Durham Arts

 April 16, 2008 Portland, Oregon

I admit it--I am caving in to the rush to words to put out on the Internet.  Actually writing to strengthen and deepen my thinking has been part of my personal process for decades.  Sometimes I will take an inspiration and worry it to death on paper before actually trying to do it.  Sometimes my journaling is quite simply a chronicle of the events of my day.  I see this blog as more about creative process and less about the minutiae of my life.  Deciding to construct a website has its own creative time line.  Certainly I have been thinking about building a website for the past four years.  Always it was on the back burner until a friend of a friend explained to me how to do this without 400 bells and whistles.

A website, okay, but why a blog?  Art is not created in a vacuum.  It is much more about process than it is about product.  Certainly any of us who sell what we make want to create objects that intrigue people and that they want to have, but even if I sold nothing, I would still have to do art.   I was deep into my life before I recognized that if I were not creating art, I would be in a dark zone that could be lightened instantly by just beginning on any project.  Sometimes, even now, I forget.

April 20, 2008

One of the students I tutor challenged me to make a surfer bead.  The gestation period on that concept was about six weeks.  I downloaded some surfer images, cut the tiny surfer out of copper and picked it up with clear molten glass to place it in a "wave".  This bead is hard to replicate, since lots of things can go wrong.  As all bead teachers tell their students, "practise, practise, practise".

December 24, 2008

Reflecting back on a year of beading, one particular story comes to mind.  Just before the election, we were talking to the man who trims our tall oaks.  His business name means something Hallelujah, so I am assuming he has strong religious beliefs.  We were talking about the state of the world--and avoiding discussing candidates.  He was upset for his nephew who had returned from a tour of duty in Iraq and was having a very hard time with stress from the war.  Our tree trimmer said, "I think 'water-boarding' is justified, because "they" all want to chop off our heads."  I took exception immediately and we talked further.  During the following week, I thought about it a great deal and wondered what I could do to indicate that I thought there was some kind of disconnect between what he had said and what I think he believes.  It came to me that I could make a special bead for him, a candle bead, something to carry around in his pocket, perhaps, to remind him of his fundamental beliefs.  So I created a candle bead for him and we talked at some length when I gave it to him.  I think he will not forget.

  Bring back the light!

 Hint: Be sure to include a link to your contact page!