Back from Indiana

I forgot to give you warning that I was going to be heading to Indiana last week to see my Grandmother. I made it back home last night. Grammie is doing remarkably well. Her health has stabilized for now and while she would rather be in her own home, she has been making the best of her life in the nursing home.

Her roommate is very nice and they keep each other on their toes. I baked them some cookies and took some chocolate covered pretzels from Malleys (a famous Cleveland chocolate company). Grammie and I would take off for a few hours in the afternoon and either go back to her home or out to visit my mom. Grammie was just happy to 'be away from that place'.

So, this weekend I'm off to the SOFA (Sculptural Objects and Functional Art) show in Chicago. I'm helping out at the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers) resource table during the show and also going to see one of my college roommates! It should be fun (although, I would rather stay home:)).

2005 Ornament

I've created and submitted a new ornament for the Treasures for the Tree Project (TFTP). The purpose of the TFTP is to showcase the works of current Ohio artists and craftspeople by decorating the Governor's Residence official holiday tree. Fifty ornaments are selected (10 per region of the state). My ornaments were selected four years in a row and then last year my snowman ornament was not selected (bummer). Below is the new ornament titled 'Mistletoe' and has over 30 beads wire wrapped onto a metal chain.

Creating a Bra from Scratch....

One of the gallery owners I have worked with in Cleveland sent out a call for entries last month. She asked that artists decorate bras with things like puffy paint, watercolors, or fabric and bring them into her gallery. She would put them on display and auction them off to raise money for breast cancer research. I thought this was a wonderful idea! She had some bras that she was giving to artists the bigger the better he he :).

Below you will see three images of the bra I created.

I wanted to construct a bra out of metal and beads and found a variety of types of copper to use in forming the structure. Using copper tubing and mesh I formed the metal around a female form and literally stitched the mesh, using copper wire, around the tubing in some instances. Because I couldn't bend the copper tubing into a tight spiral to form the bra cups, I switched to glass beads strung on copper wire, which brought the piece together in the end. I didn't start out thinking I would create a bra from scratch, but pieces of it just evolved and using my own bras as patterns helped!

The gallery owner loved the bra! She is going to let me know how the auction goes and hopes that I win the 'viewers choice' award!

Mouse in the House!

The other night I was making beads and kept thinking one of the cats was walking down around my feet, which was odd because they just typically leave me alone. When I would pause and look down I wouldn't see anything so I thought I was just losing my mind. THEN, I saw the little critter! It stopped and stared at me and then ran by. It was a very cute tiny mouse. One would think with two cats in the house we wouldn't have any mice.

So, I brought Gypsy (AKA BK for Bunny Killer) down to the basement with me and shut the door so she couldn't leave hoping that she could rid my studio of the rodent. She climbed up to the top of the steps and cried until I let her out. I couldn't even believe it!

I guess I'll have to go find a live trap so I can catch the little bugger and stick it outside (just so it can find it's way in again according to my husband:).

I'm not ignoring you!

Sorry for the long delay in posting. I've been working on some brand new beads for a few juried shows that are coming up in 2006. One is a traveling show and the two others are publications. All of the deadlines are Oct. 1st so I've had to ignore some things, like this blog, in order to get those applications out. I'll post some images soon.

I'm going to be selling beads only at the upcoming Intergalactic Bead Show in Cleveland (Oct. 1 & 2nd at the Berea Co. Fairgrounds 10-5pm both days). Hope you'll come by and say hello. I don't have another show until December.

I am planning on going to see Grammie in October for a little bit. She has been living in an nursing home for several weeks now and has been getting stronger, but still dealing with lots of complications. We just can't seem to get ahead of the game. It's really frustrating for all of us.

My Brother's Photography

My brother just finished putting up a web site and I thought you might like to see some of his work. Steve has been a professional photographer in NYC since 1980 (with a few years spent living in Amsterdam). Follow this link
www.shphotography.com

Consider Donating to CERF

Like all of you we have been horrified by the devastation in the South. I would like to raise some awareness of a charity that is dedicated to helping artists called the Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF). You can go to http://www.craftemergency.org/ for more information.

When a dear artist friend of my passed away in 2004 I asked that people make donations in her memory to CERF and knew it was what she would have wanted.

Won't you join me in donating to CERF to help the artists in the area??

Thank you!

Beginner Classes Scheduled!!

I've been working on finding a location to teach a beginner beadmaking class and have finally found one!! We have set dates for three classes this fall and I'm really excited! My glass blowing friend, Sue Berry, is arranging for me to use her Superior Street Studio space in Cleveland (corner of Superior & 36th St).

Each class is a one day class that will run from 9:30-5pm. I'll provide all the equipment and supplies for a fee of $125.00. Please bring a sack lunch. The dates are listed below and we'll also get them up on the Learn section of the website. You can register and pay for the class through me. We need at least 4 students to have the class and we can have a maximum of eight students. Please contact me for more information!

Dates Scheduled:
Saturday September 10th
Saturday October 15th
Saturday November 5th

Hot Rods

I enjoyed hosting the Hot Rods meeting yesterday, even though we had torrential down pours at first. We had to hide out in our garage (no, our living room isn't that big). Aaron grilled burgers & dogs in the rain. Everything was yummy. Aaron and Doug also cut down a dead tree we had...boy that was something to watch!

We're also dog sitting for some friends of ours. Cookie is really sweet, but she has been using our floor as a toilet even though we take her for walks outside constantly!! Our cats are NOT happy with the new house guest. They will be very glad to see her go home tonight.

I just returned from Toledo where I picked up a used indoor booth display from an artist who has stopped doing shows. It's really nice and I'm looking forward to trying it out in December for the By-Hand show. It's funny that the display material for a show takes up more room than my actual inventory!!

Back from Philly!

I'm back from yet another trip. This time it was to Philadelphia, our old home! Here is a picture taken of me by the Liberty Bell (it was only about 105 degrees when I was there). I ate as much mango water ice as I could!! I love that stuff!



I was attending the American Sociological Association annual scientific conference. I was also talking with some potential employers about faculty positions. That always raises my anxiety level!

I'm hosting the Hot Rods monthly meeting on Saturday so I have to clean and do some grocery shopping. My article is out in the Sept/Oct Step By Step Beads magazine too, you'll have to check it out! I submitted images of how I make the alien bead.

ahh sleep!

Well, I think I've finally recovered from all the recent traveling just in time to hit the road again Friday for Philadelphia! I'm attending the American Sociological Association Meetings and will be interviewing for faculty positions that would begin next August.

Did you know we lived in Philly in 1996?? It was a lot of fun and quite stressful at the same time. I'm looking forward to going back for a few days.

Grammie is still in the hospital and is having trouble with her hemoglobin levels. When I talked to her the other day on the phone she said 'They're trying to kill me!" (they meaning the hospital staff). She's just tired of all the different procedures and each one leaves her progressively weaker.

My brother's 45th birthday is next week so I'm trying to find a cool present for him. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Thanks Lakewood!

We enjoyed ourselves during the Lakewood show yesterday! Even though the wind struck again and knocked over one of the pedestals and took out all the spinner mugs. The beads were fine, but all the ceramic mugs were broken to bits. It made the loudest noise! ugh. That is one of the down sides to doing shows.

Then we met our friends Doug & Aline for dinner and had a great time!

I'll try to post some pictures of the pieces I had accepted into the Kentucky Museum of Art & Craft this week!

Katy

Whew!

I'm so relieved that it has finally cooled off a bit here in Cleveland just in time for my show in Lakewood tomorrow! I was starting to get worried that I would lose my trusty help (Aaron) if too many of the shows were in 100 degree heat!

Please come by and say hello! I'm off to make some aliens (I sold out during the Gathering bead show!!).

Pictures!

As promised here are some pictures of Lucio Bubacco creating a goblet with a sculpture as the stem. First he created the devil then attached the base and top goblet. He took a short break and came back and added the small angel. It was like watching a one person symphony!

Odds and ends

No pictures yet, I was so tired last night that I just fell asleep on the couch! I promise to get some up tonight. All I was able to take care of yesterday was paperwork..ugh. I paid the KY sales tax I owed, took care of mailing out eBay items (huge line at the post office). I'm starting to search the faculty positions that are coming out this month that will start Aug. 2006. It looks like there are a lot of nice opportunities!

Grammie had emergency surgery yesterday to remove a blood clot in her leg. We were told she had 'extensive' clotting. She had a good night in the critical care unit but we were all pretty nervous.

OK, more updates to come....

I'm Back!!

Hi Everyone! It's SO nice to be back home! I had a wonderful time taking the class with Lucio Bubacco and hope to post some pictures later today. I also attended the Gathering in Louisville (beadmaking conference) and sold a bunch of beads, and then promptly turned around and bought more glass and tools:).

I'm now working on getting ready for the Lakewood show coming up THIS Saturday, Aug. 6th. Let's just hope it's not another 99 degree day!!

More soon!

Hitting the Road Yet Again

Hello everyone! I wanted to let you all know that I'm leaving town tomorrow for the class with Lucio and then for board meetings and conference of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers. I'll be back Aug. 1st and in the mean time Aaron will try to hold down the fort and ship out orders.

Grammie is holding her own, after the cancer scare last week (turns out it wasn't cancer) she is doing well in PT & OT and is going to try to go home next Wednesday with 24 hour care.

The next show is Lakewood on Sat. Aug 6th! Let's just hope it isn't 99 degrees out! I'll try to post while I'm gone and give you updates!

Thank You Willougby!

Well, I spent last week in Indiana with my grandmother who had to have a couple of procedures on her kidney performed. We were all pretty scared. She had a blockage in the tube that runs from her kidney to her bladder and almost went into renal failure if it weren't for some quick thinking on the part of my mom. Anyway, after a pretty emotionally draining week I high tailed it back to Cleveland for the Willoughby ArtsFest yesterday and was so pleasantly surprised! The weather was horrible, really hot and humid and then thunder and lightening in the afternoon. Despite the weather many repeat customers came by to say hi and I met several new ones! Thank all of you who supported me by buying my work!! It was a really nice end to a stressful week.

More to come soon I promise!

I'm taking a class!

I'm very excited because I will be taking a class with Lucio Bubacco in two weeks! I found out that there was a cancellation this past week and quickly grabbed the spot. Lucio is a well known Italian glass artist and you can see some of his work at www.luciobubacco.com. One of my dreams is to travel to Italy and go to the island of Murano, but for now a little piece of Murano will be in Indiana!

I have replenished almost all of my inventory just in time for the Willoughby show next Saturday. I'm hoping it won't be as hot as the previous shows have been. Aaron has been working on putting new items up on the web site too. We went to see the Fantastic 4 last night, it was fun. If you don't go with any expectations you'll probably enjoy it:).

Happy 4th of July!

The weather has been wonderful for this long weekend! We had a few friends over Saturday night for a little celebration. Yesterday we went to see Star Wars and yes, it was far better than the previous two. I think today we'll try to see War of the Worlds. I realized I hadn't seen a movie since the Fall of 2004. Eek! The dissertation really took over! So we're trying to make up for it now I guess:)

I've also been making a lot of beads and pocket vases to get ready for the Willoughby show that is July 16th.

Many of you have asked about Grammie and I haven't posted much about her because I am so sad about the fact that she is in a nursing home now. She was hospitalized about a week ago and the doctors were arguing about whether or not she had congestive heart failure. In the meantime, she had fluid on her lungs so they were dehydrating her in attempts of getting the fluid removed...ugh. I could go on and on but, essentially, she was transferred to a nursing home last week and I'm not optimistic that she'll recover enough to go back home.

Well, I don't want to leave you all on that sad note so on a lighter note I think we'll be using up the sparklers we bought last year at the karate and fireworks store in Erie, PA off of I-90. If you've never stopped there (on your way to NY) you really must. It's a hoot! We go for the entertainment value and leave with 50$ worth of fireworks...he he.

Have a great 4th everyone!