My sister - the artist!

Don't you just wonder what happens when my sis and I get together to play?  Things explode?  Fireworks start up immediately?  Glitter rains from the heavens???  LOL!!!  No….but we do have fun. So I thought I'd showcase some of her recent creativity.  She's been making glass totems.  Taking old pieces of glass, drilling holes down the center, stacking glass and making totems.  But hers are a bit different from anything I've seen online or around here.  She's a little more creative than most!


So, do you see all the pieces?  The top pedestal dish, a small candy dish upside down, a tall skinny vase, a red bowl upside down and then a clear candy dish upside down.  Brilliant, huh?

Sometimes, there are hidden surprises inside the glass…..

these cute little mice and cheese wedge are in this clear glass cheese server.

It took 4 pieces of glass to make this totem.

Make a great salad server, or veggie tray, or candy dish.  Wouldn't it start a conversation at any gathering???

This one is designed to be a centerpiece for a baby shower.  I think it's just too cute!

The little bear comes out and this can be used as a candy dish, but I think the candy around the bear would be perfect.

I love the design in the glass.  And because I love turquoise - this is my favorite!

oh!  but this one is so frilly that I just love it, too.  I'd like to see this between 2 crystal candlesticks with a short candle on top of this one.  Can't you just imagine the possibilities???

All of these are for sale at "Moore Girls, more stuff" at the Marketplace Shops here in Canon City.  If you are a blog follower and interested in prices, just email me….we're happy to ship!!!

Of course, when she started making these, all I could think of were candle holders….so I'm getting ready to make a few of my own.  But I think I'll spray the glass and add color, add embellishments, add food…..who knows where I'll stop!!!

Shake it off

Let go and let loose. It's something I have been talking about to my art pals. When you "have" to do something a certain way, when you have to use a specific product, when you have to arrange flowers in a vase....life can get to be just plain stressful. And for me, the entire concept of being an artist is to have fun, to play, to let go of the stress in your life.

I'm in Kingman AZ this week and visited the little mountain town of Jerome today. Went into a bead and yarn shop and the owner asked me if I was a knitter. I said no, I'm an altered artist, but I pretty much just play! She got so excited. She said that people do not know how to play any more. They need their classes to be so structured and detailed. I invited her to come take one of my classes!! Very little structure....we just focus on playing!

When I teach a class and I notice that students are getting tense because they are trying too hard, I will take a time out. Everyone has to stand up and then just stand there and shake their bodies. Shake from your head down to your toes and back up. Yell. OK....I mean really yell. Scream from the top of your lungs. It is a total stress reliever. Of course, everyone around you thinks you have lost your last marble, but trust me it helps!

Of course, when I do this with an entire class filled with women, there is a whole lot of laughter going on. People don't believe that I will ask them to scream in a room filled with other artists! But I do!

I'm not sure what the psychological impact of this is...I just know that it works. We get ourselves so tense, so worked up, so stressed out trying to make the perfect layout, the perfect card, the perfect piece of art. We get so close to the project that we can't step back and look at it like someone else might. We are too involved with what we are doing.

So scream, shake out your body, and then allow yourself to release a huge sigh.

It truly amazes me each time I do this either alone in my studio, or in a class, how much better the ideas flow, how much easier my task becomes, and how satisfied I am with what I'm doing.

Shake it off....give it a try! My remedy to turning stress into play!!!

"Where Women Create"

That's the title of a book that was out a year or so ago. I bought it. Read every single page. Thinking that if I had a studio like their's I could design like them!

Well...that is NOT true!

I have learned that we need to design our own space to design in. We are each different and unique people....and that's what makes our designs different and unique. I could no more design in a space designed by someone else than anything! Think about it....my style is "my" style...not theirs!

So, I happen to think I've put together a rather lovely place to design. I'm happy there. Yes, it's a basement....and an unfinished basement at that. But I look around and see the things I love, things other's have made for me, and with tons of huge tables to work on, I can spread out....or I can put it all away and have a lovely place to teach, or to share with friends and family when they want to come and just play.

This is what you see at first glance. Along the left, that's my diecut work center. Spellbinders, Sizzix and ProvoCraft. Yep...I like to compare! LOL! And my glass cutting, grinding and drilling workstations are on that well. And there's the laptop lab.



You can see the scrapbook paper on the back wall and to the right is my "wall of embellishments". Below them are drawers filled with all kinds of fun things to alter and collage.



This is the corner where I work most of the time. TV on the wall, laptop behind me....



and behind my seat is my "Wall of Ranger". Being a member of their Design Team this past year, I needed to have all of my Ranger products right where I could grab them in a second. And I think this is where they will stay as I continue to use them in most all of my design work.



And stamps. Nope, I'm not a stamper. But I do have loads of stamps! LOL! Now, take note of all the cheap little plastic bins with drawers. Easy to move. Transluscent so I can see through them. Light weight. And if I ever have to physically move my studio to another location...well, the packing is already done!!!



This is my little sewing alcove....where I photograph my work, do doll repair...sort of multi tasking!



And my kiln, firing, soldering station.



A little has changed since I took these photos...I now have a second kiln! And a professional polisher for the metal clay. There are a total of 12 banquet tables in my studio and 16 chairs, so plenty of room to come and play.


That's it! It's my "play place". Yep, there are days when I feel like I'm back in Kindergarten and can just play as much as I want, as long as I want! I never really feel like this is work...even when I have deadlines pressing in on me. I just play. And that's what I'd like to inspire others to do...just play.

So even though the book "Where Women Create" is an interesting read...just learn from me. The space where you design needs to be a space that you came up with. That way it will guarantee that what comes out of the space reflects you in the designs you make! Years ago, I did everything in a spare closet. Literally. For a time, I had a workbench in the garage. I've had my "studio in a bedroom, in the living room, on the dining room table, and I really think the ideal place for it might be in the kitchen. Just think..you could eat and play at the same time!

I really think someone needs to write a book titled "how to design a place to play"! Oh...maybe they did that when they designed Kindergarten playgrounds!

Right brain, left brain.....

I'm starting to build a huge inventory of silver jewelry, so my next step is to get an online store up and running and post some of these pieces for sale. That's where the right and left sides of my brain clash! I used to be totally left brained. That's the MBA in me. But now, with art, I'm more right brained. That's where I totally lose all track of time and will sit in my studio for hours on end and just play. So you do see the conflict? I'm creating these wonderful pieces of silver with my right brain and now I need to switch gears today and call up the left side to think about website designs, storefront issues, connectivity, web cams....and I truly find all that boring these days....when just a few short years ago that was what filled my days and nights.

Have you ever stopped to question which "side" of your brain you spend most of your time in?

The left side of the brain:

Verbal/words/symbols/numbers
Analytical/logical
processes step by step
remembers names, not faces
makes logical deductions from information
focus on details, work up to the whole from steps
likes making lists, planning
likely to follow rules without questioning them
good at keeping track of time
spelling & math formulas easily memorized
enjoys observing
plans ahead
reads an instruction manual before trying


The right side of the brain:
visual/images/patterns
intuitive, led by feelings
processes ideas simultaneously
writing things down or illustrating to remember
make lateral connections from information
sees the whole first, then the details
Highly organized but no organization
free association
wants to know why you do something, why rules exist
no sense of time
has trouble spelling
can't find the words to express yourself
enjoys touching and feeling the actual objects
trouble prioritising
very often late
impulsive
does not read the instruction manual before trying
listen to how something is being siad
listens to what is being said
talks with your hands
likely to think you're naturally creative, but need to apply yourself to develop your potential
likely to believe you're not creative, need to be willing to try and take risks to develop your potential

and here's a quiz to tell you which side you are! Just substitute the word "painting" for whatever medium you use to create with.

I took the quiz and my score was 55% which means that my right and left brain work together equally. Duh..I'm a libra...balanced. (and if you know me personally, you would know that's a joke as I am anything BUT balanced!) LOL!

But I will say that I try to balance the time I play with the time I do left brain stuff like pay bills, visit family, clean house, take care of my flower gardens. I never knew how much fun it could be though to step into the right side of my brain, allow it to take over and to look up at the clock 11 hours later and feel like only 20 minutes had passed. As I age, I think I will reason with myself that is the reason why "time flies"...I'm allowing more and more of my right brain to come forward and play!