Cracking the Code to Making It Your Own

Every once in a while a new polymer clay technique makes a big splash and Flickr is swamped with images from the dozens of artists trying it out. Unfortunately, many just follow the steps in the published tutorial, shape a simple focal and hang it from a chain. And then they abandon a potentially work-transforming design tool for the next 'pretty face' in the ongoing parade of step-by-step instructions for free or for sale that are available from Etsy, the Internet or a new polymer book.


While I love a new technique to play with as much as the next artist, I usually spend a significant amount of time testing it out, adding my own interpretation and experimenting with all the ways that it could be used. If those initial tests are interesting and I think the technique has real merit, I continue on and make a whole range of pieces and art jewelry elements, sometimes spending months trying one thing and another, combining the new with my old, tried-and-true methods. As Professor Guttorm Fløistad of the Slow Movement says, "In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal."


Usually I apply a new method to a shape I've been working with that I really like--a standard, like pods or donuts. I always encourage students to do a simple exercise-- see my blog post "Working in a Series" -- to develop original shapes as one of the easiest ways to imprint their style on a piece. Loving circles and round shapes as I do, when I draw them they just naturally morph into an altered round with a void in it, known by jewelry designers as a 'donut', an unattractive name more reminiscent of a snack than a piece of art!


Lately several techniques for cracking the surface of the clay to create fine to large textures have been making the rounds. I used this technique in creating one of the pieces that I did for Cindy Wimmer's book The Missing Link, published last year. I believe that one dimension of an element's construction--be it bead, pendant, or whatever-- should not overshadow any other in the overall design. Whether it be shape, surface, texture or color, all should work together in harmony. I tried to make sure the color and form were equally as important as the surface treatment- 'cracking'-- in this pendant and beads.

"Molten" necklace - polymer clay, acrylic paint, 

mammoth bone beads, handmade copper links

I've been playing with lots of pod shapes lately so my experiments just naturally strayed in that direction with the crackles. Some of them ended up with a raku-like feel to them.

"Summer's End" - polymer pods with acrylic and crayon, spiderweb jasper, yellow jade, vintage chain and dangles, repurposed toggle and handforged brass washers.

My bargain-hunter husband frequents the local hospital auxiliary store for discarded treasures and found this silver cuff that proved to be a great base for a polymer donut (after liberal sanding with a kitchen scrubber pad to dull the blinding shine). I used a tutorial by Rena Klingenberg for the instructions on how to attach the donut to the metal cuff shape. She has lots of interesting ideas on her blog.

"Aurora" cuff - polymer clay with acrylic and crayon, purchased metal cuff, sari yarn

I like to think that my teaching methods are more about ideas than techniques. Using what you have around you in your environment or sitting on your bench to inspire your designs is something I always recommend. The wire embellishment on this focal grouping was a left-over from a previous project and caught my eye as I was composing the elements for this piece. With some prodding and pushing, it fit the bead perfectly and then I continued the wire styling to create loops for attachment to the chain. It reminded me of tidepools and beachcombing so I named it after my favorite Northern California beach.

"Point Reyes" necklace - polymer clay, acrylic, crayons, handforged wire, vintage chain

I'm moving into a more subdued palette as fall is officially here in central Vermont. On Wednesday my students arrive for Art on the Farm, ready to spend three days working together to forge their own style in polymer clay. I really look forward to meeting them! It's always so nourishing to spend time with other artists in an environment where ideas spin around like falling leaves and are allowed to flourish and deepen. Check here for the next blog, all about our discoveries and insights.

Art on the Farm Workshop-- Expanded Resources and a Special Opportunity

Today a friend asked why I never taught at bead shows. I told her that I don't teach project-specific classes-- I teach techniques and then mentor my students in how to adapt those techniques to their own unique artistic style. In my workshops we talk a lot about where ideas and innovation come from, about new approaches to the art material known as polymer clay and how it can enhance other art media and disciplines. I've been stalled on the book that I want to write because the standard industry model in book publishing seems to be a technique-to-project approach which I personally don't believe fosters creativity as much as it could.

Over the past few days I've been re-reading the self-published workbooks of Hadar Jacobsen, an extraordinary metal clay teacher and artist, who produces her own line of metal clay products. Hadar not only writes about using metal clay and correctly firing it, but constantly updates the technical information on her website for everyone, even if you haven't purchased her books. I've been thinking about her style of making information available and how I could adapt it to my workshops and enhance my students' experience. And as homage to the inspiration that Hadar has been to me, I've decided to offer any student who has already taken my 3-day workshop the opportunity to repeat it at no charge anytime in the future--subject to space availability in the class. Currently, I'm offering my workshops in the spring and fall of each year here in Vermont. I'm also developing a Facebook group for my students that will have updated information on techniques, tips on process and new product reviews.

Sometimes because of the vagaries of circumstance and income, I've had to pass up opportunities for creative advancement, missing out on a learning experience that may have forever altered how I do my art. How I've wished for a patron or guardian angel to help me make that opportunity happen.

So here's what I've come up with to advance the cause of creativity in the polymer universe-- next month I'll be teaching my 3-day intensive workshop at my farm in Vermont-- October 8-10, 2014, called “Telling Your Story in Polymer Clay: Form, Color and Mixed Media”. I'm making a scholarship available for one seat in that class to someone chosen at random from the group of interested people who contact me by September 8 and ask to be included in the drawing. All you need to do to attend is get yourself here and bring clay and tools-- see my website www.storiestheytell.com for details on the “Teaching” and “Workshops” pages. I'll have all the coloring materials available for students. If you're a newbie to polymer clay, it's not a problem. This course is about exploring what polymer clay can become in the hands of an artistic, curious person. I've had metalworkers, jewelers and ceramics artists come to learn and none of them had ever used polymer before. All that's required is imagination and a well-developed artist's or crafter's skill-set.

I'd love if you'd share this opportunity on your favorite social media venues and blogs but it's not a requirement to apply. I've included some photos below of techniques we'll be exploring this year's class. Please use the contact button to
e-mail me if you're interested in the scholarship-- I'll post the results, obtained by a random number generator, on September 8th on this blog. If you want to attend and don't want to leave it to chance, I still have a few seats available.

Oceanic Organic beads - polymer clay, crayons,

handmade texture plates

Geomorph cuff - polymer clay, acrylic paint, handmade texture plate

 

Beads - polymer clay, bamboo yarn, oil paints

Working in a Series

Working in a series, sticking with a particular theme or focus for your creativity, was something I had little interest in until recently.

I came late to the polymer clay game, having followed all manner of artistic paths throughout my life-- drawing, sculpture, ceramics, textiles and wearable art, papermaking, rug making, knitting, embroidery, upholstery, furniture painting, interior design, jewelry and finally-- polymer clay. Being fairly new to this medium—since 2008 or so-- I have so many ideas and techniques that I want to try, I've never been willing to “box myself in” by restricting my ideas to a particular series. I know I have a very distinctive style and people tell me they can always spot my pieces in any online grouping like Flickr and have come to expect my work to fall outside the box.

So why have I suddenly decided to work on a polymer clay series I'm calling “Earthscapes”? Well, sometimes when we encounter an idea that we really don't agree with our vehemence in rejecting it could indicate that perhaps there is some merit to be discovered. Or even attempt it for the purpose of debunking it. So I began the latter a few weeks ago in my studio, assured that I would bore myself to death by working within one theme only-- textured polymer, layered in various shapes, creating various elements.

After just a few days, what I discovered was that restricting one dimension of your work—in this case to a technique involving stacked layers of organic textures-- produces a cohesiveness over the total body of work while allowing creative expansion into other areas like shape, color and surface.

I'm a real omnivore when it comes to shapes-- I love 'em all! I saw a Facebook post recently about a Matisse exhibit and his fabulous work inspired me to draw several notebook pages of shapes.

 

Here's a pair of earrings that followed those sketches and subsequent ideas I had.

Earthscape Series - "Walkabout" earrings-- Souffle polymer clay, handforged copper, chalk, crayon

 

If you leave your imagination open to the world around you, anything can be a source of ideas, including what you're making for dinner.

 

Kabocha squash sections

 

Beginning with the Walkabout earrings, my weeks of inspiration in the studio were doubly blessed with the discovery of a new polymer clay, Souffle by Sculpey, with a suede-like texture that takes very well to pencil and crayon embellishment, a consistency that can pick up subtle patterning and the ability to be thinned to an amazing degree in a pasta machine even in the summer's heat. Thank you, Claire Maunsell for the inspiration to try this new product!

Earthscape earrings, in process-- Souffle polymer clay, chalks, acrylic paints

Gibraltar cuff and bangles - Nunn Design copper cuff  and bangles base, Souffle polymer clay, acrylic paint

 

 Green Darkness necklace in process-- polymer clay, crayons, acrylic paint, annealed steel wire

 

 Tidepool pendant - Souffle polymer clay, chalk, embossing powder, acrylic paint, handforged bails and connectors

 

The above piece and the next show very well, I think, how the "Earthscapes" theme and the Matisse-inspired shapes were combined.

 

 Samuri pendant - Souffle polymer clay, acrylic paint

All in all, my explorations into working in a theme definitely yielded some gratifying results, which are ongoing as I redesign and load up my Etsy site. In our next Art on the Farm session here in Vermont, coming up this October 8-10, 2014, we'll be using this information to inform our studies about shape, texture and surface. Join us if you can, there are still some spaces available-- see my website: www.storiestheytell.com for more information.

 

 

 

Morphology

I love shapes-- ones from nature, from pottery, from architecture, from sea life, from archaeology-- there are so many forms out there that can be starting points for polymer work.

One of the exercises I suggest to my workshop students is to do a very short (3 minutes or so) series of drawings focusing on a common shape-- circle, square, triangle, etc. I do this myself once a year when I make Valentine's Day hearts. I want to work with a heart shape that is fresh and uniquely mine so I get a plain piece of paper or a page from my journal and start to sketch hearts, as quickly as I can and try not to edit myself or attempt to make them perfect. These line drawings come straight out of my right brain and after I fill a page or so with them, I can then choose the ones that most appeal and tweak the shapes a bit if necessary.

 

 

 

 

Lately I did a page of rectangles and triangles, both of them finished in under three minutes. Each of these little sketches could spawn a whole series by themselves.

 

 

 Triangle-morphing page

 

 

Rectangle-morphing or "20 Rectangles in 3 Minutes or Less"

 

With the aid of my trusty Canon copier, I can size the shapes up or down to create elements that fit the scale of pieces that I want to create. And they are similar enough that a few could be grouped together as elements to form a necklace or hang from a lariat.Of course they transform even more when I add texture and color.

 

 

 

Landscape Earrings in process - truncated triangles

 

 

Morphed faux Bakelite rectangle earrings with

distortions and voids

 

 

Triangle morphed into a clamshell shape with organic extension added

 

 

One of my favorite, signature shapes comes from a primitive clothespin that my friend Renate found at a flea market in Germany. I've gotten so much mileage out of that simple outline.

 

 

 

 

Machu Picchu Earrings- polymer and copper metal clay

 

 

Cave of Dreams Earrings - Polymer and Copper Metal Clay

 

Sage Bray, editor of Polymer ArtsMagazine, is doing a series on morphed forms this week. She calls this post "Pushing the Triangle". http://www.thepolymerarts.com/blog/pushing-the-triangle/ Seems summer brings us out of our caves and into the light where Nature is dazzling us with a vast display of shape and color. Play around a bit this week while you're watching the kids at the playground or having lunch al fresco. I promise your work will take on new energy and what you come up with will be all your own.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspired by Reading: The Interpreter of Maladies

It's been a while since I've participated in the Inspired by Reading challenge but this time I got a jump on the reading and obtained a copy of Jhumpa Lahiri's book of short stories, The Interpreter of Maladies a month or so ago. I've always been a fan of the writing of Indian women-- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's Mistress of Spices is one of my favorites and was made into a great movie, by the way.

I love the short story format and was looking forward to reading this book but after reading a few stories, Lahiri's generally pessimistic characters and plots I found too depressing. She does have fine insight into the maladies of modern relationships, which apply universally and not just to Indian society. But how to translate this angst into a piece of jewelry?

I decided to meld elements from a few different stories into my design. In the story of the same name as the collection, The Interpreter of Maladies, the main character is a tour guide in his spare time but also works for a doctor as an interpreter for the numerous Indian dialects of his patients-- hence the title. Most of the story takes place as he drives around an American famiy of Indian heritage, visiting temples and places of interest. My imagination was captured by the author's description of an historic temple built in the shape of a gigantic chariot with elaborately carved stone wheels so since these could also represent the shape of a mandala, I decided to make that my primary shape and build the rest of the piece around that. I found this image of a wheel from the Konark Sun Temple, built in the 13^th century. This ornate beauty is an impressive 10 feet high and is one of twelve pairs in all.

Another one of the stories focused on a character who moves into a home and finds in the attic a large statue of the Virgin Mary which offends her Indian husband but she becomes obsessed with it and at the same time, the goddess Kali. Kali-- such a rich source of imagery-- to me she represents an entire culture more than any other religious symbol. She is the goddess of time, change and distruction-- basically, entropy--we're born, we live, we die. From Wikipedia: “In spite of her seemingly terrible form, Kali Ma is often considered the kindest and most loving of all the Hindu goddesses, as she is regarded by her devotees as the Mother of the whole Universe. And because of her terrible form, she is also often seen as a great protector.” I love Her multiple arms so I determined that my focal must have some too. I decided on the 10-armed incarnation and included a turquoise and red palette as in traditional interpreations of the goddess.

"My Mother is the principle of consciousness. She is Akhanda Satchidananda; indivisible Reality, Awareness, and Bliss. The night sky between the stars is perfectly black. The waters of the ocean depths are the same; The infinite is always mysteriously dark. This inebriating darkness is my beloved Kali."
        -Sri Ramakrishna

Inspiring, huh? In college I had a real love affair with the writing of Rabindranath Tagore, a 20^th century Indian mystical poet who was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky”

But I was still searching for an idea for the interpreter portion of my design when inspiration struck and I decided to mix up my cultural symbolism and use milagros, traditional Mexican metal charms used for shrines and as personal amulets as a focus for prayer and healing. Luckily I found a 10-piece set on Etsy with just body parts that was perfect.

So I mixed up some bronze polymer, set about making the mandala/chariot wheel, backed it with some textured turquoise clay with red antiquing, added a spiky red halo to represent ones I've seen painted around Kali's head, then ten arms antiqued to match the pewter milagros charms. They spill through the mandala in a river of supplication to the Goddess. The arms could be angel's wings, carrying the prayers of the supplicants to Heaven where Kali can hear them. Write your own story about it.

Here's a list of the other participants-- be sure to check out their fine work.

Sarajo Wentling http://sjdesignsjewelry.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Steck http://www.gemsbyjeannemarie.blogspot.com/
Mary Harding http://www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com/
Karin Grange http://ginkgoetcoquelicot.blogspot.fr/
Ann Schroeder http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com/
Mary K McGraw http://www.mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Rachel Stewart http://www.bluefinchjewelry.blogspot.com/
Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington, Terri Greenawalt, and Karen Hiatt http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

 "Kalika"

Spring on the Farm

Gazing out on several feet of slowly-melting snow from my studio window, it's hard to imagine that Spring will ever be here. But the signs are there-- robins hunting for worms in the muddy ground, the steam coming from sugarhouses all over my neighborhood, smelling like the world's best maple syrup, our chickens laying more eggs, allowing me to make my absolutely favorite treat in the world-- tangy lemon squares.

After such a long winter and months of light-deprived days, our minds are seeking a re-awakening, something to tease our senses and creativity into new and exciting territory. For polymer clay artists, our medium is gaining enthusiasts, among them my own students from the Art on the Farm workshop last year. When your students continue to grow and develop their own ways of working, and even organize times to work and share together -- a teacher can't ask for better than that!

Here are a few photos of work done by students in my class last Fall. Both these ladies were completely new to working with polymer clay.

Sharon Nodelman

Sharon Nodelman

Mary Harding

Stories They Tell & Christine Damm announce

   Art on the Farm: A 3-Day Polymer Clay

Intensive Workshop

New Ways with Construction, Texture & Color

   Bonnybrook Farm – Braintree, VT

May    27-29, 2014

This course was created to teach my signature techniques but also to provide insight into my method of working, with an emphasis on nurturing each participant's exploration of their own artistic expression and development of an individual creative voice. We all want to make art that is meaningful, emotional and that tells a story. My intention for this course is to facilitate that ability. I emphasize the teaching of ideas, not just techniques.

We'll begin this 3-day intensive class using my multi-stage method of working with polymer clay. Starting with a discussion of form, we'll use layering and other construction techniques to make our jewelry elements, then introduce texture, utilizing molds and everyday objects in unique ways as tools for impressing designs onto polymer.

Color will be considered using a wide variety of surface-coloring techniques, demonstrated on the completed polymer forms using oil and acrylic paints, chalk, texturing media, pencils and inks. In addition to studio time devoted to instruction and demonstrations, students will have ample time to apply the coloring techniques to their own pieces.

Then we'll explore innovative ways to use wire and other metal findings to create integral connections and explore different stringing techniques and designs.

In consultations with individual students we'll discuss personal style and how the techniques taught can enhance and broaden their work.

This intensive is suitable for beginners in polymer clay, as well as advanced polymer users, as the technique I teach involves a completely different approach from traditional color blending-based polymer applications such as cane-making and mokume gane. Artists from any discipline may benefit from this class-- mixed media and collage, painting and watercolor, stoneware clay and jewelry arts, to name a few. All that's required is curiosity and a well-developed artist's or crafting skill-set. Class size will be limited to 8 students.

Participants will have access to all my personal coloring supplies and my extensive collection of handmade silicone molds. Basic supplies-- clay, blades, scalpels, heavy medium, heat-set oil paint for antiquing, sanding pads and molding putty-- will be available for purchase. Upon receipt of class fees a list of useful tools and items needed for the class will be sent.

For more information about tuition, registration and all the other fine print, e-mail me at cdamm1@myfairpoint.net. The class size is capped at 8 students so that everyone will receive the maximum of personal attention and instruction. I'm very excited to invite you all into my studio. I think we can do great things together.

Voids

It's an interesting feature of the English language that so many words have both positive and negative connotations, depending on their context. “Void” is one of these.

“The Void” is used to describe the endlessness of Space, the trackless nothingness between the planets--at least in the language of sci-fi and PBS Nova specials.

But a void can also be an opening into a mysterious universe not easily seen from the outside; for instance, the space within a geode that's a fabulous interior crystalline mini-world. Or the multiple voids between the cells of a honeycomb, their totality an amazing geometric insectoid palace. It suggests mystery, the unseen, the hinted-at possibility.

Design has an affinity for voids. I hesitate to call them spaces, as that reminds me more of a defined and enclosed human-made entity, like an empty spare bedroom. No, voids are special and organic, not mere holes and when used in design they help to define texture and shape by their very lack of content, which is the potential for discovery of something beyond the obvious.

I went back through my Flickr gallery to find examples of voids for this post and I'm amazed at the number of times I've used them without actually being consciously aware of their power.

"Bad Moon Risin' " earrings

 

 "Imaginarium" earrings - polymer with resin-filled voids
 

"Distortion" earrings

"Roots" necklace - pods with voids

 "Delineated" earrings

"Kali" necklace

"Tuareg" necklace

I did consciously use voids in this last piece, submitted for this year's International Polymer Clay Guild's Progress and Possibilities competition, called "Midnight in the Temple Garden". I don't know the results of the judging yet-- it's one of those voids in life that holds possibilities. I'll keep you posted.

 

 

"Midnight in the Temple Garden" - detail

"Midnight in the Temple Garden"
Polymer clay-- vintage chain, brass button, and Japanese glass beads

There's No Magic

The process of making art is a lot of work. There's no magic in it. I'm not saying that imagaination or the source of inspiration isn't magical, I'm saying that the day-to-day, getting up and going into the studio, cleaning up your bench, putting in the hours, doing the research-- that's work. Even though it's work you love, your craft is not going to improve by posting on Facebook what you had for breakfast,or by spending hours on Pinterest. Nope.

When people take a class from me that they will be learning from someone who has put in considerable time in the discipline of polymer clay, someone who knows a lot about what techniques are out there and what resources are available. For example, after last year's ArtBliss retreat, I put together a very comprehensive color resources chart for my students, listing all the media we used in class, and appropriate uses for each. I don't simply teach a way to use a technique-- I teach a way of thinking about that technique, a method that-- hopefully-- will lead you to your own artistic way of using it, of expanding your skill-set as well as your imagination.

The person that's copying my workshop (see previous posts this past week) has no idea of the thought process behind the technique. She merely sees the results and likes them-- likes them enough that she wants to teach them too. She wants to use my work to enhance her teaching reputation. But she's an impostor-- I originated the content and I know the thought-process behind the technique. I put in the hours and days and weeks of work it took to create the technique that she will now go and blithely take perhaps 10 minutes to throw at her students. After all, she's only got a few hours to teach what it takes me twice as much time to do in my class. Because I know why the technique exists, what it's really meant to do (besides color polymer), the philosophy behind it, the reasons why it will enhance your work, the best ways to use it, all the stuff that's listed on the chart that my students get at the end of the class.

So workshop imposters aren't offering any magic, no matter how the class description reads. What you're getting is diluted content, the husk of the technique. The person that originated the concept, that tapped into the magic of their imagaination to create it, the person that can tell you why you're using it and how, that's the person you should seek out. And that would be me.

(Christine is teaching two new classes at ArtBliss this September-- stay tuned to AB's website for the announcment in early March)

Imitation-- Not the Sincerest Form of Flattery

You may have heard the phrase “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”. It's not. It's unethical and usually illegal. I'm not talking about an individual who sees something in a tutorial or on a website and tries a technique or copies a colorway. That's how we learn, as we grope our way to our own authentic voice.

I'm talking about an individual who deliberately took original content she learned in my workshop and then shoehorned into a mixed-media class that she then shopped to a major jewelry venue, with nary a change in that content (right down to using the same phrases used in my class description!) and most certainly not the significant amount that the US Patent Office would deem necessary to claim that a true innovation had been made.

And the thing that's most appalling is that the way many people choose to deal with this is to let the imposter get away with it. We are so averse to confrontation in our society these days that we would just let people steal our ideas, ideas which were so hard-won, that we birthed from our creative souls and nurtured so they could grow to eventually inspire others.

Things people have said to make me feel better: “Artists XYZ used to send “Cease and Desist” letters-- now they just laugh” (really? What's funny about being ripped off?) “Ms. Artist-Well-Known said people copy her all the time so she's just decided to 'let it go'--the implication being “better artists than you just 'let it go'-- why are you persisting?

Because it has to stop. And it won't by itself. It will stop because we, as a culture of artists, demand that original content cannot be used without permission. If I teach you a technique, you can use that technique for your own work but you may NOT teach that content, under any circumstances—not to your guild or to your niece or to your neighbor and definitely not to workshop participants at a national jewelry venue. I love that you were inspired by my class but what are you adding to the content to make it really yours?

As Harriete Estel Berman cautions:

“If you haven't made a significant leap, not a stepping stone but a leap onto a new path, then you're teaching derivative content and run the risk of being a “workshop imposter”. And if you don't really surpass the “workshop master” into new territory, everyone will see you as a “workshop imposter".

Here's an article from the American Crafts Council called "Ali Baba and the Copycat Thieves"http://craftcouncil.org/post/alibaba-and-copycat-thieves.

Lots of food for thought here.

Copycats: It's not a Good Thing

If you happened to see my post on Facebook yesterday, you know that I'm having an issue with  a former student who is teaching a technique of mine in a workshop at a large jewelry venue.

I'm going to direct you to a website that I have found truly eye-opening and informative about copyright infringement and theft of intellectual property. I became aware of Harriete Estel Berman's website "Ask Harriete" after her keynote speech--"The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in the Age of the Internet"-- for the International Polymer Clay Association's 2013 Annual Meeting, where it raised quite a bit of controversy. Check out the video of her presentation and you'll see why: http://www.slideshare.net/Harriete/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-in-the-age-of-the-internet

This link will take you to her post: "The Color Blind Paint Salesman and the Workshop Imposter" for a dose of reality: http://askharriete.typepad.com/ask_harriete/2013/04/workshop-copying-gets-ugly.html

After her presentation, Ms. Berman says that people just came out of the woodwork and shared their stories with her. Copying and teaching what's not your own orginal content is more widespread than you know and you may think "so what"? -- until it happens to you.

In the next post I'll share my personal experience with this and the impact it's had on my life in the last few weeks.

Snow

Snow-- if you live in the Northeastern United States, it's a fact of life. People actually live here who hate snow and all that winter brings-- why do they stay? To me it's beautiful stuff, cleansing, pure, elemental. It creates quiet and a space for contemplation. I get my best art done in the winter, away from the hurley-burley of the warm season (as short as it is!) that demands all our time and busy effort for its brief shot at life and growth.

 Raku-effect beads-- "Oil Slick" -- part of a

new Etsy collection

 Sometimes people feel stuck in a physical or emotional place, a personal or working situation, stuck in a way of making their art. It happens to all of us at one time or another but you don't have to stay stuck, you have a choice. Unlike our inability to change the weather, we do have the power to change what's not working for us. It takes commitment and a willingness to give up what's comfortable, known, predictable. It's only when we choose to venture out on the "skinny branches" do we find fulfillment, joy and freedom.

"Cartouche"

"Gray as the Sea in Winter"

 

 "Frosted"

All I put on my wish list for Christmas this year were books and teaching videos. What could be a better gift than one of exploration, of new ideas, of inspirations, of ways to break out of a stuck situation and fly?

Here are a few examples of what ended up under my tree. They point to directions that I plan to take in 2014.

Your Personal Paleo Code: The 3- Step Plan to Lose Weight, Reverse Disease, and Stay Fit and Healthy for Life by Chris Kresser

A Field Guide to Fabric Design: Design, Print and Sell Your Own Fabric by Kim Kight

 

Simple Soldering: A Beginner's Guide to Jewelry Making - Kate Richbourg

 

So I wish you every happiness in the New Year but most of all, the courage to swing out and make changes, seize opportunities and be bold in your choices.