Who Knows Where the Time Goes?

Seventeen days ago... that was my last post. There are a couple important reasons for that. First, my computer crashed. And second, once that happened, I began reassessing some things. I have decided that I truly do not like computers. I know they are necessary for keeping your art out there, maintaining websites and online stores, promoting your work, and also for staying in touch with some distant friends. But oh my gosh, I do get tired of working at the computer, especially during the warm weather months when I'm much more inclined to create and to be outside, gardening, harvesting, playing with the dogs, or just bird- and lizard-watching. I know that the more time I spend on the computer, the less time I am actually creating and being present in the lives of my family and friends. And I do not want a machine to control how I spend my time.

So I have been doing more creating, more song-writing, more music practice, more reading, and more of almost everything else over the past couple of weeks. I haven't checked blogs (and honestly, there are some that I have really missed!), I haven't made treasuries on Etsy, I haven't listed too many things in Etsy, I haven't posted much on Etsy team threads or on Facebook, and I haven't sent many emails. Have I suffered much from that? Nope. Not really. It's true that I haven't made many online sales either. But I haven't had much luck in that area all year, really.

How I will use this lesson I am not sure yet. I know that when winter rolls around again, I will probably hibernate more and thus spend more time with online friends via emails, blogs, FB, treasuries, and threads, but for now, I think I will try to limit my computer time to an hour or so a day. And that time is just about up for today.

But before I sign off for the present, here are some images to prove that I actually have been working on art, both visual and musical, although I can't show you the musical work here (you'll just have to trust me when I say there are several songs at various points in progress). The painting above had been sitting in my studio, half completed for quite some time. So I finally got around to finishing it up and listing it on Etsy. And below are the newest scrimshaw pieces. A couple have been listed; the others will be soon.

Under the Sea bookmark, complete with fun lampworked glass fish and disc beads...

Dance of Life necklace with beautiful boro glass bead in garden colors, on leather...

Flutterbys and Ferns pendant, on flexible black wire with freshwater pearls and crystals...

Butterflies bookmark with aqua lampworked glass bead...

Ear Birds earrings, on sterling silver with autumn-colored lampworked glass beads and Swarovski crystals...

Sing to Me bookmark with aqua and brown porcelain bead and river stone lampworked glass bead...


Be patient with me... if you're looking for blog posts or if you're looking for my comments on your blogs. Trust me when I say that I value my online friends and that I think of you often, because I truly do. And when time allows, I will be visiting your blogs and I'll be adding new posts here. Until then, hug the ones you love, dance in the candlelight, sing a little song, and breathe the fresh air. That's what I'll be doing.

Got a Thing for Those Ravens

Just finished and just listed this new scrimshaw pendant on sterling silver chain...
The Raven's Moon....


Just a week or so ago, I completed this painting, It's Only the Wind, which is currently in a Black and White show at Associated Artists in Winston-Salem.

And there's this 12 x 12 painting that's my avatar on Etsy and is for sale in the shop and on my website.

You can be sure there will be more to come. Until then, take a moment to listen to the birds and feel the blessing of their song!

Lizards, lizards, and lizards!

Now that the temps are warming up and the sun is shining, the lizards 'round my house are coming out, enjoying a hot bath and scurrying across the deck. Tiny baby blue-tailed skinks, beautifully patterned fence lizards... I just love them. I love their colorings, their movements, their watchful eyes and faces. They are amazing to me, and they've inspired this new piano key pendant, which I worked on today. I'm thinking I'll add a few more lines and details on the lizard, but scrimshaw is hard on my arm and wrist, so I only let myself do so much at a time. I'll come back to this in a day or two and wrap it up and then list it on Etsy, but you get the general idea.

Bird and Poppies Won the EPE Challenge!

I'm happy to report this morning that my piano key scrimshaw pendant won the weekly EPE challenge with the theme of Recycling! Talk about good news! Each winner gets to come up with the next theme and then choose the winner from the entries. I chose Rebirth and Renewal, which seems to me to be wide open for all kinds of work. I know we'll get some fabulous entries... can't wait to see them.

If you haven't checked out the EPE blog yet, you really should. There are some wonderful weekly contributors, some extremely talented members, and it's a beautiful blog. Take the time to do it; you'll be glad you did. And of course... it's all about supporting those who struggle with cancer, so the cause is a good one as this dreadful disease affects so very many of us in one way or another.

And by the way, the prop in the photo of my pendant? It's a gorgeous little felted wool envelope made by GinnyHuber, an EPE team member. Her work is fabulous, and this is such a cool item that can hold jewelry when traveling, business cards, cash and credit card if you want to travel light, lipstick or other small makeup items, favorite buttons, anything really.

Keeping Busy with New Work

This week has been hard and a little bit lonely, but I'm trying to stay busy with new work in the piano keys field. I'm waiting on some silver chains to arrive in the post, so that I can list the pendants on Etsy, and hopefully those will come today. I've listed two pair of earrings, and my first pendant began its long flight to Germany earlier this week.

Wildflowers...

Moonlit Mountains...

The Sound of Silence...

Morning Bird...

Summer Thistles...

Hymn to Joy...

Stay Tuned!