You Make My Day

Apr5

Within the last month, I was honored to be mentioned on 2 of my favorite blogs, Simple Studio Journal and Polka Dot Creations. So, inspired by these 2 wonderful ladies, I present to you my “You Make My Day” list.

Lynn at Simple Studio Journal writes about so many things that interest me: tea, journal writing, walking in nature, experimenting and playing with various art medium. We have so much in common that I feel like I’m having a chat with a long-time friend whenever I visit her blog. Lately, she has been experimenting with wire wrapping and creating the most gorgeous pendants.

On her blog, Lisa Clarke at Polka Dot Creations shares her life as a businesswoman, artist and mother of 2 small boys. The joys, the challenges, the delicious recipes, the beautiful art are all a delight to see and read about. I especially enjoy Lisa’s color challenges and seeing how she creates a color palette in polymer clay from inspiring photos. I had the pleasure of meeting Lisa at the Synergy conference.

One of my fellow Bead Journal Project members, Morwyn over at AnotherCountry Beadworks, creates the most fabulous beaded pieces and shares her creative process, most recently with a video. Her writing about the symbolism in her journal pages resonates deeply with me.

Susan Lomuto’s Polymer Clay Notes has been inspiring me (and many others!) ever since I found her blog a little over a year ago. She devotes an amazing amount of time and energy in sharing and writing about the most awe-inspiring artists and photos. Most recently, she has been sharing her own beautiful creations. I hope she continues to do that! I had the pleasure of meeting Susan when I took Dayle Doroshow’s workshop last April and, most recently, at the Synergy conference.

I recently took a class at Joggles called Mixed Media portraits by Alma Stoller. A thoughtful and inspiring teacher, she encourages her students to use materials found at home to create the most beautiful mixed media creations. A visit to her blog is a colorful delight!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have deeply loved color so when I discovered polymer clay and the ability to mix colors with it, I had such an epiphany. One of my color heroes is Lindly Haunani who I had the pleasure to meet and take a class with at Synergy. Lindly has such a deep connection with color and shares her delight with the subject on her blog. I hope to take a color workshop with Lindly someday.

My webmaster, Dave at Clear Path Studios, has been such an inspiration to me in so many ways. In creating a website for me, he carefully explored with me what I wanted to say and do with my site. He blends the artistic with the technical in a wonderfully magical way.

Judy Dunn at Artrepreneur generously shares her experiences and knowledge as a working polymer clay artist. Filled with interesting stories and tips, Judy’s posts resonate with her enthusiasm and wisdom. Her Flickr photo albums are filled with her gorgeous polymer clay artwork. Most recently, she has created a video about how to make a polymer clay origami crane, one of her signature pieces. I had the pleasure of having a nice chat with Judy over lunch at the Synergy conference.

One of my fellow RIPCG members, Dora, creates the most amazingly intricate and beautiful polymer clay canework. She recently posted some of her artwork in her Flickr album.

Last but certainly not least, my Rhode Island Polymer Clay Guild, has been an integral part of my life for the last 6 1/2 years. We get together on the 4th Saturday of the month and share stories, laughs, good food and, oh yes, making stuff with polymer clay. They are like my family and I’m so blessed to have them all in my life.

Thanks to all of you for your inspiration!

My February Beaded Journal Page

Mar7

My February page is finished. In honoring of relationships and love, my page symbolizes what happens when 2 people love and nourish each other. Their hearts touch and a beautiful silver river flows from one heart to the other and back again in a continuous flow of love, sharing and nurturing.

Shooting the page in the sun reveals brighter color and texture.

Originally, my plan was to bead the background but I love the pattern of this fabric too much to bead over it. It’s like a fireworks celebration and so colorful. In my Synergy class, “Unconventional Polymer”, Karen Woods suggested looking for inspiration for your polymer art in fabric and textiles. Wouldn’t this fabric pattern make fabulous canes?

My January Journal Page

Feb16

I just finished my January journal page today. I filled in my “path” with mauve colored pearls, representing the “pearls of wisdom” I’ve learned along the way. The photo doesn’t show it very clearly but the path has led me to a cache of beautiful multi-colored jewels. This symbolizes the treasure that lies inside each one of us.

My idea for my February page is of 2 hearts side by side, nourishing each other with a silver river that flows in a circle from one heart to the other and back again. Time to get my fabric prepared!

Progress on my January Beaded Journal Page

Feb9

As I was beginning to think about my January page, I imagined a spiral path. Spirals keep popping up in my pages. I had so much fun creating the glazed face cabochons at my guild meeting a couple of weeks ago that I knew that I’d like to continue working with glazed polymer clay. So, I’ve created polymer clay “pebbles” for my path. I used some letter stamps to spell out “The Journey to Myself”, commemorating the journey of a lifetime and celebrating my 50th birthday. I love the way that the glaze concentrated in the recessed letters.

What do you think?

Saturday Morning Tea

Jan19

And precious the tear as that rain from the sky,

Which turns into pearls as it falls in the sea.

-Thomas Moore

I have been thinking about pearls lately and the wonder surrounding their creation. I invite you to join me in my thoughts for a moment. What starts out to be an intrusion, an irritation, is transformed into something beautiful. In meditating on the life of a pearl, we can use it as a metaphor in our own lives. In our day to day life, challenges arise and in the process of dealing with those challenges, we are transformed as well. In honor of my “pearl” musings, this morning I have chosen a pearl jasmine tea, Dragon Phoenix Pearl, for my cup of tea.

Steeped in 180 degree F water for 3 minutes, I watched in fascination as the little spheres unfurled themselves, reminding me of hermit crabs reaching their legs out of their shells. Gorgeous full green leaves are revealed as I remove the pearls from the water.

The journey of the tea pearls. After green tea processing, the leaves are laid out with blooming jasmine flowers so they will absorb their intoxicating scent. This process is repeated and then the leaves are steamed and hand rolled into little pearls. I deeply feel that the pale straw colored liquor in my cup has been steeped from little works of art in themselves.

The tea is so pale that you can see the wonderful texture inside of my tea bowl. This is one of the bowls I purchased at the Kaji Aso studio. The aroma is delicately floral and not overly perfumey. The taste is sweet jasmine, smooth and subtle.

I have not yet laid down a single bead for my January journal page but there is a lot of inner gestating going on. Being guided by my meditations on pearls, unfurling spiral shapes and turning 50 the other day, it will be called “The Journey to Myself”.