Happy Mother’s Day!

May11

Today is a day to celebrate and honor all women – daughters, sisters, aunts, mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers – who have given birth. Given birth to a baby or a piece of art or a book or an idea or whatever their deepest passions have manifested. We are all connected in our fertile bodies and imaginations.

About 3 years ago I presented this plant to my S.O. because I know how much he loves lilies. Called Clivia Miniata or its common name Bush Lily, it is native to South Africa where rooibos and honeybush tea come from. In the wild, it grows in the shade of trees because it doesn’t like full sun. We have it in a northwestern exposure to the side of a sliding glass door. This is the first time it has flowered. I’d like to think that it is welcoming me to my new home.

Today I am spending the first part of the day by going to a bead show with my daughter. I haven’t been to a bead show since last year so I’m very excited to go and share my “beadie” passion with her. In the afternoon, my sons will come over for a visit and we’ll play Blokus, a new board game I discovered while visiting my brother and his family in Michigan last March. Each player gets a bunch of brightly colored semi-transparent tiles in different shapes. Starting from a corner, each player takes turns placing their tiles down so that only the corners are touching with the object being to lay down as many tiles as you can. So, of course, there is opportunity to strategize and block your opponents while also trying to fit your pieces onto the board. I like it because it really taps into your right brain’s spacial ability. Currently, my son Brendan is the champ but we will see what today brings.

Saturday Morning Tea

May10

While the woods outside my window are swelling with green, the weather remains cool and cloudy, much like April days instead of May days. As I listen to the sweet song of a robin in the early morning quiet, I am sipping a cup of a China green tea called Xia Zhou Bi Feng. Produced high in the mountains of Hubei province, the full leaves have been rolled into thin strands. Hubei province’s rich, fertile hills and mountains are ideal for growing tea.

I steeped the leaves in 180 degree F water for 3 minutes. While some of the leaves uncurled a little, most remained curled in their originally processed state. Their color reflects the beautiful spring green of our trees. The liquor is a very pale brownish olive green with a distinct vegetal aroma.

The liquor has a pronounced tangy astringency to it reminiscent of a Japanese green. However, that is where the similarity ends because it is also sweet with that sweetness lingering in the aftertaste.

Mmmmm, time for another cup!

The Birth of a Studio, Part 3

May8

I worked most of the day yesterday organizing and finding a place for everything in my new studio space. I am feasting my eyes on this new creation as often as I can because a) I can’t believe that one of my dreams has finally come true and b) I don’t think it’s ever going to be this clean again. There’s even vacuum marks on the rug! The rug…..which is probably the one thing about the space I don’t like. I have visions of spilling a tray of beads and……..oh dear…….well, you can imagine the rest. Maybe someday we can install a ceramic floor or even a hardwood floor down here.

The space in front of the heater on the far wall is where I want to put my metalworking table. I have a few options I’m looking at, including an offer to have a table made for me!

Here is the beadworking area. I was able to fit all of my beads on the shelves and portable storage units for easy access.

My good friend Amy, who has a fabulous studio BTW, told me about this nifty cube storage unit that’s perfect for organizing polymer clay. I just loved sorting the little squares by color and lining them all up in neat rows. Thank you, Amy!

My light tent has found its home on a drafting desk in the corner. The box under the table contains the lights, waiting to be set up. The pegboard leaning against the left side of the table will eventually be screwed into the wall above the heater, I think. So, my tools will be hanging behind me. I’m not sure how that will work out but I’m going to try it out because I can’t place the table against the heater. My sewing machine is also waiting for a home somewhere in my studio. I have been very drawn to quilting books lately so it might come in handy for some future pieces.

Here is the beading command center. My mosaicon hangs in a place of honor above my table. I enjoyed creating that piece so much! Resting on the portable storage units are a couple of beautiful Native American design needlepoint pieces created by my Mom.

I store most of my seed beads in the Tic Tac style storage containers. They’re sorted by color and placed into clear rectangular storage units, fitting quite nicely together. I also have a lot of tubes that I store in a pen caddy. Each 3-sided unit is standing up on the table next to the wall.

This weekend I will be looking for a task chair and some lights! Stay tuned for more studio stories…

The Birth of a Studio Part 2

May7

I purchased 2 six foot tables at Lowe’s this past weekend. Everything needed to shift over to the other side of the space to make room for them and the shelves I installed. I actually had these shelves in my bedroom in my apartment and that’s where I stored all of my art supplies. I slept surrounded by all of my beads and polymer clay and tools. Good energy but very crowded!

Both Home Depot and Lowes have all sorts of nifty storage shelving and products. I bought the coated wire shelves which attach to the wall by way of slats that screw into the studs. Then there are metal pieces that fit into the slats and the shelves rest on them. There are little hooks on the metal pieces and the shelves fit right into them for security. It’s important to plan out item placement so the weight is well balanced since the shelves aren’t super heavy duty. I placed them up high so I wouldn’t be hitting my head all the time.

Now that my structures are in place, today will be spent finding a place for everything. This weekend I’m hoping to purchase a task chair and some drafting lights to fit on the tables. I also need to purchase a metalworking table which will be placed perpendicular to the existing tables. That way I can swing around from station to station with my chair placed in the middle. My command center. How exciting is this?!!