MEME and Keeping The Flow

I've been tagged by my friend Catherine Witherell at HappyDayArt! (that's her lovely picture up above, she manipulated it ever so wonderfully) and one of the many things I love about Catherine's work is that, when you see one of her pieces you know, right away - that's her work - it's got her look and touch to it.

She asked me to answer some questions, and I was just thinking the other day about how I would interview myself. Sounds silly, I know.

But if I was going to be interviewed, there are some questions I'd hope definitely WOULD be asked, so I could answer them. These aren't those exact questions, but they are fun questions all the same!

Anyway, just for Catherine, who collaborated with Deryn Mentock on the Jewelry ZINE and is so very special, I am answering these questions. Hope there's something here that you're interested in knowing!

THE RULES:

Rules of the meme: Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your own blog; replace one question that you dislike with a question of your own invention; add one more question of your own. Tag some friends to keep the flow going, let them know they've been tagged.

THE QUESTIONS:

What is your current obsession? Knitting a cotton lace afghan and crocheting handmade lace with a tiny hook and thin, wispy cotton thread.


Which item from your closet are you wearing most lately?

Black acrylic lightweight microfiber FLAX brand label stretchy knit tops and slacks. They're light, they don't wrinkle and they're super comfortable.


What was the last thing you bought? Opie and Linda O'Brien's two-hole metal punch at Artfest, right after the pair of bronze earrings I garnered from Catherine Witherell, beautiful - see these gorgeous things! They're mine!


What are you listening to right now? Audiobooks by Agatha Christie, specifically Murder on the Orient Express read by David Suchet on the bright red SANSA MP3 player I got for the holidays.


Favorite vacation spots? Ireland, Scotland and Santa Fe, New Mexico.


What are you reading right now? Exhibition 36 by Susan Tuttle, on collage and mixed media, which is visually stimulating and has a lot of insight into how other people work, a subject of endless curiousity to me.


What four words would you use to describe yourself? Stubborn, Determined, Persistent and Indulgent.


What is your current guilty pleasure? Sleeping late, because I never do it, and always get up very, very early in the morning.


What would you do if the internet was irreparably damaged and you had to find another way to connect? Write long, rambling illustrated letters and never send them out to anyone, most likely. Make voice recordings onto tape or CD and send those instead, with photos and maybe movies, possibly.


Where are you planning to travel next? Just got back from Washington State, Port Townsend, for Artfest, next trip is to Louisiana to see the young family and the beautiful baby girl grandbaby at the Independence Day holiday. See the two bottom teeth?
What was the best thing you ate or drank recently? Sweet potato fries with salt, dipped in ranch dressing.

What flower are you most anxious to see bloom this spring? I want to plant some zinnias this year at this house for the first time and see them bloom. I've always had zinnias and marigolds until 2006, and haven't planted any flowers since then. I'm getting the pots out, buying the potting soil and this year I will have zinnias all summer.


What are you most happy doing? Having a cocktail on the deck with the sun shining, warm and lovely, under the shade of a big tree, sitting barefooted with a good book nearby and a snack in arm's reach on a breezy lovely summer day.

Care to share some wisdom? I love the quote by Gandhi that's on my sidebar, I think it is something to ponder every day. "Live as though you would die tomorrow, Learn as though you would live forever."

I've tagged:

LeAnn Weih at SummersStudio
Nancy Schindler at Round Rabbit
and Kerry Bogert at Kab's Creative Concepts

Hope they don't mind, and they'll keep the MEME going for Catherine. Besides, I want to know what is the best thing they've eaten or drunk, what they're listening to, and what they're reading.

And secretly, I bet, so do you, don't you?

Small World As the Wing Flies

That Lovebird Bead, being used so succesfully in a design by Deryn Mentock, is in her class at Art and Soul 2009 in Portland . She's also in the Jewelry ZINE that Catherine Witherell collaborated to create, and a co-organizer with Catherine. Such a lot of creativity flowing out there, it's amazing. I knew about the design, but I didn't know it was going to become part of her class, it was a nice surprise.

So I went out to the Etsy store to refresh my memory on the ones I've made, and I think I need to make up some more. These are a matched pair of little bronze colored love birds. I think I made them in the autumn.



This is a light peach rosey colored version that looks very spring-y and Easter seasonal, don't you think? The hole on them goes through the center, top to bottom. I've used them in some designs as a dangle or focal bead.


And this minty, grass green version. I definitely need to make some more of these, they were fun and it's almost spring again, definitely time for lovebirds in the air. I saw a robin in the yard!

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In other news updates, I went to the post office last night and had a bonanza! My copy of the Spring 2009 Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine with my article in it has arrived, and there's lots of good company in it. Deryn Mentock has an article, and so does Gaea! So if you get a chance run down to the booksellers and pick up a copy, it's full of great information and beautiful photography on jewelry techniques and inspirations. If anything, I think it's thicker and has more pages this time. It goes on sale March 1, but sometimes you can find it a day or two early in the periodicals section.

I also had a package from Catherine Witherell, the Jewelry ZINE arrived, and I was lost in it for hours last night. It's full of good information, it's beautiful - go to Catherine's blog and get the information on how to get a copy, you'll be happy you did!

The Zen of ZINE and Ink for Paper

Catherine Witherell is putting together a Jewelry ZINE for Artfest 2009. She graciously asked me if I'd contribute a couple of pages. I was thrilled!

She's in the process of assembling it. What a trooper! I thought there would be just a few contributors, but there are 44 artists in it. She's shooting for getting them in the mail really soon to the contributors first.

AND - one of her beautiful precious metal clay medallions was on the front page of Etsy in this Treasury.

Life is good!

Catherine, thanks for doing the ZINE, I know how much work it must be. I'm rooting for you! It looks like it's getting close to coming to the contributors, we get the initial set of copies first, if I sit in front of the mailbox will it come faster?

Don't beg Catherine for one yet, she's got lots of print ink ahead of her before she's ready to share them all around. She needs her strength to keep them coming!

UPDATE: The contributor copies are in the mail - and if you want information on how to get your copy go to her blog, the instructions are there!