A Blur

First of all, my apologies for being AWOL for the past 3 weeks.

It has all been a big blur.

I didn't expect to be gone from here that long but I will try to explain.

Let me preface this by saying all is well now and we have all lived to tell the tale.

After we last spoke on June 12th, i set about the task of trying to ready the house for my parents to arrive from Florida on friday the 17th for an extended visit.

There was a lot to be tackled, I needed to excavate the bed in the spare room/office which is where my computer lives, clean out all the debris of past art projects which had taken over all the usable spaces and surfaces and try to finish yardwork we had been putting off for a cooler day.

That cooler day came on tuesday the 14th, my Mom's 70th birthday. I decided that was the day i would get out and trim all the hedges and bushes and everything overgrown as shown in the photo below.

The restaurant is closed on mondays and tuesdays so it was a perfect plan. Cleaned all day monday, yardwork all day tuesday.

I don't have an after shot yet, this is the before shot, but i'll post one as soon as i can.

I always do the trimming and my husband does the raking and carting away and cleanup in my wake. A good system, as long as each person knows where the other is.

I have electric hedge trimmers, good sized ones. I was happily trimming along out front while the husband was busy out back first. I inevitably found myself in the all too often position with electric hedge trimmers, the cord was very close to where i was trying to cut.

I saw it and was in control.

That is until my husand came up behind me and yelled "don't cut the cord !"

at which point I jumped, turning startled at his voice right behind me, and promptly sent blue sparks flying as i cut the cord.

After finding another 100 ft cord, I continued trimming high and low until all was neat and tidy.

We decided we had earned a jump in the pool to relax and cool off around 5 when i suddenly remembered it was our oldest grandson's last little league game of the season and we promised to be there.

When we got home, I was really cold with chills, enough so that I ran a hot tub and just soaked for awhile.

I was covered in scratches from all the bushes and hedges but nothing that would warrant chills I thought.

Until the next day when i was on my way to work and noticed that what i thought was 2 scratches on my forearm looked suspiciously like bites. My first thought, was "Oh no, not another spider bite" ( bad experience in 2005, another story)  but as soon as my daughter took a look at it she said "That looks like a snake bite to me, our cat was just bitten by a black snake on his tail the other day" Her cat spends a lot of time under one of the large camellias i trimmed by our garden shed.

When my parents arrived on the 17th, my Dad confirmed he thought it was a snake too about which time i found 2 identical marks on my lower leg, same exact size and distance apart. Hence the chills. I have since been told there are an unusual amount of black snakes around this year and both pets and people are getting bit. Fortunately they are not poisonous, do not attack humans as a rule, only when threatened ( large electric hedge trimmers will work just fine) and usually just dry bite, no venom as a warning shot. The bites on my arm did swell and were filled with unpleasantries but as i said, i lived to tell the tale.

Then on the 17th as my parents were travelling up, my daughter called me from work and said she was on her way to the ER to meet her husband who was injured at work. The boss called her and asked her to meet them there, details were sketchy at first. He does constuction with a company that goes in and will remove hazardous materials from a job site, such as asbestos etc. They were working on removing a ceiling and the tile system in an elementary school. They had arrived to start, had been told the electric was cut off to that part of the building so that they could work. my son in law was on a very tall ladder, pulling the ceiling apparatus down when an electric cable dropped out of the ceiling, striking him in the chest, electrocuting him. The force was powerful enough that it knocked the ladder out from under him, he was holding a piece of the metal framework in one hand , which made a complete circuit and would not release him, so he was dangling from the ceiling by this metal, being electrocuted the whole time. The other workers knocked him free but then he fell to the floor unconscious, hitting his heels and head on the concrete/tile floor of the cafeteria kitchen area. The electricity escaped his body through his arm blowing a hole in it in the process. His co workers thought he was dead at first. The Drs. told my daughter had he not been holding the metal frame she would have been planning a funeral that weekend.

He basically suffered a heart attack as a result with his cardiac enzymes still not normal, hopefully will be soon, they had to piece his arm muscles together and try to close the hole with 38 stitches, and they put his arm in a brace to immobilize it, his heel was smashed and they put that in a boot. He had a concussion with some brain swelling, lost his short term memory and hearing. They wanted to admit him but my son in law just wanted to go home. Not good but we couldn't convince him otherwise. he spent the next 4 days returning to the hospital for tests and each day things got worse. We were told it is hard to know exactly how electrocuted a person is, they just watch for signs and symptoms to tell them. well, by monday we were looking at worst case scenario, his kidneys were shutting down and his heart enzymes were still very high. By thursday they would determine if he neded to go to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore where "they would discuss his options"

By thursday the 30th they saw the slightest decline in both the kidney function numbers and the heart enzymes so we are hopeful. he continues to go back for checks, has had his stitches out and has begun physical therapy. His memory is getting better and so is the hearing in one ear.

In the meantime, their youngest and our youngest grandson, celebrated his 3rd birthday on the 21st and i did dinner and cake and presents at our house not knowing what was going to happen and to give my daughter a break.

Also during this time, the restaurant had it's busiest day,the 19th,  father's day, and we had invited my parents over to celebrate with dinner while we worked and surprised my Mom for her 70th.

In all the confusion, i now realize i have no pictures of any of that.

We kept the grandkids when we could and i picked up a nasty sinus infection/chest thing from that little 3 year old there, requiring a 10 day course of antib's that i am happy to report i am finishing today. But it has not been fun.

Last week on the 29th, my parents graciously drove my sick self over to Assateague Island to witness the launch of a Minotaur rocket  from Wallops Space center. We were getting play by play updates from my son as he was working the launch doing Comm's for the first time and we were all very excited.

I'm sorry to say that these pictures don't do it justice. It was magnificent. It was 11:09PM, balmy around 80*, the night was black, no moon, and there had to be a gazillion stars in the sky. it was like sitting in a planetarium. And as the rocket launched and ripped through the sky, it travelled over us out over the ocean.

Once out over the ocean, the rocket boosters dropped giving us some pre 4th of july fireworks

I have been unable to post here or read or catch up with anyone as my computer is in their room, they can't sleep with the light from the monitor so it stayed off most of the time, besides everything else going on.

Other than that, we had some freaky storms and really hot weather. Spent time in the pool with the kids. The garden is taking off with all the rain as is the mosquito population!

4th of July fireworks were interrupted for storms so i don't even have those to share! But we did all get together for a cookout at my daughter's on the 4th to celebrate our son in law's birthday so it's all good!

The swallowtails are starting to show up and I planted some new butterfly bushes after having ripped out an overgrown one that yard day.

 I have really missed my I heart macro sundays!

  

The visit with my parents was wonderful though, we worked on a few projects, went to a photography lecture on Chincoteague about the art of seeing by an reknowned National geographic photographer, made some jewelry, made soap ( i'll post about that later) ate way too much and in general enjoyed each others company. I'm sure i'm forgetting a lot right now, as I said, it's a blur.

They left this afternoon, heading up to New Jersey to visit with my brother and other family for a few weeks before returning.  I have a lot of catching up to do, lots of reading and writing.

In the middle of it all i missed my one year blog-iversary last week so i promise to make up for that too with a giveaway soon!

Thanks for sticking with me!



All The Comforts Of Home

OK, if you've been following along, you know that before I went back to school I had a business called Comforts Of Home where i made custom quilts.  Well, one of the classes I took while in school was ceramics which rekindled in me a love for all things clay.  The same year that i stopped going to school, my parents retired and moved from New Jersey to Florida.  One of the things that i purchased from them before their move was my Mom's old hobby kiln.  This is when i was making porcelain dolls for everyone and every occassion. 

 But my attention soon turned to historic pottery, predominantly redware. I loved redware. I took every opportunity to study historic pieces, travelling to museums, reading books, anything i could get my hands on.  I even timed a visit to Plimoth Plantation to coincide with our trip to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island so that i could take a pottery workshop there! Through trial and error ( lots of trial and error, there are no how to books out there for redware) I found my way through and soon hit upon a signature look. I formulated my colors and glazes and techniques to give just the appearance I longed for.  My Dad is a woodturner and made some of the wooden molds that i drape my plates over.  Soon after i began to make some of my own molds for larger pieces.  I started doing shows to sell my work and eventually in 2000 started selling online at Ebay.  From there I created my website.

My husband and I renovated an old store near our home and i moved my studio in and began working there in 2002.  I enjoyed everything about what I was doing and the ideas flowed.   Time would disappear while I was there. 

I prided myself in making original designs with lots of historical flavor and would get so annoyed and discouraged to see others copy my pieces. I guess that's what's happens when you put your work out there on the net as so many artists have found. But I had a loyal following and was very grateful for everyone's support.  One of my original ideas was that i would do patriotic pieces and fire them in the kiln on the 4th of July each year. These pieces all were marked with my original Fire-Works signature. It was the only time i would do patriotic themed pieces.

 My pottery actually carried us through a dark time when we had the fire at our restaurant in Nov of 2003 until we reopened in April of 2004.

 I continued to work in my studio along with the restaurant until 2008 when my second grandchild was born.  My daughter could no longer work in the office with the 2 children ( my grandaughter would come to work with her, but 2 would be too hard to do).  I couldn't do both anymore either. Pottery takes a considerable chunk of time that i no longer had.

Feel that wind blowing again?  What did John Lennon say "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans"?  I have always loved that saying,  just never expected it to be my theme song!!

If you were to go into my studio this day, you would find pieces of pottery, drape molded trenchers and plates and other goodies just sitting there on the table awaiting my return!

I had to find a new creative outlet, one that would allow me to work a little here and there , leave and come back to it and not lose the piece as I would with pottery.

I started to learn jewelry techniques and am expanding on my skills all the time. I have learned lampworking, metalsmithing, cast and fused glass. I have 5 kilns to my name.

This is where you came in...with my first post, here on this blog in June,  "just who do i think I am?" 

In recapping my life thus far i have found out certain things.

• I Love all things historical
•  I love glass in all it's forms, mosaics, lampwork, glass glazes on clay, glass enamels on metal, fused glass, stained glass, roman glass, czech glass,  sea glass, you name it, glass wins me every time!
• I have to be authentic, original
• I love to learn
• I. have. to. create. something. all. the. time.
• I am strong. determined. ambitious.

Now to take everything I know and find my direction!

P.S. I had a small epiphany last night after writing this post. I started to see very clearly why I am finding myself  unsure of my direction. My husband has questioned whether I may be in the wrong medium. I considered that as well but I think it might be more this- as i look back over everything I have done, with each endeavor I started with an idea, a vision, a passion.  I did all the legwork myself, teaching myself what i needed to know and finding my way through all my ideas. 
 With jewelry it has been just the opposite. I have started with classes, instructions in techniques and all the technical aspects of the trade.  I am struggling to find my own way with this medium.
The one series that I did that was original work of mine, Vintage Metamorphosis, I created in 2008 and had copyrighted in March 2009.  I want what i had with all the other work that I have done, a look of my own, identifiable as my own, not just as a student of someone else. Perhaps this will require nothing more than what i gave to everything else, time and effort. I used to have a lot more time to "just be" in my studio. I think that is what is most needed here. Time alone in my studio to think through ideas and find my own way again. With this medium or maybe even another, who knows? That is where my muse resides and I trust she will guide me yet again.

Happy 4th of July!

Every year , family and friends gather for the annual 4th of July harbor party picnic, held at the harbor on Chincoteague Island. All of the boat slip owners get together and have a picnic/party which ends in watching the local fire company set off the annual fire'works display on the carnival grounds. The fireworks are visible from the dock which makes it a perfect place to watch from. The kids ( now all growing up) always ask my husband to go sit on the bow of our boat and watch from there, this year being no exception. It was especially nice to have our grandkids there to celebrate this year. We all shared a feast of hardcrabs, steamed oysters, clams, scallops, steamed shrimp, grilled vegetables from someone's garden, fresh vegetables and dips, salads of every description, fresh salsas, hot dogs, hamburgers, and carribean jerk chicken, cakes and pies and puddings oh my! We had a birthday cake to celebrate my son in law's birthday, I made chocolate covered strawberries and Ray and i made snow cones for the kids. Food and drink was followed by sparklers and then the fireworks. A good time was had by all!

I am dedicating this post to my nephew and Godchild Daniel who is currently serving somewhere in the gulf, on the USS Truman out of Norfolk, Va. It is because of all the men and women like him that we are able to sit home comfortably and celebrate our freedoms, relaxing with family and friends, having a cold drink and watching re-enacted bombs bursting in air! May we never forget how we got here! May God Bless America and all who love, serve and protect her!