Tag: Mixed Media

She was only dreaming… (Music Challenge part2)

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Yesterday was the reveal of the Challenge of Music blog hop hosted by Erin of Tesori Trovati. I spent quite a bit of time listening and working to Marillion over the last month as I worked on my piece, and other things in the jewelry studio. My ideas from the album “Script for a Jester’s Tear” were more than I could fit into 1 piece, so I have a second offering inspired by my favorite song onthe album – “Chelsea Monday”. 

Dreaming sketch and metal

The sketches for a 2 part setting to house a plastic lens. 

test fit lens

Test fit of the lens in its copper tabs. Metals stapled together in the back. 

dreaming pendant

The pendant: hammered copper, brass, Gilder’s paste. Image transfer of labyrinth and wisps of wool roving in the plastic lens. 

Chelsea Dreaming

The finished necklace: moonstone briolette, vintage copper chain and aquamarines. 

Here are the lyrics: 

Catalogue princess, apprentice seductress 
Hiding in her cellophane world in glitter town 
Awaiting the prince in his white Capri 
Dynamic young Tarzan courts the bedsit queen

She’s playing the actress in this bedroom scene 
She’s learning her lines from glossy magazines 
Stringing all her pearls from her childhood dreams 
Auditioning for the leading role on the silver screen

Patience my tinsel angel 
Patience my perfumed child 
One day they really love you 
You’ll charm them with that smile 
But for now it’s just another Chelsea Monday

Drifting with her incense in the labyrinth of London 
Playing games with faces in the neon wonderland 
Perform to scattered shadows on the shattered cobbled aisles 
Would she dare recite soliloquies at the risk of stark applause

She’ll pray for endless Sundays as she enters saffron sunsets 
Conjure phantom lovers from the tattered shreds of dawn 
Fulfilled and yet forgotten the St. Tropez mirage
Fragrant aphrodisiac, the withered tuberose

Patience my tinsel angel, patience my perfumed child 
One day they really love you, you’ll charm them with that smile 
But for now it’s just another Chelsea Monday

[Hello John, did you see The Standard about four hours ago? 
Fished a young chick out of The Old Father 
Blond hair, blue eyes. She said she wanted to be an actress or something 
Nobody knows where she came from, where she was going 
Funny thing was she had a smile on her face 
She was smiling, what a waste]

Catalogue princess, apprentice seductress 
Buried in her cellophane world in glitter town 
Of Chelsea Monday

 

That last bit in parenthesis is spoken at the end of the song. And yes, it does imply she was found dead, drowned. That immediately  – to me – references Tennyson’s “Lady of Shallot” ( I will post at the end if you are interested.) When I listen to the song – I dont think of her death. I think of her escape. And  I am not by nature a depressed person to select such dark songs. I just listen to the song and hear a different  ending. She followed her dreams, she escaped her fate, she found her wings…

The song is refering to the London neighborhood of Chelsea, where I loved to wander when I lived there. It was a short ride on the #49 bus from my flat in Shepherd’s Bush…My time in London was pivotal in who I am today as an artist and a person. I spent a lot of time alone exploring, alone with my thoughts…drifting through London as it were…

And the labyrinth is a powerful symbol. One path, it offers you blind turns, twists and turns, but only one path. At times you feel you are going back to where you had just been. If you stay on your path, trust in the journey, you will not be led astray. The path to the center, your center, although you may not always be able to see where you are headed, you are headed the right way. 

So I am very satisfied with the results of the time spent with this music, and this challenge. This piece I will wear often. It speaks loudly to me. I look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

The Lady of Shallot – Text: here

Images: here and here and one more – here

and the song brings to mind this painting as well…

 

Script for a Jester’s tear (Challenge of Music blog hop)

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When I signed up at the begining of February to participate in the Challenge of Music Blog hop that Erin of Tesori Trovati is hosting – I knew the devil in me was going to spur me on. To be daring, to be different, to select a song that not only would be an inspiration to me in making a piece of jewelry; but that would represent me in myriad ways to people visiting my blog. Music that was an integral part of who I am, not simply a song I quite like. Go obscure or go home? 

I flashed back to sophomore year in college; drawing 202 – spring semester. Janet Sorensen. I seem to remember that her assignment  was to do a series of drawings, inspired by a work of music? poetry? I decided to select the same song; as it was evocative to me then, and would prove to be in very different ways now. And the contrast of a series of drawings so early in my career to a mixed media necklace now? Interesting to say the least. 

The song was “Script for a Jester’s Tear” by the British band Marillion. A prog-rock band of the 80’s – they were rather obscure then, and even more so now. And yes, I still listen to them regularly. (They are still around, but changed drastically with the departure of singer/lyricist Fish in 1989) The song is also the title of the album; which tells a story of sorts, songs flowing into the next, poetic, dramatic – hard to describe…

Script cover

The jester character is woven throughout Marillion’s 4 albums with Fish. A storyteller, an alter ego… The song “Script for a Jester’s tear” is about loss, leaving, love lost. It is about nostalgia, longing, and regrets. It also evokes growth and maturity, leaving behind of youth’s folly. (Full lyrics here.) 

“The fool escaped from paradise will look over his shoulder and cry 
Sit and chew on daffodils and struggle to answer why? 
As you grow up and leave the playground 
Where you kissed your prince and found your frog 
Remember the jester that showed you tears, the script for tears”

Music sketches

Jester WIP

Brass and nickel silver pieces cut and drilled. What to go inside? So much of the album is angst driven introspection, told in the first person. It feels confessional at times –  looking inward, seeing clearly…I have an idea!  And as I listen to the album again and again while I work – I am hearing ( from the song “The Web”)

 

“I realise I hold the key to freedom 
I cannot let my life be ruled by threads 
The time has come to make decisions 
The changes have to be made

Now I leave you, the past does have it’s say 
You’re all but forgotten a mote in my heart 
Decisions have been made, decisions have been made 
I’ve conquered my fears…”

 

Jester keys

But I needed color. I wanted to reference the fool’s motley, jewel tones, diamond patterned… I thought enamel but decided to truly challenge myself with a new technique. Colored pencil on metal… I googled, and talked to my go-to-gal Cooky… After cleaning the metal and de-greasing it from oils, I painted it with gesso. (Patina can work but gesso is bright white as a primer as opposed to green patina…) Then I colored it. Berol Prismacolors are recommended as they are waxier than other brands. You can blend with turps, sand and do multiple layers… I just did one. It was so stark and intensely colored. I admit I was (unpleasantly) surprised. But after a bit of sanding – I was more satisfied… (resources here and here…)

Jester with color

I plan to experiment more with this technique and have ordered black gesso to try as well. Just now seeing the irony as I write the post. My original “Script for a Jester’s Tear” drawings in college, in the 80’s – they were in Berol Prismacolor as well. And I didnt realize that consciously until this second… My road has come full circle…

Jester finished

The pendant: brass and nickel silver shrine/frame. Engraving from late 1800’s art text. Antique key. Sterling, moonstones, smokey quartz, pearls. Assembled with micro bolts. 

Jester full view

The necklace: Sterling cones. SP chain. Irridescent seed beads to echo the colors of the pendant. Simple clasp. ( I routinely use simple closures to keep the necklace comfortable while worn.) approximately 24″. 

This whole challenge was very invigorating. I am intrigued by a new technique and plan to try it agin. I enjoyed the nostalgia and memories that I stirred up, reflecting back to my years in art school, my own feelings of leaving youth, loss and growth. I am proud of the road – with its obstacles and triumphs – that I have travelled as an artist since those formative experiences as an art student.

In fact – I did a second piece inspired by the same album… but that will have to wait until tomorrow! You have other blogs to visit! Thanks for staying with me – I know this post was epic. I would love to hear your thoughts on the necklace, and if there are any other Marillion fans out there…

Here are my fellow bloggers participating in the “Challenge of Music”: 

 

Erin Prais-Hintz

Marcie Abney

Christine Altmiller

Elisabeth Auld

LJ B

Lori Bowring Michaud

Shannon Chomanczuk

Cece Cormier

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Malin de Koning

Beth Emery

Michelle Escano-Caballero

Erin Fickert-Rowland

Therese Frank

Amy Freeland

Tanya Goodwin

Stephani Gorman

Amy Grass

Beth Hemmila

Kristina Johansson

Jennifer Justman

Tari Kahrs

Susan Kennedy

Ema Kilroy

Kathleen Lange Klik

Kirsi Luostarinen

Paige Maxim

Beth McCord

Natalie McKenna

Alice Peterson

Cat Pruitt

Bobbie Rafferty

Johanna Rhodes

Cynthia Riggs

Sally Russick

Sarah Sequins

Amy Severino

Staci Smith

Kristen Stevens

Lola Surwillo

Stefanie Teufel

Sandi Volpe

Holly Westfall

Shaiha Williams

Clay. Creations. Friends. Fun…

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pendants

Wow – all last week was a blur. Getting ready for Wicked Faire, firing the kiln multiple times, packing, prepping. Phew. (Wicked Faire was fun. No, there werent many pictures taken. Yes, I saw Gumby, Santa, Papa Smurf, Jesus, demons, a faun, pirates, and so many more characters. But what happens at Wicked should stay at Wicked…)

So this week – already Thursday? Show applications, paperwork, etc. Doing quite a bit of catching up…Working on Fall themed submissions for magazines, mailing my charms to Ornamentea for the “Lucky charm swap” and thinking/sketching for my Music blog hop…

Exciting news…I am one of the newly selected members of the Suburban Girl Design team. Suburban Girl Studio is owned and operated by Diana Ptaszynski – who I met last fall at Beadfest in Philadelphia. (She organized a bead swap that went from fun to epic. Friends were made, hijinks ensued.) Diana makes ceramic beads and components in stoneware, porcelain and raku. Like these: 

Suburban girl beads

And these: 

Suburban Girl raku

The design team will receive a piece – seasonally, and we will create using that component, blog the results and share the love. You know the results are going to be radically different,and extremely creative. It will be interesting to see especially as the team members all have different packgrounds in art, clay, design, metal smithing. I am looking forward to the creative challenge. 

I had been thinking perhaps I would go out into the blog world, and see if there was interest in a design team of my own. My pendants are one branch of my body of work, I do quite a bit more. (Tiles, shrines, collage…) Perhaps after this design team experience, I will launch my own. What do you think? 

Stay tuned for the music blog hop next week and new tile designs in the works. 

A dream-y collaboration…

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Last December I received notification for a show called TWOgether, a collaborative exhibit. Held at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, DE – the call was for a pair of works by 2 artists. I immediately thought of Betsy, my partner in crime, and many artistic undertakings. (We have had multiple exhibits of our show Imago Dea – envisioning the feminine divine.) So we sat at her kitchen table after the holidays and brainstormed. Until now we have always exhibited collages. Betsy’s are digital, using her photographs among myriad other items, textures, locations… She exhibits them as stunning giclee prints. Mine are paper, fabric, glue, paint… more traditional style collages. This time I wanted to do a mixed media piece, bring to life ideas I had been sketching. And I had to deal with surgery and recovery. So I sketched this to show her my basic assemblage idea…

working sketch

(The moon was to illustrate that some image would be framed by the vintage Mother-of-pearl buckle…. Thats were we left it. For Betsy to take the threads of an idea, and a handful of found objects I presented to her as my potential materials. And run with it. And run she did!

Betsy's "Oceana"

Ooh – the textures, nacre of shell, ripples of water, sand… The colors. That ammonite – which she scanned from my original. Oh! This is going to be good. 

filigree links

Sterling and copper links echo the sea foam shapes. The sterling is actually the positive and negative of the same curl. 

WIP dreams

River rock and enameled copper for color. The same ammonite – tab set in copper. And putting it all TWOgether…

Detritus of dreams

Words from her poem (included in the print) under mica, framed by the MOP buckle. The layers are micro-bolted, and riveted. 

dreams detail

I couldnt be more pleased with how it came out! The show is opening tomorrow, with a reception on Friday the 10th from 6-8pm. If you are in the area, please stop by! It will be on exhibit until the 24th. 

 

 

Fifteen minutes of Fame, winners, and the like…

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Halloween

Spook-tacular news: After three (?) years of waiting and wondering – my episode of HGTV’s “That’s Clever” will air on Monday October 17th, 2011! I am excited, and a little anxious. It has been so long, its all a blur in my memory. I am excited to see it, and feel a little self-conscious – will it be cool? Silly? Hmm. So check your local cable listings for time and channel! I am interested to hear what you think. 

Winners! – I though I was being so smart – deciding on 1 random winner and 1 that I selected. Completely impartial, I know, but my perogative. Well, that was a hard decision! There were great ideas for talismanic words and phrases – many that I will use! Thank to all who entered, that was the creative impetus I needed. I will post pix as things are hammered out. 

The random winner is…’Serenity now’ from Angela

And I could not resist…‘Empowered‘ from Rachel. ( Hard decision! SO many great ideas!) 

Other points of interest: 

FaerieCon – November 4-6, in Baltimore. A truly magical weekend of music, art, festivities, and the like. Great authors and artist, a chance to meet and see their new work. The line-up this year is the best yet! And the costumes! And the Green Men parade! and the Masquerade Balls! I cannot wait. 

The Arden Holiday Shop – November 27th, 11-4 pm. A tradition in Arden DE, this small gathering of local artists and craftspeople is very festive! Great place to start – or finish – your holiday shopping! 

And yes! I will have ‘word mojo’ necklaces at both events. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you can tune in on Monday!

The Soup is ON! Bead Soup Blog Party…

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Arrival

It came nestled in purple, a color often associated with royalty. And I surely felt like a queen when I opened up one precious pouch after the other! SO many! Such treasure… Jelveh outdid herself.  Now I had seen her blog and her Etsy site – and I can honestly tell you, I was eager to take a peak at the lampwork. For she is a lampwork goddess, and I assumed I would get a lampwork focal. This is a busy part of the year for me and I was most often in the basement studio glazing ceramic tiles and pendants. So one Saturday, I cleared my schedule, brewed fresh coffee (the brew of inspiration) and sat down at my table…

work table

(This is a clean view of my table. Believe me – once the magic starts there is not so much empty space visible…)

BSBP sketchbook

And I sketched, and planned. I wanted to be able to share the process with you, and also have a record for myself, for the future. The ideas for the main pieces were pretty immediate. 

first BSBP

The first piece. Made entirely of BSBP beads and clasp; nothing at all from my stash. I had challenged myself to do that, and being my first BSBP had no idea if I would succeed. My generous partner made it easy! This piece was designed for my mother, as it is not my color palette. The lampwork focal is such rich gorgeous deep colors. You need a better view: 

first BSBP view

And then for my sister (who now will know what one of her birthday presents will be…) as she is a Scorpio. Classic, versatile black and silver – she is a lawyer and often likes to dress up the professional uniform with a little non traditional bling. (Again – all BSBP stash)

scorpio earrings

These green beads shouted spring, vegetation, plants… so I paired them with glass floral beads and copper. I wanted the warm copper tones to mellow the sharp fresh green hue. 

spring earrings

Now – for the biggee. Drumroll please…

BSBP the biggee

When I saw this lampwork focal I immediately knew I wanted it to stand strong with accents to support it yet not compete. It is large and exquisitely detailed, with a diverse color palette. The blue stones from the soup worked well in scale and color; so I added silks, double strands to bring out some of the other pastel tones in the focal. The only items from my stash: the silks and the clasp. How serendipitous to have cones in my soup? 

BSBP focal

And them there is still soup to savor on another day! As with homemade soup – it is often better the next day after the flavors meld. I look forward to returning to a second helping with this: 

doggie bag

And the most delectible morsels…

favorites BSBP

The lampwork goddess bead I simply adore. That one is mine! She is a dark plum/brown which makes me think of Earth, fertility, vegetation.  I am thinking of breaking out the seedbeads. I know – shocking! But beading a fringe bouquet with gladd flowers and leaves – are those even the right terms? I see it in my mind’s eye, and know those relatively simple beadweaving techniques. 

Oh! Don’t go yet. I have to give you the list. But thank for stopping in – I would love to hear your thoughts on my creations, and I hope to see you around in the future…

Here is the full list of participants! Bead soup Blog Party 2011


 

Harmony: enamel shadowbox reveal…

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Good Morning! Welcome to the Enamel Shadowbox bezel and blog hop! Here in Delaware – it has been a busy few days as we are preparing for Irene…So join me for a cup of coffee, thats what I am having – and enjoy!

The Hop takes place thanks to Lorelei and C-Koop beads; Lorelei posted this contect/challenge on her blog and I was thrilled to be one of the finalists. For truly I felt like I had won the prize! The enameled pendants, bezels actually are created by Sara of C-Koop Beads. I enamel small components, and fell in love with these immediately! Here is the one I recieved: 

empty bezel

Gorgoeus shades of maroon, wine, and gold. The problem: I dont want to cover all of that up! I want to use resin – I create a series of resin penndats, incorporating word and image. The word is usually found text rom 200+year old books. I usually incorporate text in my pieces. Perhaps polymer? I had recently taken a class with the zany Christie Friesen – an was open to polymer’s potential. 

moth vs lantern

The bezel reminded me of origami paper, with its patterns of gold. From Japanese paper – to lanterns; the lantern was the first idea. I actually prefered the luna moth more myself – as it is a symbol of transformation… but in the end the lantern fit better, and preserved the gold pattering on the bezel. These pieces are sculpted from polymer, accented with mica powders, baked, and set in with caulk (my prefered glue). Seed beads were also added to create the blossoms and lantern base. The Chinese character for “Harmony” was written in with Sharpie, lo tech, but effective!

designing

This was the picture as it all came together. I knew I wanted to use my chunky copper chain, and I knew flowers. I wanted the chain to be more elaborate, and decided to run a strand of seed beads through it for visual interest, and color. The color that worked best picked up the light tones on the lantern, not the wine colors as I had imagined. I needed a word. To define the Chinese character on the lantern, and to tie it all together. Harmony. (That is what the lantern says, BTW). So I am stamping that onto copper…

finished pendant

The finished pendant before resin. 

detail

Detail of the chain, three wine color pearls visually balance the stamped copper. 

finished piece

There it is. App. 18″ of mixed media magic. I am pleased with how it came out… Oh right! Resin…

with resin

This morning’s update: resin cured. (Little seepage on the back to be sanded.) I hope you liked that journey through my thought process. I cannot wait to see what the others have done! So go – see those blogs! And please, let me know what you think!

 

Enjoy hopping through these participating blogs!
11. Grubbi
12. Jenny Davies- Reazor (you are here. And I thank you for visiting!)

13. Beth of Elizabeth Williams

 

Good things happen in threes…

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Well, I am back. Back to the blog. Back to the studio after teaching for the summer. Back from vacation. And I am happy to get to work on a few things that have come my way…

The first is this little gem. It is an enameled bezel by C-Koop Beads. Lorelei – bead blogger extraordinaire, is hosting a challenge/ blog hop. I was thrilled to be pulled out of the proverbial hat as a participant. The real challenge for me is what to do that leaves that gorgeous enamel color visible. I do many bezels – collaged, with resin, found objects, and the like. But this one I need to fill, and yet not fill… Hmm. The reveal will be here on August 27th, so stay tuned! ( The list of all participants, and their log links will be on Lorelei’s blog that day.) 

enamel bezel

Then there is Bead Soup. The Bead Soup Blog Party to be exact. I have wanted to be a part of this for years, and never knew who? how? where? when? This year I heard the siren song in time. The tireless Lori Anderson has matched up all 350+ participants by hand. No random generator, there! A true labor of love. I mailed my package today to my partner. Here is a sneak peak…

bead soup

soup package

That little treasure box is headed to California into the hands of Jelveh J. She is a lampwork bead artist and I cant wait to see what treasures she sends me to work with! Once they arrive, I will detail the beads, and my process, my ideas, and my methods. There will be a focal, a clasp, coordinating beads, inspiration. Sweet! Here is a pix of Jelveh’s work from her site: 

Jelveh's beads

See what I mean? Eagerly awaiting that box! The big reveal will be September 17th. I will post my creations here, but the list of ALL the participants can be found at Lori’s blog – Pretty Things. 

This weekend is Beadfest in Philadelphia. I have to say – I usually dont go, and my wallet thanks me. But this year, I am participating in a swap! Yes, another swap! Purely for the love of beads this time. Diana of Suburban Girl Studio organized the group of us. Swap, meet and hang out, dinner… What a great way to end a day of bead orgy – I mean shopping. My partner is Meredith Arnold – who will be teaching, so I can pop into her classroom and see her students polymer creations. Looking forward to meeting many of the bead blog friends. 

 

Last but not least – I had work featured on the Faux Bone blog. Thrilled! I am experimenting recently with Faux Bone and I am really liking it. Looking forward to taking a class with Robert Dancik (he developed the material) at ArtBliss in Sept. Now if I can just get her finished so I can wear her Saturday to Beadfest…

FB goddess

 

 

Cerrridwen, Taliesin…and a Blue Hen?

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Blue Hen plywood

It all started with the hen, the blue hen to be exact. The City of Newark, DE is having a fundraiser – in the style of the decorated animal sculptures you have seen – I am sure – in many cities across the country. As the state bird is the Blue Hen… artists have been given a plywood silhouette, app. 30″ tall. Out birds will be auctioned off in September, and will be displayed (inside) at various businesses in town, and on Main St. The previous picture shows the earliest stages, after carving up my bird, to create a niche inside. Then she was covered in paper – from the Encyclopedia Britannica, or course. And yes, I used the article on “Poultry farming”. 

Blue Hen paper

I knew right away I wanted to create a shrine in the body of the hen. Shrines are my most personal, expressive medium. Although the chicken is not a totem animal I use symbolically in my work, I wanted to challenge myself to make a “real” piece, not just a fundraiser donation. I had committed my name, my time, and energy to this venture, and I wanted it to be true to my body of work… So the only mythic reference to a chicken in Western myth that came to my mind – was the myth of Cerridwen. She is the Keeper of the Cauldron – in which She brews inspiration. She is the Goddess of rebirth, transformation, inspiration. She is a creatrix, a mother, a wise woman… In the classic myth regarding her: She brews an elixir for her son, hiring the boy Gwion to stir the cauldron. After a year and a day – the mythic measure of time for an arduous task – the potion splashes Gwion’s thumb. He sucks it, to cool the burn and receives all the wisdom, knowledge therein. Greatly displeased – Cerridwen pursues Gwion to punish him. The chase takes on epic proportions as they shape shift through many animal forms, each pair representing an element. These animal pairings will be shown on the hen itself…

sawing animals

hound and hare

otter and salmon

songbird and raptor

The greyhound and the hare. The otter and the salmon. The hawk and the songbird. But where does the hen come in? After three transformations, as the chase continues, Gwion turns himself into a grain of wheat. Cerridwen as a hen, simply eats the grain. In nine months, She gives birth to Taliesin – who is to become the greatest bard of all time. Rebirth, inspiration, transformation… 

Hen nearly complete

The niche will hold a small clay tile of Taliesin – whose name translates as “Radiant Brow” referencing the ‘fire in the head’ of divine inspiration and enlightenment. It seemed fitting to have him incubating there. I plan to include the text of the myth with the piece. I know that many will find it more in depth than they prefer. But I feel that keeping the inspiration pure and not simplifying the concept of the work is honest, and a homage to Cerridwen herself. The overall color palette is natural and harmonious, very earthy. I hope it finds an appreciative audience when it goes out into the world in September, and does its part to raise funds for the Newark Arts Alliance.   Please feel free to comment and tell me your thoughts!

( I will add new pix as the work progresses!)

Reclaim. Reincarnate. Recycle.

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Britannica 1

Britannica 2

When we were growing up we had an Encyclopedia Britannica. It wasn’t always the best reference then – as it was from 1949! Some things were accurate, others not – but it was a starting point for my siblings and I as we researched our term papers… taking notes longhand, in the old fashioned days before the Internets arrived. (We did not however, have to walk two miles to school, uphill both ways. We aren’t that old.) The set had been my mother’s, and came to us from her. It is a classic – leather bound spines, the delightful thin paper that whispers as you turn the pages… Fantastic diagrams and illustrations, in black and white – naturally!

Britannica 3

Britannica 4

The entire set had been languishing in my parent’s  garage. Not the best environment for books – but many people would have let go of the set by now – some thirty years after it was last used. Not us – we are a family of keepers. You never know when you might need that ________later! And I have now decided I need that set of encyclopedias. ( If you are squeamish at the talk of dissection and destruction of books, don’t read on…) This set – it is a treasure trove. I can select pages and diagrams to use in collage for their content. I have volumes of pages to use as text alone; when the subject matter is not inspirational or pertinent to the piece. 

Britannica 5

I keep finding flowers I pressed years and years ago. Was this special? Or simply the budding artist inspired by the natural world surrounding her? ( Pun intended.)

Britannica 6

That little boy cracked me up. Featured on the “Art Education” page of all ironies. Is he concentrating or just plain grumpy? 

I have torn the first pages out. I am working on a fundraiser for my town of Newark. More to come soon. On other topics – the first session of clay camp has ended. Much teacher work to do to finish up from session one and prepare for session two. Thats on next week’s agenda. For now – it is off to St. Peters Art Show in Lewes DE. Will I see you there? Regardless – have a great holiday weekend!