Tangled Stitch

A Little Spring in my step

2012-01-26T15:30:00.000-08:00

Well today felt a little bit more like winter, manageable but snowy. I can't really complain about the snow too much though it is the end of January and we usually have a heck of a lot more then this dusting so far. I thought a bird was a great piece to share on this cold, cold, day. So here you have my little goldfinch, she brings a little bit of heat, a little bit of cheery yellow and a little bit of bird love when there are far too few birds to be seen. I hope whereever you are you have a little spring in your step and I'll see you soon!

Moody Blues

2012-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

This piece is called Moody Blues. It currently resides at Valley Artisans Market in beautiful Cambridge, NY. I was fortunate enough to work there today. I really love being there, from the drive through the countryside, to the view of the mountains, to the beautiful energy of the other artists and Hubbard Hall, to all the beautiful work I get to look at and the lovely artistic patrons. And I toned down my enthusiasm a little.

Today was no exception. Being so soon after the holidays it was a little slow but I had several lovely customers and browsers. One of the people I met today was a lovely young painter who was thankfully killing some time and making my day a little less quiet. She was taking a painting class but arrived early so as not to be late so we had a lovely conversation about art. I told her we are always looking for artists but her husband is in construction and she moves around a lot. Her next destination is Ireland, which to be honest is a destination I have never been to but would love to see. We talked about her painting and about my embroidery and she made the time go so much faster. She also found the word love in Moody Blues, which I did not put there purposely but was rather excited to find. Sometimes the universe gives us surprises when we aren't looking for them. It was a lovely conversation and she happens to read this I want her to keep following her dream as a painter, find lots of beautiful places in Ireland to paint and then somehow shares them with me so I can imagine myself in the lush greenness.

I also had a wonderful time embroidering and Caroline came in to relieve me. I shared how much I loved a certain piece of hers(it really is beautiful) and she decided to keep it there after considering replacing it. I hope someone else sees the beauty and she still has to replace it. Cecily came in too with some beautiful new cards. She is a wonderful paper artist and will be having a show with Cheryl in May. Can't wait to go the opening and see all the splendor these talented ladies will show.

I hope you enjoy Moody Blues and will go visit Valley Artisans Market next time you are up that way. Gordon Ramsey will be filming a segment of his new show soon so perhaps that will be the time to see somebody famous gallivanting around the beautiful town of Cambridge. Or perhaps just visit the beautiful town of Cambridge, eat some cheesecake made by the monastery of New Skete nuns, listen to a concert at Hubbard hall and visit the Valley Artisans Market and see the beautiful work that resides there. And if you notice the wonderful energy that I feel in the place, please let me know. Keep stitchin.

Reframing Transformation

2012-01-22T13:06:00.000-08:00

Transformation sometimes takes a long time. This piece was originally made in February of 2007. It was my second art piece and probably one of my favorites. It has resided on my living room wall since November of that year. It is used as one of my permanent blog photographs. And because I am now starting a Facebook Page using this picture as my hand embroidery calling card I looked at the original photo and realized that it must be reframed. I've learned so much about framing since then. I've learned so much about art since then and I've learned so much about hand embroidery since then. So let me tell you as I took it off the foam board I had mounted it on, I was appalled. Behind the awful puckering(which has been miraculously reduced by hard work) was the most ungodly mess of tangled threads which cast shadows against my beautiful piece.

That last sentence kind of wraps up my early years as an artist, tangled threads which cast shadows on my beautiful work. It was all about the hand embroidery, nothing else really mattered except the beautiful embroidery which was a gift from god. At that point I think I was a talented hand embroiderer but not so much a talented hand embroidery artist. God(or whoever you worship in your universe)is the only being that can create perfection so why even try? I kind of thought that way about myself too. And the answer has finally come(although I started transforming most of the last year), we are entrusted with God's wish to create and it is our most important job to reflect his creation the best we can. It's not so much about looks it is about finding the best fit for anything we create in God's name. It is about making our beautiful work express our beautiful selves. And our beautiful selves no matter how we look or act or feel are all God's creation. He put us here for a reason, whatever that reason is and that is our mission. Some people create song, some people create masterpieces, some people hand embroider. But things start to fall into place when we do what we love, because let's face it, God is the ideal he wouldn't make us a hand embroidery artist if we hated the idea of threading a needle a hundred times a day. That being said he would make me a hand embroidery artist who had to figure out that the hard part of framing is just as important as the beautiful, effortless stitch.

So there we are. It took a couple of hours to get rid of that ungodly mess of tangled thread, take the time to find a better mounting board, mount it painstakingly on that mounting board and hang it up. I took 10 pictures of the piece and this is the one that I think reflects the piece to it's best advantage to sit on my wall. It's not perfect but it never really will be.

And I am not perfect nor will I ever be until I have evolved enough to either spend eternity with God or come back as my soul in someone else's body to start all over again. But you know what I am ok with my chubby cheeks and my double chin and my compensity to talk too much(or write too much). This is how I am supposed to be and my beauty is from my soul which is much happier expressing through hand embroidery. I've thought a lot about souls lately.

When I think about my soul it comes back to music. My favorite thing in the world right now after embroidery is the Black Keys. Somehow they sing to my soul. They make me remember my younger days when I used to dance with abandon(and sometimes still do), their words seem to hit just the right note at the moment. They've had to perservere and keep going when it all seemed like that they should just give up. Perhaps that has something to do with it, years ago I would have enjoyed their music and moved on to the next cd in my collection. But this is a soul thing. Something I'm supposed to do that gives me joy and reminds me of my important lessons like not giving up and putting myself in the happiest mood possible before doing god's work. They also have taught me about the hard work of appearance. It is not what you look like, as the Black Keys have not necessarily taken the easiest route to be noticed as a musical inspiration. Justin Bieber they are not. But it is their voices from a young man singing the blues and playing guitar to the perfection of a drum beat, to a slightly older man moving forward(again with that perfect drum beat) and perservering when all seems lost, to a successful band that looks as good as it sounds. I'll be honest I look their videos up on you tube and when I share them I share the good looking ones because frankly a good looking pair is easier to listen to then a motley looking one. But my favorite Youtube video is from that middle period where they looked like hell, were probably at their lowest point where their tortured souls looked like they were possessed by their music. It is a concert at Melkweg in 2006. It is not a pretty video or even a pretty picture but it is a beautiful soulful performance which kind of explains why they are so fascinating to me. You really have to be possessed by something to keep going when all looks lost. It's the hardest time in an artist's life when they have to decide whether all the sacrifices are worth it to be true to your soul. I think they along with myself have realized that it is worth it.

They may not be the perfect messengers for you, but they seem to have been the perfect messenger for my soul. It's not exactly a midlife crisis because I am much too happy for it to be a crisis but it is the feeling that my soul and my art are further along on reframing my transformation.

Every so often someone or anyone will say they do not understand why I am so open on my blog. So I stop blogging. Or I read a really wonderful blog like the Artful Vagabond and I find myself comparing myself to them and I stop blogging. But I kind of look at my life as an open book with many experiences both happy and sad that God has given me and if I can perhaps make one person a little less alone or perhaps persuade one person to find some modicum of happiness somewhere in their soul then I have done God's work. He wouldn't have given me all these experiences if he meant for me to keep them to myself as he gave me this big mouth to spill all my secrets with too. Keep stitching. Find your embroidery and your version of the black keys and be happy, I don't know much in this world but I do know that is what we all have to strive for.

Very important, I have started a Facebook Fan Page under my name DebraAnn Salat, hand embroidery artist. I would love it if you would like to fan me but if not I'll still be here anyway! And if you already read my blog you can just friend me, myself and I on Facebook and for that pleasure I will hook you up with the good looking Black Keys videos. I'm not kidding, I'm obsessed.

I Left My Heart in San Francisco

2012-01-20T14:45:00.000-08:00

Well maybe not San Francisco, but I have been sooooo busy making hearts for all the wonderful shop owners I am fortunate enough to make them for. I have some brand new designs, some new color combinations, and some new outlets. It's been so much fun coming up with all this newness year round and of course visiting all the wonderful shop owners too.

But now I'm ready to hunker down and really get down to the business that makes my heart sing. My real heart not the little fabric ones. It has been a really artistic time and somewhere in the last year I finally made that shift to being a working artist, so now it is time to work. I love to work and I have set some goals for myself and for that work and so far so good.

I keep waiting for the moment that I wake up from this dream and so far it just is not happening. I am still embroidering more than I'm not. I am still listening to my mood changing Black Keys(really heartbreak is so much more attractive with a beat to it). I've tried to stop indoctrinating others with the Black Keys but I still love to embroider(and everything else) to them so I'm just going with the flow and the beat and the drums(I really do think I want to take drum lessons, and guitar lessons and voice lessons) or perhaps I will just continue to use them as my muse for embroidery since they make me happy.

I've finally made that connection that doing what you love, finding inspiration from whereever it may come, and once again just basically doing what you love is the answer. I've read that sentence in many, many books. Just follow your bliss and everything good will flow from it. But reading those words and living them are two different things. It requires a commitment to your vision and to your medium. It requires risk taking and a tough skin. It requires perseverance and most of all it requires marching to your own drummer. Walking out to the tip of your limb just before falling and living there for a while. So many self sabotaging habits happen trying to stay on that tip. Can I do the hard thing and wear my heart on my sleeve or on my hand embroidery or should I just stay here nice and warm and play on the computer or play solitaire or any other of the number of things that keep me in my safe place. I've had to walk out on that limb and I've started to make a little hand embroidered cocoon to keep me safe. For many years I played it safe. I hid my own light under the biggest bushel I could find and basically camped out there probably with a donut or a bag of chips. Unfortunately the bag of chips is still in there somewhere but it's a smaller bag.

So many artists try and fail. They give up just when the breakthrough comes. It happened to me a few years ago. Luckily I have tremendous friends who support me through this journey. They wouldn't let me give up. And finally that light under the bushel is not at the end of the tunnel. It is kept safe and secure on a piece of fabric somewhere waiting to be beckoned.

Once again a reminder, find something you love that you do that gives you joy. Find something enjoyable that can be the background for your joy. Find the time in your life to do it. Find the right people to support your dreams and work really hard and then fly off that limb into wonderfulness. God has a dream for all of us and I think the most important thing in the world is for each and every one of us to find it. Look under the bushel for your light.

A little preachy, but when I was struggling at the beginning of this post, this is the way it came out. Blessings.

PS I Left My Heart in San Francisco is a wonderful song by the sublime Tony Bennett(as if you didn't know but just in case you don't give it a listen, I love Tony Bennett)

Taking a Risk

2012-01-14T18:29:00.001-08:00

Sometimes in life an opportunity comes along that makes you look at what you want or what you need that requires a risk or maybe a leap of faith. As I'm sure anybody who has read my blog since the beginning knows that I had a couple of setbacks in my artistic life. I shared those setbacks until I stopped sharing them and then thankfully a few really great buds got me to thinking about what my hand embroidery means in a different way.

Emily who got me to realize that it's really about my love of the stitch not so much what happens after the stitchery. It's not about the price tag it's about the stitch. She knows me so well, I guess we're kind of sisters of Panerahood where we meet every Tuesday morning. Doing something because you love it not because you can make money at it really makes all the difference. The saying about doing what you love and the money will come is really kind of true.

Kathy who got me to look at everything I do, right down to the littlest piece, as a piece of art. She also was the person who told me when people looked at my hand embroidered work they wondered how the hell I did it? I myself love to look at art that makes me wonder about that too, like my friend Judy's photographed turtle which I swear she must have been laying in the sand to take and Chung Ah's beautiful gourd doll houses which once again I have no idea how she does it.

And then there is Cheryl, my artist and life guru. She has encouraged me to do so many wonderful things. I am so thankful that she has traveled with me all over upstate NY giving me the confidence I didn't have when we started traveling. She is also married to the wonderful Jules who is her partner in crime and art. They love to make glass together and I love to watch them do it. She is also a wiz at everything artist business related which I am not, so I'm hoping she rubs off on me.
It was Cheryl who convinced me to send in pieces to the Garden show last January at Valley Artisans Market and it was Cheryl who convinced me to try again to become a member there now that I had found my artistic focus(one of those earlier artistic setbacks). Through her and Valley Artisans Market I have met wonderful artists and accepted that I too am a working artist.

Which brings me to tonight. Full circle moment. Tonight was the Valley Artisans Market artist invitational opening and the piece up above is Serenity, my piece for the show called Reflection. Reflecting on the last year it has really changed my life. Serenity is an example of the serenity I find when I hand embroider. That quiet serious focused part that I don't let out into the light of day too often. The DebraAnn in Debbie. I was struck at how wonderful it was to see people acknowledged for their vision and for taking the risk to put their work out into the universe. It really does take a leap of faith to be an artist. It's an even longer leap to take that art and put it into a show. I hope that each and every one of them realizes this night for the important moment it is and that they use this wonderful night as inspiration to take a few more leaps and maybe even become a coop member.

So in closing, if you have an inner artist and you are just waiting till the time is right, take that leap, it could end up changing your life in so many fabulous ways. I think 2012 is the year of the artist so make it your year and share the visions you carry in your head. Blessings.

Baby I'm a Want You

2012-01-12T15:31:00.001-08:00

This beautiful little heart is available at Samantha's Cafe in Glens Falls. I went up there yesterday to bring some brand new Valentine Hearts for the Valentine season. This heart is a wreath with pretty bunches of various purple french knots. I love purple and love french knots so it was loads of fun and fancy to make.

Baby I'm a Want You is a song from my childhood by the band Bread. Now I know you are asking yourself what the heck does this have to do with Valentine hearts. Well it was a song about love and it is a great segway for the most sublime bread pudding I have ever tasted. Now mind you I had never eaten bread pudding before going up to Samanthas, but that is irrelevant when it comes to sublime bread pudding. And they make their own bread which goes into this deliciousness.

Lately, I find myself saying that I love what I do and I love where I do it, but it really seems to all come together in this wonderful little cafe. Make art, sell art, eat delicious food and see wonderful creative artist chefs cook their work. It's a wonderful place with wonderful food and wonderful people so if you are ever up in Glens Falls, please go visit! And I also enjoy the ride listening to Bread(nah, it was the Black Keys, the saga continues). Keep stitchin and eating and loving what you do!

The Land of Hopes and Dreams

2012-01-08T13:09:00.001-08:00

Hope, a photo by DebraAnn813 on Flickr.

Where exactly is the land of Hopes and Dreams? New Jersey. Really, New Jersey. This is the title of a song by Bruce Springsteen one of our more famous residents. But he's not really alone. The list is endless including Frank Sinatra, Tom Cruise, Sharon Stone, Bon Jovi, and Samuel Alito, a current supreme court judge. It is amazing just how many famous people call the Garden State home(and as far as those current Jersey residents I think only one or two of them actually grew up there). Maybe it's the gardens, maybe it's the stick to itness or perhaps it's just that we have to try so much harder to rise above all the stereotypes. Being so close to NY it was really a wonderful place to grow up, I mean how many people can hop in a car and within 45 minutes be looking down on the world from the Empire State Building. There are beautiful beaches, lots of sports venues, zillions of restaurants and really good pizza. That being said I grew up a half a block away from a toxic waste dump although to be fair, when I lived there it was a functioning factory spewing chemicals in the air.

Hope and Dreams seem like such a faraway concept some time. The name of this hand embroidered piece is called Hope. It signifies a black hole with a hand coming out of it. It was the first art piece that I made. It came from a place of healing and it is one of my favorite pieces. I think you can survive anything if you remain hopeful.

When I was a kid in New Jersey I never in my wildest dreams could consider that I would be an artist and that people would be moved to actually buy my work. I loved to needlecraft as a hobby, but I never would have thought I'd end up here. But then again, look at the company I kept. I'm sure some of the people I mentioned earlier, did not believe their dreams would come true either. Dreams kind of happen to other people. The only thing that keeps you striving toward a dream is hope and persistence and hard work. I think New Jersey was fertile ground for that kind of thinking. Perhaps something was in the water or perhaps we became used to the concept of hard work.

I could really go on and on about the Land of Hope and Dreams, but in closing I will not answer the question with what exit, because to me New Jersey is an entrance not an exit. And if so inclined the song The Land of Hopes and Dreams is a really beautiful song. Give it a listen.

Looking Backwards and Forwards

2012-01-06T08:43:00.000-08:00

Oscar Night is a perfect example of my life at the present moment. I would have never made a piece like this a couple of years ago. I was kind of mired primitive or totally experimental. Nothing in the middle because even though I had hand embroidery artist on my business cards, I really didn't think I was an artist at heart. To be honest I really felt insecure about making real things. Motorcycles, birds, gowns are all things you can find looking right out your door and I was afraid the comparison would not end up favorably. But I have been lucky to have many wonderful friends, family, fellow artists and store owners who obviously saw something I wasn't ready to see myself. I became an artist last year, fully and completely. Everything about me is an artist now. I look at life so much differently. We are an interesting bunch because for the most part we march to a different drummer, a unique drummer.

OK enough psycho babble, lets talk about Oscar Night. She was residing in Valley Artisans market since late summer, early fall. And some wonderful person took her home during the Christmas holidays. I so enjoyed making her and along with the birds, the motorcycles, and the crazy colorful pieces,my work shifted in a more whimsical and fun direction. Out of all the successes of the past year, this piece was my favorite success. It was a departure. A good departure from my old work, something in between abstract and primitive(although I still love me some holly and berries). So as I look forward I am more ready to embrace art and take more risks. And I'm finally at the point where I can look at myself and say I'm just fine the way I am, dancing to my own inner drummer.

Sorry no music titles today, although I am still loving the Black Keys. The great thing about finding out about an artist 10 years after they formed is that you have 7 CDs that you can rotate and never get bored of. And every single one of them is great. The range of voices from a 20 year old who can sing the blues better, faster and gruffer then the old men to a more mature polished falsetto on El Camino. Just incredible from both sides of the spectrum. I'm really glad I found them at this later date as they sort of embody my embroidery life,willing to do the older blues from the Big Come Up, to writing all the songs on Magic Potion to the pure fun and whimsy of El Camino. They are also my favorite band to listen to while embroidery so lets just leave it at that.

Have a great day and a great weekend and I'd love to hear the wonderful things that happened to you last year and how you will build on them this year.

Just a Little Heat

2012-01-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

It's cold and dreary on this day and I can't really think of anything insightful to say, so I will leave you with this happy little colorful bird. It is called Whackadoodle and it is in Valley Artisans Market if you would like to visit him or perhaps bring him to a nice warm home.

Just a Little Heat is a song by the Black Keys. It's on Magic Potion. It's a great song and it brings just a little heat on this cold,cold day.

Sunny Afternoon

2012-01-04T07:02:00.001-08:00

The name of this piece is Sunshine Heart! I picked the title from the Kinks song aptly named Sunny Afternoon. The video for this song features the Kinks singing from a snow filled whatever about a sunny afternoon in the summer. It is morning, it is winter, it is darn cold and it is kind of bleakish at the moment. I felt a strange kinship with the Kinks about this particular song this morning.

I love the Kinks. Have since I'm a little girl. My favorite song of all time is You Really Got Me. I love all the remakes, including Van Halen, who I don't really like to be honest. I used to love to dance to this song . But there are dozens of songs made by them that I adore. Lola(but of course), All Day and All Night, Celluloid Heroes, Come Dancing, well I won't bore you with my Kinks musical favorites, you can go to Youtube and listen for yourself or come up with one of your own. Although I'm sure many people have heard of the Kinks so it's easier to remind you to go and give then a listen then it is to introduce you to them .

Since I'm kinda boring this morning I'll leave you with just this one little tidbit. Go listen to music, let it be a gift you give yourself, you deserve it and there is not enough music in the world today to take away the pains of everyday living, as we can see everyday our nightly newscasts.

What song will you listen to today? I'm fishing for blog titles here so don't be shy.

Have Love Will Travel

2012-01-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

Have Love Will Travel!! And boy have my little love hearts traveled all over upstate NY and beyond! I mentioned yesterday that my hearts have become an "overnight" success. Not really so overnight, but whatever. Now they are carried at Katbird Shop in Schenectady, Desolation Road in Altamont, Valley Artisans Market in Cambridge, Samantha's Cafe in Glens Falls and Seven Sisters Gift Shop in North Creek. Maybe you are unfamiliar with the beautiful capital region and Adirondacks up here in upstate NY but the closest location to my house is Schenectady and that is a half hour away. I usually go with my artistic friend Cheryl so don't feel too sorry for me. We travel, chat, eat and make art. Life is good. I also forgot to mention Albany Shaker which has closed after the Christmas season. I sold so many hearts there that I'm sure some of them traveled to places more exotic but not necessarily more beautiful then upstate NY. If you happened to get one and you happen to read my blog please tell me where my love has traveled to. Thanks in advance!

There is another purpose for this particular blog post. Have Love Will Travel is on Thickfreakness(and yes I get a lot of joy from liking a CD named Thickfreakness) by the Black Keys. It's a cover so if you don't like them you can look for a different version. I have and I still like the Black Keys version. In the song there is a line that says I find me a girl who can satisfy me. Now I'm sure if you are a singer in a rock and roll band that is probably true, but for the rest of us maybe not. There is a particular lovely lady in my universe who seems to think she has no life unless there is a man in it. My advice for her is find your own satisfaction and then the man will come. This works in finding a lady, finding a job, finding a hobby,etc. Coming from a background of unexpressed grief, it's easy to understand the idea that anything external, which can get you out of your pain, is the answer. My husband of 24 years can probably tell you not quite. He's been a steady,stable influence most of my adult life. I can honestly say that it wasn't until I dealt with my grief issues, and all of the issues that come from being a traumatized child with a dazzling smile and the ability to make people laugh, that things changed for me. I could make anyone comfortable talking about anything, because to be honest almost anything you can think of good and bad has happened in my own life.

Then I found the beauty and peace and meditation of hand embroidery. It's my thing. It brings me to my center and I feel a certain peace in my happy tortured soul. For some insane reason the Black Keys do that for me too, but that is probably because now I can remember the happy go lucky tortured soul I was before my mother died. I love to dance and believe me, if you know me, you are going to see the pounds just melt off of me because I am dancing while washing the dishes, dancing while doing the laundry. It seems the only times the headphones come off is when I'm in the shower and I'm looking for a waterproof Zune. The only downside to this is that I often sing along and I am not a very good singer and my family really doesn't know what to do with a happy Debbie any more then the unhappy one, but we'll all adjust.

Now that being said, find your version of embroidery. A hobby or vocation that makes your heart complete. Go back to your childhood that is usually where it's found. Find a CD that rocks your world and then laugh at yourself because you realize every single word has resonance in your life. If those small changes don't rid you of despair, find a therapist. Find a twelve step program(thankfully I never needed one of those). Find a really good friend who will listen when you are sad and laugh with you when you are happy. Find reasons to wake up every day with a song in your heart. I don't know what song that is for you but for me it is Have Love Will Travel! Blessings and love and I hope the person this message was intended for hears it. Much love to my mom and dad. I miss you and love you and I'm ok!

Take a Little Piece of My Heart

2012-01-02T08:08:00.000-08:00

Really, take a little piece of my heart. I haven't spoken about process lately so hear we go. I have been making hearts a long time, a really long time, but it took a spin at being an artist to really make them sing. I've tried making stars and squares and crosses but in the end I have sold or given away more hearts than anything else. One of my favorite verses in the bible is "for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also". Never has that bible verse been more relevant.

I get tremendous joy out of embroidering hearts. I try out new stitches, new designs, and am inspired to just keep making them one after another. I start out with a little cardboard heart shape. I trace the heart with pencil on the wrong side. I use a contrasting thread and make a basting stitch around the heart. I use the air erasable markers to draw every single one. I don't like templates and if there is a dud it is one dud and not twenty or thirty of them. Most of the time I start with a simple design but on more intricate ones and new designs I like to draw the whole heart first to get a basic idea of where things should go. I then do the "hard" work of embroidering(that's a joke so you can laugh if you want to). I love details, just adore them. So of course I add a lot of detail to them. Then I pin the ribbon on, put matching fabric on and stuff them. I usually give them names, at least for my own process, as I find I treat them more like art if they have a name. Every single one is different and even if I am doing multiples, they are each one of a kind.

I label them as one of a kind, but I found this year that even people who know me and my work didn't realize that I drew each one and made each, one of a kind. They are something small and wonderful and can be hung on your Christmas tree or on your doorknob or on your curtain pull. They are very versatile. They are textured or beautiful or both.

Spiritually I feel like I give away a little piece of my heart with each one that goes to live with someone else, I feel that they are my treasure. Joyfully they give me a reason to do thousands and thousands of french knots and keep my hands busy and my mind peaceful. I'm going to be making them all year and for every season so you will be seeing a lot of them as when I can't share an art piece I can share my heart.

Take a Little Piece of my Heart is a song by Janis Joplin. She's not a favorite artist of mine but that song and the way she sings it is one of my favorites. Give it a listen.Have a great day, spread your own heart around in any way that makes you feel good. Blessings.

New Years Resolution

2012-01-01T09:17:00.001-08:00

In my opinion resolutions are too specific as is my blog, but that is neither here nor there. My resolutions are:

1. Work more!
2. Work hard!
3. Work happy!
4. Love more!
5. Love hard!
6. Love happy!
7. See art more!
8. Listen to music hard(or soft depending on the mood)
9. Read more!
10. Share more art, mine and others!
11. Blog more than once a week!
12. Make art not war!
13. Have love will travel anywhere the universe wants me to go!
and
14.Be healthier and that should be easier with the first 13!

Don't worry, be happy and have a happy, prosperous, artistic new year!

Joy

2011-12-31T08:28:00.001-08:00

A little joy 002, a photo by DebraAnn813 on Flickr.

I didn't want to end this year without expressing just how joyful this year was. Not the whole year but so much of it. At the end of this year I'm lucky to share my love of family, love of embroidery, love of music with masses. I've had such wonderful opportunities, such wonderful times with friends and family, such wonderful time hand embroidering and I've discovered how easy it is to be happy with a needle in my hand and headphones on my ears! I'm also crocheting a wee bit too. If this wasn't your joyful year, find what makes you joyful and start doing it NOW! Blessings and Happy New Year!

El Camino

2011-12-30T13:06:00.001-08:00

First things first, Mr. Bluebird wishes you nestloads of happiness in the new year! El Camino means the path(and yes the record review will come later in the blogpost so you can read the beginning). My path to where I am today has been quite a journey. Today I am an artist with nestloads of wonderful opportunities and the peace and joy that comes with doing what you love and having other people love it enough to buy it. But my journey was hard and treacherous and some days I wanted to retreat to my bed and pull the covers up tightly. The last few blog posts have been about some of that early journey which probably had a lot more under the covers days. But I was blessed too, I had a mother who loved me unconditionally and totally and even though I lost her at a young age I know she has taken the next 20 years to shape my life and she has found living angels to kind of pick up the slack. My father was very conflicted and in the end just wanted to be happy. He might have made mistakes but all was forgiven and I love him very much and miss his charming smile.(that is the reason I took down yesterdays post because as much as he is part of the journey, a lot of my journey with him was tempered and shaped by loss).

I had wonderful grandparents and I was blessed with all of them, wonderful aunts and cousins and family friends. Then I met Peter and journeying together we have a very nice life now and hopefully my son will find his pot of gold and a girl to go with it when he is ready.

I had wonderful friends all throughout my life, very fortunate to call many wonderful people my friends. Some I haven't seen in years but thanks to Facebook you can find everyone from your best friend in kindergarten to your first boyfriend.

My trusty needles have been my finest companions, they have seen me through grief, love, death, anger(well you get my drift) although to be honest the person using those needles would have never believed she could utter the word artist and be talking about herself.

I was taught the needlearts when I was about 6, all of them except quilting, from my father's mother. I did hand embroidery kits and knit scarves and crocheted afghans. I gave them as gifts and made myself things but never really considered that my art. Then I had my son and a mother friend of another boy saw my work and suggested I try to sell some of my ornaments, so I did with very little success I must say at first. But then I taught myself how to make christening outfits and because they were so well made people bought sweater sets and I would make pillows to supplement that income, still didn't think of myself as an artist. If you read my blog regularly you know the rest of the journey is longwinded and you've heard it before.

Suffice it to say being a hand embroidery artist in the year 2011 is not the easiest line of work especially if you don't do things the way your grandmothers did(although a beautiful sampler made the way your grandmother made it is a piece of art work by my estimation) and to be fair it is probably easier to look at me and see grandmotherly work but I like bright and cheerful and happy things to look at. I love to do an occasional barn or house but the colorful bright things make my heart sing.

And now I am an artist something I never dreamed of. In all my days I never really thought something I loved so much and did all my life would be the answer to all my questions about life. I am a stitch, I like to make people laugh, I try to bring people together, I stitch up little holes left behind by mere mortals and I spend most of my happy time with a needle in my hand and a needle on a great CD(ok now you can tune out).

El Camino by the Black Keys is about their journey, the voice that you cannot believe came out of a twenty year old(maybe I feel a kinship because of the bright colors), the tortured soul music which has a beat and you can dance to it, the perserverance of ten years of constant touring and selling 700,000 records(brothers)and varying amounts much lower then that with their previous works. I think that must have been incredibly hard to do and now I want you to reward them by buying El Camino(I kind of feel like a fairy grandmother to the two of them). It's a fabulous fun CD with the influences of the Kinks(my favs), TRex(my faves), the Cars(my faves) etc., etc.,etc. All of the bands that influenced them were my favorite bands when I was their age(slightly younger actually). I can't pick out a favorite song because I like them all for different reasons. I like all the Black Keys songs, and I do mean all, for different reasons. But I guess the reason I like them so much is they are artists with a voice and a guitar and a drum. A little bit different(ok a lot different) from their peers. (They can actually sing and play their own instruments, a number of different instruments)They love music and each other(not that way)as much as I love my embroidery and all of the wonderful friendsisters I've been so lucky to have. So go out and buy their CD or some other CD that speaks to that small person that lives in your head who thinks gee I wish I could be an artist. You just have to find some music that makes you happy and do something that makes you happier then anything else in the world, combine them and then magic happens. God Bless and Happy New Year!

The Black Keys

2011-12-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

I have nothing to share hand embroidery wise today so I thought I would address my Black Keys obsession. No I have not had some Black Keys induced mental breakdown. They are just the most soulfully, sexy, bluesy thing missing(well not missing just not found) in music today. Their early music has been used to sell people my age all kinds of things like beer, BMW's and Victoria's Secret underwear but their marketing and yes their age worked against them for so many years. I've become a Black Keys fan because anybody or anything that can make me laugh, dance, or feel sexy during this time of year when I usually listen to Christmas music and cry has to be the best.

It started with Brothers. I took the CD out of the library because they won best alternative artist at the Grammys early this year. I also liked the video for Tighten Up. It's an adorable playground video with adorable little children and it's funny(go find it on You tube). All of their videos are funny as are their interviews. Funny, really funny. I liked Tighten Up and Howlin very much but it was the soulfullness of the rest of the CD that I really liked. Went out and bought it right that day. Listened to it a lot because I thought it was great. A few months later I found the viral Lonely Boy video, which I really just got a great kick out of. The gentleman dancing appears to be close to my age and I remembered me and my friends dancing at the clubs back in the 70's early 80's. I still thought they were just a new band I discovered. A few months later El Camino was being released and I heard on the radio that it was their 7th cd. I simply couldn't believe it. 7 CD's from this excellent band, can't be. Well yes it was.

My wonderful son found them and got them for me as an early Christmas present. All of them. Their early work is what really got me hooked. Rubber Factory is the best album I have heard in years. I hope they clean it up and re-release it now that people know who they are. Dan Auerbach has a voice that could melt plastic and it's his real voice not manipulated as almost all of the singers today are. Guitar riffs galore, great drum beats. I dare you to listen to it and not move, it's impossible. I have so many favorites from those early CD's it's hard to list them all but go google Have Love Will Travel. I shared it on Facebook and nobody watched it. And I don't mind telling you that I had to search for a video that will appeal to my demographic. Most of their early video's bring out the mother in me. Cut the hair, take a shower and ZZTop isn't all that sexy. But the voice and the soulful eyes that look a lot older than their youth speaks to me. And they are even better live on Youtube if you can get past the look. I have to admit I'm kind of wishing for a day when I can see the current, more mature Black Keys sing the sexy soulful stuff from the past.

Now the most amazing part of this band is the inspirational story behind them. They formed in 2001. Just two guys with a guitar and a set of drums. College dropouts who wrote, performed and produced their early albums. They toured all over the country in a minivan sleeping in the back of the van. That is probably the reason for their look on the early videos. All of their early albums were critically reviewed. But they looked like Nirvana and sounded like Cream or Bad Company so perhaps they needed a different marketing strategy. Musicians like Robert Plant and Ike Turner took notice but people who actually buy CDs and Itunes didn't, also advertising companies did and started using their music for all sorts of things. Every year their tours would get bigger and their songs would be used to sell other things. And then came Brothers which made them an overnight sensation. Read their bio and then tell every artist or musician that yes you can be musically pure to your vision and still make it as an artist.

I sometimes wonder why I like their music so much and although I gave you quite a few reasons, I think it is because they are the happy tortured souls with insights far beyond their years and I am a happy tortured soul who has always had those insights.

So do me a favor go over to YouTube, find Have Love Will Travel or When the Lights Go Out or You're the One, close your eyes and just listen. Or perhaps give a listen to Rubber Factory and then go out and buy it(that CD deserves more then a few hundred thousand buyers) Now I'm going to get back to my beloved hand embroidery and the bluesy sexy music which has made my holidays a little easier to bear. Blessings and happiness and remember any CD where a man soulfully growls is sexy.

My Mother the Artist

2011-12-27T08:03:00.001-08:00

As I've mentioned before both of my parents were frustrated artists, the other day as I was washing my dishes and dancing to the Black Keys(they have become the soundtrack to my life)I thought about my mother. We would watch American Bandstand every single week and dance to it. Perhaps it was her way to make her soul a little less tortured or maybe it just brought her joy or maybe she just wanted to bring me joy. She would tell me about the days when she was young and she would listen to Johnny Mathis real low at night in her bed because when she was young things were quite a bit different. She liked the Rolling Stones because they were a dirtier version of the Beatles right down to their teeth(yes that is a an actual remembrance). Not many kids my age had a mother like that, but then again not every mother treated their kids like the sun rose and the moon set on them, which she did for both my brother Anthony and myself. If we had an interest she was interested. If we had something to say she listened to it. We were her entire world .

She was a voracious reader, she had us reading adult books at a very young age. I read Portnoy's Complaint when I was 11 or 12, didn't really understand it but I read it. She loved romance novels and when I was a kid so did I. I used to bring them to school because school was another one of those landmines and I could escape, I had a friend Glenn who used to tease me about my romance novels in the 9th grade. Nicely tease which back then was a rarity. My dad knew someone who got paperback books with the front covers ripped off and there were always romance novels to read and probably that is where Portnoy's Complaint came from. Looking back I guess my mom realized reading is fundamental to a well functioning brain and it doesn't really matter what you are reading as long as you read and comprehend.

She was the president of the local VFW Auxiliary. Every year they had a Voice of Democracy contest for the high school seniors for scholarship money and every year she made sure I wrote one even in the 3rd or 4th grade. She was often so proud of my results.

She helped me with my grade school art projects. She'd help me make my teepees and dioramas,it was a wonderful help except for the time we made my plaster of paris volcano from plaster. Now I can see the humor in that in the 6th grade not so much.

We went to the drive in movies a lot. When I was about 10, my parents took us to see The Graduate and Carnal Knowledge. The Graduate is a beautiful artistic movie and Carnal Knowledge well, as I was pretending to sleep in the hatchback of our 67 dodge charger,I heard her say I thought it was Cardinal Knowledge a movie about the Pope(I kid you not). We saw Mary Poppins and Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang(which was referred to in later years as something I will not repeat).

As far as my artistic childhood, she used to bring us to Nationals which was an early day version of Walmart and seat us at the snack bar(where everyone watched over us) and give us money to spend however we wanted. I would spend my money on yarn, embroidery thread, books and music. And another perk is everytime I enter a store with a snack bar I wax nostalgic about the smell of grilled cheese. She allowed me to try and teach her how to knit which was a study of frustration for both herself and me. She never did learn but always managed to find just a little extra money for yarn or embroidery thread or a kit of some sort so that was ok.

As far as her artistry, she was a painter and a crafter. Painting was her first love and she used to paint clowns with tears coming from their eyes and say they reminded her of me and probably not just a few people but anybody who really knows me throughout my life knows it's spot on. I'm either laughing or crying or doing both at the same time. She used to send in those matchbook covers and dream of an art school education, alas it was not meant to be. She also made beaded fruit, shrink wrap ornaments, toilet tissue flowers, etc.

In the end, I read the classics in my 30's when I was a stay at home mom. I would read every book by Steinbeck, Hemingway, Walden Pond, etc. Read the great poets such as Robert Frost and I believe to this day I am traveling that road not often traveled. Listen to Classical music to meditate and Andrea Bocelli to embroider, knowing that I don't understand Italian and will never go to Italy. I came to appreciate the art of the masters and the beauty of all art, no matter how ugly. As I know we can often learn more about the human condition from ugly art then beautiful.

This beautiful soul did not even graduate from high school(humorous story about that too but that one will stay hidden) but she was the smartest, most artistically loving person I will ever know. My son often reminds me of her, he has many of the same traits that made her so wonderful to me. Most of all she taught me how to love everything, even the imperfections of the humans we live with.

To all the mothers out there the education system can only do so much and even less today then back then, so find your children's interests and nurture them even in unconventional ways. And realize that even when a loved one is gone they leave you with so much in your heart and your soul, you just have to find it which can be so darn hard.

I started this blog post with a different idea, but I think I'm happy I was able to pay tribute to the wonderful person who knew everything that was important to me, taught me what is really important for everyone, and who left such an indelible mark that it has taken me half my life to get over her loss.

A Real Job

2011-12-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite piece. It is called The World As I See It. It is now in my private collection but it proves the point of this post better than any other piece I've made. Being an artist is a real job. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing better in the world then when someone looks at piece of work and they see the intention that was in your head when you created it. At that point it doesn't really matter whether they buy it or not.

I bring this piece to craft shows to show people what I am capable of, I thought of actually selling it but you just can't put a price on it. It took so many tiny little stitches and so much blood, sweat and tears(creative license I didn't literally bleed or sweat on it) I can't sell it.

It was started in 2007 during my first opportunity to be a working artist. I joined an artist coop that turned out not to be a very good fit for me and rejection can be a very depressing setback for an artist. So it was stopped probably three quarters of the way done and sat in a draw until last year after I became comfortable seeing myself as an artist. I had already worked on it for months and months and might I add I'm a pretty prolific embroiderer and I still had worked on it for months and months at that point. I would look at it every now and then wistfully, but until I was ready to sacrifice my self worth, my artistry and my soul it sat in a draw.

The next few years as an artist were very difficult as I catapulted myself from one medium to another hoping to catch that financial benefit that comes from being a successful artist. You can ask any of my artist friends how many tears I shed those few years. That being said there were definitely some sunny skies. I was lucky to meet my friend Cheryl who is an out of this world glass artist and very successful. She is my friend first, but she also happens to be my mentor of all things art related. Not only is she an out of this world glass artist but she is also very good business person, which frankly I'm not. She introduced me to Kathy at the Katbird Shop who liked my work and made me see it in a different way, she also sold my work. All of it, she rocks as a chooser of fine art and the clientele she finds or that find her to buy it. It allowed me to go out on that branch and have a safe place to fall without losing my soul or my sanity to do it.

Fast forward to 2010, which seems to be the year of the persistent artist. So many successes in so many venues after years and years of blood, sweat and tears. It could be because the general economy was so bad that people who lost their "real jobs" followed their hearts and dreams. Or perhaps people looked at art as the only true thing left in a world of fakery and deceit and decided art wasn't so not a real job after all.

The world as I see it saw the light of day and it came out of the drawer, it took a couple of months to finish it. I framed it in a crappy frame which is probably a godsend because it is also the most beautiful piece I have ever made and the frame doesn't really enhance it which to me makes it even more beautiful and easier to keep it myself since no matter what frame I put it in, it just doesn't fit. Boy that's a powerful metaphor isn't it?

I brought this piece to Valley Artisans Market to be juried and the rest is my version of a successful artist. Happy to be doing what I love and happy to be a more business oriented artist with a thicker skin. I love the essence of the building, the beautiful artistry of my fellow coop members. Every day I am there I have a moment of the best thing about being an artist from my first paragraph. Someone gets it, maybe they don't purchase it but they "get" it.

Everywhere all over the world there are artists, who even if they are successful, sacrifice time with their families and most especially their kids. They put their souls out on display for the chance that it will touch someone. They suffer abuse, bad reviews, insulting comments no matter how beautiful or heartfelt their work is,or for that matter how successful they are. I try to remember that myself whenever I hear a really crappy song or see a really crappy movie. I guess because the perks of an average bar band are better then the perks of being a hand embroidery artist, it's easy to forget how many hours go into any artistic endeavor and easy to understand why some people don't think of art as a real job. But that doesn't take into effect just how hard it is to be creative instead of getting a steady income and the respect that a good paying job entails. But in the end if Michaelangelo would have been a judge or Shakespeare would have been a plumber think how much the world would have lost.

So the moral of this story is the next time you buy an album and it doesn't really rock your boat, look at it as an investment in the next greatest hit. The next time you go to a craft show and see something you could make yourself but will never make, don't say it. There are hours and hours behind that one piece. Think of it in terms of your real job, you can have a bad day and maybe your boss hates you, but you have the stability of a paycheck. If you are an artist and you have an off day, it's everythihg.

By the way, this is not a knock on those who have "real" jobs. They allow the dreamers in all of us to follow our dreams and perhaps some day find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. They are artists of their own making also, they just get paid better for it.

This piece is dedicated to my family, my artist friends, my non artist friends, my fellow artists and to dreamers everywhere who are ready to sacrifice anything to make art.

My Christmas Present to You

2011-12-25T05:38:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! OK so there is no picture. Mr. Cardinal is tired from way too much eggnog. I am working on a special piece I can't share because it is for the Reflection show at VAM and it will not open until January 12th. I would share a YouTube video but being a woman of the seventies I don't know how to do that and my son is sleeping.

So first off, whatever your current atmosphere is I hope you can find some peace and tranquility and love with your family and friends. Your family and friends are really the gift you give yourself if you are able to give and receive.

I guess if you read my blog you've realized I'm just a wee bit eccentric(to say the least). You probably also know that most of my adult life the holidays were a struggle(to say the least). Both my parents died in the first week of January. My mother who was the most wonderful person I will ever know, a beautiful artistic loving soul who never quite recovered from the death of my brother when I was little, died on January 3,1983 when I was 24. My dad, who was a carpenters apprentice in Bermuda, before moving as a teen to Brooklyn NY died a few hours into January 1,1997 when my son was 6. I never really talk about it in those stark terms but rather oozed it from Thanksgiving to the first week in January every single year from 1983 until this year. The other important thing about the both of them was that they were frustrated artists. My mother painted, my dad made cabinets and other wonderful things. And they were both really talented. But my mother put her dreams on hold to be a mother to my brother and me and my father's apprenticeship was ended by circumstances.

Even as a child Christmas was an issue. Now as an adult I look back and realize that Christmas involves the dead as much as the living and perhaps it was just too much for their broken hearts to bear. I did have wonderful, wonderful Christmas memories with my wonderful big Italian family with hearts and love big enough for the world. Cousins, second cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, kids food love. Great memories. As a kid though you don't really realize the complications of life.

And then we reach the true gift of this post. This year was the year I healed all those scars. I became an artist. Perhaps I was one before this year but I personally in my head, and my heart and my soul became an artist. I learned to appreciate the sacrifices and work it requires to be an artist. I also learned to appreciate art in many different forms, with the word, with the clay with the rhythm.

I also learned that being super busy during the holidays is a great way not to wallow in the past. Wallowing is not good and it really doesn't do justice to all the wonderful people missing from your holiday table. But that being said if wallowing makes you happy, wallow away.

Around my birthday I discovered the Black Keys. I thought Brothers was their first CD and it made me smile and put a little pep in my step and was great to embroider to. A great birthday present for myself although I didn't really know it at the time. Then I found the Lonely Boy video, that man dancing reminded me of a time when I was a carefree girl that loved to dance and didn't really give a darn whether people liked it or not. I had a great time during my late teens and early twenties before 1983. Ok so I'll move along, it turns out the Black Keys are 2 guys who made their first 6 albums in their basement. Made them, produced them and toured all over the country promoting themselves before being breakthrough since 2001. They did it all themselves because they wanted to make a certain kind of music that really wasn't in vogue. They sing, they play their own instruments and they sound exactly the same way whether you are seeing them sing live on Youtube or listening to a CD(although the early CD's are a little raw as they produced them themselves in their basement). Now what the heck does this have to do with my Christmas. Their music reminds me of a time before. I can't sit still when I listen to them. I want to dance, I want to sing and I don't really care what anybody thinks about it(I am from NJ after all). They bring me joy. Joy is the gift you have to give yourself. They give me an inspirational story. They give me the ability to tune everyone else out. They make me move. They made me remember myself. They are the soundtrack for my life, love, loss and a great beat behind it.

OK I'm getting to the point. When Aunt Sally drinks a little too much eggnog because she misses Uncle Louie, love her. When Debbie cries while listening to Have Yourself a Merry Christmas give her a hug. When you burn your ham or forget the beer relax, there are worse things in the world, you can write me an email if you want proof. Life is ugly but it's the love that we share and we give and the soundtracks of our lives. Find your Black Keys, love your family in their imperfect way and embroider your own peace. There is light at the end of the tunnel, If you are sad remember the good things, if you are more than sad get as much help as you need. Your ghosts want you to be happy even if it means ignoring the world by putting your headphones on. Enjoy your dinners! Enjoy your gifts especially the ones made by an artist. Love the tortured souls. I will make lasagna which doesn't compare to my grandmother's. I will sit with my wonderful son and husband and listen to the dog bark about her wonderful new toys. I will spend a lot of my day embroidering and listening to the Black Keys. And if you happen to be a woman about 52 say and you remember the bar scene fondly go buy yourself Rubber Factory. It's great, better than Brothers and El Camino which are great too.

And finally if you read this book from beginning to end, you are a kind soul who deserves a nice holiday hug. Smooches and love.

The Inspiration of Music

2011-12-22T14:01:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I know it's Christmas time and everything everywhere is Christmas music, but this post is going in a different direction as Christmas music inspires me to cry and that's not such a great thing. That being said music does calm the savage beast and inspires me daily. I have really diverse musical likes. Right now I'm into the Black Keys whose Brothers CD made me go out and buy it after one listen to the one from the library. Much to my surprise I discovered they had 6 cd's before that,my wonderful son got them for me as an early Christmas gift and I'm listening to them 24 hours a day. Their bluesy, rock music makes hand embroidering abstract pieces and crocheting funky scarves and bags(I appear to have gotten my fibery mojo back)so much fun. Although I guess to be honest embroidering and crocheting are fun to begin with. Before them it was the Killers or Dave Matthews for that kind of work. I guess the inspiration gotten from them is that they make me feel young or remind me of my twenties when all of them were toddlers. When I'm moody I listen to Death Cab for Cutie. Doesn't that name just scream out moody? They write beautiful reflective songs which you can relate to when you are moody and for the most part make you less moody. Years ago when I made christening outfits and my early hand embroidered pieces it was Andrea Bocelli. I still listen to Bocelli when I make christmas ornaments as they need to come from an otherworldly place I don't understand, the way I don't understand Italian. But then again music is a universal language.

Today I was at Valley Artisans Market which is located beneath the legendary Hubbard Hall. They have many musical events there and you can feel the artistry and musical energy when you are there. Jim at Desolation Road has open mike night and often has musical guests. I think visual art and musical art compliment each other in such a wonderful way, whether music is being played at the moment or not. Music leaves behind such a wonderful energy.

All that being said, for all you fellow non-christmasy music types there is one cd I would recommend it's YoYo Ma's christmas cd. It's beautiful and classical and it brings peace instead of tears.

So what's on your IPOD and how does it inspire you? I hope if nothing else this post inspired you to go out and buy some Black Keys or Andrea Bocelli CD's as a Christmas present for yourself or at least gave you a chuckle. Merry Christmas from me and mine to you and yours! See you soon.

Life is good!

2011-12-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Yes it's my friend the cardinal once again. I figured with Christmas next week, the cardinal's days are numbered so I thought I'd give him one more look as my Christmas icon.

This has been such an incredible year! It started out great with being accepted to Valley Artisan's Market and ended with an incredible holiday shopping event at Samantha's Cafe where they are carrying my ornaments and scarves and soon my little framed pieces(not to mention the fantastic food, try the Thai chicken salad). So exciting. The Katbird Shop is celebrating it's triumphant 6th anniversary and the Albany Shaker Museum has had a great year too. I hope all this good news is a harbinger of good things to come for the arts and the artists.

My family is well too. My hubby is doing great and happy in his job. My son had a great year in college and completed his first job. My dog is reasonably healthy and life is good here too.

I had lots of fun driving all over the upstate region with my friend Cheryl. We did so many galleries and cool lunches all over the map. And my friend Emily has her kids nearby and one of them is getting married next year so there is something to look forward to next year and we had lot's of good Tuesday mornings at Panera's. My friend Debbie got married this year(they are the perfect couple of the bear). And I was delighted to find many old friends on Facebook and running into a couple of unexpected friends at the track. It was great reconnecting with them.

And then there is the whole embroidery thing. This is the year I realized just how lucky I am to have such a beautiful meditative passion. The world disappears when I am embroidering. I become silent(quite a feat), peaceful and if I work to music(like the Black Keys who I just discovered have been around a lot longer then I thought) I am just so joyful and happy. And thanks to both Kathy at the Katbird and Jennifer at Samanthas I can knit and crochet every once in a while too. Such a wonderful thing to love what you do and to be able to do it.

So that's why my life is good, what great things have happened to you this year?

A Little Peace

2011-12-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

Hi All! It's been a little longer break then I wished it to be. I misplaced my usb cord in with my embroidery supplies(the obvious place really) and after a few days of looking in all the places it should have been it miraculously showed up in with my embroidery supplies. It's become quite obvious that after this wonderful holiday season dies down a good organizing session(or several) will definitely be in my day planner.

I'm having a tremendous holiday season as so many of my artist friends are. I think the buy local, buy handmade emphasis has made such a difference. And I'm hopeful that perhaps so many people will love their beautiful handmade gifts(and ornaments) that a tradition will be started and that there will be as many people shopping at their local gallery or gift store as there are camping outside Walmart on Black Friday. It's a pretty optimistic hope but a good one.

Since this blog is supposed to be about hand embroidery and not a sales pitch, that will be my last commentary on the business side of my business. I am sleeping, eating and breathing embroidery at the moment and I'm happy to say I'm happy. A tall order due to the melancholy nature of this particular time of year in my life. I don't think it's the wonderful business(although that is really wonderful) I think it is the reality that if I embroider every day I am a happier person. It's wonderful being so busy that you can't really ponder anything more then how many more ornaments you need or how much you enjoy the french knots or tiny little stitches. It makes all the little stresses disappear with each tiny little stitch. Talking to Em this morning we were talking about a letdown after Christmas but I think the last few months(most of the year)have shown me that you just have to do something you love, have great pride and care doing it and let the universe have it's way with you. It's not about the business it's about being passionate enough about something to do the hard work that is required and following through. If I had to pick one thing different this year that would be it. To make the most beautiful ornament or piece that I can, something I am proud of and then let it go and start the next hopefully beautiful piece. It's really just that simple. I love making these things and my only hope is that someone else will love them too. And I'm happier so life is good.

About that melancholy time of year, it is the time when all the losses and regrets seem to rear their ugly head, just do something you love whether it's baking cookies, painting a landscape or embroidering an ornament and it may not make that melancholy time of year disappear but it will make it easier for you to deal with it. Make that a gift you give yourself. If you don't know what that missing piece is give yourself the gift of learning something you've always wanted to learn. Spanish, Italian, pottery making, knitting whatever it is. We all have some kind of answer to our woes sometimes we just have to look for them. If my pep talk doesn't work then look at the ornament at the top of this page and I hope it gives you a little peace and a little bit of happiness. Best wishes and blessings. Back to the embroidery.

Happy Thanksgiving a day late!

2011-11-25T17:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving a day late. Had a wonderful holiday with family back on the island. So nice to see everybody. The kids have all gotten so much older(where does the time go anyway), the food was delicious, and the company even better. I am blessed to have such a wonderful family.

I have so much to be thankful for and news to share with my artwork also. Tomorrow is our Holiday Open House opening up in Cambridge at Valley Artisans Market, there are so many beautiful things to choose from. I am so looking forward to it! Please drop in and give it a look you won't be disappointed I promise. We are also having a raffle for a Valley Artisans Market tote bag,jam packed with goodies from all of the artisans. All you have to do is spend $20.00 and you will be entered in the raffle and that also means that if you spend $40.00 you will have 2 chances. $60 and you will have 3 and so on and so on. The artwork included in the raffle is very beautiful so please come.

I will also be selling my work at Samantha's Cafe(and gift shop) up in Glens Falls. Samantha's is a wonderful cafe with delicious food and beautiful artwork. I recommend the bread pudding and the butternut squash apple bisque. They are delicious. Right now they are carrying hand embroidered ornaments but coming soon will also be carrying some of my hand embroidered pieces and crocheted scarves.

Lots to keep me busy and grounded during this hectic time of year. That is something I am also thankful for. I am also quite thankful for the opportunity to show my work in The Katbird Shop in Schenectady with the wonderful Kathy at the helm and to have my ornaments carried by Jim at Desolation Road in Altamont. And once again a reminder to shop at the Christmas Craft Fair at Albany Shaker where there is also a raffle for a beautiful quilt along with many talented artisans.

Now that my Black Friday sales pitch is over, may I just remind you that tomorrow is small business Saturday so buy local. With my next blog post, I will get back to what I enjoy the most, hand embroidering and talking about hand embroidering. My greatest thankfulness this year is the opportunity to hand embroider and have my work in enough places to keep me happily, meditatively using my hands every single day! I hope you are having a very creative and meditative holiday season too. Keep stitching(so that you don't do that very stressful holiday thing that rhymes with stitching). Blessings to all!

Ornaments, ornaments, ornaments

2011-11-18T17:24:00.000-08:00

This little cardinal and his brothers and sisters would like to remind you to buy handmade this christmas holiday. After a few weeks of wonderful times with many fabulous shop owners and artisans and a few weeks of ornaments, ornaments, ornaments, I am happily ensconced in my embroidered cocoon. A little tired, actually more than a little but it has been worth it tenfold.

I've seen such beautiful things in my travels. I'll begin with Valley Artisans Market, there you will see beautiful glasswork by my friend Cheryl who is a remarkable artisan in more ways than 1 . Beautiful pottery by Chung Ah along with the most remarkable, gourd doll houses, new roosters and mosaics from Rose And the incredible dolls made by the wonderful Julie complimented wonderfully by the beautiful paintings of Jean. And also for all of those with beautiful little children(or delightful grandchildren) there are beautiful wooden toys which are made so beautifully and wonderfully constructed. There are pens for men, earrings for the lady and beautiful baskets to bring them home and so much more. A trip to VAM is a must see for the most incredible gifts ever.

I also visited the delightful Kathy at the Katbird Shop, she is such a wonderful store owner to deal with and she has a lot of beautiful, cool things too. She has wonderful soaps to smell, beautiful bags(including quite a few of my own)to carry your belongings, beautiful glassware, a wonderful baby section and of course lots of ornaments. Perhaps if you are lucky you will get to meet mayoral candidate Roger the cat who spearheaded a wonderful campaign to make sure that every pet gets spayed and neutered.

If photography is your thing, there are wonderful places to find beautiful photography. Two of them are right here on my blog roll, there is the wonderful Judy Olson who constantly amazes me. Every time I see a photograph taken by Judy I wonder just how the heck she does it, she has such an eye and a unique way of making the ordinary, extraordinary. Her work is available in several different venues around the Capitol Region so look on her blog to find her work. Lynda Lehman is also a very talented photographer who happens to be on my blog roll, I'm not quite sure where she hails from but her photography of Long Island(I think) is breathtaking. And then there is Jim Miller at Desolation Road, he takes incredible photographs of nature. I have my ornaments at Desolation Road so give him a look if you are in the area of Altamont.

I also have an exciting new prospect for my ornaments and had a great lunch at the same time. Samantha's cafe in Glens Falls is a great little luncheon place and art gallery. Make sure you try the butternut squash and apple soup(to die for) and the bread pudding(I can't even describe it in words). I will be bringing my work to this wonderful venue shortly and unfortunately for my diet I will probably have to have the bread pudding when I'm there.

And finally don't forget the Albany Shaker Christmas Craft Show which inspired my blog post today. I volunteered there today and met many wonderful people and saw many beautiful things. A percentage of the sales helps to fund the museum. It is a wonderful place to find many handmade gifts and see a little history too. It's very close to the Albany Airport so please stop in and see how wonderfully talented those of us up here in Upstate NY are.

So now I have given you dozens of reasons to visit the galleries and shops up here in beautiful upstate NY. Hopefully where ever you live you can find beautiful handmade items made by hand in galleries, gift shops and craft fairs to fill up your christmas gift list. You will be helping to feed those starving artists, keeping your local businesses in business, and making someone ooh and aah over your gifts.

Thank you for reading my shameless plug and return soon so you can see more pictures of ornaments and bigger things too. Have a happy thanksgiving and a handmade black friday.

The Barn Revisited

2011-11-09T17:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry no pictures today. I had a fabulous day at the barn and a wonderfully creative weekend. I met such nice people and saw a few wonderful creative friends. All is right with the world. I'm still embroidering as much as I can and still enjoying the peace and tranquility the stitch brings me.

I met a lovely young potter at the barn named Maeghan, her work was so beautiful and innovative and she is attending college for a career in ceramics. Just that sentence gives me such joy. The arts are being left behind in this crazy world we live in and it was a joy to see someone so dedicated to her craft and her art that she is making the ultimate career choice. I know she will be very successful as her pottery is very unique, beautiful and spiritual. I do have a thing for pottery. I love it, I think but to look at not study. Potters and photographers are kind of the ultimate artist to me as they look at the world uniquely and share their visions with the rest of us. I'd like to think my embroidery does that in some small way.

I guess the point of this post, is I was reminded of how much I love being a working artist(thanks to my husband I don't have to put the starving in the sentence). I was reminded of how enthusiasm for your craft is so darn important and that is the bottom line. The stitch itself is the point, not so much the money. If you love something and work hard at it sooner or later the money will come(at least that is what they say). I wish I knew what Maeghan knows when I was her age, but sometimes we have to grow into our own happiness and our calling. Late bloomers I suppose.

There are wonderful things happening in all of the venues that I am lucky enough to participate in. So if you are in upstate NY, check out the Albany Shaker Christmas Craft show in Albany, The Katbird Shop in Schenectady, Valley Artisans Market in Cambridge and last but not least Desolation Road in Altamont(where Jim has some really wonderful things going on during the next two months). Please come and shop handmade at our local markets or shop local in the markets you live in. You'll end up with really cool gifts and be the hit of the party.

Saturday at the Barn at the Bridge

2011-11-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

Hi All! Tomorrow I will be at the Barn at the Bridge artisan show at 250 Lakehill Road in Burnt Hills. The hours are from 9:00 to 4:00. It is a beautiful red barn and a beautiful venue for a show. This will be my first time there and I am so excited. There will be many different artisans and friends and such beautiful work. If you are in the neighborhood please stop by.

Today I was working at Valley Artisans Market and marveling at just how wonderful it is to be a working artist. On my home I was just overwhelmed for a moment at how lucky I am. There is a beautiful bridge(actually it's a road) that overlooks the beautiful hoosic river. It takes my breath away on good day and it really overwhelmed me with it's fall beauty today. Between that and the wonderful day at the market, I realized that if you have a dream and you take baby steps toward it you can live the life you've imagined. Not hard to see where Thoreau found his inspiration in nature. The thought that God gives us dreams for a reason also landed in my brain during that lovely ride home.

I've got to get back to work, so have a wonderful weekend. Hope to see you at the barn, see you at the market and see you at the Meeting House at the Shaker museum. Otherwise I hope I see you at your local gallery or craft fair or anywhere else that you can buy beautiful handcrafted pieces. Buy handmade and buy local!

Albany Shaker Christmas Craft Show

2011-10-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

This little cardinal can be seen at the Albany Shaker Christmas Show starting tomorrow from 10 to 4 Monday through Saturday ending on December 17th. You can see him and his friends Santa and Snowman and Bluebird along with various other friends made by many different talented artists. As I'm sure you know I am just the biggest fan of the Albany Shaker craft fairs as they are wonderfully run and feature such a wonderful array of talented artists and crafters. If you are in the area of the Albany International Airport please leave a little extra time and go check out the goods.

I also chose this little cardinal in honor of those baseball Cardinals. First let me make it clear I am not a Cardinals fan but a Mets fan(which I will return to as soon as this series is over). That being said I think the Cardinals are an inspiration to everyone and everything. There is something so wonderful about a team that was essentially out of the playoff race in the end of August to get to play a Game 7 in the World Series. A great inspiration for underdogs everywhere.

I've got a lot going on this year with lots of new exciting opportunities and lots of opportunities to keep me as busy hand embroidering as I want to be. That being said my blogging may be spotty. I love blogging so I'm going to try to do it as much as I can and to share with you all this exciting possibilities as they turn up. I know all my artist bloggy friends can sympathize so best wishes to all of you and I hope you are enjoying your bliss getting ready for this fantastic holiday season.

Finally, please shop handmade. Really. Please shop handmade! In this country of tremendous hardships at the moment, we sort of have to occupy our easy chairs and realize that without the small businesses in this country we would be lost. It's kind of obvious that the big business types don't really care about us as individuals, nor do they care that they are putting good people out of work. So please shop handmade and if you don't want to do that at least try to buy American. And by that I don't mean companies that say they are American but have shipped most of their jobs overseas. So shop ETSY, go to your local art gallery, or go to your local craft fairs(and remember some crafters just put their own prices on imports, you know who they are) and please please please if you are in the area of Albany International Airport drop on by and say hi to my cardinal and his friends. Blessings to all of you. Keep on stitching.

French Knot Explosion

2011-10-16T09:46:00.000-07:00

I love to do French Knots, they are my favorite stitch(as if you didn't know that already). This piece is hand embroidered entirely with french knots on black fabric. I always thought of it as an explosion but my friend Carrie saw a rose and darn if she didn't make me see it too. It was so much fun to make. I may do another one in different colors on watercolored fabric.

I took a closeup for Diane. She gave me the suggestion to add closeups to my blog and I think it was a wonderful suggestion. Diane makes the most lovely art quilts(you can see her blog on my blogroll, designed by Diane Evans). They are so colorful and whimsical and she is quite accomplished.

This blog post is a quick one as I am soon on my way to a member meeting at Valley Artisans Market so see you soon. Keep stitching!

A Great Day

2011-10-15T14:55:00.001-07:00

Hi! Today was a great day! I did the St. Clement's craft fair and had a marvelous time. I met many nice people, got a load of compliments on my work and sold these three new pieces which I had just finished this past week. They played Michael Bubles singing the standards. It had one of my favorite songs on it, I Only Have Eyes for You(although I still like the Art Garfunkel version better). I wanted it to be my wedding song but the band didn't know it. I met an adorable 3 year old named Martin, saw my old friend Carrie, and made a makeshift frame for the embroidery piece I was planning on working on all day only to discover I didn't bring a hoop, horrors. I used the frame with my artist statement in it and borrowed some duct tape from the ladies running the show. Not as comfortable or as practical as a hoop but it worked.

At least a dozen people told me I must have a lot of patience and I told them that embroidery teaches me patience which I actually have very little of. Sometimes when I start to get all type A personality, I try to remind myself that patience is a virtue. I guess this was gods way of telling me I at least got the message. I also got a lot of wonderful comments about the little details, the french knots. I think I have written this a thousand times but I just love french knots, they are really wonderful vehicles for meditation. They for sure are my favorite stitch.

And to top off my fabulous day I found Sybil's blog, The Art of Spirit. Her blog is one of my favorite blogs ever. She is a wonderfully spiritual blogger and her blog is very inspirational. She had been on a hiatus for a while, as have I so it was so wonderful to find it again.

I hope you had a great day and I'll be back soon, with a couple of pictures of my next project when I figure out how to take closeups on my old camera for Diane! So far the glare is making it impossible but I'll keep trying. Keep stitching.

Autumn Leaves

2011-10-07T17:02:00.001-07:00

Hi All! It is a beautiful time of year up here in Upstate New York. The trees are absolutely magnificent. I feel very blessed to see such beauty right out my front door. Tomorrow I am driving up to Cambridge to work at Valley Artisans Market and I am looking forward to the scenic drive and the wonderful energy that is present at VAM. I love to work there, both with the customers and on my embroidery. There is something special about working in a place filled with beauty and somehow that beauty can be felt in the energy there. Can't really explain it.

Autumn Tree is hand embroidered on tea stained fabric and can be purchased at Valley Artisans Market. I love to hand embroider trees and I loved using all the different fall colors in the piece. I hope someone enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Gotta run. Back to work! Keep stitching

The World As I See It

2011-10-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

Hi All! I started embroidering this piece years ago, I finished it early this year and have been waiting till I properly framed it before sharing it. I can't seem to find the right frame for it so here it is. I think this piece is my favorite piece of all time. It speaks for the world as I see it. It is a windy, circular, map of my mind metaphorically. It stops and starts, it is beautiful and it has to be looked at closely to be appreciated(maybe not all that closely). I think life is an unending line of stops and starts. Things move smoothly along and then they hit a fork or a ditch or a speed bump and move in a completely different direction.

I started embroidering when I was about 6 years old. My grandmother taught me how to do it. I had a rather complicated childhood, filled with much loss and chaos and the needlearts were my escape and my constant. Whenever something was going on in my life, I made something. Be it an afghan, or a sampler or a bedspread. Nothing was ever finished, but millions of projects were started and stopped. Other kids bought dolls and trucks and toys, I used all my meager pennies on yarn or embroidery thread or books. My biggest project back then was one of those hand embroidered quilt tops that you had to sew up the middle and then quilt. Needless to say they are somewhere in the bottom of one of my countless bins of stash that I will never use but can't give away.

As I got a little older I actually finished a few projects but gave most of them away as gifts. And then I got married and finished more pieces for myself and friends. I always used kits or patterns. I never thought at that time that anybody would be interested in anything that came out of my own head. Year by year something shifted and more and more came out of my own head, which leads me to this piece.

I started this piece about 5 years ago. I worked on it and worked on it and then it reminded me of a disappointment and I put it away. When I decided to make the shift from making everything to only hand embroidering framed pieces and ornaments I took it out of the pile of unfinished projects and started to work on it. It reminds me that I have come full circle. That I have come from the place of being unfinished and have started to heal my life stitch by stitch. The point where I realize that hand embroidery is more then just a hobby but a salvation. How the little stitches from my childhood to now have somehow kept it all together when my world was falling apart. And how beautiful being able to see the world in such a way is.

It's not about my own work even so much, it's about looking at the work of others and the things that make their hearts and sometimes their mouths sing. Appreciating the beauty that comes from the silent meditative creativity that every person has somewhere deep in their souls. That is what is beautiful about art and the artist. We do what we love, we do it to heal, we do it to find happiness. There are stories and biographies in every piece of art. Find your story and biography and follow your bliss where ever it leads you.

Keep stitching!

Something Different

2011-09-27T17:06:00.000-07:00

This piece is called Date Night and it currently resides at Valley Artisans Market.It is hand embroidery on watercolored muslin. It came to me one day on my drive home from VAM and it was one of those pieces I just had to make. I love when inspiration comes when I wasn't really looking for it. Don't you?

A few of my favorite pieces came to me that way. Hope, the piece with the black hole and the hand coming out if it was another. The barn was inspired by the barns I would see on my trip up to VAM. But luckily the black hole wasn't really inspired by a black hole, although those creative droughts can seem like one. Have you had pieces that popped into your mind at the oddest of moments?

It's a really busy time at the moment, I'm embroidering ornaments and I don't really need inspiration for them this time of year. It's kind of nice just making small portable pieces that you can finish in a few hours. I've made lots of new designs which mirror my bigger pieces. I feel that if someone likes my work and can't afford a big price tag something small and portable to hang on their tree or on a doorknob is a great way to spread some creativity. I'll be sharing some of them too.

Thank you for the comments regarding the bear! Especially the comments about perfection. I think looking for perfection and the feeling of inadequacy that comes with it is a trap that I try very hard not to throw myself into. It isn't always easy and for years it was impossible but thankfully I've learned to at least try to put perfection on the back burner and just be myself for a change. I can't say I'm any less imperfect but I am a bit happier! Keep stitching!

The bear & his mouse

2011-09-24T16:53:00.001-07:00

Hi All! This is a piece I made especially for my friend for her wedding shower. She calls him bear he calls her mouse. I call them wonderful. It's very rare for people to find exactly the right bear or mouse to spend their lives with and it deserved a special gift. I think they loved it. I loved making it and I think it looks like a bear. Was quite nervous as I'm sure you know I haven't met any real bears and I am never quite sure I can capture something real. Perfection is only for the gods. A little abstract is easier perhaps but a real live bear instead of yogi was a stretch.

The last few months have shown me I am a much more capable realist then I thought I was. Abstract and quirky was my claim to fame(as my personality can attest to also). So real things like birds, motorcycles, houses and bears are a real challenge for me. I've tried to get beyond the challenge and try different things. But until it leaves my home and hopefully graces the walls of someone else's, it's kind of a crap shoot.

It is very hard to open yourself to the comparisons of the perfect. The perfect sunset, the perfect bird, the perfect bear. Especially if you want it to be the perfect gift for the perfect couple. But hopefully I pulled it off and it's funny that I had to remind myself that there are millions of perfect bears in the forest who all look a little different. Only god can make both perfection and imperfection, we can just put our own unique spin in the world and hope that it makes us joyful in the process, which this did.

So I guess in ending, I hope my friends bear and mouse find perfection in their imperfections and live in joy and happiness, happily everafter!

Simplicity

2011-09-14T15:40:00.001-07:00

The name of this piece is Simplicity. It is hand embroidery on muslin. It is just the simplicity of color and hand embroidery. Very simple yet somewhat complicated. Beginnings and endings of each line and thread combined.

A few weeks ago I happened upon a PBS special about Simon and Garfunkel. I enjoyed the music so much I decided to buy a greatest hits CD(it was on sale too). Their songs are so simple and yet their relationship and lyrics are so complicated. The combination of the two is both beautiful and sad at the same time. I am a lyrics person so much more then an instrument person. I love the sad and complicated songs which touch my soul when I listen to them. I smile to Cecelia and I feel the loss of Old Friend/Photograph. It so beautifully portrays the pain of only having photographs of people who are so important to who we are and where we came from.

Funny thing is I forgot I enjoyed them so much in my youth. It took listening to them as a woman with more time gone then left to really hear their messages. One of simplicity and complication. I sometimes feel that calling to me from my embroidery hoop. The simpleness of stitch by stitch but the complication of detail. Perhaps others don't see that when they look at my work but I guess embroidery is a metaphor for my life. Simple yet complicated. Some people look and only see the simplicity and others look and see the complications but sometimes they consider the total package and that is wonderful. A thread of joy and a winding thread of unhappiness that runs through.

I guess that is the best I can ask for. A little joy and a little sadness. The joy of the moment and the sadness for what has become complicated or ended. Simplicity and complications. Keep stitching and take a Simon and Garfunkel cd out of the library and listen to the simplicity and realize the complicated.

Unconventional

2011-09-12T08:16:00.001-07:00

This piece is called Unconventional. It is hand embroidery on watercolored fabric. It is sort of a metaphor for my journey the last few years. The gentle balance between being a conformist and being myself. Taking a leap of faith and hoping that the universe will let me know which road to follow and realizing that as long as I am doing the best I can at everything, I can be both at the same time.

If you've read my blog for the past few years you probably know that I was struggling with the jack of all trades master at none metaphor. I wanted to be all things to all people in both my life and my work. In the end trying to be that way means you aren't really doing your best at anything. Yes there were moments of inspiration and brilliance but there were also a lack of detail and a scatteredness that wasn't serving me very well.

That started to change early last year when I stopped talking and started listening. Kathy my wonderful friend from the Katbird Shop talked about my little hand embroidered ornaments and said they were little pieces of walkable art. That made a profound difference in the way I looked at those little pieces of walkable art, I started to look at them in much the same way people who purchase them do. They are little pieces of beautiful embroidered art. When I watch instead of speak I can see people gently putting their fingers on the texture, or commenting on the amount of detail in them or trying to decide which one speaks to them the most. I learned a valuable lesson, that care and detail do matter even in the littlest things.

Kathy also told me that when people look at my embroidery they often say how does she do that, when they looked at my purses, they admired them but often wondered out loud whether it was something they can do themselves(and for the most part they probably could). That was a very instrumental statement in my decision to limit myself and focus on just what I did best.

So onward I went and got the same warm feeling from the ornaments that I did from my hands. Just embroidery. It's easy to just sit and embroider and the health and mental benefits from just focusing and meditating on stitch after stitch made it such an easy decision. I can escape from just about anything and put myself in a peaceful open piece of mind.

Of course I love variety so I again took a leap and started making pieces I was not sure I could make. I thought making a bird had to be beautifully accurate, the only problem with that is only god can make birds beautifully accurate and even then there are millions of beautifully accurate birds to choose from. Mastery is a wonderful goal, perfection is a journey that most people can never make.

And then we come to the reason for this post today, the Albany Shaker craft show this weekend. So many of my questions were answered, not necessarily by money, but by listening to the comments, watching the way they treat the small ornaments, and being overwhelmed by the comments that answered all my questions. And I know that I am on the right road, perhaps the road less traveled. The gentle balance between crafter and artist. I don't need to be all things to all people in my work. I can just do what I love and hope it brings something wonderful to whomever sees it. Whether reminding them of their grandmother, being able to bring home something a little special or marveling at just how many stitches are in the world as I see it(I will share that very soon).

And then alas after every question was answered about my direction, Patty a wonderful lady I know at Albany Shaker told me my blog was inspirational. I didn't really think of it that way and I've always thought perhaps I go a little overboard when I share how I really feel. But there it was once again from the universe, be who you are no matter what. Live, laugh, love and embroider. Be happy, be peaceful and share that in any way you can. Blessings to you all(sorry for writing a magazine article). Keep stitching.

Albany Shaker Craft Show

2011-09-08T10:23:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm in the middle of getting ready for the Albany Shaker craft show this weekend so this will be short and sweet. The fair runs both Saturday and Sunday and the hours are from 10 to 4. The museum is located near Albany International Airport at 25 Meeting House Road so if you are in the neighborhood please drop in.

I've got a few new framed pieces to share with you and I've come up with many new designs for the ornaments. A few bluebirds, some cardinals, horses, houses and many more.

I hope to see you all there. There are many wonderful crafters and artists , good food, a pie tent(with many different delicious varieties of pie) and entertainment for the children. The fee is $4.00 or $3.00 with a coupon or free if you are under 18. So come on down! Be back soon when I can breath or until my studio doesn't look like an episode of hoards. Blessings to all!

crossing

2011-08-30T14:45:00.001-07:00

crossing, a photo by DebraAnn813 on Flickr.

At times like this it is important to remember there is a higher power. I am very lucky to have not suffered much(at all really) but that can't be said for so many of my friends in all the places I've called my home. Best wishes and blessings to everyone who has crossed my path. Everything can be replaced except the people we've lost along the way.

Whack A doodle do

2011-08-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

On this crazy whack a doodle day ending this crazy whack a doodle week I am sharing Whack a doodle do. A hurricane and earthquake in the same week happening elsewhere and affecting upstate NY. Now that is really Whack a doodle. This is just my interpretation(made weeks before the earthquake and the hurricane). Hand embroidery on muslin. I loved using all the different colors, it was fun. I just wanted to do something whimsical, another one of those departures I've been talking about. Almost every piece these days is a departure. If you are interested Whack a doodle can be purchased at Valley Artisans Market.

I worked today at VAM and had a marvelous day. Lots of customers which was amazing considering the storm and even more importantly the Travers at Saratoga. Very nice day, very nice people and I made a few sales too. I hope you had a wonderful day. I'm going to cut out and hopefully will be back soon if a tree doesn't fall, my basement doesn't flood and I don't lose my electricity. Be safe and best wishes!

Back to the Future

2011-08-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

What an interesting few days it has been. Firstly this piece is hand embroidered on tea stained muslin and it was bought by MaryLou from Valley Artisans Market. It reminded her of a childhood home. I love to make pieces that resonate with the people who buy them, remembrances of a happier time. As for myself, it is in a style of embroidery which I made back when I started. I would hand embroider pillows, not framed pieces not enough confidence for that at the time. When I joined the first coop I ditched the country style it thinking it was not "artistic" enough. Silly, silly me.

Valley Artisans Market celebrated their 30th anniversary this past weekend with a pottery seconds sale, a show in the small gallery of Ginny McNiece and her daughters work. Very, very lovely. Very complimentary to each other, but very unique also. If you are in the neighborhood please come to see the beautiful works in the gallery and in the store. We had demonstrations, myself demonstrating hand embroidery. I also bought a few pieces of Chung Ah Park's pottery. I have admired her work since I joined the coop and a pottery second sales was heaven sent. It was wonderful celebrating the past with the knowledge that I am part of the future of this fabulous coop and fabulous people.

To top off my weekend I saw my old boss from Concerned Management at the track in Saratoga. Karen was a wonderful boss and held a shower for me when I left to have my 20 year old son. When I started working there she was pregnant with her 23 year old son. Very handsome young man too. Such a wonderful surprise and she doesn't look any different. She said I didn't age either but I think she was being kind. It was soooo nice to see her and I hope that we will keep in touch. It was delightful.

So there is my weekend of back to the future, where my past and my present and my future melded this weekend.

Thanks for the comments about the orange, I love orange and I'm gonna play it by ear.
I have yet to decide whether orange is in my future or if it should be lost in the past. Blessings to all. Keep stitchin.

Calico Cat

2011-08-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

In honor of my new background color I am sharing the Calico Cat. It is hand embroidery on black fabric and currently residing in the Katbird Shop. I enjoyed making this piece as it is yet another departure for me. In the past few months I have rekindled my love of embroidery. It's very simple. Pillows, ornaments and framed pieces. No knits, no bags, no drama. If I want to experiment with new ideas, there is all the time in the world. I am also working every day which is something that had been plaguing me for quite a while. I went through one of the longest dry spells in memory(alas aided by my idea that one has to be all things to all people). But then I changed my focus and that has made all the difference.

I have also taken to embroidering in silence when I need to center myself. Embroidering gives me such peace and tranquility. What do you do to center yourself or to give yourself the gift of peace and tranquility?

I have just celebrated another birthday and I have made a promise to myself that every single day I will do something positive and peaceful. I guess getting older puts things in perspective. Drama, chaos and excitement is for the young. Survival and surrender are much more apt codes to live by. I guess the best way to put it is I am. I am a wife, a mother, a friend and a hand embroidery artist. I can honestly say I am happier at this age then any other age in my life. I hope wherever you are you can say the same thing. Blessings. See you soon.

A New Computer

2011-08-13T17:05:00.000-07:00

A new lease on life. I don't have my pictures downloaded yet to this new computer so I thought I would update my blog look. Instead of plain white I opted for a cheerful orange color to go along with my new cheerful computer face. So what do you think? Do you like the cheerful orange color? Or should I look for a new one? Please be honest because I can always change it again. Will be back very soon with photos. And hopefully they won't clash with the cheerful orange.

Buy Local and Handmade

2011-08-04T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi All! This is another of my bird hand embroideries. It is the Tanager. It is for sale at the Valley Artisan's Market. It is hand embroidered on watercolored muslin.

I'd just like to take a moment to remind you that during this terrible time in the economy you and I can do something to help. We can shop local and buy handmade. A few weeks ago my husband and I went to the Adirondack Museum in Blue Lake. It was a wonderful day. The thing I most take back from our day trip was the beautiful handmade everyday items and how they have stood the test of time. The beautiful canoes which are centuries old. The beautiful quilts in the quilt show currently there. The beautiful furniture, the beautiful linens. Just about everything you can imagine is there and is sustaining all this time later. I dare to mention that in our current society everything is disposable. The years of having a car or a refrigerator or a washer or dryer that lasts decades is over. Now we buy things cheaply with the knowledge that we will only have to buy a new one in a couple of years. But that is where handmade and local comes in. If you buy a scarf in any one of those megastores it will only last you through one season, if you buy a fabulous hand made scarf it will be loved for as long as you want to love it. If you want apples go to your local orchard and then you will see that even produce is fresher and more delicious if it doesn't spend days running down the food chain.

My computer is still not working so I will stop preaching and get back to embroidering, but while the whole economic system is crashing like my computer and our elected politicians are not capable of doing anything to stop it. We are our best hope! Buy local and handmade!

Blue Bird

2011-07-30T18:18:00.001-07:00

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Still having computer problems. Short and sweet. This is a hand embroidered blue bird. I wasn't exactly a bird fan(have had a phobia about them since I'm a kid)so I'm working it out with bird embroidery. There are so many lovely little birds so I'm starting with them. I've made this bluebird which is available at the Katbird Shop(which is my favorite bird related place). It is hand embroidered on tea stained muslin. I have made a few more which I shall share soon.

I've been using my time wisely and spending it mostly embroidering so when I get my computer fixed or get a new one I'll have lots of things to share. Hope you have all been wonderful in my absence and I'll be sure to catch up as soon as possible.

Wow a very long, long time

2011-07-15T18:55:00.001-07:00

Hi All! Boy it's been a long time. I've been busy embroidering and my usual computer has gotten a virus and is very, very sick(and I hate this one, before I am finished typing I am sure this whole post will disappear). I am saving up or hoping to get a new laptop for my birthday so hopefully it will get better.

In the meantime my posts will be short and sweet(just like myself) and I will mostly share work and purchase options(or just share my work). This particular piece is a vintage Harley Davidson a real departure for me. I have done quite a few pieces that are departures so check back often. This motorcycle is available at the Katbird Shop in Schenectady. It was loads of fun to make and quite rewarding to do something different.

I found that in this time of lost computerage and the loss of the bags and the scarves and the eyeglass cases, my pillows and ornaments and especially the framed pieces have gotten a little more experimental. I've gotten some wonderful feedback from the wonderful people at Albany Shaker which had the summer craft fair just this past weekend(sorry I didn't get here sooner for those of you who were looking for something wonderful to do) so things are looking up!

I'll be back soon with another photo(and I really mean it). Blessings to all. Hope you are having a wonderful resurgence of creativity yourselves. Ta,ta!

Sunny Heart

2011-04-16T18:22:00.001-07:00

This piece is called Sunny Heart and it was one of my favorite pieces. Luckily for me it was also a favorite of a lovely lady from New Jersey(my home state) Today was my second day working at Valley Artisans Market and this was my first sale of the day. I love to hand embroider hearts. Just love them(maybe it's the valentine thing) but this piece was just made for the frame I framed it in. I'm not sure if you can see the detail in the photograph but the frame is rustic and it suited the orange watercolor and the stitchery just wonderfully. I never thought too much about framing in the past but I'm finding it wonderful searching for different frames and framing techniques for different pieces. I'm glad someone else saw the specialness of the combination.

What a wonderful experience to be in VAM. I am among such talented artists I could just gush for hours. Every time I go there I see some extraordinary work of art that just leaves me in awe. Today it was a gourd with a dollhouse in it made by Chung-Ah Park. Such detail and precision and beauty in one little gourd. Chung is also a potter and her pottery is to die for also. Symbolism and beauty combine to make beautiful pieces of art. Just wonderful.

Now it is time for me to take leave of the blog so I can read some of my bloggy friends blogs and then get back to embroidering. Blessings to you and if you are anywhere near Cambridge please go to Valley Artisans Market and see that extraordinary gourd! Also, my friend Cheryl(The Lady's Got Glass) is having her opening tomorrow afternoon at Desolation Road so if you are in the neighborhood please stop by and support Cheryl and her beautiful glass work.

Big Red Barn

2011-04-11T18:58:00.001-07:00

In honor of the lovely red barn I saw up close and personal visiting my friend Cheryl at a craft show I thought I would share my red barn. This piece is hand embroidery on tea-dyed fabric. It is now residing in Valley Artisans Market. Hopefully someone will like it and have it reside in their home.

Now for the beautiful barn I saw. This barn was a renovated barn with three levels and lots of interesting things to look at. The gentleman and his wife who ran the craft show also made adirondack shelves and furniture, very lovely. Very lovely place and it was nice to see so many of my crafting friends too. Cheryl was there with her beautiful glassworks, Patrice was there with her beautiful jewelry, Patty was there with her beautiful weaving and my neighbors at Albany Shaker craft fairs were there with their lovely leather bags. There was a wonderful soap maker who's soap beckoned to me but since I am still battling the always present allergic rash. A quilter, adirondack art work and more. It was a nice warm saturday and I had a great time(as you can probably tell).

I'm embroidering up a storm and feeling very peaceful(except when I'm watching the Mets who are very unpeaceful). It really does seem that when my hand is embroidering all is right with the world. I am hoping that you are doing something that makes everything right in your world. Keep stitching, see you soon.

Fulton Street Gallery

2011-04-07T16:58:00.001-07:00

Hi All! I'm a wee bit late on my blogging. These are the two pieces I've done for the Fulton Street Gallery Alphabet Show. The opening was a couple of weeks ago and it is up until April 20th.

The first piece is named wh"Y". It is a black embroidered Y with blood red teardrops surrounding on muslin. It was a concept that has been rolling around in my mind for a while. There seems to be so many reasons lately to ask "why" but that is a different blog post for a different day.

The second piece is named "I's" which is a little more self explanatory. It is hand embroidered on watercolored orange fabric. I just love working on orange water colored fabric. It's probably my favorite color to embroider on.

I am so thankful that Fulton Street Gallery has given me a place to showcase my work and to work with themes. I love themes. They make me work outside my comfort zone and work on pieces that have been rolling around in my head for a while. It's funny how many ideas float around my head and then seem to emerge just at the right cosmic time. I guess that's an artistic thing.

My mind is a little foggy at the moment as I am in the middle of a fibro flare up so I will end now and be back soon to show you some of the pieces that are now in VAM and update you on the wonderful Katbird shop and Desolation Road both of which have very exciting and wonderful things going on. Keep on stitching.

Valley Artisans Market

2011-03-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

Today was the day that I dropped off my work to Valley Artisan's Market and this was my first sale. I'm so excited! I didn't expect to sell anything so quickly but boy was it a thrill. It's such a lovely place and all the people I have met are wonderful and welcoming. Sunday I went with Cheryl to celebrate their 30th Anniversary party. Can you imagine any business surviving for 30 years? When you meet the artists and see the commitment that they have to their art and to each other it makes it easy to see why. Just a wonderful experience so far.

I am finally caught up. So many wonderful opportunities and so much embroidery. I love to embroider so it's been a wonderful time. I made the switch from the bags and the scarves and pretty much have decided to work on framed pieces, hanging pillows and my little wire art things and ornaments. I realized that although I loved my bags, I don't really love sewing on the sewing machine and there is a lot of machine sewing in each bag. So I've thrown caution to the wind and decided to limit my wares. Although for those who are interested Kathy at the Katbird Shop is the place where you can purchase my purses and scarves(or if you cannot get there I will still be making them for special orders). I will probably make more scarves for the winter but at the moment I am enjoying just making art pieces, big and small.

I have a lot of photos to share, and will be posting much more often now that I can breathe again. I have missed blogging and missed reading other's blogs even more then that. The blogosphere is such an interesting place to settle down and get to know people. I know I end up sharing more of my life then I originally anticipated.

Oh well. I've taken enough of a siesta, want to go read some blogs. Will be back soon. Keep on stitching.

Wonderfully Busy

2011-03-03T18:27:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I'm sorry I have not written in a while but I have been wonderfully busy. Very wonderfully. I have been accepted as a member in the Valley Artisan Market in Cambridge NY. It is a lovely cooperative located next to the historic Hubbard Hall. I am so excited and so busy. The ride is very nice to and from and I am thrilled beyond belief to be included with so many talented artists. I will try to update a little more frequently then I have been but I have other obligations also so it might just be once a week for a while.

This piece is called Peace and I hope whatever you are doing peace is nearby. I am very peaceful when embroidering so off I go. Keep stitching.

Tree Garden

2011-02-18T17:56:00.001-08:00

Hi All! This is the second piece that I submitted to the Garden Show at Valley Artisans Market. I thought today was the perfect day to post it as we had an absolutely lovely spring day amidst many cold days which will resume tomorrow. I spent much of my day embroidering today and should have some new photos soon.

It's been a busy few days embroidering as I have a couple of shows and some new opportunities to show my work so busy as a bee. I did take a break yesterday and went with my friend Cheryl to Desolation Road a lovely gallery in Altamont NY Cheryl has her work there and the owner Jim has voiced his interest in some of my new art hearts(pictures coming). We also went to see Elissa Halloran a very talented jewelry artist who owns her own shop in Albany and then just for fun we went to a couple of other galleries and had lunch at Creo a wonderful restaurant in Albany which was packed to the gills which is always a good sign.

It was a very inspiring day and will hopefully keep my embroidery moving right along. Something about seeing things made by the hands of real people makes my heart sing. I think that artists and their handiwork are a wonderful part of a hopefully recovering economy. I suppose my love of things made by hand comes from my parents and my grandmother. My mother was a painter, my father a carpenter, and my grandmother taught me how to do needlearts. There was the smell of fresh cut wood and paint and the joy of a new ball of wool or a new technique or my personal favorite embroidery floss. Even today nothing quite makes a bad mood go away like a few dollars worth of embroidery floss(so much bang for the buck and so many beautiful colors).

Well back to work so I'll have to wax nostalgic about embroidery floss some other day. Please feel free to share your hand made memories and keep stitching.

Garden Goddess

2011-02-09T18:45:00.000-08:00

Hi All! I hope this post finds everyone well and safe and warm. This piece is called Garden Goddess and it is one of the pieces I had in the Garden show at Valley Artisans Market recently. I thought on this totally frigid day on one of only a few days without snow it would keep the mood of warm sunlight on a frigid day going.

It's been a pretty cold and snowy 2011. Not quite as much snow as elsewhere in New York State but a couple of inches here and a couple of inches there just about twice a week has left mounds and mounds of snow which will hopefully melt before June. Today was one of those lovely bright sunshiney days when even 9 degrees doesn't feel like 9 degrees.

I went up to Glens Falls with my friend Cheryl who has a few of her beautiful glass pieces in Gallery 99 bringing art to the community for under $99 over this coming weekend. Her work is beautiful and so is the work of all the other artists who are participating. The sun was shining and it made for a lovely walk around Glens Falls and we had a wonderfully delicious lunch at a lovely little gourmet eatery. Glens Falls is a lovely artistic location and perhaps next year I will submit a few pieces of my own. I love living where I live as there are so many outlets for an artist and so many incredible artists whose work I admire.

It was really a wonderful day and a break from my embroidery. I'm working on a piece at the moment which isn't really like anything else I've ever done and enjoying it. One good thing about all this wintery weather is I am embroidering a lot which makes me very happy and warm. I've really found my focus and find joy in my work that makes me want to get out of my comfort zone in both my work and the outlets for my work to be seen.

So all in all, it was a very fine sunny day. I hope my Garden Goddess makes you think of how soon we will all be in the garden(some of us sooner then others). Until then I hope to have more flowery, sunny designs to share along with some others. Have a great day.

Finally The Hand

2011-01-29T19:10:00.001-08:00

This is the world famous hand(or my blog famous hand). I previously only had one photo of the hand but here it is in it's completion and a close up of the detail. I have had several questions about how the hand was created so here goes.

I started with your standard wool glove. Then I stuffed the glove with fiberfill. I then wrapped it up like a mummy hand with muslin. It looked like that bandaged hand that comes out of the dirt in the horror movies. I then started in the palm with the flower. And then I added the tree on the other side. And then I filled in the rest of the hand with stitchery(the outline stitch which I love to use) and then I decided to mount it(this will come much earlier in the process the next time). It was the most fun I have had embroidering ever. The little nooks and crannies and the wonder of twisting all those different fingers and working in between them. That was the most fun and the most difficult. Mounting was also difficult as I did not add wire when stuffing so the hand had to be stitched very tightly to the base(which was a block of wood covered in muslin and some batting). I had to use a curved needle to do much of the connecting which was kind of difficult. But it was very rewarding to see the hand standing up proudly the way it was supposed to. My next hand(I have to make another one since the first one was so darn rewarding)will be put on a dowel either glued or drilled into place. Because it was also kind of anxiety provoking to try and make it stand proud without the support it needed.

I know it has been months and months since I created "The Hand" and you are probably bored stiffless hearing about it again. But I had a few inquiries about how it was made and how it was stitched. And I never actually showed it in all it's glory so here it is.

Now about the hand. I love hands. Maybe because I use them to give myself peace and to center myself. I'm a whirling dervish in both mind and body with a talkative spirit to boot. The only time I am quiet and peaceful is when I am embroidering. I guess because much of my work takes concentration and detail it makes it hard to do more then one thing when I am embroidering. And because I use my hands to embroider I love them. I also think you can tell a lot from a person's hands. They along with the eyes are the mirror of the soul. You can tell whether a person is a car mechanic or an artist or a writer by looking at their hands. A beautiful well manicured hand usually is attached to a beautiful impeccable woman. A gruff and rough hand is usually attached to a man who does hard labor with his hands. My own hands show a person who doesn't stop long enough to beautifully manicure them but I love them anyway for what they do for me. When I was young I was a nail biter(even that tells you a story) but during my twenties I finally stopped and then I had longer nails but to tell you the truth my nail polish would wear off because I was always using my hands for something else. So now I try to keep them short(when I stop long enough to trim them). I guess that is more information about my hand thing then you really need to know. I could keep going but I'll stop.

The last few months have been a regular whirlwind and a very positive time for my work. I was fortunate enough to sell many of my one of a kind ornaments, enough that I spent the whole christmas holiday making more. I've had quite a few pieces sold by Kathy at the Katbird(she is a marvel) and at the Albany Shaker Museum. I've had a few art pieces accepted at the Fulton Street Gallery and I have two lovely pieces at Valley Artisans Garden Show. I've spent much of the last few months working and working and working and it made the holiday season and the month of January move so quickly.

And then just as I was ready to start blogging, my adapter plug ran out on my laptop which just created chaos. I don't really enjoy using my hubby's computer and I had purchased a very expensive universal adapter in the spring so I really didn't want to buy another one. Now a word to the wise if your adapter goes kaput don't go to your local stationary store and spend $100 on one that isn't going to last more then 6 months. Go find your laptop on Amazon and find the one meant for your computer. Twelve dollars that was happily sent and I had to wait a little longer. So here I am with a good plug and a happy productive work life writing on my blog. Hopefully someone will continue to read it. Off I go. Enjoy your hands and blessings to all.

Christmas Greetings

2010-12-18T15:03:00.001-08:00

Hi! I hope you are all well and happy and winding down from this busy holiday season. It has been a whirlwind around here lately. It's been quite a few months hand embroidering my way through the pre holiday season. Ornaments, ornaments, ornaments the life blood of the needleworking and every other artist community. Thanks to Kathy from the Katbird Shop I was able to keep it up until last week some time. She likes to call my ornaments(and I'm sure yours too) little pieces of walkable art. It helped me to get beyond that chore I had to do to a quest to find something different. I created more designs, different fabrics while still trying to maintain the designs that people come back for year after year.

The last few months have been a pivotal time for me both my dreams and my reality. I've learned a lot about my business and myself. I think the most important realization about my business is that it is a business and not just a hobby and it is doing something I love so now when I have those moments where I get stuck in a block I will just make some cute little walkable pieces of art and walk along with them. I've also hit a block with my blog as I'm sure you've noticed. But that too will change. Blogging is a community. It keeps you on the straight and narrow and inspires you when other things in life leave you uninspired. Inspiration is the most important thing to an artist of any sort so here I am. It was so exciting for me to see that I picked up followers during this horrid blogless time too so welcome.

Now for the piece at the top of this blog post. It is called Heart Angel. It is the third Angel of the season. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures of the other two. Heart Angel and the red angel are available at the Katbird Shop(link provided) and the blue angel is at the Albany Shaker Museum Christmas Craft Fair which unfortunately ended today. Also a reminder that my ornaments are available at Desolation Road. Speaking of which I am a very fortunate gal to be able to share my work in such wonderful venues. I am so grateful to all the wonderful store owners I have worked with in the past year and hope to find a few more in the new year, but that is a New Year's resolution so we will leave it there.

Blessings to you and yours and hopefully I will see you very soon!

Howdy!

2010-12-07T12:21:00.001-08:00

Just Hand
Originally uploaded by DebraAnn813

Hi I'm taking a blogging break from embroidering and will have new pictures showing up soon. This is one of my favorite pieces and one that Kathy from the Katbird Shop has given a new home to. I loved this piece from the watercoloring of the fabric to the wonderful hand embroidery to the finished project. So just checking in I thought I would reshare it.

I'm working a lot of the time lately so my mood is very centered. Today I took a day off from the mundane errands and the freezing cold outdoors and have been enjoying embroidering an angel. She will also live in the Katbird Shop for a while and hopefully someone else's house too. I'll share a picture when she's framed.

I hope this holiday season finds you centered and enjoying your life and your family. Be back soon with more pictures.

Well, it's been a real long, long time

2010-11-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Never meant it to be quite so long, but life happens and before you know it a long, long,long time has passed. No pictures today as my camera has been on vacation too and needs to be charged.

Well let's start at the beginning of my hibernation. I was totally blocked, no maybe's, no excuses, just blocked. And thanks to the lure of christmas and a few obligations I eventually became unblocked(thanks to the old standby, christmas ornaments where the only goal is to make each one a little different). I've had this weird allergic thing going on for months with a range of symptoms that have made me a little crazy I think. My family, friends and neighbors and anybody who will listen can attest to that I'm sure. Still have it but after all this time I've gotten used to it. I don't know if that's a good thing or bad.

The lovely Kathy at the Katbird Shop has sold a few of my favorite pieces. She sold Just Hand and Mighty Sun. She's sold some bags and some pillows and other various things to make my heart sing. She's a wonderful gal and once again go visit the store if you are ever in Schenectady.

I'm at the Albany Shaker Museum again this Christmas fair, another wonderful place with wonderful people and lots of wonderful handmade gifts. It runs through the Saturday before Christmas and perhaps you will catch me while I'm volunteering. I love to volunteer it puts me in the spirit. Lots of fabulous new artists and crafters so it's worth a trip this year even if you never thought of it before,

I have my christmas ornaments in a lovely new store, called Desolation Road. It is a beautiful gallery run by a fabulous photographer, Jim Miller and featuring the work of my wonderful friend Judy Olsen who always delights and amazes me with her work. My friend Cheryl also has her work there too. It's a beautiful store in Altamont so if you ever over there please drop in!

My son is now a sophomore at UAlbany and still living at home and I have to admit I love the idea that he still wants to live at home. My hubby is well and my dog is getting old but still very lovable.

And now a shoutout to all those wonderful bloggy people and artists in real life too. Being an artist is a wonderful thing and sometimes a not so wonderful thing, but in the end there really isn't any better feeling then putting your work out there and having people like it, love it and buy it. It takes a bit of a blockage to make you realize just how lucky we all are(or immensely talented) to have people see our hearts and our souls out there for the world to see. So blessings to all of the artists. For you nonartists, buy handmade for the holiday. Because a vibrant economy will only be found if we find it in the hearts and souls of our artists and crafters who try to compete with the big fish who outsource our jobs and we all know who they are. And blessings to you too as I know how hard it is buy gifts for everyone on our lists.

See you soon(really this time, with photos). Missed you all a lot and it may take me a little while to get back to see all of your wonderful blogs as I'm trying to catch up. But out of all the things I've missed during my hibernation the companionship of like minded people who like to blog was the hardest. Blessings.

Just a Quick Hi!

2010-07-15T17:31:00.001-07:00

Starting next week I'll be posting at least a couple of days a week. Life has been very hectic and very hot(those of my local friends can attest to how Florida like our weather has been). But I'm still stitching, although not as much as I used to. It's been one of those periods in my life where everytime things seem to calm down all hell breaks loose again. So next week I'll be back with really good pictures of the hand and a description of how I did it. So happy trails, hope your life is a little more peaceful and a lot less hectic then my life has been. See you then.

A Wonderful Uncle

2010-05-19T16:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been back as soon as I wished. My wonderful Uncle Sammy died. My uncle was the greatest uncle a little girl could have. He was like a pied piper, he did magic tricks, he bought ice cream, he was funny, he sang Dean Martin songs, he made great homemade pizza and he was just a generous wonderful person. Never without a smile and never a dull moment. When I was young I spent a lot of time with my Uncle Sammy and my Aunt Madeline. Those were some of my happiest moments as a child. I came from a rather complicated sad home and whenever my aunt and uncle were around it was a little bit more lively and happy. I've kind of lost touch with everyone in my life when I moved upstate a few years ago but the last couple of days I remember so many special moments shared with him. My only regret is that I didn't realize the end was so near so I could have shared what a wonderful uncle he was to me when I was young. I'm going to have to make more of a point to let the wonderful, kind, influential people in my life know how important they are, before they are a blog post. So in honor of my wonderful uncle, please pick up the phone or make a visit to that wonderful aunt or uncle in your life today. Blessings to all.

The second half of the hand will be here in a couple of days. Keep stitching.

The Hand

2010-05-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hi All! Boy it's been a long time. I didn't realize how long until I posted the hand. Sorry for the absence, I'm dealing with my partially empty nest and other various changes for a woman my age. My son turned 19 the other day and the sudden realization that I am no longer a stay at home mother has sent me into a tizzy making my work and somehow making it relevant and income producing has thrown me for a loop. For most of the 19 years I was a stay at home mom, with a couple of forays into part time work and finding myself as an artist. Now I have to figure out how to make my work more relevant and more income producing, which has had me tied in knots much of the last year, there's been a vague feeling of unimportance and irrelevancy and searching, searching, searching to find relevance. The interesting thing about all that is I really thought it was more about being a mother, then being myself. It's been quite an adjustment for my son to leave his high school friends and forge his own life and I've been mostly focusing on his changes and not really aware of the changes it has brought in me. From the painful craft shows to the stops and starts of getting my work out there to the hand. To me, without the hand.

I guess the hand explains it all in a metaphorical sense. It took a really long time, sometimes it was very hard(especially between the fingers) and in the end it was very satisfying. Hopefully now that I am aware of the changes my life is taking I can stop being fearful and just live and perhaps make my life more meaningful and satisfying.

So please accept my apologies for dropping off the face of the earth(I've pretty much done that in real life too)and hopefully now that I'm aware I'll be writing my blog more often and sharing some of the work I've been doing lately(especially the back side of the hand which the pictures I have don't do justice to). See you soon. Keep stitching.

Just checking in

2010-03-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

No pictures today. Not much to talk about either. Been busy on my hand, still no pictures, which comes with an explanation, its a piece that has to be seen finished and well it's just not finished yet. I am enjoying making it a great deal and it should be done soon. I went to see Kathy at the Katbird Shop and it was nice to see her and I brought her a few new pieces. I had lunch with both Cheryl and Emily which was loads of fun but other then that just working and thinking about a plan for the future. I did set some goals for myself at the beginning of the year and I'm trying to get the body in motion. I'm also recovering from a bug of some sort. So not very talkative. Miss reading your inspirational posts so I'll end here and hopefully see you soon(with the hand, it's quite interesting if I say so myself).

Star Crossed

2010-03-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hand Embroidered Cross on Watercolored Fabric

Hi All! Been busy, busy, busy. I keep waiting for the days when all the hubbub will die down and it just doesn't seem to come. On the plus side I've been bringing my hand embroidered hand everywhere and it is almost finished so I'll have a picture soon(hopefully). I am enjoying the three dimensional aspect of this project so much and there are so many ideas swimming in my head for the future. Including a fish.

This piece was a pleasure to make. I love to make crosses as they are my ode to spirituality. I'm not a big church goer and these pieces show my belief in something greater then myself. I think belief in a greater power is very important but to me church doesn't really seem necessary for this belief. So therefore I make crosses. I've been using the embroidery more as a meditation as a whole lately. I like to turn off the sound and just embroider stitch by stitch. It helps me center.

I'm going to go read my bloggy friends now but please check out the blogs I follow. They never fail to inspire and they show me the universal themes and feelings. Many times when I read a blog I see similarities in our separate lives in our one big universe. See you soon!

No Pictures

2010-03-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

But a lovely day with an old friend. My friend Gail came up from New Jersey today with her husband and we had breakfast at Panera and we watched curling as her son was competing in a curling competition in a nearby town which was the fortuitous reason for her visit. It is so funny Gail is one of my greatest old friends and my son was a toddler last time we had face time, but it's funny about great old friends you cannot see them for generations and when you do you remember exactly why they are so special to you. We went through so much in our crazy early twenties. And now we can talk about our sons and sit and chat about politics and everything else and never miss a beat. Her husband is wonderful too. Very self aware and spiritual. What a wonderful day and I didn't want to let it pass without comment. Off to watch the Oscars and embroider some.

Beneath The Surface

2010-03-06T16:50:00.001-08:00

Beneath The Surface is the third piece in the Fulton Street Gallery Black and White Show. I shared Beneath the Surface way back when it was just a beginning and didn't have an ending. Since I started this piece I think I have tried to be more open in my life and in my art. I try very hard to have less hidden beneath the surface moments and I'm trying much harder to work my way out of the box I was in.

I'm working on a hand. Yes a hand, a hand embroidered hand. The hand is a glove covered in muslin and now I am covering it with embroidery. My next photo may be the hand embroidered hand or perhaps something else that I've made and never shared. I've been working a lot lately except for the Olympics detour. For some reason it was very hard to concentrate on my work and concentrate on the Olympics. For me the Olympics was a very emotional experience. Probably for many people, but the inspiring stories of people who had to overcome so much for their sport and practice for so long dealing with disappointments and victories was just a little emotionally overwhelming. So I was a little bit stuck. But now I'm unstuck and having a ball embroidering my hand and I've been coming up with lots of ideas for future projects.

I hope you have been working a lot and feeling joy while you are at it. I'll be back soon. Maybe with the hand!

Having Fun and a Little Fried

2010-03-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

This post will be fast and sweet as I have started a new project a three dimensional embroidery project which has my attention. So much so I have not put it down literally for days. I'll share it when I get my laptop back, which leads me to a little fried. My plug for my laptop is literally and figuratively fried. I guess we will have to replace it because I can't even make it work for me anymore, for a short while I was able to spark it into action but even that has failed so I am writing this blog post on the slower then molasses desktop which frankly I don't have the patience for. Took me twenty minutes to turn the darn thing on. So no pictures today and I will be here till my next birthday if I try and read your wonderful blogs. So off I go and hope to see you soon. And maybe with some pictures of my new project(don't pity me for the computer I am loving this project and now I won't have to feel so guilty). So blessings and keep on stitching to everyone. Hope to see you soon!

Art From the Heart for Haiti

2010-02-21T17:03:00.001-08:00

Hand Embroidery on Watercolored Muslin

Hi All! This piece is my entry at the Mimosa Gallery, 70 Beekman Street, Saratoga Springs, NY. Some of the proceeds are going to the Clinton/Bush Haiti fund. It will be showing until the end of March. The opening was last night and there are many beautiful pieces to choose from by many talented office so if you are in the neighborhood or planning a trip up here to the great North please check it out.

The name of the piece is Rebirth. I chose green because it is the color of the heart chakra and because green symbolizes rebirth and transformation(at least to me). There is a cross inside of a leaf heart. I designed this piece specifically for Haiti as it came to me while I was watching the Haiti telethon. I hope that someone buys it because of it's meaning and it's purpose.

My friend Cheryl also has a lovely plate showing there. All of Cheryl's work is beautiful but it is my hope that this lovely piece finds a home also. Good news on several other fronts too and much to tell you about. Unfortunately I cannot break myself away from the wonderful Olympics, which have been so inspirational and beautiful. So I will stop here and share some more news shortly. Keep stitching!

Ribbons

2010-02-13T18:02:00.001-08:00

Hand Embroidery on Water Colored Muslin

This is Ribbons. It can be seen in person at the Fulton Street Gallery in Troy, New York. This piece was very twisted to embroider. I started it and then got distracted and picked it up again and then got distracted again and then finally finished it. It is outlined in black because it didn't seem finished when it was just red. That is also the reason for the kantha stitching which seems to bring the whole piece together.

Perhaps it was too floaty or too much of a concept. It was one of those pieces that just kept twisting and turning until it seemed done just like a real ribbon does. I am starting to look at a lot of my work lately. Adding one or 100 more stitches when in the past I would have just said this is done. Now they just don't seem done until they seem done and looking at some of my old pieces displayed around my house I am looking at them anew. The watercolor and painting seems to become much more prominent. I find that I sometimes get the same feeling out of painting the background as I do in stitching the piece. I would have never thought that even a possibility. I am even starting to notice the subtle differences in using different types of paint.

The kantha stitching is a new element too. I love the way they tie a piece together but most of all those tiny little background stitches are so meditative and peaceful. I am beginning to love those tiny stitches. I turn the the television off and it is just me and those tiny little stitches. Very peaceful. And I am now looking at my older pieces and asking if they need a little more. Maybe I will embroider myself into some sort of embroidery nirvana.

Life has been very hectic and very twisted. No straight paths here so the idea that there is something I love so much that can get me out of my own head is certainly a blessing like one of those little ribbons that people wear on their lapels that do something good for somebody, or a lot of different somebodies. So my tale of the ribbons has come full circle. Hopefully life is calming down and I can have my embroidery and my blog too. Hope to see you soon.

Sunny Sampler

2010-02-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

Hand Embroidery on Acrylic Watercolored muslin

Hi All! Sorry about such a long space in between blog posts but I've been on a pretty creative roll and I've been limiting my computer time(because I seem to get carried away on a spider in spider solitaire when I turn my computer on). This piece was fun. I had this beautiful piece of acrylic painted fabric and I started out with the sun in the center and then had the brilliant idea of doing a non traditional sampler. It was loads of fun. Back stitch, outline stitch, french knots, the little boxy thing bright orange and red colors. It was soooo much fun. I've been having quite a bit of fun lately filling every available piece of fabric with embroidery. Many more projects to come. I've made a small tree, another small fish, a cross(or my version of a cross). I finished a ribbon piece I started moons ago. And I've also framed a bunch. Add that to the photos of the two pieces accepted at the Fulton Gallery and the one piece accepted into the Mimosa Gallery and you can see why I haven't been here waxing poetic. I don't want to share the accepted pieces until the openings so I'll share them soon. I hope you have been wonderfully, wonderfully busy and creative too. And just as an aside I am also enjoying painting the yards and yards of ordinary muslin in my home so I have enough fabric to inspire me for quite a while. I am thrilled with the water diluted acrylics with just a bit of stiffness(which I unbelievably enjoy). I thought it would make the fabric more then just a bit stiff but it worked very well and makes it stay in the hoop more easily too.

Sorry for the long break, I'm going to see what I have missed while I was working and I hope to be back soon!

A little Fishy!

2010-02-03T15:18:00.000-08:00

Hand Embroidery on Black Fabric

I love this fish, absolutely love it. I love the way the blue kantha stitches look like different colors when they reflect the light even though I used one color of blue to stitch it. I love the little goldfish too. But as with all lightness there is a little darkness too with the fish I love. You can't see it in a dark room, not at all especially from a spot of 5 feet or more. It looks like a black blob of nothing. So I'm glad I love the fish and maybe with an outlet like the dreaded craft show I can explain it in a way that makes the owner understand that it deserves to see the light(where it is really beautiful and detailed) but otherwise it will be a reminder to me that if you are going to work in darkness you have to see the light. And I will find a nice sunny spot next to a window.

I've got a lot going on in my business and my life so I'm still kind of catch me when you can but I'll try to come back soon with some news! Some of it really good and some of it not so good. Keep stitching!

Great Book to Suggest

2010-01-30T14:39:00.000-08:00

Hand Embroidery on Muslin, currently at Katbird Shop, Schenectady NY.

Hi all! Hope you are all well. I've been busy stitchin up a storm. Trying to stay on a roll so my posts have been suffering a bit. I've got a great book to suggest to all my artist friends. It's called Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art by Rice Freeman-Zachery. It's been helping with my time management issues and getting my focus on. It's filled with beautiful artwork to inspire. Nicely written and wonderful advice for when you are stuck or just need to feel understood. It's truly wonderful to realize that all those pesky little issues are experienced by such talented people and the idea that matters the most about the book is they conquered them all.

I haven't always been the most efficient person when it comes to time management and getting unstuck and this book is filled with valuable lessons. I'm working on a new small framed piece which I'll share when I'm finished and I've been working on a few other projects which I'll talk about when the time is right. In the meantime you can go take a look at the Katbird Shop or New Leaf if you are in the neighborhood and you can visit my blog links to see the beautiful work of others that are in my bloggy neighborhood. Blessings to all.

Intersections

2010-01-26T17:23:00.000-08:00

Hand embroidery on watercolored fabric.

This piece originally was meant to be a cross, but as my friend Cheryl commented a lot of my crosses end up being something other then their original intention. It was originally supposed to hang vertically and now I think I like it more horizontally. I guess it is a true symbol of an intersection. Some times we travel along in a straight line knowing exactly where we are going, some times we travel along and turn where we are supposed to but the most interesting travels we have are when we come to an intersection with no specific direction intended. These intersections happen during travels, in our work life and during our lifetime.

I have taken the road to a different outcome many times. Sometimes they are just necessary experiences along my life path and sometimes they are complete detours where I just got lost, but either way they were a learning experience. They taught me something I was supposed to know about myself, whether I wanted to learn the lessons or not. They introduced me to people I might not have met. Places I might not have wandered into. And a life totally different from the one I imagined for myself. They truly introduced me to kismet. A place where things that are meant to happen, happen. There were certainly many road signs to send me on my way but I think we all know the feeling of stubbornly taking the wrong turn or joyously taking the right one. In the past few years I have taken many detours at my intersections, but I have learned lessons and thankfully met people. places and things that have sent me on my way.

So the next time you reach an intersection and you are not sure of what direction to go, look at the signs and listen to your heart and learn the lesson you are supposed to be learning. In the end you might just end up doing something with joy and going in the direction you are meant to or you might be on a much needed detour.

New Leaf

2010-01-23T16:19:00.001-08:00

Flower Heart Hand Embroidery on Muslin

Hi All! This piece is currently residing at New Leaf Gallery located at 30 Beekman Street in Saratoga Springs, NY. It is joined there by a few other pieces which I dropped off the other day while out with my friend Cheryl. I am excited to try something new at New Leaf as I previously only showed the bags and scarves. Please go and see this beautiful new gallery on Beekman. It is chock full of beautiful wares and they have a very interesting artist in the gallery now. It's a wonderful place to have my work.

It's been a quite hectic week as my son returned to college this week and we went through schedule hell, but it would take me most of the time I have available to explain it. But as of this moment he has a schedule he likes and he has all of his books so hopefully he will have a wonderful semester.

I've been working a lot. Besides going to New Leaf I went to visit Kathy this week and brought her some beautiful framed pieces and pillows and quiltlets. But the most fun was going out with Cheryl. She has a beautiful piece of work featured in Mimosa Gallery which is also on Beekman Street. It is the most beautiful fused glass elephant. Just gorgeous and like all the other pieces in the show under $100.00. And that is a wonderful place to visit too. Then we went out for lunch and had the most delicious sandwiches at the Grey Gelding Bistro which is a very nice place to get a bite to eat. It is on Broadway in Saratoga. And then chocolate from the Putnam Market. But the most fun was going out with my friend Chery as you can probably tell it was a pretty hectic, stressful week. I wasn't able to get together with Emily this past week but hopefully we'll get together this week. I really appreciated being able to relax and not think about work when out with Cheryl. Although visiting Kathy at the Katbird and visiting Jeromy at New Leaf doesn't really feel like work either.

On the work side, I am in overdrive working on my embroidery. I'm turning a new leaf myself by pushing myself to work more and get my work out there in the universe. No time like the present.

See you soon. Keep stitching.

Katbird Shop

2010-01-19T12:21:00.000-08:00

Busy, busy, busy but wanted let you know that these three hand embroidered pieces are now at the Katbird Shop looking for a new home. The Katbird Shop is located at 425 Liberty Street, Schenectady. It's a couple of doors away from Pinhead Susan's which has wonderful food so stop in for a bite while you are there.

I'm going to go read my bloggy friends and then it's computer off and back to work. Hopefully things will calm down a little bit here and I'll be able to post more often soon.

Butterflies are Free

2010-01-15T16:29:00.001-08:00

Hand embroidered butterfly on watercolored muslin.

Someone Saved My Life Tonight by Elton John
When I think of those East End lights, muggy nights
The curtains drawn in the little room downstairs
Prima Donna lord you really should have been there
Sitting like a princess perched in her electric chair
And it's one more beer and I don't hear you anymore
We've all gone crazy lately
My friends out there rolling round the basement floor
And someone saved my life tonight sugar bear
You almost had your hooks in me didn't you dear
You nearly had me roped and tied
Altar-bound, hypnotized
Sweet freedom whispered in my ear
You're a butterfly
And butterflies are free to fly
Fly away, high away, bye bye
I never realised the passing hours of evening showers
A slip noose hanging in my darkest dreams
I'm strangled by your haunted social scene
Just a pawn out-played by a dominating queen
It's four o'clock in the morning
Damn it listen to me good
I'm sleeping with myself tonight
Saved in time, thank God my music's still alive
And I would have walked head on into the deep end of the river
Clinging to your stocks and bonds
Paying your H.P. demands forever
They're coming in the morning with a truck to take me home
Someone saved my life tonight, someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight, someone saved my life tonight
Someone saved my life tonight
So save your strength and run the field you play alone

The last few days I have been unable to pull myself away from the television watching the news about the horrible earthquake in Haiti. I've been horrified, sad, inspired and unable to think of the words to describe my feelings except for the grace of god go I. Last weekend I was embroidering Butterfly and this song kept going through my mind and as I thought of a way to address my feelings about Haiti and write a blog post, this song gave me the answer. Blessings and prayers to all with family and all the lost souls in Haiti. I hope you are free, one way or the other.

Peace

2010-01-10T11:07:00.000-08:00

Hand Embroidery on Watercolored Muslin.

I'm still experimenting and in the spaghetti tossing stage. Embroidery brings me peace so I think that's a good place to start. The most important thing is to keep working. Not get so caught up in the weeds. In other words bring peace to myself and others by spending as much time as I can embroidering.

I've been listening to Death Cab by Cutie(plans) again. I think my family will be hearing it in their sleep but it is such a peaceful folksy CD. Great background music and relaxing.

The weather is frightful outside and now I have to jump back into the real word and go grocery shopping so I think this is where I sign off for now. I'll come and read my bloggy friends later.

Heart of Blue

2010-01-09T10:24:00.000-08:00

Hand Embroidered Heart on Batik.

This piece had a life of it's own. I saw this beautiful batik and had to find a project for it. Since Valentine's Day is almost upon us and the world is thinking with their hearts I decided to make a Blue Heart. I then decided to make a spider web pattern in the middle of the heart while I was stitching, I noticed what a nice contrast there was between the blues that I was using and the lovely turquoise that was used to outline so I decided to forgo the filling in and outline the spaces with the lovely turquoise color. I'm very pleased with the results.

I have joined a Facebook page for slow cloth working and am inviting my facebook friends who stitch to join. It is a look at the slow stitchery of embroidery and quilting and other needleworking mediums discussing their place in society now. Years ago when our grandmothers were young, needleworking was a discipline that many people learned and appreciated. As society gets faster and faster we lose the genuine soulfulness of slowing down and taking needle to fabric. Hand embroidering and other hand work reminds us of a time when things were simpler. I find hand embroidering to be a meditation as I am one of those people who simply cannot sit still. I find peace and tranquility in every stitch I make. That is the reason I joined Slow Cloth.

See you soon. Keep stitchin!

Americana

2010-01-08T08:36:00.000-08:00

This is a hand embroidered Flag Heart on tea stained muslin.

A Little Something

2010-01-07T17:06:00.001-08:00

Hi All! This is one of the quiltlets I spoke of in my last post. It's one of those spaghetti things, where I try something different and see if it takes. I loved making this little valentine and then inspired by spirit cloth I tried something just a wee bit larger and have abandoned it. As totally relaxing and wonderful as it is it's just not me. So little pieces maybe, but my total admiration for the amount of work it takes to make an entire quilt is unending.

I finished one of my unfinished projects today(beneath the surface) and will be framing it soon and submitting it to a gallery. I am thinking of changing it's name. More information later.

I'm now working on a blue heart. I'm making it for the Katbird Shop, just a small diversion from the normal red heart in honor of Valentines Day. I spoke to the wonderful Kathy today and told her that I have a great feeling about the New Year and the new decade.

I'm having a wonderful and relaxing time stitching and hope the same for all of my stitchery friends. Keep stitching

A heart felt thank you!

2010-01-05T09:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone for the very thoughtful comments about the blog post regarding my mother. It meant so much to me, you will never know how much. Sometimes when I write a blog post I wonder if I am saying too much. When I started blogging it was mostly an art blog to promote my work, but I know I enjoy reading blog posts where people share their lives so I've started to write about my life too. Some posts are easier then others, Sunday's blog post wasn't very easy. So thanks once again for the overwhelming response. Thanks for the comments about my heart piece also.

One post in particular really meant a lot to me and that was my Cousin Sal's post. He was my mother's godchild and she loved him very, very much. He has always been a special presence in my life as he and his sister LuAnn used to spend summers at my house. As I was thinking about his post I remembered how LuAnn(who I adored and looked up to, very cool even at 10)used to make me her partner in crime. If she would have told me to jump off a bridge I would have(luckily she didn't). I remembered two instances in particular when she used me as her accomplice in her plan to drive her older brother crazy. There was the time when I was about 9 and she made me say to my then 14 year old cousin, that he was an iguana who liked to suck lily pads. He was so angry and she couldn't stop laughing. I of course had no idea what I was saying(rather naive in my younger years). Then there was the time I stayed at their house and on one sunday morning we were supposed to take the bus to mass which was a good twenty or so minutes away, and Sal went in to go to the bathroom and we were supposed to let him know when the bus came. Well LuAnn said let's not tell him and we proceeded to get on the bus and go to mass without him. He did make it for communion but just barely. That was the only time I ever saw LuAnn get in trouble for anything. There are so many wonderful memories of my cousins and my brother when we were young creating havoc for our parents. Wonderful, wonderful memories. And I thought since I have no art to share today and I wanted to thank you all for your thoughts maybe I'd give you a giggle at least. I hope Sal has a giggle too.

Speaking of working, I have been trying something new. I am working on a quiltlet. It's not nearly finished and I don't want to share it until it's done. I have been using Kantha stitching in it and stitching in that way is very meditative and makes time fly by. It was really a very wonderful soulful way to spend the beginning of the new year. I'm working on smaller pieces too so your comments on the framed sun heart piece were wonderful to read and very supportive of a new direction.

Thanks once again for your comments. They really did mean so much to me.

Sun Heart

2010-01-03T10:33:00.001-08:00

Sun Heart is hand embroidery on watercolored muslin using various shades of red.

Today is the twenty seventh anniversary of the death of my mother. She was a beautiful, artistic, loving soul who taught me how to be a mother, how to love, and how to survive adversity and tragedy. Her dream was to be an artist and instead I was lucky enough to have her as a mother. I hope in some way I am paying tribute to her through my life both as a mother and an artist.

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T14:26:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to one and all! After reading all the wonderful blogs I follow (and now follow on my blog dashboard) the general theme seems to be action(thanks Dale Ann), realization(thanks Patti), and creativity(thanks everyone). To me all these themes mesh together as moving forward, constantly. Resting only to gain enough energy to keep moving forward. I have been realizing lately that I waste too much time thinking or not trying to think. I think in the New Year it is time to take action and to become creative at everything. Making my home reflect more accurately how I feel today rather then how I felt yesterday. To take the creative pieces I'm not quite fond of and either change them or find a way to get rid of them. To appreciate the quality of mind and body when I am feeding the muse. To move my art and my business forward and to take care of the vessel I live in so it will serve me to be with my family as long as possible.

A very important part of feeding the muse is reading the wonderful blogs that inspire me. Be it the embroidery blogs, art quilt blogs, recycle and reuse blogs or blogs that just warm my heart to read. I tried to list them but there are qualities in all the blogs I follow that warm my heart and inspire me(so give yourself a hug). So whenever I am tired or want to stop taking action I will read your blogs and be inspired. It's also a very supportive community because whether comments are left or not, it is amazing how united we all are in the blog community and how it helps us to feel connected. Especially for the artist part of me, as making art is by necessity a rather solitary undertaking.

As far as the other actions I must take, I have started to organize, I am pretty happy with the Mediterranean diet and I have been embroidering and thinking a lot about my business( I know thinking but it's business it has to be thought of). So thanks to all my bloggy friends you can find the blogs I follow on my dashboard(hopefully) soon I will have them updated and organized in links on my blog page. Blessings and hopes for a very productive, creative and most of all joyous new year!

Ringing out the year and the decade!

2009-12-31T17:06:00.000-08:00

I though yesterday's blog post about the circle hand would be the last post of this year but I thought I would take a minute to reflect on the wonders of the internet and the blog community and inspiration.

As I mentioned yesterday this year was not the best for me but I am still optimistic about the upcoming year and decade. The beginning of the new millenium was a time of great spirituality for me. It was also a time when I could scoff at all the Y2K worries. That changed for me later that year when the election of George Bush(or whatever you want to call that election) came through at the time I had the feeling that nothing would ever be the same and 10 years later that is most definitely true.

I lived on Long Island and spiritually was being called to a simpler life, a country life. I had realized that being on an island of millions wasn't really where I wanted to grow old. So I found a dream house on Realtor.com in Kinderhook NY. It was a swiss chalet that I could never find. But later on that year we went to visit Kinderhook and stayed in a wonderful place called the Blue Spruce Inn(if you are ever in the neighborhood). It was a lovely place but a little too countryish. So my husband said I love the idea of a place more like Long Island. Oddly enough every day I would meet someone or hear something that would make me think a bit more. A lovely woman I met who ran craft shows said that she would recommend moving north of Albany. So north we came and we found the town where I live today. We came up in August of 2001 and had a wonderful time. I left my wallet in Friendlys and when I went back there it was waiting for me locked in an office. My husband said you know Deb, I think I could live there. We went home and my husband's wallet got pickpocketed and dropped and someone took his credit card and figured we wouldn't figure it out. They took the wallet right out of his pants. Scary really. But for me it was a sign, one of the zillions that lead me to where I am today. Everything down there was telling us to make the move and everything up here was telling us to come. It was so crazy that on the Friday before 9/11 I said to my friend everything is telling us to go and what does my husband need a building to fall on his head to make him realize this. Well prophetic as these things are 9/11 happened and my husband was working in downtown Manhattan on that fateful day. A great big huge metaphor of life. I don't know how many millions of people were affected on that day to make major changes in their lives but I was one of them.

It was a struggle every day after that to make my wish for a simpler life a reality. Obstacles galore, you name it, it was there. But finally my husband got a job up here, my house was sold and in January 2003 I moved into my life as it is. Not really though. I had been a crafter down there so that was my plan for the future. One day on a whim I answered a call for artists that would change my life literally and figuratively. I became an artist in a coop, and then became an artist. I suppose I always was one but the chaotic nature of my life before moving up here kept me so busy that I never really gave thought to what I am and what I was. The coop didn't work out but in a way it did. Everything it promised has become manifest through people I met when I was there. It made me an artist. And once I figured out that, I pretty much figured everything else out.

So now since you are probably bored with this story of the last decade I am optimistic again, because I am reminded that I followed a dream and found it and if it happened once(or perhaps twice) it can always happen again. My prayers to those affected by the disaster on 9/11 and the subsequent disasters following them. Find a universal being you believe in and believe in him/her, because without that belief in the universe nothing is possible. Dare to dream, dare to believe and dare to live. There are always obstacles and questions but sooner or later you realize the answers were right in front of you all the time!

And thank you to the bloggy community and the internet for inspiring me and helping me find some of the answers and inspiring me to share my story.

Circle Hand

2009-12-30T17:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it seemed like the Circle hand was the perfect way to end this year. It is hand embroidered on watercolored muslin. This hand was a tortuous project as it was my craft fair piece from earlier in the year. I brought it from craft show to craft show so that my craft show anxiety wasn't visible to the public. After the craft shows it sat unfinished for months and then it sat unframed for months and then I figured out a way to change it's karma and I gave it to my friend Cheryl as a combination birthday and holiday gift. Cheryl was my partner in crime during most of my craft show angst, she was and is a wonderful artistic spirit that I am very, very, lucky to have in my life. Cheryl is a very successful artist and was exactly the right person to go through my endless angst with. She never lost faith in me nor this piece. There was never a phone call or an outing when she didn't ask about this piece. She kept prodding me to finish it and finally she succeeded. It's a beautiful piece but I could not think of a place where it belonged so it sat folded up and waiting for a frame. I made Cheryl another piece but then it dawned on me that if I had not had Cheryl with me prodding me to get back to what I love to do this piece would sit folded until I got over the fact that it had my angst in every stitch. So framed it I did and gave it to Cheryl last week. I couldn't think of another person who would love it like she would and the joy of seeing her face when she opened it made all the angst disappear and I too could love this beautiful piece.

So now you know the story behind the circle hand and it's unfinished absence on my blog, and I have come full circle. I started last year with optimism and joy and passion for what I did. I lost a bit of that somewhere this summer and I questioned everything about what I do, but now I am optimistic, joyful and passionate about my work. So starting over next year I am going to just work, not think. Embroidering, knitting and a dozen other things. Making my home a haven and my body a healthily working machine. And I'm going to find some new outlets for my work early in the year and maybe some interesting sidebars in art. That's my resolution. Nothing too strenuos, nothing too thought provoking, just finding peace.

And finally that is my blessing for all of you my lovely bloggy friends who have inspired me and supported me during this last year! Peace to all, good health, abundance and most of all an artistic look at life and love and passion.

Another Christmas Present for me!

2009-12-28T14:55:00.000-08:00

Well I hope this Christmas holiday was everything you wished it to be! The three of us had a wonderful time, full of fun, food and togetherness. I'm already back on my Mediterranean lifestyle. The amazing thing about this diet is that the minute you stray you pay for it. Easier to eat healthy then to eat unhealthy. I received wonderful gifts from the hub and the son. They know me so well, some gift certificates to Borders and Michaels and a CD. To read, to craft, to listen life's wonderful pleasures.

I am working on an embroidery piece for a new adventure so I can't share it at the moment, but I put it away for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and made myself some matching mittens to match my favorite scarf and mittens. I'm gonna make a hat someday too, just not right now. Before these I hadn't made mittens in years, maybe decades. The first one took so long but the second went much faster. I knit it on 4 doublepointed needles and I cannot count how many times my stitches fell off in the beginning but all in all it was a very enjoyable undertaking and made the time in between the hecticness of putting together a holiday by yourself much more enjoyable.

Before Christmas but since we chatted last, I had a wonderful lunch with Cheryl at my favorite place Panera. It was wonderful to see her and spend some time with her at the holidays. We also went to Artique the next artist coop in Clifton Park where we were lucky enough to see my bloggy friend Judy. She has a wonderful spot and her work is to die for and luckily upon luckily we were able to see her. She looks wonderful! It was so nice to see good friends and be inspired during the busy, busy, busy days before the holiday. And if you happen to be in Clifton Park please go check out Judy's display. Her lovely photographs were beautiful!

Not much else to write. Have a couple of projects in the camera and out of the camera to share after the new year. Will try to post in the meantime but just in case, Happy New Year and a healthy wonderful, creative, abundant new year and new decade to all of you!

The end of the business year!

2009-12-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

Today was my final business outing. A lovely trek to the Katbird Shop on this positively frigid day. I dropped off a few pieces so if you are in the neighborhood drop in and take a look. I also dropped off my artist statement which is based on a blog post I did last year sometime. It's a little over the top but I needed one for the Albany Shaker Museum Christmas Craft show which is now over, and I couldn't think of words that accurately describe my love of what I do better. So now that my dropping off days are done for a short while(I have some wonderful heart ideas for Valentine's day) I can relax and recoup and revamp.

I'm thinking of giving up the bags unless I can find a home for them on Etsy and I want to move in a more experimental direction. The thing about a unique bag is that it has to find a unique person who wants it and to just knit or crochet bags just to knit or crochet bags doesn't really float my boat. If I am going to experiment and grow I am going to do it embroidering. I am thankful for the watercolored fabric I've been using, which I could never use on my bags as I think they would run in the rain. And making a bag requires lots of time on the sewing machine(I'm not a big fan of the sewing machine, too much like work not enough fun)so it's time to try again to find something I love that is profitable. I've got some interesting ideas which I can't wait to try out and I can't wait to get your feedback.

On the plus side I still have the scarf and the purse that were my favorites of all the color combinations and styles I came up with this past year so I gave myself an early Christmas gift. I didn't really want to part with them in the first place so I'm thrilled that I still have them. So forging onward, keep stitching. Be happy and next year is the year to follow our dreams and make them come true, don't you think?

Winding Down

2009-12-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

Well it seems the year is winding down and frankly not a moment too soon. This year has been not the best year of my life, lets leave it at that. Too much too opine about anyway. But I am also thankful, very thankful, for my wonderful friends in real life, Emily, Cheryl, Sandy and the two Wendy's! For my hubby and my son who have been very supportive this year. For the wonderful shop owners I work with, Kathy, Debra, and Jeromy. For the Albany Shaker Museum and the lovely ladies there. And for finding bits and pieces of myself, strewn along the landscape. Ready to put this year behind me and spread my artistic wings and fly without a net next year. I have quite a few ideas in my head, some of them quite out of the ordinary for me but I've given the crafter part of my head a chance and now it's time to embrace totally the artist in me. As this year passes along, I feel much more like my given name DebraAnn then my everyday name Debbie. I've learned that solitude is wonderful and that I can get over anything with an embroidery needle and some lovely colorful thread. And to follow the beat of my own drummer, because trying to appeal to the masses instead is just too darn hard. So off we go to another wonderful year and a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful wish for all of you to have a fabulous holiday. I may be back before the end of this year but just in case I'm not I want to thank everyone who follows my blog and who's blogs I follow for the wonderful inspiring comments made while I was on my detour and floundering and for the wonderful inspiring blogs you all write! Happy Holidays to one and all!

Passion

2009-12-16T16:47:00.000-08:00

I know, I know it is a retread. I have been relaxing myself with several projects none of them finished so here comes passion. Hand embroidery has become a passion again for me. Perhaps because it is the holiday season and I don't do the holidays very well or perhaps because I have been having a bout of insomnia I have been giving myself the gift of hand embroidery, no framing, no sewing on the machine, no deep thought just embroidery. I put the soundscapes channel on my television(new age music) turn off the politics, turn off the family(they know enough just to avoid the new age musical) and just retreat to my embroidery. It takes so little to make me happy and I've been giving myself the gift of happy. Oddly enough reading Whiffs and Glimmers, that seems to be a trend. Finding happiness in needles. Oftentimes people think about what they would need on a desert island, myself it would be a suitcase full of embroidery thread on an island full of silk worms so I would have a more embroidery thread then I could use in a lifetime and a never ending supply of fabric. Of course an electrical outlet and some music would be nice too. But that is all that it takes to make me happy. Thats about all the words I can write with the energy and brain power that I have(because of insomnia) so I'll hopefully be a little more verbose and a bit more ambitious tomorrow and be able to share a new project. Happy stitchin.

Handmade Gifts/Inspire Me Thursday

2009-12-13T14:31:00.000-08:00

This is just a little inkling of my handmade gifts for this holiday season. There are hand embroidered and hand knitted and hand stitched and even a couple of hands thrown in there this year. I'm still in the process of figuring out which home they will go home to. Some are no brainers and others require a bit more brain then I have at the moment. I'm a last minute Molly so I probably won't know a couple until I am ready to deliver them.

There is a big push this year for handmade gifts and I personally hope it keeps going. There are always gift card years, but I don't think this is one of them. Our economy and our spirits are broken, this is the year to buy something that comes from the heart and is made with love. Be it a beautiful hand embroidered hand or a beautiful wooden train, or a lovely crocheted scarf. Crafters and artists do what they do because they love it, so every hand made gift you give means you are giving something that someone loved enough to finish or even to start in the first place.

And even more importantly this year, give the gift of yourself because that is the greatest hand made gift! Blessings and happy holidays!

Trip to the Katbird Shop

2009-12-08T16:27:00.001-08:00

Today I made a trip to the Katbird Shop where I dropped off, Lotus and Mighty Sun, both hand embroidery on watercolored muslin fabric. I took the glass off of Mighty Sun to see how it would be received, as I am thinking of the endless possibilities for embellishment. It is always a wonderful time at the Katbird seeing the lovely Kathy and today she had an artist there making a beautiful painting of a horse. There are so many talented artists and artisans represented there it is definitely worth a trip. I also took some Christmas Ornaments, which Kathy is selling like hotcakes. One woman bought a whole bunch of them and it always heartens me to see that some people admire my work that much.

I am starting a new endeavor(or a revisit to an old one) at the Katbird making personalized childrens pillows and birth announcement pillows. When my son was very little I used to design them, the first one being a train which is what I brought to Kathy, and I would ask my two year old son what it was and if he knew it I figured it looked like what it was supposed to look like, even to a two year old. He was my muse. Now he's a little too old to be my muse and my critic(or supporter) but he sort of inspired me to go backwards and give it a try again. When I did the craft show circuit on Long Island I sold a lot of those pillows so maybe lighting will strike twice. I made cars, and bugs, and trains, and flowers, and well I think you get the idea. I never thought of myself as an artist back then but now I'm ready to be a maker of personalized pillows.

Tomorrow I am volunteering at the Albany Shaker Museum, at least at the moment. We are supposed to be getting a snow storm with some measurable snow but that remains to be seen at the moment.

Thank you to all for your comments on my latest posts, they were a pleasure to write and it was nice to see them well received. I am working on another project not so dark as Hidden Beneath the Surface with pictures to come. Blessings to you and your family and keep stitchin.

Meditation

2009-12-04T13:24:00.001-08:00

Meditation is something that is so good for you. Only problem with that is that I cannot sit still without my hands doing something. I've always been a fidgety person who has to have my hands busy. So recently I decided to make my stitchery a meditation. Repetition, prayer and music. I think the holidays are just a stressful time, you can almost see the energy bursting out of people's eyes. Too much shopping, worrying about money, missing those who are not with you, eating too much, drinking too much,not sleeping enough and that leads to smiles, big empty vacant smiles. Happy, happy, happy.

Well that being said, I sat down with a very small piece of fabric and my tangled mess of thread and started a stitching meditation. It had no rhyme or reason. It started with a pair of spirals and then I just added stitches until it felt done. Now that it's done I'm going to have to put it away for a few days, because of it's size it won't fit in a frame but it came out so lovely that I want to do something with it. Because it's a meditation it has to somehow have a spiritual background, maybe some kantha stitching or french knots, I'm just not quite sure. I will meditate for a solution while making my next meditation project(on a much larger more colorful piece of fabric).

Speaking of fabric, I have been busy watercoloring and tea dying so when the next inspiration comes I am ready. I hope you too have a wonderful way of meditation and finding your center during this holiday season, as real peace is so much better then fake happiness. Keep stitching.

More Ornaments

2009-11-30T13:12:00.000-08:00

Just passing by. I have spent the day making more ornaments. I am really loving making ornaments this year. I give thanks to Kathy from the Katbird Shop who said that they are little pieces of portable art. It gave me something to strive for. I am enjoying the act of making the ornaments(except for the stuffing which I wish I had a couple of Santa's elves to do). I really enjoyed making Santa's fur on his jacket and his beard and making the french knot sheep so I got up close with the camera so you could see the details. French knots are my favorite, favorite stitch.

Also a music recommendation. I am listening to Death Cab For Cutie's Plans which I took out of the library. Very haunting and thought provoking and the most wonderful music to stitch in a meditative way to. For those of you who are Twilight fans they sing the song Meet Me at The Equinox from the movie. I'm not a Twilight fan but I am a Death Cab For Cutie fan so that is where my interest lies. The library is a fabulous place to take out movies, books and CD's and go out of the box you've put yourself into. I've discovered so many things by just watching something or listening to something I never thought I would enjoy. Like Andrea Bocelli who is on Oprah right this very moment. I started watching Bocelli on PBS and have become a big fan. My favorites are Romanza, Sogno and Andrea. My favorite song by him is Ava Maria. Just beautiful!

Back to work soon. So keep stitchin.

Hidden Beneath the Surface

2009-11-28T13:36:00.001-08:00

This piece is called Hidden Beneath the Surface. This is the piece I started a few weeks back but couldn't put down until I did. Now I have picked it up again. It had a completely different name when I started it, but that too shall remain hidden beneath the surface.

Why is it that so much of who we really are is hidden beneath the surface like the Loch Ness Monster only to pop out at inopportune times? Why can't we be snarky or nasty or angry or disappointed? Or why is it that when we are truly truly happy there is always somebody there to point out our foibles? Why must we always put on a pretty face for others and live a blah, blah, blah existence?

Although I love them dearly even with their own idiosyncrasies, our families are always there to put us back into the place where they think we belong. The relative who has to remind you that when you were 20 you searched your way through too many jobs to count. Those who insists you put some lipstick on even when you never wear lipstick. Always, always reminding you that no matter what you do or no matter who you are nothing is ever good enough. So we leave these feelings of anger and frustration and all those other negative feelings they bring up hidden beneath the surface until the wrong person at the wrong time says the wrong thing. And then they pop out, although usually with someone who sees all the hidden things and loves you anyway.

That is the problem with being a searcher, someone who is always searching for other's approval. But I guess now that I'm 50 I've decided that is not what I want for my life. I want to be authentic, be who I am(the good, the bad, and the unlipsticked) and do what I want to do. And it's ok for them to be who they want to be too. We spend so much of our lives wanting to be perfect, but perfection is only an illusion. I don't really think there are any "perfect" people although I agree that many imperfect people think they are perfect. The true search is to find yourself and make your path and remember who you really are. All the warts and beauty marks exactly where they belong. Find people who you can be the real you around, the people you choose to have in your life who weren't preselected. And find your own joy, be it sitting for hours listening to your favorite music with your favorite diversion. Which brings me full circle. This piece speaks to the part of me that will always remain hidden beneath the surface but that comes to life listening to a great song with some embroidery thread and a piece of fabric. Keep stitchin.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T17:35:00.001-08:00

Oh my is my life busy at the moment. I made more ornaments for the Albany Shaker Museum and I'm now knitting a few small purses. The wonderful Kathy at the Katbird sold Floating Turtles(as seen above) and the lovely Debra at Artcentric sold a couple of knit bags. And then we have Thanksgiving. So I'm sending out Thanksgiving wishes and I will go and visit my bloggy friends and then away goes the computer and out come the needles. So blessings to you and all your family. See you soon.

The Katbird Shop

2009-11-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

I recently went to drop off some work at the Katbird Shop and took some lovely photographs. The first photograph is the wonderful owner Kathy and her beautiful cat Ophelia. I also took a photo of Roger but unfortunately he was too blurry to be appreciated. Kathy has owned the Katbird Shop for 4 years and has a wonderful mix of unique and beautiful art and antiques. She is located on Liberty Street right down the road from Pinhead Susans a great tavern like restaurant. She is a wonderful store owner to deal with(the tops really) and if you are looking for a unique gift The Katbird Shop is the right place to go.

The second photograph is my display. Some of the pieces probably look familiar as some of them have graced this blog before gracing the beautiful shelves of the Katbird.

The third photograph is the work of my friend Cheryl. She is a fabulous glass artists and makes beautiful vases, bowls, ornaments and soap dishes. And Kathy sells beautiful hand made soap to place on these soap dishes.

The next photo is the bird, a beautiful piece of pottery which sings to me every time I visit the Katbird. I know she will look beautiful on someone's shelf(perhaps even my own). There is a photo of some paintings and bags that are to die for. And finally here is some of the beautiful jewelry which catches my eye every time I am there. So unique and some of the jewelry is made by a lovely lady right here in Clifton Park.

So there is the virtual tour which really does not do the Katbird Shop justice, so next time you are in Schenectady or the Capital region don't forget to visit. You will find unique gifts for even the most persnickety relative or friend during the Christmas holidays.

See you soon, keep stitchin!

Short and Sweet

2009-11-15T13:09:00.000-08:00

Just dropping in to say hi. I started a piece last night. A real piece. I have every intention of sharing it, but I wasn't really planning to blog today and it is downstairs and I am upstairs. I didn't even want to stop to put it down, and it has been a long time since I felt that way. So I am going to say goodbye and get back to my piece. Please read my blog post from yesterday as I believe all the lovely ladies(and the rest of my bloggy friends) inspired the cobwebs out of my brain. Blessings and keep stitching.

A day of inspiration

2009-11-14T17:14:00.001-08:00

I was going to write a completely different blog post tonight but the fates intervened. First off thanks to Lee I have taken pictures of two of my favorite ornaments of this batch. Probably more to come but started with my favorites, I'm really into the cats at the moment. Started making them for The Katbird Shop, made a few for Albany Shaker and now I'm just enjoying the joy of the stitch. Funny how much more interesting and fun a mundane project can become when you do it for the love the stitch.

Now onto the inspiration, first off let me mention Deb from Bee Creative. She popped into my head today because of her passion for all things green and for the needlearts. She takes the bus to work every day because of her love for the planet and she makes beautiful knit socks while she is at it. She makes beautiful dyed fabric from natural ingredients and she has beautiful nature pictures on her blog(my guess is they are a thank you gift from God for her care). Take a gander at her blog, it is very inspirational.

Secondly there is Jude Hill from Spirit Cloth, her blog was totally inspirational in so many ways today. She shared fabric from a friend(also a Deb)and a link to Deb's blog where I saw just beautiful, beautiful stitchery and news of an interview by Elaine Lipsom in HandEye Magazine which profiled Jude. Jude is very inspirational because she does something that I have loved all my life and she is a success at it. Reading her story only made her more of an inspiration. And in the process I found Elaine's blog which is about art and fibers and makers.

Now to Elaine's blog, she has such an interesting spin on fiber artist and fiber addicts and all those other monikers we stitchers seem to have. She thinks we should be called makers and I have to admit I really like that one or just "artist"(which depending on where I am and how loud I am talking seems to be a hard moniker for me especially lately). Maker seems to sum it all up and put a bow on it, not too pretentious, not too mousy, just simple and honest. If you would like to read Elaines or Deb's blog you can read todays entry at Spirit Cloth and she has links(I still don't do links well).

Of course I can't forget Mendofleur who has the most extraordinary beautiful slipper ornaments on her textile blog(which inspires me every day too). Mendofluer is not just an artist(or a maker) on her own but she shares the wonderful history of textiles and a wonderful way of showing and telling the story behind the pieces.

I have embroidered all my life(or pretty close). I started as a young girl doing kits, I started with my ornaments and pillows to make a little money while my son was a baby, years later I joined an "artist" coop which taught me what I was capable of and then during this past year I kind of hit a wall. Artistically, personally and womanly. So I am back to the ornaments for the time being but with an emphasis on the joy and peace I felt as a young girl for a skein of embroidery thread and a hobby that forces you to be focused. I simply cannot wait until the new year dawns and I can put this year of angst about artistry, craft, motherhood, womanhood behind me and for the time being I think I'll be a maker. I really like that! Keep stitchin and please visit the blogs I mentioned along with ALL the inspirational people who's blogs I follow. Blessings.

A short break

2009-11-13T13:54:00.000-08:00

This will be a quick post as I am feeling very melancholy today and the only thing that seems to be helping is embroidering. At the moment I am embroidering ornaments. Each little stitch brings me that much closer to peace. I am trying to find as much joy out of each and every ornament as I can, painstakingly adding stitches and details until the ornament is finished. I went out and bought muslin today as this foray into knitting and crocheting has brought more purses and scarves then I could imagine. I will continue to make purses and scarves as I need them and start watercoloring and embroidering again. I miss it, I miss the creativity, I miss the way that it makes me feel, the peace, the love, my center. I have finally gotten the message that embroidery is a gift I give myself, it makes me complete.

I volunteered yesterday at the Albany Shaker Museum and happened to sell one of my new cat ornaments to a lady that bought it for her daughter as I was unloading my inventory. She asked how long it took to make one of these and I honestly told her it takes a couple of hours(or maybe longer) but I enjoy making them more the more time they take me to make. It seems everytime I go to the Albany Shaker Museum I see people lovingly looking at the stitches. Between that and my conversation with Emily about joy I realized it's time to get back to work as a hand embroidery "artist". More stitchin, less *itchin.

I'll share pictures when I have them. Just a shout out to Lynda Lehman who has a lovely video tribute to the troops on her blog. So I'm off for a bit of peace and tranquility and I'll see you soon. Keep stitchin.

The Blessings Of Ovation

2009-11-10T15:26:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful for the blessings I have. For the family who love me. For the friends who love me. For my wondrous dog and all the pets I've loved and who have loved me. For the idea of art and creation and the ability of that medium that allows anyone to find peace. Even a tortured soul like me. And for the daily inspirations of life where no one would expect to find them.

I was watching Ovation tv the other night and they are doing their Everything is Art week. I am so inspired watching artists and designers and understanding where they come from. More from their work process then the finished project. I seem to understand their art and their process better than I understand my own. Well as I was watching Ovation there is a beautiful girl who designs for Marquesa who says in the commercial celebrating Everything Is Art week that this week highlights people who take the ordinary and make it extraordinary. It immediately and every time I see the commercial reminds me of my wonderful friend Judy (from Counting Backwards) who gave me that advice a few years back. It seems to be a theme for me lately wondering if I made more ordinary things would I be more marketable. Probably not but it does make you wonder if your vision is only shared by you. I am thankful for her advice and her guidance.

I saw my friend Emily today for our weekly breakfast and I asked her the question. Why does selling my work seem to be such a burden for me? And she answered do you create what you create for money or does it give you joy? And the answer is most certainly it gives me joy. I would spend all day doing what I am doing even if I never made a penny. Thank you Emily. That also seems to be a theme for the artists on Ovation. They create what their visions tell them to do and the universe seems to push them along(I'm still waiting for the universe but I'm pretty sure now that I am dealing with this logjam the universe will undam me.)

So much of this past year has been spent in angst over what is and what is not happening with my work. I seem to have forgotten that when something is worried about it is not joyful, to be clear and resolute and extraordinary one must get past the results and work through the process. Stop trying to please the masses and try to reach that one person who thinks pink mohair or watercolored fabric is wonderful. Or perhaps try to sell my vision and the pieces of my heart that go with it. Stop worrying about how people perceive it or how it is being accepted and be joyful about the act of giving, perhaps a wonderful gift or a moment of whimsy or even the inspiration that someone else can make it too. Whatever the secret is I think I will only figure it out when I stop worrying about what others think and worry only about what I think. The only time I will figure it out is when I count my blessings.

I have wonderful friends both in real life and on the blog. I had an artistic mother and a carpenter father(both who had real jobs). I have a great responsible husband who is great looking and thank God a good provider(or I'd be living in a box about now). A great son. A brother. And added to all that I have a joy for the thread and the needle and the yarn and how each of those fit into all the missing pieces sometime.

Sorry to wax philosophical but sometimes I do and usually that is all that's needed to remind me to count my many blessings and be thankful. Peace and blessings to you and if you have Ovation it's a great week to watch it, so darn inspirational.

PS the photos are only here as illustration to the pink mohair and the watercolored fabric, I will have more pictures soon of my new work!

A great new blog I found

2009-11-09T17:12:00.001-08:00

I really didn't have much to talk about today. I'm still embroidering ornaments and I'm back to crocheting and knitting again but don't have anything finished(as I like to do my sewing on the sewing machine only when I feel like dealing with the technology of a sewing machine). I looked up the new gallery where I sell my work, New Leaf at 70 Beekman and found this great blog downtown Susie Brown whose link I will put on the side who is just a treasure trove of information about businesses in Saratoga Springs and all the beautiful wonderful handmade things you can find there. So I thought I would share it with you . I hope you are having a wonderfully creative day.

I'm gonna go blogging and see what beautiful inspirations I can find to pass along. Hope you are having a wonderfully creative day and hopefully some pictures tomorrow!

Ornaments

2009-11-07T17:45:00.000-08:00

Hi All! These are some hand embroidered ornaments I am making for the Katbird Shop. I'm really enjoying the whole twigs and berry and cat thing. I don't really have too much to say today, too much television this week and well the news was just horrendously awful this week. Just another reminder to live our lives to the fullest and get into the process and not the outcome. We never know what the outcome of anything will be. We may wish to think that we do, but we don't. Hard to remember that on a daily basis. I think living in the moment in the process is at least a way to try. I hope you have had a great week creatively and personally. Be back tomorrow with hopefully something more inspiring to say.

Just Checking In

2009-11-04T15:28:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite tree and I took a picture on a beautiful sunny day not so long ago because the light hit it at just the right angle. I'm feeling a little under the weather, not sure if it is just too much Halloween candy or something a little worse. On the plus side I have been making pillows and ornaments for the Albany Shaker Museum and the Katbird Shop. Will take pictures and share when finished. Blessings to all. See you soon!

Albany Shaker Blog Site

2009-11-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't think I had anything to blog about today but I woke up this morning to the sound of an interview on the radio about the Albany Shaker Museum and their annual craft show. And they have a blog. So I'm just passing it along. There are pictures of some of the beautiful wares available, information on hours, how to get there and so forth and so on. So please go take a look(if you can in person would be great) and I'll be back tomorrow with something pretty of my own hands to look at. Keep stitching!