in the picture above, who are holding down the fort while Susan & Robyn are on vacation, due back in a day or so I think.  Can't wait to hear about their adventures finding new artists, visiting art galleries & checking out the surroundings.  Tomorrow Jessie & Michelle are coming out, so we'll all be together, eating chili that we made tonight and watching the Packer/Bear game-it should be fun!  I'll leave yuo now with this saying that's painted on a wall by the coffee bar at The Flying Pig, I love it! 

Whew, last week flew by!

  

It's here, my favorite time of year!  Although I must admit that I enjoyed every second of those 80 degree days we had last week, knowing that we most likely see that again until next summer.  Don't you just love seeing all the color right now?  When we were kids, we'd rake up huge piles of crispy colored leaves, then run & dive right into that pile, laughing like fools.  All week long, I kept thinking of those moments as I watch the leaves turning color & falling to the ground. 

There are so many photos that were taken this summer that I never got around to posting, maybe I'll do that in the dead of winter instead, reminding myself that plants really will grow here again.  There have been winters when I really have wondered how how anything could survive, but for the most part, they do.

This week we're supposed to get our first freezing weather, and I haven't even begun the job of deciding what warrants trying to carry over, what just has to die, and what needs repotting (i know, I'm late ) before it comes back indoors.  And then there's the arguement we have each & every year, me trying to fit a ton of plants in the house, and Gary saying they just won't fit.  Quess what?  They fit:) 

With the weather being so nice, we spent a lot of time outside, and very little time on the computer for a change.  I tore down a ton of watercolor paper & did the nature printing thing all week long, and playing a little with paint & paper while the papers were drying.  Had to get it done while I still have foliage to work with, and as long as Gary was willing to help, all the better.  It was interesting to see how some plants that worked very well for this process earlier, were now not as suited for it.  It's been so dry here, that plants are stressed and have taken a beating, and it's showing in the leaves.  But I still managed to get some very cool papers done, enough to be able to hold onto summer throughout the winter.  We did take an afternoon off and went over to our favorite places, The Flying Pig and the beach.  Gary picked treasures that the waves were kicking up onto the shore, and I sat at a picnic table with a stack of books.  As hard as I tried, I couldn't concentrate very well, too busy watching the geese flocking on the water, listening to the waves, and shuffling through the leaves on the ground.     

Did you recognize this thing as a beehive?  It's huge!  That's one thing I can do without this time of year are the bees, they're crazy when it starts to cool down and appear to be everywhere.  If we can get them to vacate this hive, I'd love to unwrap it & save it.  I did that once, the number of layers was amazing, and to think those little bees had the know how & energy to build it, if you really think about it, it's kind of mind boggling.   

There will be more photos, stories, and art to share soon.  But first I have to answer a whole lot of emails.  You are all so sweet to continue leaving comments here, and I've been horrible at getting back to everyone in a timely manner.  Your visits & comments are important to me, you all are important to me!  This week is going to be catch up week, that's the plan anyway!  And on that note, I'll talk to you soon!

And the rest of the jewelry--

 

More trade beads, a few pearls, and a couple of vintage bead connectors added onto this old brass perfume bottle are all that this one needed.  The beads that look slime green are really yellow though, again having color issues in taking pictures.  With each one of these necklaces that I make, I learn something, even if it's a mistake  (cussing the whole time at the cost of silver that I just cut off & tossed to fix it) it's one less issue to deal with in the future-I hope!  Those that claim to have this, or anything as far as that goes, all figured out & can do it perfectly everytime, they make me nervous.  As soon as we stop learning, or stop stretching ourselves to make something work or stick to the tried & true all the time, have stopped growing-not only as an artist, but as a person.  Hmmmm, wonder where that came from and why.  I honestly don't know, so we'll chalk it up to being tired. 

 

I'm having fun with these little lampwork bird beads, and I love the stones in this necklace-and can't find one of them anymore!  Will have to do some digging around, because I really do like using it.   

This is the second necklace that I've made using a salt shaker, and there's a funny story behind it.  When I met the wonderful Annie Lockhart a couple of years ago, it was at a Nina class held at Valley Ridge.  Apparently Annie was wearing a similar necklace during class, which I didn't notice, but obviously did subconsciously.  Right after I made that first one, I saw Annie's for sale & was horrified that I had "copied" her, we each had our own spin on it, but still I felt bad.  So I called her, told her about it, and in typical Annie fashion, she just laughed.  See, we share the same birthday and the same wierd sense of humor, and maybe, just maybe had a similar idea in this case-we'll never know for sure.  Right after that, I saw a salt shaker necklace on Etsy (no, I don't remember who it was) that was a direct knock off of the one that Annie did, right down to even giving it the same name!  And the person that bought it was another gal from the class that Annie & I were in, the one where she wore the necklace.  See what a small little circle this art world can be?  At that same class, Nina liked Annie's idea so much, that she asked if she could borrow it, of course Annie said yes, and then folks accused Annie of copying Nina's idea.  Still with me?  My point in a round about way is to give credit where it's due, as Nina did for Annie, and I did for Annie, and round & round we go.  My wire wrapping was taught to me by Nina (thank you, thank you!!), the salt shaker idea apparently from Annie, and some other wire work from the publications of Sharilyn Miller, which by the way, are worth every penny & then some.  The rest of what I do---who knows where it comes from?  Sometimes I even wonder myself!  And once again tonight, I don't know where this all came from!  So to end this one a good note-enjoy this shot from our garden-and don't forget to contact the Flying Pig if you're interested in these necklaces, almost forgot to say that part-I really am tired!

New jewelry & a little summer

 

Remember when I recently posted about going to the Rings & Things bead show?  Well, I dug right in and got some work done, including this necklace made entirely from African Trade beads and found the perfect piece of vintage jewelry in my stash for the pendant.  It measures about 32" long, not including the pendant.  I've got 6 new pieces made, all of whioch are now for sale at The Flying Pig, but will post maybe half of them today & the rest in a day or so, too many photos for 1 post otherwise! 

For some reason, we're (by we, I mean Gary-lol) still finding photographing jewelry difficult, although it gets better each time.  Today it seems I can't get the colors right, not sure if it's my eyes because I didn't sleep much last night, or if it's the monitor, whatever the case may be, please bear with me.   

I think you'll just have to make a road trip to Algoma to see waht these really look like:)  This one is labradorite, trade beads, coin pearls & some of the prettiest freshwater pearls that I''ve ever owned.  They're really a darkish kind of blue/purple, but seem to change a bit in the light.   

There, finally!  This color is more what it really looks like.  The focal is a gorgeous lampwork bead, from a series of tree of life beads, this being one of the nightime versions showing the moon behind the branches.  I love this bead!  This one measures about 24", not including the drop.   

Last one for today, I feel like an infomercial:)  This one is about 28" long with the drop of stick pearls being about 2 and1/2" long.  Finally got smart & wired those little puppies together, they always want to spin aruond in different directions otherwise, drove me crazy!  Besides stones from the lake that we picked, there's sunstone with the faintest gold glint to it, coin & regular freshwater pearls.  So there you have it, that's what I've been doing lately!  Still want to tear down some large sheets of watercolor paper today, so I can get some walnut ink stained & others nature printed.  Here in WI, fall is happening quickly and we'll be stuck in the house before we know it.  If not stuck in here, it'll be too cold to do that kind of thing outside at least.   

Not sure why, but we didn't spend as much time by the beach in Algoma this summer.  Actually, I honestly don't know what happened to summer this year.  All I do know is poof-it's almost gone! 

This old lighthouse is a favorite sight of mine.  Nothing fancy, but if I look at a picture of it any time of the year, I can hear the waves & feel the warmth of the sun.  Lighthouse paintings are a favorite thing it seems, in Door County.  You see them everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.  It's ok, I suppose, and if I could paint one I'm sure I'd think it was fabulous:)  ok, I'm rambling, so lets move on----- 

There's a cool boardwalk that's lit & has benches along the way, lining the beach in Algoma.  For such a small town, it's a nice touch.  It's not a huge beach, or a fancy beach, but still---it's a beach!  And I'm always surprised at how few people go there.  It's rare that you can't grab a picnic table.  I keep a bag of books, pens, sketch pad, etc in the car so if we decide to stop there, I can go sit at a table & read or art while looking & listening to the water-one of my favorite things to do.  Well, looks like I ended up with a bunch of pictures after all!  ONe more & then I'll stop-promise!  Our passion flower has been putting on quite a show for the last few weeks, putting out a new flower almost everyday, which is about how long they last-one day!  But oh so worth it!