Zoom, Zig-Zag, ZIP!

Ahhh, fickle February with your actual and virtual highs and lows:  new work, new opportunities, slight set backs, and a return to a familiar place.  ...and just like that *snap* February is taking her leave...  SO much news, time just flies right by.  Let us onward, shall we?  Lots o' loveliness in store, and I don't want you to miss a single bit.

New and lovely things are happening in the work realm.  Here are a trio of examples:

Melodies of the Sea

This series (and another:  From the Night Sky) was inspired by the exercise of finding a visual line connecting the random patterns afforded by this marbling process.  It happened quite organically during the #50for50 project, last spring.  It was then replicated purposely for the creation of some special gifts this past Christmas.  Working with a set color palette, and within an established theme is the latest twist.  I have to admit:  I am loving it!  The decision to incorporate different sizes of the mini canvases has opened whole new pathways in my mind.  More happening here -- be on the lookout.  This whole adventure came about as a result of discovering this medium and the company behind it at Art of the Carolinas in 2016.  While I have encountered many loves at that show over the past 10 years, this one has had an abiding effect like no other.  Which leads us to our next nugget o' news...

It's "official" and I am delighted to share with y'all:  I am now an Artist Educator for Marabu.  This means various and sundry things, not the least of which that I get to be an ambassador for a line of products that I genuinely enjoy working with.  While at present I seem to be consumed with ways to use their Easy Marble, I am actually getting my hands dirty with other items (!)  I look forward to sharing some of my experiments with you, here.  I also look forward to incorporating these new goodies in my workshops. 

Big News this week in the land of Your Creative Connection:  We are officially a TRIO!  Michelle and I had the opportunity to spend part of last weekend creating and planning with our fabulous Guest Artist, Jeanne Faith d'Orleans.  We are SO excited for all that this brings to our efforts to provide a unique, innovative experience in October.  We have some delicious magic hidden up our sleeves, and I am SUPER excited about being able to share that with you, soon!  *ironically, if you were a subscriber to our Newsletter you would already know what I am talking about!?  ...they get all the juicy stuff up to a week before anyone else*

...oh, the giggles that went into getting this photo!

I suppose, in the face of all of this metaphorical sunshine, I should have been ready for a spot of rain -- yet I was not...  With the virtuous plan of heading across town to meet a friend for a good walk on the Cape Fear River Trail, I hopped in the Cute Ute last weekend -- and after a confusing sound and the refusal of said vehicle to run, I hopped back out.  Following a rather entertaining exchange with the delightful Stephen of Mitchell's Towing (courtesy of my AAA membership), I watched my wheels roll away on the back of a large tow truck.  It's amazing how badly you want to go somewhere *anywhere* when you know that you can't (!)  After much less delightful exchanges with various and sundry parties, I was able *with a little help from my friends* to secure a back-up vehicle that in addition to getting me where I am obliged to be in the interim, will also be quite handy and helpful once this crisis has passed. 

"You say good-bye, and I say hello -- hello, hello!"

Finally (and one of the many reasons I could not be without transport for a couple of weeks), I wrapped up the month with a return to the Demo Table at Jerry's Artarama in Raleigh!  I spent a happy afternoon on the final Saturday in February demonstrating Nature Printing with the GELLI Plate.  Had some lovely conversations with folks who lingered a while, and *add drumroll, here* it looks like I will return to teaching at Jerry's in the summer!  This is a "homecoming" of sorts, for me; I am thrilled to be returning and will have all of the details for you, soon!

Whew!  ...and, without a moment to waste, March is knocking at the door!  A few more firsts, and some comfortable regularity -- readying for more new-ness on the horizon, and seeking out additions to the creative roster.  I'll see you back here shortly, with more to share and look forward to.

Onward and upward!

Words of wisdom for today:

No winter lasts forever;
no spring skips its turn.
                           ~ Hal Borland

Seconds

often hard as firsts

equally jarring -- now we

proceed into thirds

'don't need reminding

that i feel out of place in

our home -- my own skin

so different now

the passage of time without

your voice...  eyes...  laughter...

there have been hard times

yet there are the better days

each bears its own gifts

i am still standing

obviously worse for wear

a little less shine

at last, reading more

it has shaken loose the words

nestled in my bones

missing you always

not just on the hardest days

good ones most of all

spring has come again

i will grow -- thrive -- with your last

words:  "I love you, too."

 

Onward & Upward,

"Musick has Charms to sooth a savage Breast,
To soften Rocks, or bend a knotted Oak.
I've read, that things inanimate have mov'd,
And, as with living Souls, have been inform'd,
By Magick Numbers and persuasive Sound.
...
Anselmo sleeps, and is at Peace; last Night
The silent Tomb receiv'd the good Old King;
He and his Sorrows now are safely lodg'd
Within its cold, but hospitable Bosom.

..."

- William Congreve, The Mourning Bride