Work Day

The rain is helping me get a lot accomplished today. I have been sitting in front of the fire finishing many projects and I have even posted a number of gloves to Etsy.

Halloween Part II

Aster did allow her dad to take her picture before school, the sun was just rising as she purred for the camera. I will add Gage's pic when he is dressed up tonight.

Too Fun

I haven't read Dooce in a while - but I clicked on it today and there is a hysterically funny post about a vasectomy. (I warn any men who might be thinking about reading it-but if you can handle it-- it is very very funny). And anyone who knows me, better know by now, that I really enjoy her photos of her dogs.

Halloween part I

Thursday evening Aster and I continued Halloween shopping. We hit three more warehouses and the mall. She decided, for school today, to be a black and white cat like our Nemo. I begged her for a picture, but no, no picture. For trick-or-treating she is going to be Dorothy. I still have to get her a pair of ruby red slippers and blue ribbons for her hair after school.

My costume, however, did not get made. I bought red material to make Lady Bird Beetle wings but didn't have time to make them. So at the last minute I pulled the Statue of Liberty costume out of the dress up box. I realized walking in to the high school this morning that it is actually a great metaphor for my situation. I am liberated, or at least, I will soon be.Does any one remember the Happy Days Halloween episode in which Richie has a blind date with a very tall girl and she is dressed as the Statue of Liberty?

In one scene, the two of them are driving home from the Halloween costume party, late at night, and Richie's car runs out of gas. The girl is all excited because she thinks, finally, a boy wants to make out with me, but no, the car actually, truly had run out of gas and she and Richie have to walk to a gas station and back. When they get back with a bucket of gas, Richie says, how are we going to get the gas into the tank? And the girl pulls the orange tissue out of the fake Statue of Liberty torch she has been carrying around the entire time and says, here use this!

not someone else's life any more

Yeah, I feel I am definitely leading my own life now.

I realized that I have never worked this long in one one place - other than in my home, ever in my life. This would be my 5th year if I stayed. Today I am very depressed and sad about the ending of my employment. My last day is Friday November 6th. I sent my resignation e-mail and I haven't been going in much. But I actually went to work today - and I realized that I have friends in the building - and now they know that I am leaving, and they are being especially nice and supportive. Even people I didn't realize are friends are being really supportive.I want to blame the administration and leadership for not allowing me to be part of something, but really I wanted to remain anonymous there - I wanted to just do my job, get my paycheck and go home to be the actual person that I am. But some of me leaked out I guess.

So right now, and every day now, high up above or down below, I have to lead my own life.

more

I love love love this owl print from Alexander Henry's upcoming Collection (not available yet), found it at True Up. The design below is an applique owl that was in a display at the Fall Quilt Market.

True Up

Lucinda,

Thank you for telling me about this amazing blog. It offers sales alerts and new fabrics and give-a-ways! I can't wait to read every post ever posted! True up posted the fabric shown above. It is Aomi Ito’s newest collection within her Nani Iro brand which is called Antique Label. This is Vol. 1, Rose & Poppy. I really like it in the green and yellow in the back.

Gem and Mineral Show

On Saturday I was able to spend an hour at the Gem and Mineral Show. I bought some beads and some rocks. I love rocks. Gage wanted a piece of pyrite and I found a nice piece of marcasite. This show is one of my favorites because although I really go to shop, it is more like a giant mineral museum. The fossils and giant gems are so gorgeous.

Halloween Costumes

We spent most of Saturday shopping in stores and online for this year's halloween costumes. Aster typically buys more than three costumes, and, yes, I stupidly allow it. She bought the adorable Hogwarts school girl costume at the costume wharehouse yesterday and I wanted to buy the $5 children's Yu Gi Oh! costume and just wear the mask - but both my children adamantly insisted that it would be disasterous for them if I wore a Yu Gi Oh! mask. I tried to explain that I wasn't trying to be cool, I was trying to be weird and they said that is just what I would be accomplishing and God forbid one of their friends saw me it would be the end for them. So I belligerently put the costume back. I then said I just want to be some kind of Japanese anime and they agreed that would be okay as long as it wasn't Yu Gi Oh!

I said what I really want is to be Hello Kitty, but I can't find anything. Then Aster decides she wants to be Hello Kitty so I am not allowed to be Hello Kitty or any Sanrio character I assume. Once again I give up my freedom and my halloween costume to make my kids happy, The responsibilities of a mom are immeasurable and span an immense, dark universe.

And, of course there is no Hello Kitty Costume on the market. So today I will have to shop for ten hours for the perfect little puffy sleeve white blouse and pink skirt, go to Joanne's and buy material for white cat ears and pink bows and also big buttons. I will let you know how it goes.

2 more things

I read at Salon.com that on Sunday, it was reported that "Mad Men" writer Kater Gordon had been fired -- just three weeks after winning an Emmy for outstanding writing. Gordon began her "Mad Men" career as show creator Matthew Weiner's personal assistant. Hmmmm, (Peggy Olson undertones) so speculation about what really happened is darn near irresistible, despite the lack of confirmed information, or even any trustworthy gossip.

The article describes the fact that any young woman who rises to success is still frequently assumed to have slept her way there. And the fact that we so quickly assume any sexual relationship between a woman and her professional superior necessarily involves a quid pro quo. Can't sex and success ever be a coincidence? Can't talent in fact be a part of what might attract two people working in close proximity to each other? and... sometimes people sleeping together make really good art. The more likely reason is that inexperienced talent is cheap and Emmy award winners may not be. My guess is that Gordon is a great writer and is now ready for something better than Weiner.
You can read the complete article here.

And .. If you are into ideas about memory - check out a great new blog, artevice. It is written by someone I know pretty well...

better late than never on Mad Men

This last episode of Mad Men (titled "The Color Blue") was so very lovely. It was all about memory, mystifying memory -- trying to recall, trying to forget, trying to understand. The episode allowed me to relax for once instead of be completely mired in metaphor. This universal nostalgia theme is interesting because it is so broad and common but at the same time so intimate. The "color blue" is the only metaphor in this episode of which I am aware. I do love metaphors, don't get me wrong, but sometimes there are so many in this show it becomes overwhelming. The charming teacher's tale of the color blue reminds me of an Anais Nin quote, "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are."

The most obvious point about the idea of attempting to relive the past (and maybe the present as we wish it were) is Betty reading Mary McCarthy’s controversial 1963 novel, The Group. This novel portrays the lives, and aspirations of eight women, all upper class post war Vassar graduates. The women meet in New York to attend the wedding of one of their members and reconvene seven years later at her funeral. One Blog I found wrote this - "if The Group proves one thing, it’s that McCarthy had a piercingly sharp eye for all that goes unsaid in the great institution of marriage." Another blog stated that reading the novel in a bathtub suggests a rebirth for Betty. The motif of female school ties is suggested a number of times in this episode. Don asks Sally about school but not Bobby. Similarly, Lane Pryce laments that Americans never ask him where he went to school. Bert and Roger reminisce about the Sterling Cooper “class” of ‘33 and pointedly comment on a past female alumnus "remember her?”

But much more significantly, Betty’s reading of the novel parallels her discovery of Don’s secret life. At the close of the show, we watch Betty, as she watches Don, at the Sterling Cooper dinner. The empty chair next to her possibly suggesting that she’s contemplating a future without him. What I like about his ending is that thoughts of freedom are common for all females - but clearly a personal, intimate, problem for Betty.

new gloves

I almost sold out of fingerless gloves at the Public Market Artist Row. And I have had a number of custom orders, but I am pleased to say that I have finally posted some new fingerless gloves on Etsy.

artful construction

The construction continues in the High School. At least there are often interesting visual aspects to it. All the ceilings have been removed. I especially love the lights that hang haphazardly and I enjoy looking up at all the pipes and wires.

The pic below is the completed new wing. It is so very white.

crafty projects

I found a post about this book at Tea Tod Toad. I love the baby booties she made (pictured below)from a vintage embroidered doily - (instructions are on pg 12 in the book (project by Allison Jones ~)).

Marcie Paper

I found these wonderful paintings by Marcie Paper while checking out all the websites listed on the Second Storie} website. I hope she is selling at the show in November! I want these for my home!

working together

Heather Layton thanked Allen and I on her blog for helping install her show at Cornell. I really didn't do anything at all, Allen did all the worked while I knit and napped. But she caught us working together ("the concrete construction crew" she calls us) on video, see it yourself here.
Congratulations Heather! As always you imagine the impossible, give yourself to little time to acheive it and then superbly exhibit amazingly beautiful, thoughtful, intelligent, inspiring work.

Autumn

I have had a busy weekend. I tried to sell my work at a show in a Catholic high school gymnasium. I will never attempt that again. I sold a measly $24 worth. The show was in the Fingerlakes and I thought when I signed up for it that at least I would enjoy the drive and enjoy the beauty of the fall foliage. But it rained all day. I love fall, here are some pics around my home and garden that will hopefully remind me that I do not have to drive to the Fingerlakes to enjoy its beauty.

this comes from me too

As some of you may know I am planning on leaving my current job and I do not have another one yet. I have so many emotions about this decision. I know I will be happier. I know I will be able to attend to many more chores and responsibilities and even the other parts of life I enjoy. But there are many issues in my head that bewilder and discourage me. Simply put, I feel that I am too good for the job I am in (although this is not the entire reason I am leaving). I hate that I have this arrogance. I hate that I continually judge and criticize my colleagues for being able to with stand working in this sub par, completely unchanging, non interesting environment.

But the fact is that I can't do the job myself. So how moronic am I? I cannot do the work that I consider simpletons to be very good at. I am such a mess. I wax and wane from feeling superior to feeling inferior, from being so full of myself, to then being so insecure I just want to stay in bed all day. Is there any hope of ever feeling just fine? Are their people who believe in themselves, while remaining humble and supportive of others? I hope there are, I want to be like that. I will try to be more like that.

it comes from me

Last night I watched an hour of the television series on PBS, Craft in America. The show is short segments of many artists, craft artists, who reveal what makes their work and the lives they lead unique. One can also view the show online. I was so enamored by the stories because each and every one of the artists spoke in such a heartfelt manner about the joy they receive from making something wonderful, something that comes from them. I was definitely inspired and also encourage to continue my efforts at making a living making things.

Part of one of the episodes covered the 92nd street Y in NYC. I would love to have a 92nd street Y here in Rochester. It has always been a dream of mine to own a part retail space, part instructional space for arts and crafts. The 92nd St Y classes and workshops are taught by professional artists - even art stars such as Jonathan Wahl, Director of the Jewelry & Metal Department and Bobby Silverman, Director of the Ceramic Center - and are available for all age groups and all levels, from children to senior adults, from hobbyists to accomplished artists who come to learn new skills.

I love teaching, and all the artists in this series speak of how important it is to share the skills and tradition of their craft with the next generation. I will find something that allows me to do this more myself.

art

Love this painting by Michelle Maul. It is available as a digital print in her Etsy shop for a measly $8. And here is a collage by one of my other faves, Kareem Rizk.

Mark Wagner

I saw a piece by Mark Wagner at the Albright Knox Museum. In real life the collage is more visible. But if you look closely you can see he uses currency in a remarkable way.