Organizing

I am always in the throes of my organizational dis-ability. I just bought an old car-parts metal cabinet for my studio, and it will hold lots of individual containers, so hopefully I can get my bizillion beads more organized. I bought 80 small plastic boxes on ebay, and 24 tupperware-like clear containers at the dollar store, so this is the beginning. It will be interesting to see when these are filled up, and I need to go back to the dollar store. Of course, now I am trying to find the logical organization of what should go in what size container. This could take a while!!!

My Vacation House

I am pretending I have a vacation house, since I am spending my vacation at my old house, cleaning, painting, fixing, waiting for workmen to show up.....you know the drill. I am EXHAUSTED in a physical way that I don't even feel after the shows. Cleaning grime is really not fun. Maybe it is mental as well, since I don't really want to be doing this.

I thought of all my customers who have big commutes back and forth to work. I drove an hour each way to the house, several days this week. Today, after cleaning dirt all day, the drive back was so relaxing!! It was so good to just sit! That hour went quickly.
My "work" commute is so different from the daily grind of regular jobs. I commute to the shows, and they are usually 2-3 hours away, but it isn't the same as spending hours on the road everyday. So now, I have a new perspective on my career commute.

MOST Fun Email Ever!!

Yes I tried to send these photos out to my email list, but I had second thoughts about junk emails, so I posted the pictures here. They are just too good not to share.
What a cultural divide, however. There were photos of young girls staring adoringly at the giant penis, and I just couldn't post them.

The Ability Curve

I finally made it back to the torch, and the result is some pretty bad beads.

A very good watercolorist I know ( no, not my husband) has taken some time off from his art to remodel his house, yet he complained to me that he missed painting. However, after the passage of some remodeling time, he was reticent to go to the studio to paint, only because he knew that for a indeterminate time, he would produce crappy paintings until his skill level rose to his usual level. I have a new term for this phenomena...the Ability Curve.

This is a phenomena I have recognized and experienced......that a skill unpracticed for an amount of time, will need to be practiced in a length of time relative to the fallow time, before good work is again produced. I wonder if anyone else has named this phenomena? It is extremely irritating, just as the learning curve is.

I am going out to the studio to look at my crappy beads, and record the lost hours.

Los Altos Rotary Fine Art Show 2009

This weekend......the Los Altos Rotary Fine Art Show!! To the right, there is a map link to the show location, so it won't be the LOST Altos Art Show!!!!

My booth number is 193, and I am very close to Edith Ave. Franklin Park is very long with lots of grass and tree roots, so wear your walking shoes. If you absolutely MUST wear your heels, park close to Edith Ave.

Have Fun With it Video from the New York Times

To the right, I posted a great video clip from the Sunday NYTimes.....A fashion fundraiser in NYC, and lots of HATS. His final words...."Have fun with it!"

Fun Good Thing

I posted a link to the right to a Real Age quiz. It is totally cool. Try it out. I don't know the reliability of it, but it sure looks solid!

Learning Curve

I always have a problem with the learning curve. How long does this go on??? Really.
I have been making glass now for .....13 years??? But I learned a new thing during a very busy time........the thermometer that goes into the kiln to regulate the temperature CAN FALL OUT. So this was a lesson that cost a day's worth of glass, and with so many shows last month, I didn't spend much time at the torch. So there we go. Another lesson learned the hard way. I am going to look hard for a lesson now that I have learned the easy way so I can post about that. I also want to make sure that it is possible to learn the easy way. Keep tuned.