My Mind Is Wandering

My mind has been wandering to this quirky little town for awhile now. All the wonky houses are painted colorful shades of pink and aqua and mint. ALL of the trees have flowers - AND blue birds. The grass is unusually green (and glittery) in this happy little land and of course, there is a kitten for EVERYONE.
This is the type of picture I drew when I little. Shiny, sweet, girly colors. Houses with warm, glowy windows. Kittens, and lots of glitter. I've heard there are some girls that don't like glitter, but I don't know any and I would happily trade all of my Prismacolors for that giant collection of glitters Martha Stewart has out. Truth.

As sugary and sweet as this work in progress is, I'm not sure what it is. It's definitely a part of that nasty little agitation thing I mentioned awhile back. So, I'm indulging.

And a funny side note here is that I'm also working on another project this week. It involves a blowtorch and molten metal and shards of colored glass. It's a dirty project full of funky smells and sharp edges, and I'm enjoying it just as much as the Sugarland project! Photos coming in a few days...

Don't Worry; The Gnome is Keeping an Eye on Things

The "Boys" are off. They are fishing, and mucking around, and playing ridiculous amounts of volleyball. The girl child and I are hanging out...movie last night, shopping and cleaning today, more shopping tomorrow...then some cooking, and then some more shopping.

Well, I'm sorry. But that's what we like to do when there is no one around to raise their eyebrows as we walk in the house with armloads of bags (is it MY fault they built an Anthropologie 20 minutes from our house?)! Still, we will have to deal with this little guy judging our consumer habits. He lives in a plant on our front porch and he's always giving me the eye. Lucky for him, he's cute.Actually, the week will not be ALL shopping. And we will not be darting out of town like we thought we might. Instead, we'll give our out of state travel plans a miss and focus on GLITTER.

I have been amassing glitter in all shapes and forms - glass, metallic, flakes - and I have all of the supplies necessary to make some super special pieces of artwork during my week of doing pretty much nothing I OUGHT to be doing. Look for some photos a little later in the week.

I'll also be posting pictures of some other new endeavors -and boy, are you gonna be surprised!

No boys!

What's a girl (or two) to do with no boys around?
The Kim Boys are leaving on a manly trip to the woods. They plan to hike and swim and fish and shoot pellet guns. Oh, they also plan to load up on Deer Valley's magical milkshakes and possibly partake in some camp pranks/boyish hijinks.

I'm a bit sad not to be there, but I know the boys will have lots of fun and that this GUYS trip will give them lots of happy memories to relive for years to come.

Which leads me to what the GIRLS will be up to. Well, we aren't quite sure yet. I HAVE to work at least part of the week, and Gram and Gramps will be coming for a shorty visit on their way north (we CAN'T wait!!), but we should have 3 days of uninterrupted girl time and we just can't decide what would be the MOST fun.

Option one: Trip to Asheville. Lots of cool artsy stuff, fabulous sites to see, cooler mountain air, all make Asheville pretty darned appealing.

Option two: Zip up to NYC. Great supply shopping, guaranteed cousin time, fabulous CLOTHES!!!!, strolling Central Park (we ADORE Central Park), NY bagels - these are the things that always make NYC a happy destination for us.

Option three: Sitting at the beach. Any beach. Va Beach (1.5 hours), Hatteras (2. hours), Emerald Isle (3.5 hours). Looking for shells, sipping margaritas (Balin is only 18 so they are virgin margaritas for her), walking for ages on the sandy shore, barefoot, with seaspray in your hair and lungs. Heaven.

This is one hard decision. Let you know how it washes out!

Work in Progress

I'm working in the home studio today. Started out by waking up early and thumbing through the most recent issue of Country Living - the British version. What a fabulous publication! Really, you should run down to Barnes and Noble and scoop one up right now.

It's so fun to see the styles and trends from across the pond, not to mention the recipes! I kind of think of the US and the UK as parallel universes, but the more I peruse publications from England and Ireland and Scotland, the more subtle differences I notice. Now, I'm all riled up and have waterfalls of pretty English roses running through my head. The clay is out, the paints are poured, and I'm surrounded by inspiration.

If I can just stay out of the yard and Dave's happy garden long enough to *CREATE*, today should be a fabulous day!

Just look at all the tomatoes coming along! Can't wait for my tomato/cuke/mayo on wheat summer sandwiches.This little guy (gal?) and mate have been hanging out in the garden. They are very friendly and don't even run off when someone screams because a spider landed on them. It's true.The front walk up where I like to sit and have my coffee with Dave.

Lost and Found

Found objects are the best, in my book.
It's so lovely to find a use for a little bit of something that no one else wanted.
Currently, I'm looking for a way to use something very precious we recently discovered in our yard. It's a bit scraggly, yet perfect. It's full of natural elements, and something very, very dear that a mommy bird somewhere is surely lamenting the loss of.

Isn't it just beyond gorgeous? The shape and texture of the nest. The fragility of the egg. The stunning, earthy colors. So inspiring, even if it is rather bittersweet.

We are fairly certain that a big gust of wind blew this little home up, out of the sheltering branches of the sycamore in our front yard, and into the bed of flowering plants nearby, where it was found by Dave while cutting the lawn.

After contemplating a climb up to replace the nest, in case the egg parents happened by, we decided the likelihood was slim that there would ever be a baby bird hatched from this sweet robin's egg, so we brought the wispy home to the safety of our garage to admire it.

I am a little sad about the process of natural selection, but happy to have our home graced by such incredible beauty; I am inspired.**This little nest was occupied by a little bird family earlier this spring. I can happily report that the healthy offspring and proud parents all made it through the season and have moved on to their summer digs.

Summer Time, not summertime

Here again; full of sun and fun and lots of promise. It's mid June and I'm getting the summer travel bug real bad. It's a true illness and there is no cure except road trips and lazy beach days. I'll be working on the cure soon. But for now...

This is my T I M E. The funky pangs of creative agitation have begun to ping. I don't want to cook, or clean, or sit inside, or simply produce work in the studio...

I want to let the ideas roll, and hole up with my trays of vintage goodies at some seaside cottage, and fling glitter, ribbon, and pearls everywhere! I wish there was some word that fit this feeling better than agitation, but nope - there isn't.

It's like this niggly, wiggly, bothersome drive to fiddle with bits and parts, and try things that won't work, and make big messes. It won't be ignored, and it won't go away until it is indulged - hence a-g-i-t-a-t-i-o-n.

These are some of the pretty things my recent agitation has led to. There's lots more to come, too - the summer doesn't even OFFICIALLY start until June 21!!

Serendipity

I am a bit of a chicken. Oh, yeah, I talk real big and if I had to, I'm pretty sure I could do more than defend myself in a battle of arms, but when it comes right down to it....I'm pretty fluffy. Take the recent show, Art:24 held at the Visual Arts Center in Richmond.

My RCM friend Jackie was one of the organizers - so I was pleased to sign up, but really, truly - the main reason I wanted to be in attendance was that one of my crafty crushes was going to be in the building: Natalie Chanin of Alabama Chanin! I've been following her via the internet for several years - absolutely wowed by her incredible designs, dedication to traditional handicrafts, impeccable personal style, and her revolutionary business model.

I wasn't aware of it when I first started Twist Style 8 years ago, but many of the philosophies that have shaped my business have been employed by Natalie, also. Alabama Chanin is built on green practices, and is dedicated to keeping alive the spirit of the female community, of hand sewing and home crafting. Her garments are breathtaking and worth every penny of the fair amount she charges. She shares her craft through workshops, her book, and has even made a documentary featuring some of her inspirations.

The city of Richmond was very busy this weekend - Virginia Commonwealth graduation, proms going on all over town, a river festival down in the bottom - and Art:24 ended up being a bit slower than anticipated which allowed me extra time to chat with some of my favorite RCM girls, other vendors, and friends that happened through. ONE of those friends, an adorable whirlwind of energy, artist, and elementary school art teacher Merle Kincaid, made my day.

I had walked past Natalie's work shop going on in one of the glass front studios, and I had fawned all over her trunk show set up in one of the upstairs galleries, but I would never have interrupted or introduced myself as I hate to be pushy, and had visions of myself turning into an American Idol sort of fan, chasing her and screaming, NATALIE!!!! I LOVE YOUR EMBROIDERY!!!!! She happened past at some point, taking a short break from her class, and I contemplated saying hello, but alas...chicken.

Then Merle came along. We hadn't seen each other in ages and she was so very sweet, complimenting my work and gushing just a little about my new designs and the new direction of my style.

She chose a few pieces for herself and wanted my advice on a couple of necklaces she wanted as gifts for friends...one friend, she said was actually in the building and she wondered if she could take a necklace over and see what she thought about it. Naturally, I said yes - and do you know what??? Well, if you have any understanding of foreshadowing at all - surely you have figured out that Merle's friend is Natalie Chanin!

Merle and Natalie came right back down and Natalie was wearing my necklace and well, I about died. I got to shake her hand and even though I know it's perhaps a bit cheesy, I did get a friend to take a photo of us - just for proof of the event, you know. Seriously, I couldn't have been more pleased if I had been introduced to the Queen of England (as I almost was one time...).

I do love serendipity.