The High Speed of Social Media Stream of Flotsam and Jetsam

Gus and I rented a fun ride for our trip in WA

I blame my kids. Smart phones were an expensive luxury but our (adult) kids wanted to be able to text and send frequent fun pics on their travels  -and so started the family of incredible handhelds. Daddy-O has even been converted and with that let's just say "pigs can fly!" We are a family of the latest iPhones and Androids with all the photo, texting, calendar, news, music and web browser apps you can tap into.

But all of this instant posting, texting, uploads, tagging and sharing has left my Blog feeling cumbersome and taking more time than using my phone for a quick update or post to the Farmers Market and to my personal Facebook accounts. Feeling overwhelmed by the social media choices available and trying to keep up I was ready to trash it all and unplug but gave myself this summer to see which social media streams will win out. So far, it appears that for ease of use it's Facebook and LinkedIn for professional work and most of my family is now also on Facebook. I don't personally Tweet though we do have my Spenard Farmers Market Facebook posts and shares being pushed out through Twitter for our Market followers. The gadget that's been left in a ziplock bag for months is my digital camera! Why lug that around when I can tap, shoot and upload with my phone that fits in my pocket?! Like the digital camera I haven't made time for my Blog like I used to and my web site has been hopelessly neglected. I don't like doing web or blog editing using my phone because the screen is too small but I opened my laptop and I did a quick review of my Facebook posts and grabbed just a few pics for my Blog that I'll share below -holy cow we have been having FUN!

Record good weather temps has let me weld up a few things for a Spenard Farmers Market garden day event I participated in. As the Community Relations and Media volunteer for the Market I'm happy to see that the Market is growing, growing and is in full swing with vendors now harvesting loads of produce bringing lots of happy market goers.

Good weather has our garden in full bloom and the new boxes Daddy-O built are producing huge, thriving greens. We held another impromptu garden party for Kristen and her friends. Kristen made a quick stop home during a layover on her way back to Boston from a research trip to the Arctic Slope. Having all my kids in one spot was a treat for Mama Llama! We found out Nigel-dog loves the hose, Black Bears love our neighborhood garbage which put us in the news... and not finding seats on Alaska Airlines Gus and I enjoyed a fun trip to Seattle on Jet Blue for the first time which is now flying seasonally to Anchorage.

At the Sequim, WA Lavender Festival Gus and I visited my parents (on the left) and toured farms, visited artists, went to street fairs and soaked up the Olympic Peninsula warm temps. Here we are at the first day of the festival -first stop was the Red Hook Beer Garden! I'm with my Grandma and Gus had to sit OUTSIDE the beer fence... hey at least I bought him a Lavender infused ice cream!

At the Festival there were three days worth of endless activities. Gus found his dream car at the classic car show, a '68 Barracuda, I bought a chicken purse in Port Townsend, and at a Quilt Show I met with vendors for my patterns, bought delicious new fabrics and bought a scissor headband for the girls at the Quilted Raven at home.

To fund more summer fun, more welding is on tap for this week as it looks like this record breaking summer of good weather is going to hold! To see what I'm up to you can find me and my latest work on Facebook if you want to be my friend! 

Where Do Ideas Come From?

Derek took this picture of me this week while I temporarily set up my office at the dining room table. I pop in and out of the shop while welding to take care of business, answer e-mails etc. One prospective market vendor said "thanks, for getting back to me so quickly, you must work at your computer all the time!" Now they know my secret!

Listening to Talk of the Nation this week, host Neil Conan was at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “Each year, leaders and innovators converge on the Aspen Ideas Festival to "think big." But just where do great ideas come from? Sandy Speicher, Director of Design for Learning at IDEO, Amit Chatterjee, CEO of Hara, and artist Eric Fischl explain where they find inspiration.” This show inspired me to consider how and where my ideas come from. One thing is clear, I have not had enough “quiet time.” Most of my ideas used to come to me while taking a shower or driving and now they tend to happen while we are at our cabin in Girdwood. We haven’t had much down time this summer and I was actually thinking about winter yesterday… That thought alone probably jinxed our summer weather yet to come! I was thinking about the slow

er pace of winter, the calmness and having more TIME to think, create and be still. While I love the daylight and heat of the summer months, it seems like Alaskans cram a year’s worth of living into 90 days of summer! My goal for the rest of the summer is to try and slow down my pace of this so far, busy, busy summer. Right after I crank out this STACK of special orders, Gallery pieces, keep up on my daily Vendor Coordinator duties for the Spenard Farmer’s Market, dedicate some family time to the guys while getting in a little exercise for this tired old body THEN be inspired with some new ideas for art making…

It doesn't seem fair to celebrate my NEW SEWING MACHINE while my sweet Kristen is out at sea for the next month and a half with NASA'S ICESCAPE 2011. She would be giddy for a chance to sew samples for me on my NEW Janome instead of our vintage Singer Athena 2000! I'm working on a couple of new pattern designs and the old Athena finally told me she was ready to retire. Of course Kristen told me that a couple of years ago!

Caught in the Eye of Fear Tonight

I had just set the water sprinklers on the front and back lawns. We sat down to eat our grilled pork chops, fresh asparagus, steamed rice with a lovely salad using all fresh greens from the Market. Daddy-O and I were eating on TV trays after a busy, busy work day, enjoying the company of one another and watching the nothingness of NBC re-runs when an Emergency Broadcast blared that ugly panic sound and messages rolled and flashed across the screen… TSUNAMI WARNING ISSUED FOR DUTCH HARBOR FOLLOWING A 7.3 PRELIMINARY MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE THAT STRUCK 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AMUTKA PASS… that is exactly where Kristen is, in Dutch Harbor getting ready to board the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy for another scientific research trip. I immediately was able to reach her via our cell phones. She was napping thankfully on board the ship which was still in the harbor. I had reached her before she had heard what was happening and as we were talking all hell broke loose as the emergency warning system went into effect for all of Dutch Harbor and on board the ship. The worst part was I could hear the emergency sirens blaring in the background while Kristen was running to find her lab mate so they could await further safety instructions. She could see the “coasties” running to board the boat who hd been on shore leave, residents of Dutch Harbor fleeing for higher ground all while the horrible sound of the sirens were wailing. She could see little kids in pajamas running to higher ground, cars going 80 mph trying to reach the highest parts of the island, everybody exiting the town any way they could. The entire fleet of fishing trawlers and boats were trying to leave the harbor desperate to reach deeper water. Kristen had to hang up and called seconds later to report that the Tusanami was due to hit in 26 minutes! She had to go again and would call me back as soon as she could. I felt like I was going to throw up. I surfed all the available web sites for information and 15 minutes into the dreaded 26 minutes the Tsunami warning was cancelled. I still feel like I’m going to throw up my pork chop and my cocktail(s) are sitting at the top of my throat. Tears spilled from my eyes and Derek hugged me. All I could visualize is the Japanese man who rode out the horrific Tsunami in Japan aboard his large fishing boat. Kristen called me back and said the worst part was watching the exodus from aboard their huge vessel feeling helpless. As we hung up, I said “I love you -be safe” having a bit more meaning tonight.

On a less dramatic note, here is a sculpture I made this week after being inspired by one of my Hosta's finally coming up. I was supposed to be knee deep in production work but just had to make something inspired from Nature. Interesting that is was something from the ground and not the sea...

Bad Dogs, Roosters and the Garden

Busy, busy week! I had such a good time making a pack of "Bad Dogs" for the Spenard Farmer's Market on Saturday that I was laughing as I was welding their psycho eyes on their frenzied faces! But the best part was the reaction from the employees at the hardware store when I bought 4 lengths of heavy duty chain. They wondered what exactly I was chaining up and I said just a pack of wild dogs... I also made a couple of Roosters that sold quickly Saturday. One went happily home with my sweet friend and potter Kris Bliss. Kris' work can be found at galleries across the state. The welder gets plugged in first thing Monday morning and on the production list are a couple of baby "Steel Wool" sheep, another Rooster and a fun piece I've been wanting to make for a few weeks now...

The Alaska Botanical Garden Outdoor Art Show and 14th Annual Garden Fair was this weekend. After six years as the volunteer Outdoor Art Show coordinator, I passed my magic garden wand to fellow metal artist, Marieke Heatwole this year! One of my favorite events and absolutely the BEST venue to highlight outdoor sculpture. A favorite submission this year was a pair of Tori Gates hand crafted in wood by artisan Paul Button. The Gala and Show was even more fun by being able to assist rather than completely coordinate this year, freeing me up to socialize and enjoy the beautiful food and Moose's Tooth IPA on tap. The Show kicked off with the sold-out Thursday night Gala. There was abundant food, music, BEVERAGES and ART all under sunny skies. There were a record number of works with many selling the night of the Gala -all to support the beautiful Alaska Botanical Garden.

Derek and Gus helped with the Outdoor Art Show set-up

Ryan Morman's large steel and concrete sculpture gets unloaded -which was voted "People's Choice" for 2011. Congratulations Ryan!

Marieke Heatwole's found object and welded steel sculpture "Vinca."

Isolde Gibson'e hand formed clay sculptures "Raven Buddies" sold quickly! They were cleverly mounted on black PVC.

Steel and fused glass birdbath collaborative piece “Vampyroteuthis Infernalis Bird Sanctuary” by Thaddeus De Bois and Laura Mendola

BOO!

Fresh Sunflowers for the Spenard Farmer's Market!

The hardest part of being self-employed is the discipline it takes to go to work on a sunny, gorgeous day –which were few and far between last summer in Anchorage! Plus I’m feeling “all deserving” because I have been working really hard and after I put more than a full week in I just want to reward myself with food and drink on the deck or be digging in my garden. But that’s not possible if I’m to take advantage of all the sales opportunities that are out there from June through August –peak art buying time. PLUS I’ve got a show opening at Katie Sevigny’s Gallery and I am the First Friday featured artist for June which I didn’t necessarily forget about but am finding it hard to believe IT’S NEXT WEEK! Holy cr@p. Good thing I’ve been stashing a few choice pieces aside in the studio -but I definitely need to kick it up from now until Friday when the Show opens! Ooooo boy do I want to goof off. School’s out and both my guys are home. I’ve had to adjust my routine and learn to work around Daddy-O and Gus being underfoot. They are underfoot in a good way but I’m not used to competing for tools, house space, the telephone or computers etc. Derek and Gus will start painting and tearing out all of our carpeting and replacing it with hardwood floors this week, and so starts the summer of destruction-reconstruction-resurrection. Thankfully, Daddy-O and I have been through SEVERAL remodels and know that our marriage can survive. What has been really nice is handing over the House Frau chores to Derek, what a sweetie (in the manliest way!). Every summer we do a bit of a role reversal and I feel like the luckiest

Art Girl around to have my man pitch in and take over all of the shopping and fix us dinner each night!

Wednesday night we took a break to enjoy a clear blue, warm night, by taking a Ghost Tour. Yes, Ghost Tours of Anchorage is hosted by KLEF Radio’s Rick Goodfellow. Rick plays host and historian on the almost two-hour downtown Anchorage walking tour full of mystery and history of Anchorage’s past. As you may or may not know Gus is completely captivated by all things haunted.

Gus even brought along his EMF detector, note book and mini tape recorder while Derek and I simply enjoyed the post dinner exercise and watching Gus’ eyes go the size of saucers at some of the scarier tales!

Market Butterflies

Today it's detail work. The welder is unplugged and the steel sculptures are awaiting pricing and tagging. I'm also pricing, tagging a few felted pieces that I'll have for sale at the Spenard Farmer's Market tomorrow. What's a market without sheep right?!

I'll be loading my plastic tubs of all the necessary show supplies, including my new wireless credit machine goodies. After months of research on wireless merchant options I settled on the purchase of a

Veriphone Nurit 8000. Now I can accept and verify credit cards wirelessly. Not only will this save me time from having to upload the manual sales slips at the end of the day but it saves the customer time from having to wait for me to hand-write out their purchase, run their card through the ol' "knuckle buster" and hope the sales slip is still legible!

Last night a few of us including Daddy-O, spray painted the vendor space numbers on the parking lot where

the Market will be. Now we all have permanent parking lot yellow finger tips! Doing the final walk-thru gave me butterflies for tomorrow. We have a full Market of 40 plus vendors with a waiting list for vendors wanting to participate if there

are any no-shows, which I doubt there will be. The sold-out Market is great news but has made my volunteer Vendor Coordinator job über-busy. The Market committee is only slightly nervous about the opening day coinciding with doomsday... I'm in pretty good shape, not for the rapture, but inventory wise and have been really focusing on striking a balance with life/wife/mom, art making and volunteer work. School was out yesterday and has added a new element to my day with Gus home so I'm going to put him to work! Both Derek, Gus and Will are on line to help me load and set up and manage my booth the Market tomorrow and is always such a welcome making the day go quickly. Having my guys around also helps quell my butterflies for the Market and perhaps for the end of the world should it happen...

Career Day

How frightening can a group of junior high kids be anyhow? After all I live with one –right? Well, frightening enough to cause my stomach to have butterflies on Career Day! I was invited to speak to the Art Class on Career Day at Begich Middle School today and was nervous up until I demonstrated how I use and wear my welding gear. I should have just worn it for the whole presentation because I felt much more comfortable! Even though I was nervous, the kids were great. They asked good questions, had ideas and w

anted to learn more about the construction of sculptures and my various mediums. With images of my web site and work displayed on a Smart Board in the background, I started off by asking the class a few questions. Do you like to draw, raise your hand. Do other people think you are a good artist, raise your hand. Do you enjoy art class or even doodling, raise your hand. Then I said the next couple questions were the most important if you wanted to be a successful, independent artist. Do you get up each morning on your own without anybody telling you twice and do you do your homework on your own without being asked repeatedly to do so? And finally, do you take care of the things that are important to you, say an ipod, DS, nice tennis shoes,

your clothes and even your room? I reinforced what the art teacher had been sharing with the students this week about the importance of dedication, responsibility and diligence in any job and that being a successful artist is no different. Taking good care of my health and my tools meant that I could continue to work each day as well. I shared the importance of exercising my creative brain by drawing in different mediums and expressing my art in different ways such as entering the Post-It note contest as an example. One of the best ideas I had was to bring samples of the PRESS Post-It contest winners and a large brick of multi colored Post-It notes for the students to work on their own Post-It pieces next week. The students were all inspired by the diversity of the entries and the thought of being able to make small art using various themes in quantity. They learned what stippling was from the cover art and were eager to experiment using that style. But hands down their favorite part of my presentation was being able to try on the extra welding helmets and welding gloves I brought!

~*~

Here is a sneak peek of some pieces for my upcoming Garden Show at the Spenard Farmer's Market opening May 21!!

This is one of my new "Raven Garden Panels" that can be for the deck or garden and act as a privacy screen. The panels are about 5-6' tall. I've welded different designs to the panels including this one with a Raven on branches.

These are two "Garden Beds" that I thought would look great in a garden with a flat of flowers planted as a "mattress!" They are plasma cut and welded steel so they'll rust up and patina nice in the rain.

Here are a couple of bicycles I made and are about 4' tall. The patterns are from my public art sculpture "Bicycle Bloom." The bike sculpture on the right I donated to the Alaska Lung Association's Clean Air Challenge. Along with a gift certificate the sculpture will be the 3rd place prize.

Favorite Things

This may be a bit too Martha-like but as I was baking cookies last night I was thinking of some of my favorite things. This vintage Mixmaster I picked up at the thrift store is definitely one of my favorite things. I bought it for the cabin but wish I could clone it and have the same mixer in town! I love the color, the sturdiness and most of all the deep purr the motor makes as it mixes. Though the list frequently changes, some of my other favorite things this week are:

• The new, Spring smell of the Evergreen and Hemlock trees as they are starting to thaw

• The additional daylight in my studio (and sadly, now on my much more apparent dirty house).

• New art supplies of ANY kind, this week it was a box of brand new, soft Prismacolor pencils, ALREADY sharpened –mmmmm.

• Pinwheel steaks on the deck BBQ last night and we actually could bear to stay OUTSIDE while they cooked and smell the grill!

• A fresh from the oven raspberry and cream cheese pastry from Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop this morning.

• As the volunteer Vendor Coordinator, I’ve had a phone to my ear all week getting to talk with the farmer vendors who are signing up to be at the Spenard Farmers Market. Most have started their plantings by now and are planning their crops. My family knows my not-so-secret dream is to have a farm and a ranch full of animals and gardens that all take care of themselves while I work in my gigantic, multi-medium, indoor/outdoor, supply loaded, sun-filled studio…

Those are just some of my favorite things (this week).

~•~

This is a new wall sculpture I delivered to Katie Sevigny Studio Gallery this week. It is about 14" x 29" and part of my "Relic" series. I really enjoy using steel, copper and found objects that are layered, welded and constructed. A heavy patina process has been weathered by the elements then given a clear coat finish. The natural weathering process takes time and is usually out of my control letting the work tell me when it's complete, not the other way around.

The Big Carrot in the Sky

Mother Nature dumped another Spring snowstorm on us. The garden art trellis’ I have been working on are getting a good patina right now “weathering” in the front garden area! With all the snow in the forecast I switched to finishing a Mountain wall sculpture commission and am giving garden art a break for now. Here is some of the process on how the mountain sculptures went together. I made two to take the pressure off of the commission piece, giving one to the

Gallery and one to the client. First, I draw out my designs on 4x8 sheets of black iron,

then, free-hand plasma cut out the desired shapes. After the plasma cutting I have a two part sanding and grinding process to achieve a nice finish that reflects the light nicely. After I weld the components together on a frame for support and dimension, I gave the trees a quick heat treatment with the torch to create a gunmetal blue color that I like. After the metal cools, I spray the back with a Hammerite enamel dark gray and the front with a clear coat enamel finish.

xOx

12 years ago someone irresponsibly dumped their pet baby rabbit in our garden. We’d already had a couple of frosts and with winter approaching, the kids and I were cleaning out the last of the cabbages. Willie shouted “look out Gus, there’s something under this cabbage!” After I scolded him for teasing his little brother, we saw a small, shivering and frightened, baby black bunny under some wilted leafs. Living near downtown and on a busy boulevard, the chances of his survival were not good. “Can we keep it, can we keep it?!” shouted all three kids, and the rest is history. Sadly, Bunny Foo-Foo hopped to the “big carrot in the sky” today. He lived a long and free-ranging life in my studio, listening to good music and getting plenty of apples and fresh carrots each day. He was 12-13 years old, which is considered a long life for a domestic bunny. The kids named him Bunny Foo-Foo but Daddy-O always affectionately called him “Lucky.”

"Bunny Foo-Foo" a.k.a "Lucky" 1998(?) -2011