An afternoon at the aquarium

As a special treat, Tracey Brookshier took me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium after we finished teaching on Friday. What a feast for the eyes! The aquarium is famous for its jellyfish exhibits and rightly so. I need to go back with my good camera, the jellies are hard to photograph with a point-and-shoot.







I found myself completely captivated with a tank of sea anemone. The colors were amazing. I feel a new series coming on...





Some of the pictures I took were disappointingly blurry - the leafy sea dragons (unbelievably cool and surreal-looking), the river and sea otters, and the sand dollars (we stared at these a long time while they moved in s l o w motion) so I'll need to try again next time. We bumped into some of my students who were practicing their observational skills at the aquarium before their flight home.

After we had our fill of the fishies, we headed to Cha-ya, a Japanese tea, art and antique store in an old part of Monterey, where I found origami paper, small dragonfly dishes, a couple of pretty chirimen bags and a tiny metal jizō statue (that caused my luggage to be searched at security the next day, I guess it looked more menacing in the x-ray machine than it does in real life!) Then on to an art supply store for a paper fix, gorgeous handmade paper with Thai writing on it, a vintage-looking map and more handmade paper with newspaper inclusions. And finally back to Tracey's house for a home-cooked meal with her family. All in all, a fantastic ending to a fantastic week.

Holiday meme

This holiday meme is going around and it's really kind of fun! Play along if you'd like.

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot chocolate. With whipped cream.

Does Santa wrap presents or set them under the tree?
Definitely wrapped. I love, love, love to wrap presents (see photo above). I collect odd bits and bobs all year to incorporate into gift wrapping, so there's quite a bit of recycling and repurposing involved. I have a gift wrapping supply closet - that's how serious I am about the topic.

Colored lights on tree or white?
White all the way. I love the way white lights look in trees outside too, but our trees are way too tall.

When do you put your decorations up?
Sometime around the middle of December and then they come down the first Wednesday after New Year's. We lost most of our decorations in a flood in our basement after Hurricane Wilma a few years ago and I haven't had time to replace them. That needs to be on next year's list of things to do - stockings, tree skirt, tree-topper...

What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Homemade mashed potatoes. We almost never eat potatoes but have rice at nearly every meal, so mashed potatoes are a treat.

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
Wait, there's no Santa??? Honestly, I don't remember. I do know that as eldest child and the oldest-of-thirteen grandchildren I was in on the conspiracy early and worked hard to preserve the faith of the younger kids.

How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
With an artist's eye, of course! Colors and forms need to be balanced, etc etc. The majority of our ornaments are handmade and many are folkart from other countries and yet they all still play well together. The ones our daughter made are my favorites. No tinsel.

Snow! Love it or Dread it?
Hate it! When's spring?

Can you ice skate?
Totally. I took figure skating lessons for years. I can still do backwards crossovers, mohawks and swizzles, but it's been a while since I've attempted a choctaw, a sit spin or a jump of any kind! I also used to love the pick-up ice hockey games in the neighborhood.

Do you remember your favorite gift?
There's no one gift that stands out. Mostly, I cherish the handmade gifts and anything that shows that someone really "gets" me.

What’s the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
Spending time with family. Slowing down and enjoying a few days without deadlines. Getting to be a little lazy.

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?
Chocolate cream pie. With whipped cream.

(there's a theme here, it's really all about the whipped cream...)

What is your favorite tradition?
We open gifts one at a time so everyone gets to see and appreciate the time and energy the gift-giver put into their choice. This is especially nice when the gifts are handmade.

Which do you prefer, Giving or Receiving?
Giving, without a doubt. And if I'm making something, I love spending time thinking about the recipient as I'm working. It imbues the gift with a lot of positive energy.

What is your favorite Christmas Song?
Yeah, I'm not really into Christmas music, much to my parents' chagrin. I usually try to put the Brian Setzer Orchestra on while decorating the tree, but that's about it.

Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
Yum. It's the only time I eat anything peppermint flavored. Usually I don't like the taste - I don't even like peppermint toothpaste. Of course, I also eat candy corn at Halloween and marshmallow peeps for Easter, so maybe it's because it's a holiday thing.

Ever recycled a Christmas present?
Once or twice.

Tagged

My friend Natalya tagged me again and now I have to come up with seven new random facts.

1. I never have nail polish on my fingernails and always have it on my toenails. Usually in weird colors like purple or blue or green.

2. I can raise my left eyebrow solo -- and I'll confess here that it wasn't a natural talent, I taught myself to do that. One of my friends in high school could arch an eyebrow and I thought it looked so sophisticated (and really, what teen wouldn't want to perfect disdain in a simple facial expression?) I practiced every night for six months by holding onto my right eyebrow while trying to raise my left until I could do it with no hands. It's amazing what you can do with time and patience...

3. I became a step-grandma in my twenties. (¡Hola Matias!)

4. I read 3-4 books a week.

5. I'm allergic to olives. The immediate response of every single doctor I've ever had to that information is "Then what do you put in your martinis?" (note: I don't even drink martinis)

6. I love disgustingly sweet kids' breakfast cereal - Cap'n Crunch, Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, etc - as a snack food. I know, gross.

7. I saved my sister's life.

If you're reading this and you want to play along, consider yourself tagged. Leave a comment so we can follow you and see your seven random facts!

Reporting in from Quilt Market in Houston

I'm in Houston for the next ten days for International Quilt Market (wholesale only) and Quilt Festival (retail!) Last night was the C&T Publishing Authors' Dinner and it was great. I gave a little talk about using the internet to market your books and promote yourself and I hung out with a lot of other authors and some of the wonderful people at C&T. I took this picture while I was waiting for the bus to take me to the hotel where the dinner was held. The architecture of the buildings in downtown Houston is interesting. I didn't realize that the other hotel was only about a block from my hotel until after the dinner when I walked back with a couple of other authors. Could have saved myself a thirty minute bus ride on the way there if I had but known. Oh brother!



We have a booth at both shows, but with completely different stuff at each. At Market we show the books and patterns that we publish through our shop, The Country Quilter. We have four new patterns for this Market and we're also running around the show looking for wonderful new things to carry in our store. Tomorrow I'll be in C&T's booth for a little while signing books and chatting with customers. Next Tuesday we disassemble this booth and reassemble as Flourish! with all of our art quilting goodies and supplies.



I have a new pattern out, Market Bag, that's a really generous size for shopping. It's completely lined and has a medium to heavy interfacing inside to make it strong and give it some body. I'm going to make a slew of these when I get home for my own grocery shopping and to give as gifts. So much prettier than the bags with store logos that I'm currently using!



The highlight of my day today was meeting Jay McCarroll, the winner of the first season of Project Runway, who has two new lines of fabric out with Free Spirit Fabrics. He's completely adorable and his fabric line is fresh and funky.



My least favorite part of today was the two hours I spent in the ER waiting for a tetanus shot after a staple gun accident at the show. Oof. The medics at the show told me I was the fourth (!) person that day who had stapled themselves and the hospital people told me I was the fifth (!) quilter in to see them today. The other quilters were at the hospital for less exotic reasons, mostly falls, at least mine was more creative, though hardly unique, lol.

Blog Action Day 2008 - Poverty

Today is October 15, Blog Action Day against Poverty.

My husband grew up in Peru in a middle class family of artists and teachers. We were fortunate enough to have lived there for a while and to have visited there a number of times. The day-to-day existence of too many of Peru's citizens includes grinding poverty. The children leave the strongest impression on me. What must it be like to live in a house made of materials scrounged from the streets? Not to know if there will be enough food for the day? Not to know if the future holds anything better?



Peru is a beautiful country with a rich cultural history. The extremes between the haves and have-nots is striking and so much more obvious than it is here in the states. There it is not uncommon to see families living in houses made of cardboard, tin and homemade adobe right next to exclusive gated communities, patrolled by watchmen, with fancy, imported cars in every driveway. 53% of the population lives below the poverty line, 10% earn less than $1 a day. Many people have migrated to the cities hoping for jobs and this has exacerbated the problem.



Oxfam International is one organization that is making a difference, in Peru and in many countries around the world. They are working to improve health care and education, encourage free trade, and develop sustainable agriculture in over 100 countries. Poverty is a global problem and it needs a global solution. We all need to help, from the local level on up. There are many organizations in each of our communities that need our support. There are many people working on this problem and they need our help. I'll be working harder to do my part.

Are you registered??

Make sure you are registered to vote. Here in the states, we're facing the most historically important election of our time.

Nearly there

The living room is nearly done. I couldn't stand the chaos one more second and put most of it back together even though there are odds and ends to finish up. The new bookcase that Carlos built is gorgeous and so much more our style than the old one. The books that I know we're keeping went back up on the shelves. There is a delightful, gaping hole (with appropriate wiring!) ready and waiting for a new tv (someday, hopefully not too far in the distant future, - you know, I should prop up some framed pieces in there in the meantime...), and I got out a few of my Oaxacan carvings for the top shelves. I'm not sure that they'll stay there as they're looking a little busy visually in a group like that and it's hard to appreciate their finely-painted detail so high up.



The Eames chair is very well-loved. Carlos bought it from a showroom on Park Avenue in Manhattan in 1970 for a then-princely sum and it's the one and only piece of furniture that we've continuously had our entire married life. I adore that chair - not only is it exceedingly good-looking but it's really comfortable too.

We still need a mantel on the fireplace and we had an inspiration yesterday that we're going to try out tomorrow to see if it works (fingers crossed).

There are supposed to be three small paintings hanging above the fireplace but two of them didn't have frames so I didn't hang them back up yet. Hopefully the frames will be done by the weekend and all of that white space will be a memory.



I placed a few things temporarily on the top of the fireplace. Among them are two pieces of mate burilado, examples of the traditional Peruvian craft of gourd carving, which dates back over 5,000 years. These are obviously more recent.



I matted and framed another of Carlos' old intaglios, Red Light, to hang beside the fireplace. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the lighting really shows off the relief.



A small painting that Carlos keeps insisting isn't finished yet (is an oil painting ever finished??) that I won't let him touch because I love it just the way it is. It's waiting for its two companions to return from the studio with new frames.



And everything that didn't make it back into the living room is now residing in my studio, which as a result, is an ungodly mess with not a clean flat surface (and very little floor space) in sight. Makes it hard to get anything done, but the view into the living room is sublime.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

My baby turns 23 today (and I refuse to let that make me feel old, lol). She has grown into a beautiful, intelligent, creative, capable, poised young woman.

seven months old, first Easter


ten months old, Woodstock NY


almost three years old - I was her age now when she was this age then...


four years old, first year of sixteen + years of dance


first day of school


A sunny five year old


A stunning seventeen year old


The girls taking in a show last month


Every year on the first day of school, from kindergarten on, I've tucked a brand new box of crayons in her backpack. It's been an inside joke all these years, and I'm sure caused her some embarrassment in high school, but there's something about a crisp, new pack of crayons that just shouts "new beginnings". This is the first year I've forgotten, so here's a virtual box of glittery crayons.



Here's hoping everyone has a new box of crayons on this glorious day!

Renovating over the long weekend

Every time I have more than two days off next to one another we tackle a home reno project. My hope is that eventually we'll run out a things to renovate and be able to relax over a long weekend, lol. This past weekend we decided to hit the living room - finally. Unfortunately, Carlos tore the mantel off the fireplace before I got a good "before" photo, but trust me, it was not our style at all, with its fluted Colonial columns and dentil moulding. We had a fireplace insert installed last month to help with the heating bills this winter which was sort of the catalyst for the remodeling. Notice the weird little closet to the right of the fireplace.

small dog in a big hurry

One side of the living room had a built-in bookcase, also with dentil moulding and Colonial detailing, that we just piled books onto willy-nilly when we moved in a number of years ago. We did remove the doors from the lower section thinking it would help, but it didn't, we still hated it, partly because the top half was only 7" deep. Why? Who makes a bookcase shallower than a standard book's depth? So out it went on Saturday morning.






A couple of hours with a crowbar and a sledge hammer took care of the bookcase. We had put up track lights a while ago, but they were the plug-in kind so I spent some time on Saturday adding a switch and hard wiring the track fixture. Much better than cords draped across the ceiling and walls! The new bookcase is almost ready to be installed (maybe tomorrow) and I wired in new outlets and a cable receptacle for a television and dvd player, again to avoid cords draped out of the bookcase. Too much time spent in the cobwebby and hot attic (no dead rodents this time, thank goodness), but it's done. Here are some "in progress" photos. We haven't gotten all the way to the "after" yet...



We didn't finish in the three days, but we did get pretty far on the project. The walls and ceiling are painted, the track fixtures and outlets are wired, the new wall and door moulding is up and the bookcase will go in shortly. The fireplace will be re-surfaced next weekend. Now we have to decide what art goes back on these walls and what art comes out of rotation - maybe my collection of Oaxacan carvings will fit on a few shelves in the bookcase? Maybe those shelves will need under-cabinet lights to show them off? Hmm.



And the dopey little closet next to the fireplace is gone now too. The wall has much better balance without it and it was way too small to use anyway.

I'll post some "after" pictures as soon as everything's done and gorgeous!

Otherworldly visitor

Okay, I know it's not really from another world, but it sure looks like it is. This remarkable little mushroom appeared overnight growing next to a plant in my studio.



I moved the pot into the living room to take advantage of the light from the skylight for photography (ignore the dog toy under the couch and the dog cookie crumbs on the floor please, this is where Pixie hangs out). Is it poisonous? Probably, the really colorful, pretty creatures usually are... Does anyone know what the heck this thing is??



And how it got into my studio?



It's actually really beautiful close-up and the texture is amazing. It's quite a phallic-looking thing too, isn't it?



Nature is quite extraordinary!

UPDATE: The mushroom is a Lepiota lutea, also known as a flower pot parasol, I kid you not!

More Living with Art

Come on in -- the hallway renovation is nearly complete! In between working on a big web design job, I've been taking breaks to rest my eyes and nibbling at the hall reno. I just have a couple of switch plates/outlets left to replace, the ceiling to paint, one more tracklight fixture to install and it'll be done.


While I'd love to paint the walls a color, a creamy white shows off the artwork so well. It also helps to keep our small house, surrounded by towering trees, as light and bright as possible inside.


This big painting of Carlos' is still waiting for a frame. Honey? Sweetie? Soon?


Last night I cut mats and framed the two pieces I purchased from Karen Stiehl Osborn. They are gorgeous collages from her Urban Landscape series and I'm absolutely in love with them.


I also framed the gyotaku collage I made last week. These two walls were unusable for hanging art until recently. I removed an (ugly) wall sconce from the far wall and moved the thermostat on the near wall and so have put both walls to better use - as well as improving the view!

Brazenly Radiant Art and positive energy

After finishing a week filled with disappointment, frustration and stress, I'm starting off this week with some art and positive energy. I'm donating a 5" x 7" piece to Fiber On A Whim's Brazenly Radiant Art auction to benefit the Atlanta Breast Cancer Challenge. The auction starts June 16 at the Fiber On A Whim website, please consider donating or purchasing a piece for this very worthy cause.


Continuing my quest for that positive energy and an appreciation of the little things, I got out the hummingbird feeder my daughter had given me a couple of years ago. I had forgotten how much I loved it. Our house has no eaves or porches from which to hang traditional feeders, but this little feeder sits on a metal stake and nestles among the flowers in the garden.


It's made in Mexico from recycled glass and I tracked it down online and discovered that it comes in other colors too, so of course, I ordered a few more. Aren't they pretty? They look very sculptural and when the hummingbirds find them it will be such a treat.


Yesterday I also continued our hallway renovation project. I removed a godawfully ugly wall sconce and changed it to a ceiling tracklight fixture on the same switch. Now we have another small wall free and clear to hang a piece of art (and the ugly sconce is gone, gone, gone!) While removing the sconce I discovered that the previous owners of our house had done a little "creative" wiring (i.e. unsafe, not up to code, forehead-smackingly stupid) to it, so even though I wasn't aware of it all this time, I slept better last night knowing the wiring was correct and safe now. Of course, finding (and accidentally picking up) the mouse skeleton while re-wiring the ceiling box (in the attic, in 98 degree heat, oof) was more than a little skeevy. And yes, to the people who've asked, I do simple wiring - adding switches, outlets and light fixtures when needed. It's amazing what a girl can do with the right tools and a couple of good books!