A Few New Bracelets

These will be in the Sixth Street Gallery show, as well. The Home and Garden bracelet is the class I taught at Art and Soul and the other two bracelets are a variation on that theme.

A Woven Gourd

Since teaching my gourd class at Art and Soul I have been fascinated with the versatility of this craft. You can cut them, carve them, color them with a variety of media and add an assortment of embellishments. Here is my latest effort at creating gourd art. I drew the mountain and

fish design, used a woodburner to draw in detail and then cut out open spaces in the gourd, where I wove layers of yarn scraps to represent water. I used alcohol inks and watercolor mixed with alcohol to color the gourd. The gourd was accepted for show in the Sixth Street Gallery in Vancouver for their December Mosaic Art Alliance show. I look forward to creating more pieces in this versatile medium.

Life is Good

I volunteered to be an Art Walk guide for the Vancouver First Friday gallery tours and had a great time showing folks the growing art community in our town. For so long, we have turned to Portland, OR across the river for our arts, but in the last few years we have gone from one gallery to seven in our little downtown and judging by last nights crowds, people are excited to be a part of it. One of the other guides who represents the Sixth Street Gallery and is a very talented artist was leading a group when she heard a woman discussing the bracelet she had just seen at the gallery and had purchased. It turned out to be my bracelet for the "Day of the Dead" show - it sold the first night! She brought the lady over to meet me and after we talked, I agreed to make it into a necklace for her. I am just so amazed!

Tonight I had a wonderful conversation with an 80 year old gentleman I met at Border's Book Store - he came over to comment on my silver house necklace that I always wear. He was an amazing man. He was in WWII, has traveled all over the globe, worked a great variety of jobs, been in the Peace Corp and traveled New Zealand, one place I have always wanted to visit. We talked about his travels and his philosophy that God will always provide a way for him to live. I have always wanted to be more like that and have the courage to act without wanting a safety net under me and it was inspiring to talk to him. We talked for two hours - unbelievable when you consider I usually shy away from strangers, being the confirmed introvert that I am. I was very touched by him, though I am not sure why.

He left me with his belief that we are all born with talents and abilities and we are misusing life if we don't take the time to explore them. He told me a story of a piece of oak that he was turning on a lathe as a young man and when he exposed the layers of wood, the oak had yellow and red tones to it he had not seen before. He said the piece flowed from somewhere inside him as he turned it on the lathe and the end result was so much a part of him, he could not part with it and carried it with him for many, many years through his travels. He asked me then had I ever created something that was so much a part of me I could not part with it? And that would be the house charm I wear everywhere. Do you all have a piece of art you created that you have not been able to part with? Have you ever had a serendiptous meeting with someone that resonated in your soul? Life is good.