Manatee Pendants

April 21st, 2010

manateesI had an inquiry about manatees so I thought I’d post these. They’re about 2.5 inches tall, molded in Premo, and antiqued to bring out the detail.

I’m not sure what it is about manatees, but they fascinate me. Elephants of the sea, mermaids – they almost don’t seem possible. I’ve sculpted a few different versions of them.

These two were made from a silicone mold of my own sculpted original. I like being able to make my own molds. It allows me to try out different variations, and I have to say I’d probably never sell anything otherwise. It’s difficult giving up the original, and it certainly wouldn’t be for any reasonable price. I spend too much time on each one ;)

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Spring Cleaning – March

April 6th, 2010

March was the month for decluttering, and I think I did pretty well. I have a lot more I could and should do – I haven’t gotten to most of the closets, but I accomplished quite a bit.

It’s amazing how restful a clean, empty surface is.

I also did pretty well on personal decluttering – I’m about 7.5 pounds lighter than I was at the beginning of the month.

Continuing my Spring Cleaning theme, for April I’m tackling the studio. It’s time for a major reorganization and purge so I can find the floor and the surface of the tables.

I think I may pack up my kaleidoscope supplies for now. I haven’t been making them lately although I think I’ll get back to them eventually. I let myself lose momentum when a couple promising designs didn’t work out, and kits never feel like they’re completely mine. I seem to go through phases anyway – I’ll dig all the stuff out again when inspiration hits.

I want to set up a basic metals station instead. I’m not sure I’ll do much soldering (although I may play with my little butane torch) but I want to at least be able to make sheet metal frames without worrying about metal shavings in my clay.

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New Hampshire

March 22nd, 2010

We just went up to spend a long weekend in NH and visit my grandma. The weather was gorgeous and we spent most of the time outside. We didn’t see too much wildlife but we did see recent evidence of a moose.

While we were up there, Grandma took us to Wolfboro and a gallery run by the League of NH Craftsmen. Simply beautiful work in all sorts of materials. I got to handle some work by Sandra McCaw – her work is just as meticulous in person, and I hadn’t realized how thin some of her layered feather pins are – very intricate and delicate.

heronarchedconcave
Dave got me an early anniversary present. I’ve always admired Barbara Sperling’s work and now I own a pin, similar to this piece. It’s just amazing – everything is so cohesive, even the back of the pin was decorated. Makes me want to take my own work to the next level.

You can see more of her work on her website BeadUnique.

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February

March 7th, 2010

I’m going to review goals/accomplishments every month and see where I’m at. I may be a week late on the blog but I did this at the beginning of the month.

I did! Really! I’ve got it written down in my planner and everything…

Anyway, I have to say I achieved my goal of having no goals in February admirably. It was extremely difficult, but somehow I managed to accomplish nothing at all.

Ok, actually I got back into an exercise routine (30 min cardio during lunch 3 days a week, an exercise class during lunch, some light weights and ab exercises, regular stretching…) and that’s really helped. The hip/back alignment issue is still there but getting better. I got a couple books on trigger points which helped as well – they helped me find and release muscle knots all over the place that I didn’t know about and which may have either been contributing to, or an aggravation of the problem.

Either way, I’m starting to feel better. It really sucks when you can’t sit in any position for more than five minutes without nerve nibbling shrews running up and down between your back and your ankle. And it’s hard to get a good nights sleep. I’ve been catching up on that too.

I didn’t do any writing but I did do some clay – my favorite batch of Dragon’s Eyes yet. I’ll try to put up pics at some point. I lost about a pound in February, but my clothes feel looser than that, so I think the exercise is helping on that front (and behind) as well.

So, on to March…

My goal for March is decluttering. I’m not a hoarder or anything (except for arts and crafts supplies – and those are IMPORTANT) but we have too much stuff that doesn’t have a place. It might be Spring fever but I just want all this extraneous stuff GONE. No more piles of papers or things that might come in handy someday, clothes that don’t fit, clothes that fit but I don’t like, etc, etc.

And how did I get three whisks anyway? I use one maybe three times a year to make gravy. Do they multiply in the utensil drawer? I really don’t want to think about that. I am avoiding all thoughts of whisk reproduction and I suggest you do the same.

Back to goals… I also want to declutter myself and get rid of a few more pounds. And do a little writing and sculpting, even if I’m not in a regular habit again yet.

I’m not sure I’m going to tackle organizing the studio yet though… That may be a separate month’s project all in itself. The main problem there is that having a clear workspace inspires me. It’s a very good reason to organize, but it means as soon as I have a square foot clear, I think of all these cool projects I want to do, and end up with more supplies scattered around than I had before. :)

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January

February 4th, 2010

Reviewing my goals… Hmm.

I’ve got an SI alignment issue that acted up the past couple months so that sitting for too long’s been rather uncomfortable. After eight hours at work, the last thing I could face was more. That got me out of the habit of writing, so I didn’t finish my Median draft. Anyone know how to type lying down? :)

I did a little cleaning and organizing, but not much. That goal is always wishful thinking.

Not too much on the art front either… I did make a few basic word beads although they haven’t been baked or antiqued yet. And I did make a bracelet using a few different beads I had hanging around. I rather like the asymmetrical styles I’ve been seeing. They’re great when you have one or two cool beads. The clay guild is having a Clay Day on Saturday. I think I may make some more dragon’s eyes. They’re pretty popular and I’m out of them.

I did lose five pounds this month. I’m getting back to eating better (Is it possible to have a sugar addiction? If so, I think I need a 12 step program for it.) and my regular exercise routine, so on the whole I’m counting this month as a win.

I’ve decided to have no goals for February. I want to concentrate on health and exercise/stretches so I can get the rest of the kinks in my back straightened out. Clay, writing, cleaning the house… if I get to any of that, great; if not, that’s ok. Sometimes things work better with no pressure.

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Who do you want to be?

January 6th, 2010

I’ve been having the usual beginning of the year thoughts… There was a time management class I took once. One of the first things they had you do was decide what you wanted, and what your priorities were. They said that was a step most people skipped. They asked, “Where were you ten years ago? Where do you want to be in ten years?”

I always wanted to be a writer. And that’s when I realized that if I didn’t start writing, it was never going to happen. Pretty simple epiphany, huh? ;) But it got me moving.

So, my question for the year is:

Who do you want to be…

Today? Tomorrow?

In ten years?

And this year, I’m going to work on the baby steps to get there.

Writing

  • Write every day (or close to it)
  • Finish the rough draft of The Median by the end of the month
  • Revise my YA princess story Hyacinth
  • Submit to at least 25 agents by the end of the year
  • NaNoWriMo in November

Art – I’ve been neglecting this for the writing, lately.

  • Organize the studio – I do this every so often, but the piles have overtaken me again. I need a clean work space to get inspired and fill it all up again.
  • Sculpt a creature that looks like a cross between a tamarin and an anime character (with the big eyes). I want to write a story about them eventually
  • Have fun – grab some clay and just play

Life In General

  • Declutter/arrange the house so it’s more relaxing
  • Eat better (this is what I need to do to lose weight)
  • Increase exercise – there’s a gym at work and I’ve been doing some, but I need to do more

Btw, I did pick a word for the year, but I’m not sure I’m going to post it. It’s the right word, and gets me into the right mindset, but I think it’s going to sound sappy and trite if I try to explain it ;)

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Winnow

January 4th, 2010

I was thinking of this for my word of the year but it’s not quite right… But since I’d already found some links, etc, I thought I’d post this anyway.

Winnow

1. to free (grain) from the lighter particles of chaff, dirt, etc., esp. by throwing it into the air and allowing the wind or a forced current of air to blow away impurities.
4. to subject to some process of separating or distinguishing; analyze critically; sift: to winnow a mass of statements.
6. to pursue (a course) with flapping wings in flying.

When I was a kid my family would go up for a week every summer to visit my grandparents, and while we were there, we’d rake blueberries for the family stand.

Then we’d come back and run them through the winnowing machine. A blueberry rake strips the low bush of berries, but that means you get everything: ripe berries, green berries, a few squashed ones from the metal tines of the rake, plus sticks, leaves, and a few spiders.

The winnowing machine has belts and a fan. The green and squashed berries are carried away by the moving belts. Leaves and sticks are blown up and away by the fan. The heavier ripe berries (which is all you want) roll down the belt to be caught in the green quart baskets. And you can’t beat wild New Hampshire blueberries fresh from the fields for taste. The bland cultivated ones around here are nothing in comparison.

It seems like a good word for a year where I want to declutter the house and a few pounds, finish the rough draft of my NaNoWriMo book, and go back and edit another into a final draft and finally try submitting it to agents. I want to take my life and blow away all the time wasters and things that don’t make me happy, and end up with tangy sweet goodness at the end ;)

Other possibles for word of the year:

Savor Mastery Act Complete Completion Baby-Steps Climb Control Refresh Renew Compose Plan Wu-Wei Dream Adventure Brave Concentrate Breathe Declutter If… Joy Create Commit Grow Soar Coalesce Shine Decide Discover Practice Sift Harvest Gather Emerge Refine

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Titanium Spork

December 31st, 2009

spork I recently found C.J. Redwine’s blog, The Last Word, which is laugh out loud funny, by the way.

And now I NEED a titanium spork. And it’s all her fault. I never knew they existed before.

Coincidentally, I had already written a spork into the future-earth novel I’m working on. I figure if they’re low on resources, why have both spoons and forks when you can combine ‘em into one uber useful, weird looking utensil.

I wonder if there’s a 12 step program for sudden spork cravings, or if I should just give in and get one.

Make that two – one for me and one for Dave.

Then we could have spork fights.

“My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to get your heart carved out with a spork.”

Yeah, that’s how it should have gone.

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Cephalopods

December 28th, 2009

Is it octopus, octopuses, or octopi? Whatever the proper plural (the Oxford dictionary suggests octopodes as correct), the intelligence they’ve displayed is fascinating. It makes you wonder whether they would consider that we are intelligent from the evidence they’ve seen.

Isn’t it intelligent to try to escape captivity?

Nakase said that on each of its three escape attempts, the octopus had to climb out of its tank on the second level of a shelving unit and scramble down two shelves to get to the floor. On one occasion the octopus was found next to a drain on the floor, 15 feet from its tank.

Simon said if not detected, the octopus could have successfully escaped from the facility to rejoin its kind in the sea.

“REEF has a flow-through sea water system installed,” Simon said. “If the octopus had found its way into that, it could have easily escaped back into the waters at Campus Point.”

And here’s a recent article on how they can make their own homes out of coconuts. And I can’t help thinking that I really should follow the article’s suggestion and sculpt an octopus purse to start the trend ;)

Next, we’ll find that sea sponges really do live in pineapples. And I’d be fine with that, as long as they don’t have Sponge Bob’s hideously annoying laugh :)

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Subtle Biases

December 17th, 2009

Sexism isn’t normally something I’d post about, but this post really caught me. It seems that James of the popular writing blog Men with Pens, is actually a woman.

Reading her story makes me admire her guts, but the fact that she disguised her gender because she made twice as much freelance writing with a male pen name, well– that really makes you think.

I’ve never suffered any obvious discrimination because I’m a woman. If anything it worked in my favor. I was usually the only girl in my college Computer Engineering classes. I did feel a little awkward in a room full of guys when it came time to pick lab partners, but that wasn’t because of anything anybody else did. I feel awkward in a group of strangers anyway…

I’m not a rabid feminist. I’ll stick up for myself and being treated equally, but I don’t think men are evil. If a man wants to hold a door open for me, I’ll say thanks, and do the same for him the next time I reach the door first. I’ve never seen any reason why chivalry can’t work both ways.

I thought we were getting past this sort of thing. Seeing proof that this sort of subtle, unmeasurable, possibly even unconscious, discrimination still exists–based solely on the difference of a name on the internet… it hurts a little.

But I also can’t help thinking that a slightly fictionalized version of this story would make a great movie :)

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