My "Graduation" Gift - Creative Thursday

I came back weary from the exhibition (my work will continue to hang in the Gail Harker Creative Studies Studio throughout the summer)about ten days ago and found both these lovely flowers...


and an envelope from Mommy & Daddy. The Professor added his gift to this and this week's Creative Thursday was born. My dining room could be reclaimed from the studio...



a hide-away studio wall would replace the chaos in which we have lived for the two years of the course.
The first challenge was to empty the contents of the above room into the living room, the Professor's office, and hallway of our snug digs...



some of the pieces found new homes elsewhere, others were re-purposed...



the glass shelves were reconfigured into a lone tower...



and two trips to our closest IKEA location, across the border in Canada by the way, took place. I found a smokin' deal on some laundry storage and bought what I thought would be enough. HA! Always trying to "make do" cost me the second trip, a 3 1/2 hour fiasco in record heat without air conditioning to purchase two more units...which were sold out, so I quickly bought three of the smaller units and the necessary drawers. As counting has never been my strongest suit, I will have to make yet another IKEA run.
But I have recovered my dining table and will be able to have friends and family over soon...



once the drawers are purchased or at least the curtains made and hung.
I am terribly pleased with my handiwork and feeling like a "real artist" now. Thank you, Mom & Dad.



But mostly, thank YOU, Professor. Your patience with the disarray of the past couple of years, encouragement not to give up and unflagging your support got me through. Your example of re-creating yourself has been my standard. Thank you for your courage and your love.

Six Heads Are Better?

Earlier this week I posted a very late entry to the Week 1 Creative Challenge from Gitzen Girl and today I'm posting my Week 2 creative goodie. On time because I'm procrastinating preparing for next weekend's final exhibition at Gail Harker's Creative Studies.

A few months ago I found a smokin' deal on styrofoam wig stands and decided I had to have them. But not to hang wigs on, thank you very much! Those of you who have spent any time with me know that I can never resist the "treasures" most would label trash. So I scooped up a number (I'm not admitting to how many) of these wonderful, expressionless heads. Those of you who have spent time in my studio know there is little room for treasures of this size...or this quantity, if you must know. So they remained in the trunk of my car.

This week I found the single type of spray paint that does not dissolve styrofoam.

and applied it to about 6 of my new-found friends



The 6th head I decided to cut and attach to a canvas for a piece I'm thinking of calling Emerging



She may need a bit more tweaking, but I'm calling the finding. purchasing and using the amazing Krylon H2O spray paint my creative goodie.

Hope you all enjoy your wanderings today. I certainly will.

A Creative Challenge

I've decided to join Gitzen Girl's New Challenge:



In case you'd like to join, too, let me explain in the words of Gitzen Girl herself...

"Every Thursday, each of us participating will share one thing that we took the time to create that week. And that can be ANYTHING. Anything we take a moment to stop and do for just for me... anything that helps shape who I am as a person.

Because, here’s thing, as much as this is called YOU:create, it could just as easily be called create:YOU. When you stop for a minute and create something, accomplish something, finish a goal that would in some way fulfill a yearning you have inside, you are giving yourself the space to be you. To express yourself. To feel good about something you want to do rather than all those things you HAVE to do.

That creates joy in your life. And you all know I’m all about the joy."

And so am I... Thank you for the reminder and the challenge. So here's what I did FOR ME this week. Since I didn't have any photos of my son and his wonderful wife in the house, I decided to do something about that. I perused some of my favorites (a pleasant occupation in itself) and from those I chose 3 images. From the images, 3 small canvases, some light molding paste and black and white paint, emerged these treasures.





So consider sharing this adventure with me. I'd love to have you along...

Time Flies

I belong to a dwindling group: my husband and I have been married for more than 3 decades...yes, to each other. Within that group, we are even weirder because we'd rather be together doing nothing than doing most anything else with anyone else. We genuinely like each other. Okay, don't stop reading yet. Just give me a minute. I've been thinking about this a lot recently. We aren't unusual people, so how did we luck out?

Now, that's not saying we've always liked each other. We've been separated 2 or 3 times and I'm afraid our son would say we really never got along. But he only lived with us for about 20 years. During that time I spent a lot of time trying to "fix" him, while he hid from me. Mars and Venus? No, more like the Wicked Witch of the West and the Invisible Man. Scary. And painful for us all.

But when we spoke our vows, lo those many years ago, we didn't know the Parable of the Peas, only the Parable of the Candles.


During that wedding ceremony, we used the 2 burning tapers symbolizing our individual lives to light the over-sized, white pillar candle symbolizing our new life together... then proceeded to blow out the tapers. Big mistake. And a bad interpretation of marital unity. After all, marriage requires TWO separate individuals choosing, for some reason, to live together "til death do us part."

But marriage is better symbolized by the Pea Parable. (I've seen it with colored sand as well.) One holds a container of yellow peas while the other holds a container of green peas. Together, slowly and carefully so as not to lose a single pea, both pour their container into the larger, empty one, filling it. Both varieties are distinctly visible (no, you don't lose yourself) and yet both varieties blend together (risky business requiring trust and courage) within the constraints of the container (yep, who I am as an individual is affected by my marriage) to form something the two could never be separately. Is every pea visible all the time? No. Is every pea necessary for the resulting whole? Definitely.
"
When my Honey and I renewed our vows a couple of years ago we made, besides pledging our troth" and all that jazz, some very specific vows based on our past life together. We promised not to "stand in the way of your pursuit of becoming all God intends for you...and to support your with all my heart as you seek to become fully alive." We also promised to "work toward our own dreams." We also promised that "only you will know the truest me." For all that has been, thanks. For all that will be, yes.



As long as I have breath in my body...