the indecision ....

i am a pretty decisive sort .... i'm not a quibbler or a ditherer or a mind changer, in general ..... to the point where i made this cute board (reclaimed wood, maybe ten by 4 inches) with papers and acrylics ... and then was going to put a quote on it but didn't know what one to use .... so, rather than go through that indecisive dithering process, and finding the right quote,  i just did nothing .... so, it's been floating around my studio, my desk, the kitchen for two months or so .... it's waiting .... luckily, it is an inanimate object so it can't be impatient with me for forgetting about it.... right?

set it free ...

i sometimes wonder how much art i have made and NOT documented ... i'm pretty good at taking pics and posting them on flickr and/or here on my blog ... but there are lots of times that i don't ....especially during blog lulls .....  the five platters above are an example ... this pic was taken at my pottery class in may, they are just glazed, ready to fire.... and then before the month was over, i gave them all away ... without another pic to show you how they turned out ... but they turned out well enough to be gifted... three of them were teacher gifts .... and gone they are .... (that sounded like yoda, huh?)

when i first started working in earnest on being an artist, i used to worry that i'd end up with a basement full of hundreds of canvases and ceramic pieces ..... six years later, there is no accumulation of art to worry about .... i'll sell most of the canvases and painted boards .. and i give away most of the pottery .... no worries yet that my children will put the old lady version of me on the hoarders show .... what a relief!

we must not think .....

i saw this page hanging on a classroom wall and love it .... i love the quote itself ... i love the simplicity of mother teresa's messages .. i am always drawn to her quotes .... but i also love that the whole presentation is a bit ragtag ... it wasn't about being perfect ... it was about getting those words out there .... it is typed, trying to be tidy or just so .... but then it's crookedy on the hand cut page ... and the pink highlighter looked to be at the end of its career .... and the red page was a bit wrinkled and battered ... like it had been moved to new spots over time ... restapled to new spots ... relocated to share the message to a different audience .... but, even over time, it kept doing its job ... spreading its light .... sharing the idea .... cause it is the idea that was important, not the outward appearance ...

green leaf feeling ....

i love taking pictures .... photos ... though i'm pretty sure my photography skills are weak, i take photos with zeal ....
in the olden days i could go on a trip and use 20 rolls of film .....
now, i can take thousands of photos in a week EASILY ... most of them aren't great ... but that's one of the joys: taking lots so you can delete the bad ones and not miss them ....

here's a photo i took on the sunday before memorial day.  i was in costa rica with my family.  i was feeling that kind of overwhelming happy that happens when the vacation really starts ... after the packing, after the parking the car in long term parking, after making your way into the airport, after the whole checking in and security ... security with passports .... and the plane flight .... and customs ... and finding the guy who is holding a sign with your name so he can drive you to your hotel .... after the driver tells you to get out of the car and look at the 20 foot long crocodiles and he'll meet you on the other side of the bridge .... after you get to the hotel .. after you check in .... after you settle down for your first meal in a long time and you are ON the beach ... toes in the sand ... and then waiter brings cool drinks and exotic unordered appetizer ... THAT moment of happiness ... ok, now vacation is feeling vacationy....

and i looked up from my table on the sand by pacific ocean and the sun was shining through the green canopy .... we were searching for monkeys because we were on the edge of the rainforest where the monkeys like to be ... and the green was the perfect green .. and i took a picture.... and i thought that THIS will be one of the photos i delete ... cause it isn't of anything ... no kids in it .. no monkey .... no beautiful vista .... i'll forget that i took it to remember how lovely the shade was ... how perfect that green is ... how nice it was to have my airport weary toes in the sand .... how great it was to be sitting there with my four favorite people ... how exciting it was that this was the beginning of our adventure .... 

but i remembered all those feelings when i saw the photo ... could be no one else will feel it .... but i'm keeping the picture anyway .... 

zoooooom ...

this is a tiny canvas .. six inches square .... cool map, acrylic glazing, cool stenciling, nice words .... 

 and a don't forget to stop and smell the roses sentiment ....

the blues ....

why are the "blues" sad .... i think of gray as sad ... or brown ... or beige .... or black ... but a bright beautiful blue? how is that "the blues"? .....

so here's a platter i made .... white clay .... medium blue underglaze (SOO may coats) ... then i used a paisley stamp in black underglaze .... if i were to do it again, i'd do it on a flat piece of clay, let the glazes dry a bit, then put it in the platter form of choice ... but instead, because i didn't start with a plan, i made the platter, had it sitting there in front of me waiting to become something more .... and my stamp was a bit wonky on the curve of the form ... so be it ... i still love it ... i'm partial to wonky though .... 

i think a nice pile of sugar cookies on that plate ... oh ... with blue sprinkles ... 

or maybe some blue cheese and some wheat thins ... i do love wheat thins .... nothing blue about wheat thins .... 

pillow pet

sometimes you are in charge of your day .... you embrace life .... you tick everything off your to do list ... you feel joyful ... you feel accomplished ...

and sometimes... not so much.

sometimes you don't feel in charge of anything and life happens to you ... like when you're waiting for the air condition repairman on the day it is supposed to be 104 degrees .... wow! ....

my sweet dog is not choosing to be int eh pillow house ... but sometimes you have to let your human sister have her way ..... sometimes you have to go with the flow .... and get through what you're going through .... and hope the roof doesn't cave in!

may your dreams stay big ....

happy summer ... i have been missing in action for a while now ... i've been updating my reading list, but that's about it as far as this blog is concerned .... but now i'll catch up ... ready ... begin ....

this is a small piece ... about six inches square ... and as i type that, i don't know if it is on canvas or on a small board ... hmmmm .... i don't generally have to do research to post on the blog .... 

you can see that background is an old glazed map .... i used a new favorite stencil on it for some texture ... and then used a rascal flats song lyric that  i'm partial to .... i don't tend to be a worrier, but i think that makes it even worse when i am worried about something ... i don't know what to do with the turmoil in my head cause i'm not used to it! ...... 

how's your summer going? dreaming big? worrying small? 

oh my!

life is moving along at break neck speed .... and i was just explaining to my mother on the phone: i just can't do everything! .... there is no good explanation for why i haven't blogged in ages ... but, i have been exercising more ... i have been getting other things done instead ... somehow blogging fell lower on my list ... sometimes it is on the top of things to do ... sometimes it is an after thought ... i have plenty of art to blog about ... and yet ....

here are some websites to go browse ...
the greatist .... so you can be great ... gotta love a site where one of the tabs is happiness

or raptitude ... i enjoy this guy's writing .... he frequently says something that feels like it is right to me ....

momastery .... a mom blog ... from a mom with a calm perspective

hello giggles .... yay ... it's for young things ... and i'm not so young ... but i think it is fun and quirky ... i actually follow it on facebook so i get articles on my feed to read ...

patti digh's 37 days ... always a good one ...

or follow me on pinterest ... that bit of internet activity hasn't fallen by the wayside!

it is almost summer! hope you have grand plans ....

... made in china ....

my family owns six wind up walking eggs and one wind up walking bunny that, if fed correctly, poops jelly beans for you amusement ... i put them on a silver platter to make them a little more highbrow ... did it work?

eggs

when my children were small, they LOVED easter eggs .... we'd have easter egg hunts at our house for weeks and weeks before and after easter .... when the twins were small they'd each pick a color ... like he'd hide the orange ones and she'd hide the yellow ones and they'd look for each others .... or during nap time i'd hide all the purple ones in the dining room .... or i'd hide every single solitary egg in the kitchen ... which really meant there were eggs on every possible surface, nook, and cranny .... we were egg hiders and hunters ...

now? we've had one egg hunt ... when little.e.beck.artist had a friend over ....

our eggs are merely decoration now ... instead of favored toys ..... when i was unpacking the easter stuff though, boy.beck.artist did say "dibs on the basket with the carrot on it" .... they grow up ... but not all the way at once ....

peep

i wanted to decorate for easter ..... for christmas then valentine's i had a seasonal painitng above the fireplace ... so i whipped up a giant pink peep bunny for spur of the moment easter decor .... not my finest art ...

but it makes my family laugh ....

have you seen on pinterest the idea for peep smores? you know how you can blow up a marshmallows in the microwave? well, do that with a peep on a graham cracker and then pop on a piece of chocolate ... peep smore .....

no one in my house really likes peeps too much... though some will eat them if they are in easter basket treats ... do you like them? do you eat them?