Gryphon's Feather Studio

Intermission

Please put on your ipod and enjoy some music as I am under deadline of 8/1 for Book Three (which has a new title). I'll be back 8/3 ish, maybe sooner if something strikes my fancy.

seeking balance

My life seems a tad out of balance, and my schedule in dire need of change in the future. My spring and summer have been overly full and the remainder of the summer will continue that way.  I feel as though I am missing out on where my heart is- my family. I want to be able to live at the river for weeks at a time, play dolly, chase babies, ride bikes... and somehow I have let far too much of that go by in exchange for class samples, and artwork to sell, and working on the book.  I have a good 2009 schedule shaping up so far.  I am determined that next year will not feel like this year, so I have come to a bit of a radical decision to limit what I take on that will fall in next year's warm weather months.  They are only little once.   Do other artmoms face this dilemma? 

Maija nominated me for this lovely award!  Now to share the love:

The Rules:

1) Put the logo on your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on yours
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs

 

Okay, hmmm, nominees-

1. Blogging Queen

2. Everything Altered

3. Carla Sonheim

4. Artsortments

5. Joyful Purpose

6. Tricia Scott

7. Joyously Becoming

okay, but I can't choose just SEVEN. And, rule # 3 says at least seven:

8.Elizabeth Bunsen

9. Stephanie Lee

10. Stephanie Thiel

11. Lisa Hoffman

12.Tina Abbott

13. Minnie Helvey

14. Michelle Unger

Most of these folks have no clue I read them religously as I am a consumate LURKER.  But, they are all in my bloglines... LOL

And, I'm afraid I am going to break rule #5, as I am short on time. 

xo to all

Sunday at the river house

Yesterday, it was gloriously sunny and hot- 89° F.  White puffy clouds dotted the blue sky.  Here at the river house a near-constant breeze made the near-ninety temperature nothing of consequence.   Today, it is not nearly so warm- mid 70s and there is a steady downpour of rain.  Today is as perfect as yesterday was.  Yesterday we ran around in bathing suits, sunblock and straw hats. Today we are in shorts and long sleeved t’s, the grownups  sipping hot beverages and lounging with books as the littles play foosball and air hockey in the living room.

I love rain.  I think perhaps this affinity is built into my DNA, left behind in my bones by my Celtic ancestors, much the way I seem to feel the new year begin in October.  Here at the river house,  I can hear the rain before it arrives, sheeting down on the river’s surface or moving along the ridge behind us making the trees sing sibilant songs.   I have time to take more photos, or stare a little longer, moving, first , to shelter beneath one of the leafy bowers the river-fed trees create.  Then, once the downpour deepens, I tuck my camera inside my shirt and head indoors, dashing in and out with this excuse or that.  Joe suggests I just ditch the clothes completely and run off like a wood nymph, but my excuse is that I would need my camera and it is not waterproof.

Do you see you one our resident frogs in the top right corner near the lily?  He poked up from beneath while I was framing the photo.

Today before the rain comes, there are spiderwebs filled with glittering diamonds, luminous water lilies, a small, solitary snail with a translucent shell, and other images to record, to tuck away.  

 

  I sit under the roof of the kitchen, sliding doors open wide, listening and watching the rain as it comes in sheets and pours and steady drips only to increase in intensity again.  The scent of the rain and the wet vegetation- the ferns and ivy, the trees, the endless summer weedy vegetation around the house are relaxing.  Joe and I discuss where to put a zip line for the kids. (He used to teach rock climbing eons ago when we met, and we still have loads of equipment.  No, I didn’t meet him rock climbing, although I did go with friends, and with him.  We met in a dance company.  Yes, we were both in the same dance company.)  We sip hot drinks.  We stare out into the rain.

 

The littles have come in, bored with the game table.  We’re going stand-up swimming in the river. (getting rained on is really like swimming, you know.)

 

 

 

Unpredictable. The weather here has been sunny, cloudy stormy, hot, cool, breezy.  We've had winds and hail.  Mercurial. 

The mercurial nature of our current weather has fit my mood or should I say moods.  Brought on, I suppose, by hormones, and too many deadlines, I have been prone to patchy bits of melancholy. (we are also out of chocolate- not good.)  Much like the thunderstorms that blow in and blow out I have suddenly found myself sad about things past, missing people who have passed on, or frustrated about the schedule I have made for myself.  

I can't stay blue, however.  The wind shifts and I am returned to happy by the small details of daily life- when small girls have picnic lunches out in the backyard and have ketchup smiles, and a littlest who gives kisses by pursing small lips to land saying mmmmmmmmwah, and a biggest little who is caught up in boyhood, but has yet to forget how to hug his mama.  The puppets I made last week were a magic carpet ride. 

I am in the midst of a campaign to switch my sleep schedule from early bird to night owl, so that I stay up and work after the littles are settled in, so that more of my daytimes are free for the most important of things- tea parties, book reading, blanket parties, cuddling, building forts, racing, squirt gun battles, teaching how to shoot a basket and momming.  Just about every night, a storm has blown in, and I have fallen asleep to the sound of rain soaking the earth.  Good sleeping weather. So far so good.... 

I am addicted to this song by The Weepies. 

Which reminds me- Katie's new work is amazing.  If you have my new book, you know I love me some Katie Kendrick.

And these two quotes:

I've had a few arguements with people, but I never carry a grudge.  You know why?  While you are carrying a grudge, they're out dancing. ~ Buddy Hackett

and this one:

Never Refuse Any advance of friendship, for if nine out ten bring you nothing,one alone may repay you.
-Madame de Tencin

So instead of being sad, I'm off to go dancing and make new friends while singing....

Thunder rumbles in the distance, a quiet intensity
I am willful, your insistence is tugging at the best of me
You're the moon, I'm the water
You're Mars, calling up Neptune's daughter

Sometimes rain that's needed falls
We float like two lovers in a painting by Chagall
All around is sky and blue town
Holding these flowers for a wedding gown
We live so high above the ground, satellites surround us.

I am humbled in this city
There seems to be an endless sea of people like us
Wakeful dreamers, I pass them on the sunlit streets
In our rooms filled with laughter
We make hope from every small disaster

Everybody says "you can't, you can't, you can't, don't try."
Still everybody says that if they had the chance they'd fly like we do.

Here's a recent art journal page

Must be off- must go smooch on Mars.

 

Puppets

Sometimes a little magic happens.... here's a peek...

Nova Scotia, Art & Soul, August 2009

I have exciting news... and one of those bits of excitement involves gorgeous Nova Scotia, and a breathtakingly  beautiful place on the Bay of Fundy called Annapolis Valley.  I will be teaching there next year, August 10-14, 2009, with Lesley Riley and Judy Wilkenfeld.  We'll each teach two 2-day classes with a day in the middle for touring the gorgeous island.  The retreat is being held at The Old Orchard Inn- and once again, Glenny has chosen a magical location.  A perusal of their website led to the realization that some of the conference rooms have fireplaces.  After the magic of teaching at Asilomar where the classrooms have fireplaces, I am now in love with that possibility. Yum.  One of the good things about this trip is traveling to another country, another culture, but having the dollar be worth a dollar!  Registration will begin August 15, 2008.  There will be 60 spots total. This is destined to be a beautiful and magical journey. 

(Incidentally, I learned that the Annapolis Valley has a relatively mild micro-climate created by two parallel mountain ridges so the area is known for it's lovely climate. It is approx 128 mi from Halifax, so one approach might be to arrive a day or two early or stay a day or two later to explore.)   

Signup for my mailing list (it is in my sidebar) for email updates and news about class discounts, etc.  believe it or not, classes are being scheduled now into 2010!!!

a june moon

A couple of buddies were hanging out in the yard yesterday afternoon...  The blue guy needs limbs - I'm trying to decide whether to make them from fabric or clay.  I like the idea of sculpting the limbs, but need to finish the prototypes so I can see if the sculpted versions do it for me..

Arden, the green one on the left, has made his way into my etsy shop along with some other work. 

Speaking of classes...

In August I'll be teaching at Carol Parks Studio in North Hollywood.  I have two classes on the schedule, and there are a few seats available. There is a 50% discount currently for early registration!  This is a great venue for an intimate class experience, and a huge creativity boost.  The whole house is floor to ceiling art candy.

One of the classes will be puppet making- but perhaps not what you are expecting... Let me tell you a story... it started with a book on Paul Klee and the hand puppets he created for his son Felix.

Between 1916 and 1925 Paul Klee made some 50 hand puppets for his son, Felix, of which 30 are still in existence. He used material from his home for the heads (beef bones, electrical outlets, bristle brushes) and sewed costumes. These whimsical objects are both imaginative and evocative of his relationship with his family and the artistic and social developments of the time. An introductory essay links them to other avant-garde puppetry and to Klee's sculptural works

Now for months before seeing this book,  I had started making dolls, sort of compulsively. Then of course, I became even more obsessed. 

So, this class was born, and the only place it is currently being taught is at Carol Parks Studio.

Manifest id
August 12-13, 2008   (Tues/Wed: 6pm-9:30)
Puppets have not always been childrens toys- through the ages, they have been cultural or religious symbols, possessions of the elite, entertainment of kings, and used in theatrical performances for social and political satire. Using the simplest of materials, newspaper, masking tape, wire and clay, we'll give birth to the inhabitants of our subconscious mind- be they wicked, sly, cute, or precocious.

These children of our imagination, these manifestations of our id will come to life over the course of two evenings. We'll spend the first evening learning about armatures and building our puppet heads. You'll begin to embellish your hand puppet body blank if you have sufficient time. The puppet heads will be left to dry overnight, we'll return to them the next day, paint them as our muse directs, and fit them into the pre-made hand puppet body blanks. You'll be free to embellish your body blank with materials and paints from your stash.

My second class was born of all the work I did for True Vision.

Hearts to Hands
An art journaling workshop that will touch your spirit
August 15-17, 2008   (Fri: 2pm-6pm, Sat/Sun: 10am-6pm)

In a brand new class packed with techniques and guided activities, we’ll make a sheaf of journal pages to be housed in a simple portfolio.

Together we will work on pages related to journaling areas you will have the chance to work on pages related to areas you will choose from self, family/relationships, spaces and places, childhood, spirituality and/or life events. Beginning with some useful creativity starters, we’ll make use of gentle, but deep, journaling exercises to help us mine for content for our pages.

We’re going to make use of spray painting combined with stencils and masks to add color and texture to pages, alter decorative papers and create unique self-portrait and portrait images. You will send one self portrait and one portrait photo to LK and she will prep it for you to cut into a stencil. Similarly, you will send LK three images of just your hands and she will alter them in photoshop for you to use in collage. A special website address will be provide to registered attendees with detailed instructions for providing these images, and for imagery to choose for your class work. We’ll use a simple trick to turn a photo into a landscape painting, and we’ll use a texture product to create some interesting work on journal pages or covers. We’ll learn to use a ruling pen to write with acrylic paint on painted pages, and incorporate figures without drawing. Using mesh and patina solution we’ll create a page or two directly onto the mesh.

  This class will be very special.

So, to take advantage of the discount, be sure to email Carol....

I'm flying in on Southwest- JetBlue flies there also, if you are looking for airline rates... no affiliation with airlines. LOL