THE LOOKING GLASS

HELLO.....NEW JERSEY.

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:39:00 +0000

New Jersey here I come! Lift up your art, Laurie B.

SOLDERING WITH WILMA

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:54:00 +0000

Hello my friends! Oh how the time flies during the Autumn months. It always amazes me. Here is my latest update on Adam and Eve. This panel is read to be soldered and I will be starting that process in the next couple of days. As a side note, I've decided to dress as Wilma Flintstone for All Hallow's Eve. WHY???? I found a kickin dress at Goodwill for under $5.00! LOL So, in these hard economic times, hey, whatever works. Right? LIFT UP YOUR ART! Laurie B.

A THE BEAT GOES ON "BADA-BUMP"

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:56:00 +0000

Good Morning friends! Ah, as my current client said, "Oh Laurie, haven't you learned by now that life always gets in the way of living!" Wiser words were never spoken! A big shout out thank you to Sharon, the most patient client I have had to-date! Here are photos of the current Adam N Eve panel, ready for foiling. Being in "transition" has been a real challenge (time management!) but a welcome one. Progress is being made so incredibly fast on my stained glass studio! I am truly "living the dream"! Autumn is upon us here in Northern Illinois. Firewood was delivered yesterday and is stacked snugly in the garage. The leaves are falling fast and furious and today is a MOST precious "Indian Summer" day. I am relishing every moment of it. Lovely warmth and sunshine, leaves rustling, pine trees waving hello to the sun, and little chipmunks running around with nut-stuffed cheeks! It just doesn't get any better than this in my book! I hope wherever you are you are able to connect with nature on some level today. Sending out warm Autumn wishes! LIFT UP YOUR ART, Laurie B.

AUTUMN APPLE ABUNDANCE!

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:54:00 +0000

PIECING IT ALL TOGETHER

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:24:00 +0000

Hello friends, This has been a very sad day for me on several levels. I found out this morning that an old friend of mine from high school lost his battle with cancer at 4 a.m. this morning. He fought long and hard and will be missed by so many. My thoughts and prayers for peace go out to his wife and children. I then helped a friend take his dog to be put down. Alex, a sweet sweet dog, was, "113". It was time. Regardless of the happy and long life he lived, saying goodbye to a friend and kind soul is never easy. The photos I am posting here tonight are photos taken of the progress I made yesterday on the Adam and Eve panel. I should have this ready to be copper foiled by the end of the day tomorrow and will share the process with you along the way. Give those you love a big hug and kiss this evening. With gratitude for it all, Laurie B.

TEMPORARY DIGS

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 14:47:00 +0000

Good Morning Friends,
Here's hoping you have sunshine where ever you are today. It's gloomy here in Northern Illinois! I wanted to share a couple of photos of where I've been keeping myself recently. I'm making great progress on "Adam And Eve" and hope to have this piece foiled and ready for soldering by the middle of the week. My temporary digs are working out just fine and I am thankful. Lift up YOUR art! Laurie B.

A SEASON FOR ALL THINGS

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:18:00 +0000

Good Morning friends! I am working hard on this cold and rainy Autumn day but hold out hope for some sunshine and the changing colors of the trees. One can HOPE! Yesterday, my friend Denise and I made the trip to Elvira, Iowa, a lovely farming community surrounded by beautiful Iowa countryside. I have been commissioned to create three stained glass windows for the Elvira Zion Lutheran Church! Pastor Bill is a wonderful man, so full of inspiration and energy. I have asked Denise Clenney, of Changing Designs, to draw the pattern I will be using for the windows. I was able to get the measurments of the windows with Denise's help and our brain-storming session with Pastor Bill was very exciting. I'll be creating an Iowa landscape in a tri-scape design. I'm incredibly jazzed about the location and I think this project will be beautiful! I am looking foward to sharing this journey with you and will be sure to post pictures as I create these pieces for Elvira Zion Lutheran. As always, LIFT UP YOUR ART! With Gratitude, Laurie B.

THOUGHTS

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 20:03:00 +0000

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." -Anais Nin

GOING THE DISTANCE

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:31:00 +0000

Hello Readers,

As I wake this morning I realize that so much of life's accomplishments are based not just on our abilities and our gifts but on our courage and our tenacity to never give up. Taking a leap of faith has never been easy for me and my most recent leap was a big one. It feels at times like I have jumped the Mississippi, the Grand Canyon and on certain days, the Atlantic. The kicker is I did it. I revel in that. This move has been glorious, scary, heartbreaking and joyous. The feelings come and go and remind me of the waves lapping on the shores of the Mississippi after a fishing boat has passed by. I work at letting these feelings move at their own pace and try my best to BE. I learn new lessons every day and the new experiences presenting themselves make me feel as light as a feather. I enjoyed a beautiful Sweet Adeline performance yesterday in Belvidere, IL and it was nothing short of MAGIC. These women simply rock! I am actually entertaining the idea of singing again. A year ago I would have shrugged that idea off with a single thought. Life takes work but if we pay close attention it is a beautiful journey. I will spend the balance of my week working feverishly on my latest commission and hope to have this latest panel done by weeks end. I will be sharing photos of THAT journey during the week.

POSITIVE CHANGES

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:57:00 +0000

Hello to all of my friends and readers! As I look at my posts from the past few weeks I'm asounded at how fast time is flying for me. I recently undertook a move from Central Illinois to Northern Illinois and am in the process of moving into a new stained glass studio location along with getting settled into a lovely home, surrounded by timber near the beautiful Galena Territory. The decision to move was a difficult one but I am confident it was the correct one. I am filled with gratitude for the incredibly undestanding clients who are willing to work with me on the lag time this move has created. A goal of mine for the upcoming weeks is to get back in the groovy with my blogging and share some photos along the way. I am currently working on two more geometric patterns and will then be starting on the church panels! I miss my blogging friends very much and am hoping they will still be here when I jump back on the "internet saddle"! In the meantime, please enjoy this photo of three new friends I made over the past month. These guys were so fun to see in the mornings and evenings and lived in the timber behind my new home. I am introducing John, Greg and Dave to my online friends! I called them over for this photo shoot and was so pleased when they complied! What a hoot...With gratitude, Laurie B.

LAUGHTER

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 21:13:00 +0000

We cannot really love anybody with whom we never laugh.

Agnes Repplier, Americans and Others, 1912

US essayist (1855 - 1950)

JUDGMENT

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 05:43:00 +0000

“If there's any message to my work, it is ultimately that it’s OK to be different, that it’s good to be different, that we should QUESTION OURSELVES before we pass judgment on someone who looks different, behaves different or makes decisions based on things we know nothing about.

COURAGE

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

- C. S. Lewis

MOMENTS ARE "the occasion"

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 21:22:00 +0000

ART

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:50:00 +0000

All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life.

M. C. Richards

ADAM AND EVE

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 14:14:00 +0000

Good Morning my friends, Here is the next installment I'm doing for my client out in New Jersey. In order to keep the aspect ratio in check a few more pieces had to be add to the design but I think it works. The client asked if she could name the double panels and "of course" was my answer. So here is the first drawing (and six copies lol) of Adam and Eve. I am doing double panels of this design and she requested that they not be in mirror image. Once again these will be created in black, white and gray glass..I am going to also be using arcitectural glass which should add some nice depth. Here's to it! Once again, I'll be unhooking from cyberspace and hooking in to my art. Such a fun balance. May the glass cutting and grinding and foiling and soldering, commence! Follow your bliss people...With gratitude, Laurie B.

GRATITUDE

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:14:00 +0000

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.

friedrich nietzsche

IS THAT ALRIGHT?

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:40:00 +0000

The Universe never really meant to give any of us what we think of as perfection. It simply comes down to the level of imperfection we allow to seep into our moments of fireworks, of love. And if we can do that; if I can do that; let a little of the imperfect, that little bit of mess, into my heart without destroying the beauty of my life, then I finally have what may be the closest thing to perfect I'll ever really know. (excerpt from The Cleaner)

Path

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 11:03:00 +0000

Every path leads to the unknown. They join others and some split off.We want to know where they lead but maybe the more we insist on knowing the less we'll be able to learn from the twists and turns. I know what your thinking, that the unknown is scary. But that's okay, we're human. Maybe before we feel free, we're suppose to feel fear. Maybe it means more that way....no matter what we're feeling there is no shame.

SAFE AND SOUND IN NEW JERSEY! WHOOT

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:42:00 +0000

I was so thrilled to get a call last evening from my current client in New Jersey. The panel arrived safe and sound, Sharon is a joy to work with and is inspirational to me. Hearing her happiness on the other end of the line reinforced for me just why I love creating art for others. I love the process, yes, but the happiness it brings others is priceless beyond measure. Here is the email she sent last night when I arrived back from St. Louis: Dear Laurie, A big brown stork just delivered in perfect condition our"baby" she is now basking in the sun in her new place of honor. The Panel is beyond anything I ever imagined I LOVE LOVE,LOVE IT!!!!!! You are a master of your craft, a genius a brilliant artist. Thank you so very much for creating such a thing of beauty and style. I know our next collaboration on the "twins" will be equally outstanding. YOU GO GIRL! LOVE, SHAR

Latest Commission on it's way to New Jersey!

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 19:07:00 +0000

The panel was very fun and challenging to create! Thanks Shar! I look forward to working with you again very soon. Here's hoping this charmer makes it to your door safely. With gratitude, Laurie B.

Time to solder away!

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Godspeed Michael Jackson

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:25:00 +0000

A Black And White Issue Commission

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 17:19:00 +0000

Good Morning Friends, I just wanted to stop by and post some photos I am taking along the way while I work on my current commission. The piece is 24 inches tall by 18 inches wide. I think it is going to be a real stunner! This lovely panel will be traveling all the way to New Jersey! I'm counting on you UPS!~

With gratitude, Laurie B.

Busy Days At The Olde Farmhouse

lauriebeggin@gmail.com (Laurie B.) — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 03:21:00 +0000

PHOTO BY LAURIE BEGGIN TAKEN JUNE 25TH, 2009 PLEASE RESPECT COPYWRITE LAWS

We are in the throws of summer here at the farm. Berries are done, tomatos and beans are growing, peppers are hanging on for dear life and I believe we were able to save our side porch for a few more years of service. Lilies are blooming like crazy!

I'm very busy working on my new commisssion and have another one lined up so I'm a bit under the gun. A Black And White Issue is being featured on my fan page on Facebook. The link is at the top of this blog. I am thrilled that my fan base is growing like wildfire!! So, I will TRY and post some photos for your enjoyment of my past few days here at The Old Farmhouse. Cross your fingers! I have had nothing but trouble with the photo uploader! I've about given up. With gratitude, Laurie B.