My girl showing off her new silver 'Alice-in-Wonderland-shoes' and the hostas blooming behind her. The daisies are also in bloom.


We are very interested in the British Science Fiction show, Doctor Who. This little plumpy is a creature from last season, called an Adipose Baby. I made this glow in the dark one for Azalea, who always gets to be the Dr. when we're playing.

My last post proclaimed my readiness to hit the studio and create....so I did, accompanied by my imagination machine daughter and charming baby son. I unleashed my creative prowess making miniature sweets out of polymer clay! I asked Azalea what she thought we should do while daddy was away at the Best Bead Show in Baltimore and that's what she picked. So, we rolled out polymer, textured it and glazed it, the process similar to actual baking. As you can imagine, we enjoyed ourselves immensely!

Now the kids are asleep and I'm taking the opportunity to collect my thoughts at the end of the day. Sometimes I think I should be more focused, more driven to make art. There are so many thoughtful quotes to remind artists to let nothing come between themselves and their art, or how art is everything and should consume our every moment. I wonder at this notion. My days are occupied mostly by tending to my baby boy and little girl, marveling at their brightness, their brilliant energy. How can my work compete with them? What kind of artist am I that I prefer the whims of a child to more serious work? Its ironic, once I had so much time to make whatever I wished, yet I was empty of anything worth making art about, now, I'm bursting and have no time. Actually, I do have time, I just choose to spend it as Azalea's personal toy factory. Ah well, I keep a sketchbook to catch all my good ideas and there is that magical, quiet time when the house is silent and everyone is asleep. Then I get to work.

beads and buttons

A few of the new pieces that we debuted at the Bead and Button Show. The little pebble is part of a series of tiny pendants (about 3/4" high), this one has 'family' carved on the back. The link has a different design on the back, and the cap was the big hit, since it fit our hollow beads perfectly. The little dragon is a retooled version of an earlier piece Greg made, and I love how cute it looks with the added wings.

The first place I go to when I step through the door, is Anne Choi's booth. I'm always curious what will be new and I can't wait to be blown away. The ouroboros mandrake bead says 'forgetting me, remember me' and the other side says '(when time from time shall set us free)'. The beautiful skull says 'until death it is all life'. The little eggplant says 'for luck' and I think it will be the last piece to add to my necklace of Anne Choi lucky pieces.

My other favorite stop is Gary Wilson. His large booth space is an easy place to get lost in, with all the lovely stones carved and drilled, some rare, some common. The strange pendant on the left is turtle back chalecedony, beneath that is a piece of smokey quartz with sparkly grossular garnets growing on it. The top ammonite is opalized, while the bottom two are pyritized and metallic (they are about 1/2" across).

These unusual lampwork beads are made by the talented Joanne Zekowski, out of Monticello, GA. I've known her for a long time (ever since we did a show in a horse barn without ac.....) and her work continues to amaze me. Its just so different! I picked up these rondelles imaging them with turquoise or large links of chain.

I meant to have this molded and finished so I could give some to my doll friends, but it didn't make it. Anyway, it works great for such a small comb (its about 1 1/2" tall). I think I might make a few into pendants by shaping the prongs into a couple of bails in wax. I thought it would
look delicate and beachy on a bit of chain.

Azalea wasn't afraid of posing along the waterfront, showing off her rainbow playsilk and magenta tutu skirt.

She and Andrew are so photogenic! Don't they look great in that low, half light? This is my favorite time of day, when its neither dark or light, but in between, gloaming....I believe is the word.

I am so happy to be home! I realize I spend most of my time home, but it feels particularly good after the work is done, the schedule open once more and the possibility of new projects is real. I think with most artists there are plans for today, but many are reserved for times when there is more time, more money or more training. So, I am at the delicious moments when there are no pressing concerns and I can persue whatever I wish. How often does this occur? Not often. So its with smiling abandon that I consider my options and retreat to my studio.

crab daddy

Greg looks at his brood of baby crabs, pleased and satisfied with his handiwork. They look pretty realistic spread out over the table, seeming to scuttle about, waving their claws at one another.

under the sea

This is a new clasp that Greg carved. I love it. Its a touch taller than a quarter, but not so small its fiddly to open and close.

Greg was on an underwater roll! Look at his articulated crab! Its so super cute! I have one in my pocket, because its small and realistic and makes me think of Hawaii and Azalea trying to smuggle a baby crab in her pocket.

Here's my koi pond, cast in silver. I think its a pretty clean cast, better in person (the glare is hard to focus around). We've got the whole gang bustling around like a kicked ant hill. The energy is amazing and the ideas are flying around too fast to catch. Most of the pieces I've been making probably won't make it to production, but that's the nature of making art, only about 30 percent makes it to the table. I have a method I follow, first I sketch, then sketch more. Then I carve, but not just from the sketches, because its so easy to be inspired when everyone is sitting around the table working. Anyway, we're having a great time creating art and making food (Greg has mastered fall-off-the-bone ribs and I'm in heaven!). Yeah, life is good.