florida

Hello there. I'm in Florida, at a Barnes and Noble in Ft. Lauderdale relaxing after working the Bead Mercantile Show. We will be there tomorrow too, if you're in the area and want to stop by and say hello. Here is pic of Greg, before the show started, looking friendly and helpful. I felt tired and slap-happy most of the day and hid under the table organizing beads when it got slow. Its a nice show, held at the pretty Sheraton hotel. Lots of nice bead folks from all over are there with their goods (NaBoRow, with loads of hill tribe silver and Shanon Hill, with his beautiful handmade glass-to name my favs). I'm looking forward to getting back to our beachfront hotel and walking along the water. I'm glad we managed to find a good hotel so close to the water, its nice to sit and listen to waves after a long day. Well, its time to go, have a good night.

wishes

1. Seal Puppet from EnviroDepot 2. Watercolor on paper

Hello! What a strange day! I woke and found Greg home, which surprised me, since I hadn't heard him come in. So I began my day with every intention of tackling the mess that is my studio. I could think of nothing else for days, contemplating how I would arrange my books, considering the best places for supplies, looking through my many books on organizing. Today was it. So I answered emails. Googled words like 'fairytale', 'zit', 'egg tempera' and 'bird'. Had lunch at Mamacita's with a side trip to EnviroDepot to get some toys for Azalea. Then, I put in The Secret of Roan Inish (for Azalea) and began the hard business of organizing. I like to fantasize about sparse, minimalist rooms, everything in its proper place, every object chosen for its beauty and usefulness. I dream of this because the space I occupy is full of stuff- loads of goodies I find, from feathers, leaves, big marbles, to art I collect: dolls, glass and paintings-all carefully arranged in pile-like vignettes that the untrained eye would see as haphazard. I spend a long time fiddling with my stuff, rearranging it to look like the spreads in Martha or Domino. I stare at magazines with an unhealthy desire to spruce up my nest. It takes a lot of effort. Effort I spend contemplating rather than doing. Which is why my studio is still a wreck, but I think I have a pretty good idea of where I want to go with it. I will start tomorrow. I just wish I had more time.

While I was procrastinating, I looked at Keri Smiths blog http://www.kerismith.com/ and read about guerilla art (art made in public places completely anonymous, with the intention of promoting ideas) this struck a chord. I remembered passing a building a day or two ago with a rabbit stenciled in black and white, near the ground, so it appeared to be sitting in the grass. It surprised me, I thought at first it was real. I remember feeling uplifted and found myself wondering who had taken the time and why. I began looking for more rabbits and found two more. How exciting! What did it mean? I didn't know but I liked it. This got me thinking of all sorts of things one could do, like posters of paintings or drawings posted all over with no name or any info, made simply for the fun of it and to get people wondering. Of course this would appeal to me, its another project NOT cleaning my studio. I wish that I would wake up tomorrow and discover that my dolls had taken the initiative and not only cleaned but organized. Good night.

Home...finally

I've traveled about 3500 miles this week. Needless to say, I am worn out and headachey. I drove to Florida expecting to stay the weekend, but discovered there would be no one to tend my animal family (2 enormous cats, 2 lovebirds and 1 powder blue parrotlet) apparently our sitter had to go out of town as well . So, the next day it was back into the car another 10 hours. I was particularly irritated at packing all sorts of fun activities only to unpack and unload it the next day. Oh well. The whole crew will venture down to sunny florida next weekend for the Ft. Lauderdale and Pompano shows so we will have a good time then. I look forward to going back, its the only time I get to visit my good friend Claudine (see her work at http://www.collageartist.com/ ). We've known each other since we were about 15, giggling so much our teacher Ms. Bassett would have to make us sit at opposite sides of the room to stop our merry making. That seems like ages ago. Every time we visit I wish I lived closer than 10 hours. It is then when Florida seems like a good idea. I think St. Pete beach would be a fine place to live (if I could afford it!) and I wouldn't miss the mountains if I had the ocean. I am rootless, I could be anywhere. I have this fantasy about having a huge chunk of land to build a big house and a fully equiped studio, large enough to accomodate all my closest buddies. Which is a lot of people. Maybe an island in the carribean? Sounds good. I would like nothing more than be surrounded by my family and friends and make art all day long. Actually, I have that now, except I'm missing a few key people and the house on the beach. All in good time! So its been lazy around here, Greg, Bob and Steve left for Cincinatti yesterday and its just the girls home, relaxing and enjoying the weather. Azalea spent half the day watering the tomato plants on the back porch, its like her tree house. We set up all manner of feeders for the birds and we have fun watching the variety that visit us. We are hoping to attract the elusive Indigo Bunting and Ruby throated Hummingbirds. Well, its time to get the clay out and start sculpting!

Here and gone

1. Deer Girl Bezel 2. Kevin O'Grady bracelet and mood beads 3. Anne Choi beads

Hello! We arrived in Asheville around 4 am, exhausted and happy to be home. The days were long but very busy, which we were thankful for. Having two booth spaces was scary at first, did we need it, would we have enough stuff and would it make a difference...we used every inch and it was totally worth staying up two days straight to paint a ginormous sign to fit behind us. I didn't get a shot of the booths (bummer) or many at the show (way too busy :) ) but I have pics of some of the loot. My brother Andrew has pics on his blog of the festivities http://www.andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/ . Now that its over it feels strange, we spent so much time in preparation and in a blink, its yesterdays news. Big shows are so much fun, so intense - up early, on all day, then seeing as many friends as possible afterwards at parties and restaurants, then to bed really late...then repeat. Our crew did amazing, Bob sold out of nearly everything, my fairies were gone within hours of opening and Gregs jointed fairy doll was met with amazement and delight. Andrew was followed around like a rockstar (he has that magnetism) and really made the show run smooth. So, now what...a collaboration between Anne Choi and myself (so flippin' happy about this! Like winning tickets to the international chocolate festival!) she liked my collaboration with Lisa Blackwell of http://www.zoaart.com/ (the silver bezel with a deer girl encased in resin) and suggested she make deep, open backed bezels, carved around the sides for me to do miniature sculpture in. Im dreaming of all the stories we could tell! Well, its time to rest, I have a long journey to florida to see my baby girl!

closer

Only a couple more days till we leave for Bead and Button! Look how Greg and Bob are slaving away! We have soooo much new stuff!I lost my favorite beads in the mold (bird baby and sphinx) but I can carve them again. Today my sister and Azalea went with my folks back to Florida. The house is so quiet, it feels unnatural and strange. I keep expecting something weird to happen, like finding a racoon sitting at the table playing cards. I've been sculpting continuosly, enjoying the silence and missing my girl. The hours I 've been keeping are pretty intense, very little sleep, gallons of coffee and late night t.v. I caught Terminator last night and realized I liked it more now than when I was a kid. I also 'watched' Airwolf (not as good) and some Taxi Confessions. I don't watch a lot of t.v. because I get sucked in and become useless. I can only sculpt during mildly entertaining shows, if Robin Hood comes on, forget it (I love the new BBc version, its hip but cheesy like Zena Warrior Princess). No t.v tonight. I have 20 bezels to sculpt and its late! The jointed doll and the moth fairy are silver, the other 2 pics are new pewter. The doll looks so good with her wings.

Waxes

Another polymer bead, this one with birds flying all around it. This will be cast with the other masters sometime today. The pic with all the waxes stuck together is a 'tree' that will soon be a mold.

The wax dragonfly discs are carved by Bob Burkett, designed for his upcoming pewter line that will start production tomorrow. The beautiful goldfish (the body about 2",the tail 2 1/2") is another of Bob's pieces and will be cast in shibuichi (a japanese alloy of silver and copper).

Sand Castles

I love summer. I love building sand castles with my girl (here we

are enjoying her new sand/water box on the porch). This weather is perfect for working on my sculptures outside, under an umbrella, listening to the birds (I adore birds! There is no finer music!).Our house is surrounded by old oaks, tulip trees and dogwoods, it feels like being in a treehouse sometimes.

Its sandal weather, here are a new pair from Earth brand, (from www.zappos.com ) they are comfortable and ornate, an unusual combination. The house is a flurry of activity, we're sculpting like mad, treeing up waxes and dreaming of island getaways when the show is over. The energy around here is excited and happy, our goods look like winners, we can't wait to share them. Bob is making a pewter line (everyone rejoice!) lots of
disc pendants and a new version of his cicada, maybe he will let us photograph them. Its been really amazing working alongside such a talented artist, we have learned so much! I enjoy this energy, this focus. Everyone is working hard and putting aside distractions, its cool to see how much gets done by evening.

This is a wax original ready to be cast, her body length could fit in a nickle. She can be worn revealing her fairy nature or as a mere moon moth. I love her and cannot wait to see how she comes out!

This delightful little bean is very small, easily the size of a nickle. I thought this shape would look nice on a single strand, between large simple cut stones, or part of an eclectic dangley neclace. The bezel could fit a dime in the center. The type nearly drove me batty. This piece will look so good in pewter! Its designed for resin to encase small ephemera or pictures (or if your silly, like me, you'll want to carve scenes in polymer and then encase!). I hope everything comes out in the molds. Most of the time, everything looks good, but occasionally a piece warps and gets ruined. Hours of work lost. Hopefully, all goes well!

New Work

Hello! Here are my newest pieces, finished this past week, with a penny to show scale. The bird baby fits within the diameter of a penny (super small!). This lot will be new for the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee. Its a whirlwind of casting and carving around here. Our good friend Bob Burkett flew in from San Francisco last night to cast with us and prepare for the show (he will be showing his work at our table). Tomorrow we will get the burners out to carve new waxes (the batch above was carved out of polymer clay). The weeks preceding a show are always so intense, I stay up really late (sometimes till dawn) working on masters and sample jewelry. The house is so quiet, no phones or disturbances - my ideal conditions. My sister Sheila is here and helps with Azalea and household duties so its been a breeze to finish 5 masters in a week. Well, its back to work for me!

Hi there! Still in NY, here is the cloud castle bead finished, I think it looks good, hopefully it will cast nicely. I have a bird head and hand bead on the (makeshift)work table, Im silly to think I can complete them in one day.
We just came back from dinner with friends of Andrews, owners of the amazing restaurant Pangea. The food is great, the surroundings elegant and the company couldn't have been more entertaining. I highly suggest the flourless chocolate cake. We may go back tomorrow, although the schedule is pretty booked. We are going to get a nice strong dose of art at the Guggenheim(?) then the childrens museum, more culinary adventures, then who knows what?

HellO! Big surprise for us! Sheila ambushed us in NY, we weren't expecting to see her till next week. She loves doing that. We've been away since saturday, driving to cincinatti to hang out with Gregs family. We always have such a good time running around town, shopping at Jungle Jims and finding some obscure food to try out. The best find ever was an enormous durian fruit (the king of thai fruits) a strange spiky pod filled with dough like goo, said to taste like butterscotch - I for one don't know how they got that impression, it seemed more like rotten beef. It took every ounce of will to fake a delighted expression to get anyone else to try it, but the reactions were totally worth it. This time I found a curry flavored chocolate bar - far less exciting. I actually decided not to torture my in laws and made normal food instead. They are going through some major illnesses and need lots of good energy sent there way.

From cin. I went to spend a day with my good friend Jessica Wiesel. We were up to our regular hyjinks of all around trouble making, trying to sculpt new beads while tasting fancy saki's. I want to say we were productive...in a nothing to show for it kind of way. I returned to cin. and continued a lovely visit, shopping and socializing.

We left cin. on tuesday and journeyed to NY, eager to enjoy all the fun. We have walked miles, picnicing in the gardens of central park, perusing galleries, stopping at every other bakery and checking out bookstores. Im wiped out! Azalea loves playing with all the kids, we found a great playground in union square teeming with toddlers. The reason we went to NY was Andrews graduation from the School of Visual Arts, we are so proud of him! Its been non stop running around since we got here, Azalea loves it, shes the first one ready, stating she wants to walk! I found the best restaurant - Max Brenners. Its chocolate heaven, I walked in and imediately felt warm and happy, liquid chocolate pumps through clear pumps, fountains of bliss. I had the tutti fruitti waffle combo, served with liquid chocolate in a little flask. So good. The best italian hot chocolate , almost better than actual italian (being served in italy makes most foods better). It was like all my birthdays came at once. So we have been having a great time, NY is full of inspiration and will make designing a breeze.