calm seas

"halcyon" is greek for the kingfisher bird

 -once believed to magically calm the seas for 14 days during the winter solstice-

floating and nesting on the surface of a peaceful, windless, open ocean

it has come to mean a peaceful or tranquil time in life

this tiny photo of one of my girls waving to me is "enough to gladden any heart"

it was a happy day as she stands on the shore of a beach on Whidbey Island 

- the halcyon seas of Puget Sound are seen in the background -

How I made it:

I made this piece out of a broken Christmas ornament found at the shop I work in.

I took it apart, scratched away more of the mirror silvering material, adhered text and a photograph of my oldest daughter (at age 8) to the back of the glass - allowing those elements to peek out through the scratched out silvering. Then I made a foil pennant banner strung on wire to cover the cracked glass. The pennant lettering is made using a round hole punch and book text. The mirrored glass is backed with a blackened book cover. I then sandwiched everything and copper foiled and soldered it all around. It's about 5 inches in diameter.

focusing

I am looking to 2016 as a time to refine my focus.

I've always wanted to take an online art class and after lots of thought (overthinking it actually), 

I've settled on Seattle based artist Carla Sonheim.

Y is for Yellow, a 2016 year long class

I love her unique style - and the fact that she includes a drawing warm up with every lesson.

Drawing is foundational.

So anyway, I dove in.

We'll see where it takes me.

Carla says:

"As mixed-media artists we are always trying new media and experimenting with new techniques — which is awesome! But what can happen is we don’t take the time to focus long enough on the things we really love so that we can create a cohesive series that is uniquely ours.

"I have found a lot of value working in series over the years; choosing and sticking with one media/subject matter for a period of time really has helped me… and I will share with you what I can about the process.

"Are you ready to work hard in a fun environment? Let’s refine, focus, and create a body of work this year!"

*

I've also ordered this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Creating-Art-Speed-Life-Mixed-Media/dp/1596688769

It seemed apropos for the speed my life is at these days.

goodbye 2015

I watched the sun rise this morning from my favorite spot in the house. We live on the  corner of the street and it's something of a fishbowl effect in our front room. But if you sink into the big comfy chair, the street disappears and you look out on trees and a climbing rose draped across the window.

My Christmas village is set up right by that window - and the sun rise over this little forested kingdom was beautiful this morning.

I'll be packing up all of the Christmas things today. Putting away Christmas feels like a first brave step into the unknown of a New Year. I trot out the familiar, the comfortable, the memorable things each Christmas. They serve as a comfort to assuage the grief, the shocks, the unforeseen events that hit me over the past 11 months. Then I put away those things and face whatever may come in the next 11 with a somewhat soothed sense of "the more things change, the more they stay the same."

I wish for you, a fresh hope in this New Year.

winter sunrise

First Day of Winter

8:45 a.m.

Target Parking Lot

see

I was there to see

my senior daughter playing flute in her last Christmas concert 

 I just let the music wash over me

red cup

birthday breakfast with my sweet sixteener

I recited my "the day you were born" story which included a 3 hour easy labor; our 1st night home in a flu infected household; us two spending the night on the couch. My spiel ended with "let's do this every year" and "why aren't you a squeakier wheel?" Every family has one. The quiet wheel.

blue sky ...

... after 2 weeks of rain, it is a welcome sight