My day off

I had an unexpected day off last week and made a teepee! (of course, what else is there to do with a day off?). I used PVC pipes that I had left over from another project and recycled sheets. I still have to make a doorway, so perhaps the next day off I have I'll devote it to that!

Golden Friday

There is a cute town called Golden about 30 minutes away from me. Even though it is nearby I've only driven through and haven't spent any time there. Last time while passing through my squeeze and I decided we'd come back. Yesterday we both had the day off and seized the opportunity to visit Golden! This is what we did:

Photographed the Justice Center.

(I think he was just testing his camera settings, but I figured I'd throw this one in! We were in a big field by the Justice Center and the wild winds were blowing, whipping my hair around)

Visited downtown Golden... Something that thrills me to no end is posing with statues. While my antics have embarassed some, the guy I'm with now actually helped me up on to the buffalo and then took about a million photos.

This was a rusty old bike chained up downtown. I just thought it looked neat!

We ate at Ali Baba Grill, Lebanese and Persian cuisine. If you live anywhere near Golden I highly recommend you try Ali Baba's. I'd go to Golden just to eat there, it's really THAT good!

We visited the Foothills Arts Center. (String photo was part of a display. It was made to look like a tree- very cool!)

Even though we were gone for just a few hours and about 30 miles away from my house, I felt like we'd gone on a vacation. I came home inspired and refreshed!

A Fave

I'm beginning to notice a few things about my favorite songs- many have whistling, trumpets, male and female vocalists, and are happy tunes. This is a great one by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros called 'Home'. Enjoy!

Inspiration

I love the way old wood looks when it's painted. The top photo was taken in a small town in Colorado on my way to Taos. The rest were photographed at the graffiti wall in Boulder (I guess the paint strayed off the wall a bit!).

Evolution of a Painting 3

I am officially stuck on where to take this painting next. I don't have the feeling that it's finished (then again, I very rarely do with ANY of my projects!) but I just can't decide on what it's asking for. So I hung it up on a nail in the wall and I'm living with it for awhile. I do love what the cold did to the paint, though a wild wind took the bee away the night I added the purple.

So Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving to you and to you! And you too! I know that I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful for my brilliant, interesting, sweet and kind daughter. I am thankful that she is who she is. Hana doesn't care if people call her weird- she takes it as a great compliment- and I think that's pretty wonderful.

I am thankful for my goofy dog. Thanks for making me laugh every day, Rosie!

I am thankful for my creativity. (This is an encaustic piece in progress). I'm realizing how lucky I am to be able to do what I love every day!

I'm thankful for the fabulous, fun and playful people that have come into my life this year.

And of course I am thankful for my supportive family. (Especially my sister because she's the only relative that actually reads my blog!)

I hope you all have much to be thankful for too.

Evolution of a Painting 2

I added more watered-down acrylic paint and left it outside overnight. I loved what the cold and freeze did to the colors! So tonight I added just a spritz of purple, and I'll let the winter do what it will again.

Evolution of a painting

I had a bucket of water that I was rinsing my paintbrush off in, and I ended up really loving the color. So I splashed it all over a canvas! I left it outside and when I looked at it later in the night it had a beautiful frost all over it. A few other unexpected surprises were a couple of insects that wandered in- two little flies (in the lower right corner) and a bee (upper left-ish)! Today I poured more color on and photographed it when the paint was still really wet and swirling together.

I love this way of painting because I never know what's going to happen! I will post more photos as this one evolves...

Too cute

Sometimes my students create things that just make me want to cry happy tears from all the cuteness! Right now in my sculpture class we're working of life-size self portraits.

These little drawings are for my invitations for my Studio Warming Party! I will have some of my mugs for sale, lots of cards and pictures, and a few paintings (Maybe. If I can finish them!)

My studio!

My ceramics studio is FINISHED! I'm going to have a celebration November 19th at 7. Email me your address, or leave a comment, and I'll be sure to send you an invitation!

(Sorry for the dark photos. I was out there last night and the flash reflected off the shiny walls!)

Halloween

I LOVE Halloween! This year we got crafty and made our our own costumes.

My daughter was Edward Scissorhands. We bought a black shirt at a thrift store and covered it with belts and black duct tape. For her hands we cut out cardboard scissor shapes and glued aluminum foil to them. Then we duct taped the scissors onto gloves. It was actually a pretty easy costume to throw together!

I dressed up as a raven. My costume was a bit more complicated! I sewed each feather from recycled T-shirts.

Terrariums

I went to a very sweet wedding over the weekend! The aisle was made from a line of autumn leaves. One of my favorite touches were little terrariums spread out here and there and on the tables. I commented on how cute they were and the bride let me take one home! I'm now imagining tabletops covered with them...

Pumpkin party!

Today I spent my afternoon decorating pumpkins in the park! David Lorraine with 8z Real Estate included Clementine in hosting the first annual Martin Acres Pumpkin Party. I loved all of the creativity! It really put me in the spirit of Halloween.


(This one looks gruesome because it is!) You can see David's post with more pictures here.

Organization

Perhaps because of the impending autumn and knowing that I'll be spending more time indoors; perhaps because I have a new roommate moving in next week; perhaps because once again I am fed up with all the clutter in my house, I have been ORGANIZING! I spell that with capital letters because It's a bigger job than I realized. My studio is out of control and has been for months. It was so bad that for awhile I moved my computer to the dining room! I'm scouring the www in search of some inspiration. Here is what I came up with:

A very cute button cabinet at Oh The Cuteness. The buttons are separated by color- I love that idea!

photo found here.

And this article over at Real Simple Magazine. I'm going to go and get myself some folders and spend some time filing....

Alive

This was too good not to share. And the Metric song 'Help, I'm Alive' is playing in my head, which again, is too good not to share.

image found here

Cozy Quilts

I'm starting to feel just a hint of crispness in the air at night. The apples in my tree are getting juicy. Kids around here are starting school next week. I know Autumn is still a little ways away, but I'm already dreaming about cuddling up under a cozy quilt drinking a cup of tea. I'm dreaming about finishing one of the quilts I've started- a patchwork recycled denim quilt with embroidered stars, a 60's mod quilt with a swirl of black velvet dots, and a few more that are still residing in my thoughts. And I'm dreaming of the NEW quilts that I can allow myself to make once I finish the others-fabulously detailed, beaded, hand sewn, emboidered quilts!

(top photo found at Design Sponge, here)

Amy Ahlstrand (below), who calls herself an Urban Quilter, is a great inspiration

My Only Live Once Moment

This past weekend I FINALLY got to go to Taos to visit my girlfriend, Jamie. I'm not sure if you remember THIS post.... Or THIS one. (Or if you even read them to begin with!). To sum it up, I've had very bad luck with road trips. I was supposed to go to Taos in January and got snowed out. The chances of snow in July were pretty slim so I decided to take the risk. I'm SO happy I did! It was suggested that I burn some sage in my car before heading out, and I did. I don't know if it was the sage or if the Curse of the Road Trip has finally lifted, but it was smooth sailing all the way. Funny enough, this is the only picture I have of the ride there!

My bear, Gilbert, helped drive for a bit! (notice the BEAUTIFUL weather?)

Taos is a very cool place... Earthships, Taos Pueblo, Ojo Caliente, art galore, The Plaza.... There is so much to do there- one weekend just wasn't enough! I did knock off seeing an earthship home (very cool), going to Ojo Caliente Springs (so relaxing), and dancing for hours at The Alley Cantina in The Plaza (so fun! The Strange was playing that night and they were GREAT performers). I also put a big dirty check mark next to something else to do in this lifetime... Mud wrestling! Yes, I mud wrestled. I thought, when else will I possibly get the opportunity to do something like this? A Seize-The-Moment sort of thing. So I did it. The big question people ask when they hear this is, "Are there photos?" Here's the answer to THAT question:

Notice the mud on my teeth?

Some interesting things I learned about mud wrestling:

1) Mud gets EVERYWHERE. I'm still finding mud in my ears, under my nails, in my wounds- two days and three showers later.

2) It is very physically difficult. My abs are sore, my legs are sore, my arms are sore. I thought I was in good shape, I thought I'd do ok, but I got my butt kicked!

3) Mud is vicious stuff. I look like I was dragged through the desert behind a truck! When my boss saw me she said, "Oh my god! Did you get in a bike accident?" I have scrapes on my feet, my knees, my hips, my elbows.... Next time I'll be sure to check the grit level.

Now I'm home, putting vitamin E on my wounds, and am filing that road trip in the top 5 weekends of all time! Even though I wasn't as tough as I thought I'd be in the wrestling ring, I feel quite badass. Finally I had a road trip happen without a hitch. And it was great to see Jamie (thank you so much for having me!). Taos is a wonderful place and I'm already looking forward to returning.

Mugs mugs mugs

I know it has been a long time since I gave this ole' blog some attention. I went through a period where I just wasn't feeling creative and then I went through such a burst of productivity that I didn't give myself time to write about it. But I'm back, and excited to catch up and let you all in on what I've been doing lately!I've been doing LOTS of pottery. Mostly mugs. Each one is thrown and then hand carved- which makes them one-of-a-kind (I'm starting to figure out that's my schtick). Soon I'll have enough to host a little sale/open house, so if you're in the Boulder area and interested, let me know and I'll be sure you get an invitation! People can always use a really special mug, right?

I've been toying with the idea of opening an Etsy pottery shop. Any thoughts?

Sorry Charlie

This was painted on the graffiti permission wall in Boulder at the intersection of 30th and Arapahoe. (If this is your work and you would like credit please email me!)
I am just speechless and heartbroken at how BIG of a disaster this is. What really irks me is the lack of responsibility, integrity, and honesty BP has shown in disclosing information and coming up with solutions. Did you hear what CEO Tony Hayward said about the oil spill? That it was "relatively tiny" compared to the size of the ocean. !!! And that the environmental impact would be "very very modest". !!!!! I... Am.....Speechless.

Boston!

I went to Boston for a whirlwind trip May 10-11. I went alone, which sometimes I think is the best way to travel. I mostly just walked around... Boston was a very cool city. Tons of history every which way, neat old buildings, sea gulls, cold wind, and the smell of salt in the air. I definitely have to go back and stay awhile!There were some interesting things- like the pool ladders into the harbor, and the spiral escape staircase (instead of a ladder).