A: Thank you for asking. I’m fine, however the last two months have been challenging.  Our dear cat Chica hasn’t been well. And back in mid-December doctors discovered that Jim needed surgery, and for various reasons it couldn’t be scheduled until early January. We kept him at home and away from possible infection for what seemed like some very long weeks, and therefore  missed several fun holiday gatherings.

Q: Oh, my! I didn’t know. I hope he and Chica are both okay now.

A: He is steadily recovering from his surgery, although he still cannot drive nor lift anything over 20 pounds.  So I am doing all the driving (not my favorite job).  Chica is doing much better as well. You know she is 14 years old which is 73 in human years. It makes her aches and pains understandable.

Q: Have you done anything since December  other than deal with Jim’s surgery?

A: Well, yes I have. Along with Rick Higginbothams’ help I published Go Anyway as an e-book. It’s now listed on Amazon.com for sale and customers seem to be enjoying it.

Oh, speaking of e-books, here is something else I did in the last few weeks. I wrote a tutorial on how to make headpin leaf beads. The tutorial will be in  the March issue of  Soda Lime Times, a great e-zine for lampworkers. It is easy to read and use on your pc or tablet reader. I really enjoy my android or Kindle  and kept one with me during all the hours I spent with Jim at doctors appointments or in the hospital, or at the vet with Chica. I got a lot of reading done.

Q: Well, I am surprised to hear what you have been doing. You must be anxious to get back to making jewelry and beads though.

A:I am, and fortunately I have  torched some wonderful new beads in the last few days in spite of all the caretaking.  I also managed to make and send off six new necklaces to a professional photographer. I’ll show you those photos once I receive them. Having good photographs of my work is so important for entering juried shows. I’m lining up my schedule for 2012, and the new images should help me get accepted into new venues.

Q: Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? 

A: I resolved to take better care of myself, and with that in mind I have lost 13 pounds since November. I feel so much better. I think I mentioned the Game On Diet in my previous post. It is easy and fun. That’s about it for resolutions.

Q: Well, dear, I’m glad to hear you plan to take better care of yourself. It sounds like you need to, so I encourage you as well. A visit to a spa would be a lovely idea. If you decide to go, do let me know. Until then, ta ta. I’ll catch you later. Oh, I almost forgot. Isn’t your 67th birthday day after tomorrow? Never mind – I know it is. Do have an especially happy day.

A: Thank you – I will.

In the midst of our whirlwind we joined a group of Round Top friends in a fun fitness plan – The Game On Diet. The plan is really challenging, and involves more than dieting – but at the same time is FUN! Jim lost 9 pounds in 4 weeks, and I lost almost 7.  The rule of eating 5 “meals’ a day was the most difficult – well, maybe the 3 liters of water per day tied. Anyway, while we were travelling both rules gave me  fits. We persevered though, and the “Round Top Rowdies” won the game, and are donating our prize of $165 to the local animal shelter – Pounds lost by the group are gone for a good cause. I am taking a day off from the diet today as well – so there —

Meanwhile, our dear cat Chica (who sailed half-way around the world with us) was losing weight too, for no reason the vet could find. We took her back and forth several times to town to be checked (she hates the cat carrier). After a lot of testing, weighing, etc. a new vet found the cause of her loss of apetite – arthritis! Chica has gained back one of her lost pounds, and is doing well again.  So glad she will be with us longer.

What else? I think my brain is on vacation today too. I read a post lately about how to make a blog successful, and one of the tips said to “focus on your audience.” Sometimes it seems like I don’t even have an aucience, and I’m so sporadic about posting that I probably lose readers due to inattention. When I started this blog a few years back I called it “Reflections” and led into it with this thought:

“reflections: the returns of light or sound waves from a surface…….| I am a glass artist… I take this opportunity to look at my life, my journey as an artist, and the road ahead. | reflections”

Journeys include rest stops = I’ll take one today.

I’m STILL Blog Hopping for the Bead Soup Party – it’s taking me awhile to look and read. Thank you to everyone who left comments for me.

Meanwhile, I’ll be off to the Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson, Texas this weekend. I’ve made a lot of new pieces, and if I can get to it tomorrow I’ll give you a peek. Otherwise, hope to see you there if you live in the area.

I’ve made a necklace and a bracelet using my soup mix from Barrie Edwards – and a few beads I added of my own. Barrie made the focal bead with reticulated silver set with a pink tourmaline (I think that’s what the gemstone is), and I decided to accent it with a triple strand of beads composed of pearls in pink and white, and sterling silver curved tubes and other beads. It seemed a shame to have the matching clasp she made hidden at the back of the neck, so therefore, I made a bracelet so that the clasp could be center stage.

For the bacelet I added some larger lampworked beads I made to compliment the smaller beads Barrie made. I tied it all together again with pearls and sterling silver. I am pleased with how the two pieces came together, and each can shine on its own – or they can be worn together.

There are more than 300 people at this soup party! You’re going to have some fun bouncing around to see what was made. Take some time, break the list up into segments if you need to – but whatever, go enjoy for beady creativity. Visit Barrie here to see what she did with the soup I sent her, and follow this link for all the  party-goers.

This poster for American Crescent Cycles is the inspiration challenge this month over at Art Bead Scene. I have been so swamped I haven’t participated in the challenges in months. I’m producing jewelry for an upcoming show in Midland, Texas (Septemberfest). So why not combine two projects? With that in mind, I made not one but TWO necklaces inspired by this poster. I’ll have them both for sale in Midland (unless someone snatches them up before then).

Anyway, here is the first one. I used faceted citrines as the necklace base, to pick up the color of the wonderful dress. I ran with the soft yellows, mustards, and ivories for the flowers and made all the glass beads. The glass leaves I made were a mix of not quite green and greys like those in the bottoms left of the poster.  I’m not a “literal’ interpreter – I prefer just to use the general color scheme inspire me – and then I play. What do you think?

For my second necklace I was inspired more by the woman’s wonderful flowing hair. I made glass curly q’s and also used these georgous baroque pearls with grey/ brown undertones. I made some ivory glass flowers, and added little hints of the patterns on her dress around the faces of some of my glass flowers. Which one gets your vote? I like them both, and thanks, ABS, for the inspiration. Follow along for a blog hop on August 31st and see who else was inspired.

The Bead Soup is getting ready to go on the stove. Beads are flying back and forth across the county – and my beads are on their way to Barrie Edwards in Canada. Can’t show you yet what I sent. Dontcha wanna know?  Barrie works with silver and gemstones. I’m really looking forward to this challenge. Meanwhile, look at some of her recent creations. Wow!

 Bead Soup Party is like that: We participants don’t know what beads we’ll receive (we could hate them, they could be bad, bad, colors, the focal could be just blah, whatever) – yet rising to the challenge of making something wonderful out of materials we might usually never give a second glance to is such fun. I love seeing what other participants come up with, as well as seeing what I can come up with. Inspiration? Yes, big time.

So, go on over to Lori Anderson’s web site and sign up to participate in this design challenge. Watch this space to see what transpires with the beads I ship away and receive in return.

Meanwhile, here’s a little inspiration of my own – a recent necklace I made for the show in Ruidoso. Enjoy!

Where did these ideas come from? I don’t know. I do know that my mother always encouraged me to “make something up” – so I did. I’m still “making something up,” and ideas usually flow freely. There are times though, when I don’t feel too inspired. So what do I do? 

 If my well of creativity feels dry, I give it a break to replenish itself. I quit working. This is not easy for me to do. I must be an “A” type of personality, since I can barely stand not to be doing something, especially making jewelry. So I run around asking Jim for permission – “Is it okay to take the day off?”  Knowing how I am, he always says, “Yes, you need a break. Go relax.”  Somehow his permission helps, and I take my coffee (by a summer afternoon it is iced coffee) and sit in the living room staring out at the birds, the trees and the fields. I love watching our big Texas sky and if I stare long enough I will usually see an animal wander by – this morning a beautiful bushy tailed fox surprised me.

Other times I take a walk,  water my garden, read, or nap  – all things that my A type mind declares are just sinful to do during the midst of what “should be” a work day.  Yesterday, after reading most of the afternoon, I went along with my sister to a music concert. I rarely allow myself much time off ( I’m a full time working artist), and it was wonderful. I enjoyed the music, – and lo and behold, in the middle of being immersed in listening, an idea for a necklace floated into my mind’s eye. Today I’m going to make the beads I envisioned in that necklace.

I still don’t know where the ideas come from exactly. I do know that if I allow myself to open up, to breathe, to be, that my creativity  will appear.

Two beautiful plump Bob-White Quails drifted into my garden one day. Look at those feather patterns - ah, inspiration there!

A two2 day show actually takes us six days. A day driving there, a day setting up, two days showing, a day driving home, and day six  for recuperating and doing paperwork, order assemby, etc.  But the time away from the torch and our benches sets our creative juices afire. The wonderful art we see  at the shows inspires us, as do the sights we see while driving and visiting cities so different from our tiny town. By the time I’m home my sketchbook is brimming with ideas. So some fun new jewelry will be coming to Kerrville.

Here’s the e-mail ad. I’ll give you a real sneak preview later after I take some photographs.