So here’s some planetary-themed items I was inspired to make recently, and I wanted to share them with you!

This framed mirror is called “Pluto Was Framed”, in honor of the demoting of Pluto from full planet status, to only a celestial body. This of course messes up every childhood mnemonic phrase ever learned in school, which sucks (“My very Earth may jump straight up near Pluto.” was the one I learned. What about you?) Poor Pluto!

This frame is rather large, the size of the mirror is approximately 9″x11″, and the outside of the frame is approximately 17″x19″. The piece comes ready to hang. Starting at the bottom, and going upwards it’s: the Sun, Mercury & Venus on the left side, Earth & Mars on the right side, the astroid belt (both sides), Jupiter on the left, Saturn on the far right, then next to Saturn is Uranus, and then Neptune in the top left corner.

I also did four planet 8″x8″ plates. They are (in order), Earth w/ Moon, Mars, Saturn (sold, thanks Kathy!), and Uranus.

All of these items are currently available for sale at Astoria Hemp works in Astoria, Oregon. Run by the wonderful Michael & Judy Pierce, they’ve got some great things in their shop if you’re ever out that way. astoriahempworks.com Or give them a call and they’d be happy to ship to you. All their info is over on the left bar of the page.

Let me know what you think!

So went to a presentation/lecture yesterday by Dr. Viola Vaughn – the Executive Director of 10,000 Girls. (Note – this is .org, NOT .com) What she’s doing, in a nutshell, is helping young girls in Senegal, Africa help themselves and help each other help themselves. Help them become more assertive and believe in themselves, help them become good students (that actually stay in school past primary school!), and help them become entrepreneurs so they can support themselves and support their younger sisters through school.

She was absolutely wonderful and charismatic to listen to. The large chunk of her talk were giving and discussing the core principles that she (and the teachers and older girls in her program) teach the young girls. I’m writing these down from my hastily scribbled notes during the talk – any failure to get them down eloquently and accurately is my own failure – not hers. I also pretty much happen to agree with most everything she said, and she says things much better than I ever could. (My comments/translations will be in [] below).

Stage 1: You have a light in your beautiful, unique self. Let it SHINE!

• Love yourself/Learn to love yourself
• Lose the baggage of not loving yourself – lose the bad comments of others [Learn to let the bad comments and thoughts of others slide right off - they don't matter - only you loving yourself matters]
• Heal yourself [directed towards the girls that never even got the chance to go to school because their parents believed they weren't good enough/were basically the dregs of their house]
• You make yourself happy – don’t look to others [count on others] to make you happy
• Take advantage of opportunities (as they present themselves) [and keep an eye out for them]
• You always have a choice – choose the positive choice over the negative one. The positive one will make your light shine brighter and help it spread to others – the negative one will make it dull
• Accept that relationships won’t last forever – and that’s okay. [Both of you move on, make yourself happy - be glad for the time you had together and let things go when it's meant to split]
• READ!! Never stop reading. Read everything you can get your hands on

Stage 2: Now that you have your light brightly shining, now you learn to DANCE!

• Forgive yourself of any mistakes you’ve made. Then apologize to yourself first, then to others if you’re still able.
• Stay in charge of your thoughts & feelings. Only you can decide if you’ll have harmony or turmoil inside.
• You’re the only one that can carry your dreams and that can make them real.
• If you doubt yourself, you get doubt. If you lie to yourself, you get lies. If you’re true to yourself, you get truth. Think good thoughts!
• Deal conservatively with criticism [don't take it too personally]
• East live, fresh food. Dead food is for dead people.
• Stop hanging around dead people! [dead people = those that are always negative, have negative thoughts, negative energy, etc]
• Make no judgment of others, just take care of yourself. You’re the one responsible for yourself.
• Find a partner to dance with and then teach your children to dance.

So yes, check Dr. Viola and her group out – they’re amazing what they’ve accomplished in these 9 years.

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I love being a biker chick.

Example: Last night as I was at the grocery store picking up a few things for dinner I was in the process of leaving the store and a little girl, roughly 7 I’d say, pipes up in her adorable little 7-year-old-girl voice:

“Look Mommy, she rides a motorcycle!!”

That made my evening (well, that and having a fun game of tabletop BloodBowl that I won, but that’s besides the point).  Part of what was so great was what she said and the way she said it (admiration, awesomeness, with a dash of “That’s what I want to do when I grow up” thrown in for good measure). But also what was great was the fact that I wasn’t anywhere near my motorcycle. I was just in my jacket, pants and boots, and I was carrying my reflective tape decorated helmet. It was the helmet that she pointed to when she said the comment.

What hit me later was the fact that yes, this little girl recognized what I was carrying and what that meant (and that this was a cool thing!). Not a bicycle helmet, not a skateboard helmet, but a motorcycle helmet. I think that says wonders about how being a biker chick is getting  more and more accepted, and even looked up to. This, is a good thing.

Here’s an indicator that little girls no longer have to have pink-drenched hobbies to look forward to, instead they have the option if they wish to pursue previously “boy” activities. When I was growing up 20ish years ago I had a hard time even playing with my neighbor’s computer or video games with him, let alone even think about the possibility that I could (and would want to) ride a motorcycle one day. It didn’t even exist in my paradigm.

And I love helping introduce the idea to ladies, especially the younger generation, that yes – they can ride a motorcycle if they want to. Just because it’s fun!

Another example: On my way to work in the morning (if the timing works right), I ride by a series of bus stops just as the little grade-school kids are waiting to be picked up. One morning early in the school year I rode by a father and his two daughters – and the younger one waved at me. I waved back of course, and she just beamed!

So now every morning that I happen to be by when they’re out, we wave at each other (the other sister is now waving as well, though the younger is still more enthusiastic about it). I have no idea if they know I’m female or not (likely not – I’m pretty androgynous when in full gear + helmet) but it’s still very cool. I like to think that I’m doing my part to corrupt encourage the two kids to perhaps take a class and learn how to ride themselves one day. Maybe I’ll be teaching it.

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Thoughts?

I’m infatuated with color.

I’m infatuated with several aspects about life and my art, as you’ll find out later, however color’s a biggie.

And it’s not just seeing the color of the finished piece, either, though that’s always quite lovely as well. It’s also the mystery of how color will turn out, working with it in its various forms, and manipulating it to do nifty things. This is one thing I love about working with glass especially (though I first experienced this when working with high-fire ceramic glazes) – the color I see initially isn’t what I end up with once the piece is completed. It takes going through the high heat of the kiln and then back down to room temperature for the colors to come through properly to their final state.

It turns out to be a bit of a mystery, and I’m never quite sure what I’m going to end up with. This mystery, this unexpectedness, is part of the thrill (as compared to paintings or other things, though even then I’m still infatuated with color, there’s just not quite the thrill attached). While I try and keep in my mind’s eye what the piece will look like after it’s done being fired, the end result is always not quite white I planned on, though (usually) still wonderful (though there is the occasional whoops! Again, with the thrill).

Also, depending on the glass I use, there’s even more strange and unusual things that can be done that can (potentially) change the color. Some I have more control over than others, some I see right away and some come out later after the kiln annealing process.

So what does this all mean? It means I can only control certain things in my art, I only have control to a certain point. After that I have to allow myself to let go and let things turn out how they will. I can plan and lay out and try to create something a certain way, but once it hits the kiln (or even the torch before that, if it’s a torch-worked piece) it’s pretty much out of my hands and will do what it wants, by the whim of the heat fluctuations and atmosphere chemistry of that moment in time.

And I’ve learned to become ok with this. As I’ve managed to learn to do this, I’ve also learned (though the process is much more difficult!) to do the same thing in my own life. I can plan and lay out and try to create something a certain way…but at some point I have to let things go and let them go, to pass through the fire of experience and trial, and then see how they come out at the end. Usually for the better, though sometimes a mess results. Either way I learn from and proceed onward to the next piece of art.

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What are your infatuations?

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