Micaeous clay, blue beveled beaded bowl.

My English teacher would be so proud of me. That was a lovely use of alliteration. I had to look up that word, and it is in fact, correct! Here is a glimpse of a bowl/vessel I just finished in micaeous clay. This one is particularly smokey. For more info on micaeous clay visit this link.

Here is a detail of the side view:

After I pit-fired it outside my studio, I sewed beads onto it using silk thread pulled through beeswax. Little seed pearls on the underside help to hold the glass beads in place. I have a similar one I use on my dresser for jewelry. You could also use it to contain sage or lavender or anything else that takes your fancy. For more details click here! You can see a slide show with the images LARGE here.

Parlez's Bird's Eye View

Holy Toledo Catwoman how am I gonna get down from this pole? Actually, I think I can actually see Toledo. It took me about 4.5 seconds to shimmy up, but the gettin' down is another thing entirely. Not one squirrel in sight but I can sure see a lot of other things. Like momma for instance, with that black box she's always carrying around and pointing at me. 

Alrighty, now that I've chewed on my tail and twizzled around a few times I guess it's time to disembark the pole. Sometimes you just have to go for it. Just look at that expression of focus and determination. And prayer.

Made it. 

If you'd like to view these photos a little larger, you can click here!

Water Flowing Together Link

And here's the link. Oops!   Incidentally, most of my posts  have the link attached to the title as well. Just in case I space... 

Water Flowing Together

Our local PBS station aired a wonderful documentary last night from their Independent Lens series called, Water Flowing Together (named for the Navajo clan of which Jock, through his mother, is a part). Even if you are not interested in dance, if you are into inspiration, you may want to check this out. Gwendolen Cates did a wonderful job portraying his story. 

You can find out more about Jock and the film here. Here's a screen grab from part of the film, a mini version of which can also be viewed at the aforementioned link. Jock Soto is the boy standing to the right of Peter Martins, NYC Ballet's Artistic Director (I believe that's his title). At the age of 14 or so Jock was one of the last recruits to the company by the late George Balanchine. From what I could see Jock embodies all of what a great and true dancer is: Spirit, Grace, Strength, Discipline, Determination, Collaboration; and did I say, Spirit and Grace? Wow. Enjoy!

Parlez Plays Ping Pong

I think he's a righty. 

First sighting

The squirrels are back.

We'll see about that...

Buzzing Explosions

This is not a penguin floating in Peptobismal (sit back a little to see). It is a tulip!

I was just sitting here minding my own business compiling a whole host of goody links at dancingbeeacres bee products when KABOOM POP KABOOM!!! outta nowhere a light bulb exploded just over my head. So without further ado I am passing these on to you, links for the following wonderous products from the heavenly bees of eastern Oregon. The site has lots of great information, also regarding neem. Don't get me started on neem. It is the wonder plant/tree of all time. The bees and the neem make a pretty potent combination. Check these out for yourself. Yummm!

Royal Jelly         Healthy Hive Combo         Neem Honey

Beatrice Wood: Mama of Dada

I just finished watching a 1993 VHS (written, produced, directed by Tom Neff) of Beatrice Wood being her amazing gracious and vivacious self. She was born in March 1893 and died the same month 105 years later. (Yes, 105 :) This film was made to celebrate her 100th birthday, and it shows current footage of her throwing at the wheel (and very well, too), and several interviews with herself and others. She attributed her youthfulness to young men and chocolate, which may be true, but her shining attitude probably had much more to do with it. What an inspiration. I'm not sure if the movie is still available as I borrowed it from a friend. 

If you'd like to read about her click here. If you'd like to see her autobiography, "I Shock Myself", it's here. And if you are drawn to her luminous ceramic work and have a spare $4,800 you can buy this large loving cup (shown above) from modernsculpture.com. I also love her plate of Elizabeth I (same site for $6,400). 

She said she would have these three sentences put on her epitaph: Now. Understanding Oneself. Compassion. This, and the quote below, gives us all (artist or not) encouragement to keep laughing, keep working and keep eating chocolate. Yum!

"Remarkably, it was during the artist's nineties that Wood produced some of her finest work including her now signature works, tall, complex, multi-volumed chalices in glittering golds, greens, pinks and bronzes."  

Grace

When we walk in the world with grace, it is a gift for everyone

Today I turned on Santa Fe public radio and caught the last minute of this inspiring woman's radio visit. This is a lovely story and can be found here. 

Some of you may know Dawna Markova's poem, I Will Not Die an Unlived Life. My my sister gave it to me ages ago on a card. Thank you Idy. It hung on my fridge and still does, and I have xeroxed it and passed it along over the years. Markova has several books she has authored (one of them being the title of this poem). The link to them is under 'BOOKS' on the sidebar. In–joy.

The 8th Annual Collect: Inside 8 opens March 22nd

CCA Santa Fe is celebrating the diversity of the New Mexico arts community by inviting emerging and established image makers to submit works that fit within an 8" cube. The opening is Saturday, March 22nd from 5-7 pm at the Center for Contemporary Arts, 1050 Old Pecos Trail. The show goes until April 6th.

Here is my piece entitled Alma Always Knows the Way. It is mixed media on panel with cold wax, and floats on a frame painted in copper with a verdegris finish. Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 2". This piece is also available as a limited edition print in its original size, 11 x 11" or 16 x 16", on paper or canvas, in my PhotoMontages gallery here.

CCA is a wonderful venue to showcase new work, and it's great fun to be in the company of so many diverse and gifted artists. 

Shot from the Studio

Now where did I put those safety glasses?

One day I perched these here for safekeeping. Actually I could not figure out where to put them, so I stashed them here. A while later I looked over and saw her and cracked up. I'm still waiting for Sotheby's to authenticate this bust as a genu-yne Houdon.  :~)

Parlez goes in search of Spring

Parlez goes in search of spring...

and finds... 

    it comes to him!

Arctic Tale

If you like adventuring to far-off places (say, the arctic), in-joy nature programs, or always wanted to have David Attenborough for an uncle—and you haven't already seen this film—then may I boldly and humbly suggest: rent it, buy it, or steal (I mean borrow) it to watch. Don't let the cover fool you, as it did me. It's not an animated movie at all. And it contains some of the most glorious natural cinematography I've seen, both of the animals themselves and the land/seascape. I believe it took the filmmakers over eight years to get the footage. They had to wait four years just to see a walrus. And to actually come across a pup was quite miraculous apparently. I cannot imagine anyone other than Queen Latifah narrating it (sorry David). And there's even some original catchy music to accompany the adventures. The how-they-made-it portion is wonderful as well. I got my copy from National Geographic. You can rent it from Netflix. You can preview it here. Fire up the popcorn, hunker down and enjoy. 

Everything is a vibration

It was January and I was catching up on some reading about the upcoming Chinese New Year. Young Parlez, pictured at left, decided he would jump up on my desk and position himself about two inches from my computer screen. Now this little guy hasn't been with us too long, but I'd never seen him do that before. I thought it very humorous he would be so interested in this email, especially as it contained some good pointers on the soon-to-be Year of the Rat. After sufficient study he jumped down and left me to finish reading about my Rat Return, being born under this auspicious (I now feel) year myself.

A couple of weeks later I was again at my computer and out of the corner of my eye I saw young Parlez fly through the kitty door with something wiggly in his mouth. Please don't let it be another Juniper Titmouse, I thought. Oh, and it wasn't. In fact I didn't know what it was. It was furry and kind of cute. No puncture wounds on it, just soggy shoulders. Despite it being a wonderful gift I knew it did not belong inside, and after a few panicked expletives I ran up the stairs to get a yogurt carton. A large one. A yogurt carton? It's not going to fit in there. And I ran back and shut the door so it couldn't scurry any further, wondering what I was going to put it in for transport, when I glimpsed an empty storage bin on the front porch. Perfect! I was able to scoop up the little big thing and liberate it back to wild kingdom, leaving Parlez searching in great earnest for his prized catch.

As I walked it out away from the house, way far away from the house, I was reassuring it that everything was quite alright. And sorry to displace him so far from his lodgings but I couldn't risk the great white hunter nabbing him again. The little big creature blinked up at me as I tipped it out (gently) and I said I hoped he'd be able to find his way back. Whereupon I went back to my office and thanked a perplexed Parlez for such a glorious gift, and shared with him that we could not keep it because it no doubt had a family of its own.

When SP (that would be Sweetie Pie, my partner) came home I said, "You'll never guess what Parlez brought in today."

"Oh? What was it?" And the rest of the conversation went something like this, because I honestly couldn't answer him as to what it was.

"Well, it was about this long [8 inches]. And about this big around [almost 3 inches]. And it was a really pretty red-brown color. And it had little ears and whiskers, and kind of a tail I suppose, an abbreviated one. And it was cute. I think it was a hampster."

And he, patiently listening to my discourse, gave me his best I-hate-to-break-it-to-you-look and said,

"Elsa, it was a rat."

And that was that.

And then I realized just how tuned in Parlez Beaucoups is. He does his research and knows his mamma is a rat (as it were) and goes out and gets one for her for Chinese New Year. How about that, for a cat?

Pythagoras was right. Everything is a vibration.

Girl Facing West Performance

Susana Guillaume presents her one woman show in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Friday February 29th and Saturday March 1st. 

If you have the chance to stop by the Railyard Performance Center on the corner of Guadalupe and Paseo de Peralta, you will be blessed with an hour full of pearls and chuckles. The show starts at 8 pm. How she managed to streamline several decades into one hour is a mystery to me, but she is an inspiration to anyone. She told me she always wanted to do this and so she has. Brava Susana!   Susana's website niadancing.com

And while I'm on the subject of friends' shows, here is another to consider for Friday, February 29th, celebrating Sadie Hawkins Day. I know Sadie has been described as 'homely' but in truth I think she was a bodacious hussy. The show starts at 7:30 pm in the Cowgirl's Mustang Room, 319 S. Guadalupe Street. Barbara Mayfield and the Stark Raving Beauties present a comedy extravaganza, "Oh me, oh my, the Beauties and I are planning quite an evening. We'll be exploring all the Big Topics, as per usual: love, sex, global meltdown and the lipstick colors for spring." Catch her if you can. Space is limited.  Barbara's website barbaramayfield.com

A brief history of the blog

Intent on an early night. The best laid plans... Oh well, this and a few other goodies were worth staying up for. Click here for an informative, mini-history of the blog, or maybe Le petit histoire du Blog (bad French), or perhaps Una storia poca della Blogga (bad Italian). Which brings up another point. When new words are introduced into a language where gender matters, I wonder who decides whether it will be masculine or feminine. Sweet dreaming~

Tea for Two on Two Twenty Two

Most mornings I surrender to tea bag wisdom. My favorite tea to do this with is Yogi Tea, as they seem to have some pretty good pearls on their tea bag tags, and their tea is wonderful. I got this one the other day, and I really liked it. I think it will be a while before I truly understand it, but it's a nice thing to ponder: "You are Unlimited"  Here is their site, and lest you think nothing is happening when you get to it, be patient. The blue sky will eventually turn into this, as I found out :-)

Still Life...

I had the opportunity last week to attend a marvelous reading hosted by the Lannan foundation here in Santa Fe. If you were once near neighbors of Walt Whitman and George Bernard Shaw, as I was at different times in my life, then you just might be drawn to the poetry of Eamon Grennan. I was—without having read a word—and boy was I glad I followed the big little voice that said, please go. I am not a critic by any means, but I know what resonates with me, and Mr. Grennan's work does. After being introduced by the warm and erudite Dennis O'Driscoll, an Irish poet himself, he read from several books. I still see traces of many he read for truly, his poems are paintings. If you would like to tune into the podcast from February 13th, click here and watch the space. It should be posted soon.

Here is his poem from the book Still Life with Waterfall published by Graywolf Press. The song of birds and hearts continues. Enjoy.

Valentine's Day is every day...

...Isn't it? 

The internet is busy this evening. Everyone must be blogging instead of snogging. OK, not everyone. This seemed like a good day to officially launch my blog and tell a few souls about it. With the wizards at Google they've made it very user friendly and it's actually fun to set up :)

 

This heart is made of micaeous clay and you can find out more about it on my new (brand spanking new) Etsy site.

Click here and you will be transported to it.

Last year on this same day a most glorious thing happened. It was sad but also very touching. A female Northern Red Flicker crashed at high speed into our floor-to-ceiling windows. I got outside a few seconds before she took her last breath whereupon Michael came out and lifted her up out of the snowy juniper. Hiding beneath the wing her white breast was covered in little black hearts. I was awestruck. I laid her on a snow bank so her mate would know where she was. It continued to snow gently for the rest of the afternoon, the crystal flakes building a quiet cocoon around her. I was very drawn to photograph her transition and this video came out of those images.

As Rumi said, "All the particles of the world are in love and looking for lovers". Translated by the gifted Coleman Barks in his book, The Essential Rumi. Happy Valentine's Day.

02 08 2008 FIRST POST Snow still on the ground in Santa Fe...

I had to have a post on this date, even if it doesn't really say anything because I like the way these date numbers look. This occurrence, where the day and the month digits make up the year, will only happen twice, now and in August. In celebration of spring will soon be here (won't it?) a shot of an iris and a tulip embracing. Truly.

For those of you who would like to see more flower power please visit my online gallery by clicking on the title of this post and you will be transported.