Tempus fugit really quickly!

Wow.  More than two months have gone by since my last post.  I have been house-hunting, looking for a house very, very close to Princeton, with a nice layout, in good condition, with low property taxes, and with a running brook on the property.  I am shocked, shocked, that with such minor requirements I haven't found one yet!

I am thinking about the two Alice books by Lewis Carroll.  They are such classics, and yet think for a moment if you really were in Wonderland or through the looking glass and reality were distorted, turned on its head, and no-one would listen to you . . . it sounds more like a nightmare to me.  I must re-read them.

A lot of children's books have a subtext of confronting the terrors of childhood.  I suppose they supply a catharsis, but I am a bit of a wimp, and prefer sunnier, happier texts that emphasize the magic you can find in the world if you just keep your eyes and your mind open.

Alas, sometimes magic seems in short supply, and darkness overwhelming.  But according to Chassidus, we all have a divine spark inside, and if we let it grow, it can light the way for us.

Long Time, No Post

Wow, time flies when you're having fun.  I am still playing with the goodies I got at the Art Opera art retreat I attended in Redbank, NJ two weeks ago.    I have so many ideas for new projects, and so little time to do them in!

The next Art Opera in 2011 is shaping up to be incredible - possibly in Lambertville, which is not only close by, but also home to antique stores, art galleries, book stores, flea markets - I'm getting light-headed just thinking of all the cool stuff to do and see there.

I have a workshop with Pamela Huntingdon coming up on May 1 - she is a terrific teacher: organized, prepared, encouraging, and fun.  You need the organized and prepared part if you want your students to have a shot at finishing their projects, and if you want to be able to answer their questions.

Then I am taking a Newark Museum workshop on May 21 or 22, I forget which, in greeting card paper engineering, which I am really excited about.  I love pop-ups and want to learn as many "movements" as possible.

There is art I would like to get accomplished at home as well, but that is more difficult . . .

And switching from human art to nature's art - my backyard garden, raggedy though it be, is so fragrant I almost feel like swooning - lilacs, wisteria, and fragrant honeysuckle combine to create an intensity and sweetness of scent that I could get drunk on.

The roses are waiting in the wings:  heavenly-scented Heritage chief among them, a luminescent pink "Old Rose" from David Austin, creator of some of the most incredible looking roses around.  I also love my pink Eden rose, with large, cabbagey blooms.  I have the "old reliable" Blaze, a brilliant red rose, as well as a pink semi-double which blooms and blooms, a red and white stripe I adore,  a lavender rose, which like most purples is quite finicky and now sports a sucker, and last, a red, orange, yellow, and pink combination rose with a name from Disney which now is in near-complete shade, thanks to my neighbor's uncared for trees on either side of my yard which, growing unpruned for years, now meet and intertwine over my yard, making it more and more difficult to find a place where most perennials will be able to flower.

Almost everyday I stroll into my backyard and sniff the flowers ecstatically, and feel that if one has such beauty available, who needs material frills?

Art Opera Opening

Tonight I went to the opening dinner of Art Opera, the fantastic new art retreat in Redbank, New Jersey.

WOW!  And YUM!  What fabulous decorations and colors and imagination!The dining room looked like a magical seaside fairyland, with pink and aqua and sparkles everywhere; beach umbrelettes, sand pails, vintage images - it was enchanting.  The dinner was absolutely first-rate and delicious.  I admit that I am a dessert person - there was an individual ramekin with a warm brownie, strawberry ice cream, and a drizzle of strawberry sauce.  Really, really good - not too sweet, it really made my sweet tooth vibrate in ecstacy.

Incredible goodie bag, too.  Too much to write about now - have to hit the sack because tomorrow the workshops begin.

A special mention, though - Jenny Heide (sp?) was a standout of friendliness and style - she has candy pink hair that made my heart stop, it was so gorgeous.  What a talented person - I'll include a link to her blog and website tomorrow or the day after.

And kudos and congrats to the organizer, Lisa, and her sidekicks.  May they be successful and rewarded for all their hard work, and may Art Opera continue forever!

Life, Love, Art

I have an art retreat the day after tomorrow; a much-anticipated event which unfortunately requires planning in advance and considerable amounts of organization.  Not my strong points.

I find myself still picking up supplies, ferretting through the mountains of craft supplies I already own, planning last-minute nifty projects despite the fact there is clearly no time to even begin them, let alone finish them - in other words:  SNAFU - Situation Normal, All Fehpoodelt Up.

The fact is, there are things in life which are more important than being 100% prepared for an event, and in my case, being with Twin when he needs me is an easy winner.  He lost his father about a week ago, and his mother had died about a year ago; a lot of loss in a short period of time. 

So I may not have the skirt with the mermaid appliques I had been planning for the festive opening dinner, and I may not be able to complete more than one mermaid piece of jewelry to wear. 

But I was with Twin for his father's funeral, when he needed me, and deepened closeness and connection I feel for him has a significance and a beauty which more tawdry satisfactions cannot hope to impart.  Sometimes satisfying one's heart and doing the right thing are the same.  That was certainly the case for me here.

Now, if only I could figure out what to do with those mermaid appliques when I get back from the retreat . . .

Ah well, for now they get added to the teetering mountain of containers crammed full of craft supplies in my so-called studio,  which more closely resembles a grubby storage facility.  Someday, though, I will be in dire need of mermaid appliques, and who'll have the last laugh then?

Today felt like the most beautiful day since the beginning of the world:  the skies were blue, the temperature balmy, the sun shining, and the gentlest stirring of the air, not even up to a breeze, stroked my cheek.

I sat in my winter-blasted backyard for a while after work, looking at the shrubs and bare earth and seeing instead the foliage and flowers as they will be in a month or two.

I do have flowers, though.  I have a hellebore with lovely, drooping heads of purple, yellow eranthis (also called Winter Aconite), snowdrops, and honey-scented Fragrant Honeysuckle (Lonicera Fragrantissima, a rangy shrub with tiny, almost invisible white blush flowers which are so fragrant they can be smelled from twenty feet away).

Above is a mixed-media, mostly oil pastel piece I did which makes me think of Primavera, a goddess of Spring.  Spring is definitely in the air today, and so is heartbreak, for can this weather possibly last without another blast of winter? One can but hope.

Art Opera in Redbank Coming Up in April!

A super art event is coming up in Redbank, NJ starting April 7 called Art Opera - packed with fabulous workshops, special events, and creativity.  When I first found out about it by nosing around the internet, I almost fell off my chair with excitement.  In my neck of the woods, there usually aren't art events like this - one has to travel hundreds of miles to get to one.  And here is one with the most mouthwatering classes only an hour and a half away in Redbank, which is a great town.  I used to go there regularly to stroll around and check out the antique stores.

Check out the Art Opera Website at:  http://www.artoperanj.com/
Art Opera is April 7-11, 2010. Most workshops are April 8-9, with some morning classes on April 10.

I signed up for two swaps; the first time I have participated in a swap.  Today I mailed them off express mail.  It was tough letting go of the package.  Should I have glued rhinestones on the backs of the tags? In a perfect world, yes, but I was already late sending the swaps out, so I grit my teeth, taped up the cat food box turned inside out so I could use it for mailing, and set off for the small post office in the next town.  I had a lot of fun making the items, and now that I have done it once, I know how many things there are involved that I might never have thought of when I am in a creative frenzy, like having mailing materials on hand!

Here are pictures of the swaps - the first is a charm for a charm bracelet, and the second is decorated match boxes with surprises inside.

I had some tiny doll heads I had made for a project some years ago which I decided would look cool decorated with ribbon, trims, and rhinestones.  Because the theme of Art Opera this year is flappers, the sea, Coney Island, etc., I decided to name each one after a Greek ocean nymph, and I pasted the names on the back.

I couldn't find my stash of matchboxes, natch (GOT to get organized!) but I found a template for making them, so I used old postcards of 20s bathing beauties and a traditional Japanese wave pattern to make the decoration for the outsides.  I used snippets of ribbon and rhinestones for a little extra sparkle.  On the inside, I put little ocean shells, many of which had rhinestones or tiny, tiny shells glued on.  To me it looked a bit like a mermaid's treasure trove.

I just can't wait for April 7 to meet everyone and get started!

Understanding Alice in Underland

Twin and I went to see Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, which I have been looking forward to for lo! these several months (unusual for me unless it is a Jane Austen movie!) because of the promise of phenomenal weirdo visuals.  And because of the prospect of Johnny Depp in a moldy top hat, frizzy red wig, and rainbow-hued makeup, too, I admit.

Well.  Twin loved it, which made me happy.  He tried to read Alice in Wonderland for the first time just a few weeks ago, and shall we say he was less than entranced.  I read both Alice books as a child, and I didn't think about whether I liked them or disliked them; I was fascinated by the characters, the images, the slightly skewed ideas and topsy turvy logic.


One set of my family's nicknames was taken from Jabberwocky, as a matter of fact.  My mother was Mimsy (close enough to Mommy, or Mumsy, which people in England actually sometimes use); and since "all mimsy were the borogroves" and I was so like my mother, I was Borogrove.    The Alice books were a part of our family life, and references to them, their world, their vocabulary, and their logic (my father was a logician, and I adored logic problems) were rife.

I loved some of the effects and colors and ideas in the movie - I want  to shake myself up a little.  Why not do a portrait with violently red or blue or purple hair and lime green skin with magenta highlights?  I definitely have my favorite, "safe" color combinations.  I will always love them and gravitate toward them, but I think a little  conscious rocking of the boat would be a good idea for me.