Clowns and Puppets - Are We This?

Bubblegum and aspirations

When I was a kid, I received an allowance - some few dollars a week for house chores, which began at the age of about 7, and I discovered I could get a good return on my money buying Bazooka bubblegum (oh those were the days).

We lived in England at the time when my favorite thing to do was to take my allowance to the little shop downtown where they would sell me 60 pieces of bubblegum for 60 cents/pence. I'd come home with a little crinkly brown paper bag chock a block full of bubblegum, not only for me to enjoy, but also to share with my friends at school. We enjoyed the comics (in those days each piece of bubblegum came with a miniature comic) almost as much as the gum itself. Blowing the biggest bubble was an ongoing competition between us. I did well, but suffered pink goo all over my cheeks and sometimes in my hair in the attempts. This little picture I did is an attempt to express the effort of just plain going for it - which has been one of the guiding features of my life. Take the risk, even though it may prove a bit sticky ; )

Just rockin'

During that time I was very close with my sister, and one of the games we played was the Rockin' Game. Each person would sit on the other person's feet and hold the other person's shoulders for balance. In this position you could rock back and forth like a personal teeter totter anytime, anywhere, which of course resulted in major giggles with some falling over and having to start again. We did this countless times while we were growing up.

The quick little drawing above, done years ago, depicts the connection and conviviality of child games. The figures are  depicted in the image of the heyoka, the American Indian teacher who brings lessons through laughter. I will probably eventually make a more professional painterly depiction of it, but the quick drawing will do for now. Did you ever do this as a kid? Or even as a grownup? If not, definitely try it, it's crazy silly fun and brings much laughter.

The optometrist

So while we're on the subject of humor, I'll include a little cartoon I created which conveys my take on the optometrist. Self explanatory. It just hits my funnybone.

And then there's this...ah sports....
.

OOF!

Yes, the hazards of tennis. We appreciate the helpfulness of our tennis partners more than we can say.

So I did go into a bit of a puppet clown phase, which is ongoing, especially after attending some Cirque shows, which are awesome. (If you've never attended one, I highly recommend it, they're totally awesome!)

The clowns I did years ago were full of puppet magic, in that we can manipulate a puppet...or we can be the puppet that is manipulated....it's up to us which way that goes.

My Puppet

Black and white rendition with symmetry -

Black and white puppets with some symmetry

Colored puppets and their magic carpet

The puppets depicted here are on their magic carpet ride, having loosed their strings, they're floating free.

Sharing a bit of humor, hope it brings you a chuckle or two : )

Namaste
Jen

White Sage Faerie done, new directions happening : )

White Sage Faerie

White Sage Faerie is finished, yay! What inspired me to do this painting is the American Indian tradition of cleansing the aura and environment with sage. Also I love the white sage growing in our garden in summertime. Nothing smells as fragrant as burning sage, and the properties of it for cleansing the aura or etheric body are amazing. Removes all negativity either within the body or the environment. Makes you feel light as a feather, really, you can tell the difference before and after.

There were some interesting challenges with this painting. One was that I am lousy at lettering and when I used my normal handwriting on the original, it was not legible, and of course that bothered me. So I fixed the hell out of it by coloring over the original attempt with black. 

Now that it was fixed I had to find something that would write over a black background, and that also presented several challenges. There are a number of markers on the market that'll do this, but some are too fat, and some are too thin, you know the fairytale - so finally I settled on the one that writes the smoothest and practiced and practiced my handwriting so it can at least be read. (Sharpie copper marker worked for this.) How did I do?

She's smiling!

One thing I noticed in this painting is that at last, my faerie is smiling. In so many of my earlier works there is a sadness - it just somehow came through. Maybe it was because I wasn't devoting my whole self to this work. I find it interesting that at last one of my figures is smiling. I have some control over the drawing, but it has a mind of its own as well.

The border is crazy Zentangling, which, as I've mentioned in my other posts is fun and relaxing, as well as a healthy way to spend a little time that lowers the blood pressure and promotes serenity. There are no rules in tangling, and that's what makes it so much fun.

So now I'm thinking parsley - I'm thinking I want to see what kind of little faeries are associated with various wonderful spices that we cook with - can you imagine cayenne? I can't wait to see that one.... 

Namaste

Jen

White Sage Faerie is all inked and ready to paint

Can't wait to add some color now!

Detail of White Sage Faerie

Her beautiful face

I'll sit down with some Arthur Rackham books to study his painting style, as I think this picture would lend itself well to something similar. I imagine a lot of blues and greens for this one, but we'll see - sometimes a picture has a mind of its own ; )

Namaste

Jen

White Sage Faerie Cleansing Her Aura - Drawing

Drafting table is all set up to ink and paint the new Faerie

Last night we had Mom and Dave over for dinner, which was divine, but Dave decided he'd like to drink some coffee, so I made a hefty pot. I couldn't resist drinking just a couple of little cups, which is generally a no-no for me since I don't do much caffeine these days - but you know that fully loaded coffee tastes sooo much better than decaf.

Dinner was fun, we read a couple of chapters out of Robert Fulghum's Maybe (Maybe Not). This book is too funny not to read some parts aloud. He has a chapter on poinsettias that had us howling with laughter, and another about men and their wallets that's just priceless. He's the kind of writer everyone can relate to.

After the great dinner and coffee and laughs I found myself pretty wide awake so I grabbed my watercolor block and a pencil and plopped down on the living room couch surrounded by feather pillows (they make a nice poofy desk to rest the pad on) and started to draw. I've been feeling that special energy in my hands for a few days - that's how I can tell I really need to draw, they tingle and draw my attention.

It took about four hours to draw this image in pencil. I found myself popping out to the studio to sharpen my pencil every so often, and to grab my iPad so I could look at photos of sage. I wanted this little faerie to be surrounded in sage, since she has quite an affinity for it. We caught her cleansing her aura - so she's standing among the sage plants, holding an abalone shell and a wrapped bundle of sage that is burning at the tip. She waves the smoke over her aura to cleanse and purify herself. This is an ancient practice that many American Indians perform, and whenever your energy's feeling "muddy" or unclear, you can do it too. It's also great for cleansing your environment. Smells divine.

I'm also incorporating a little "tangling" for the borders, which is very relaxing and fun to do. If you've never heard of Zentangling, check it out - it's way fun and great for lowering the blood pressure.

Now this image is half inked and I'll do the rest today.

It took about four hours to draw her, and then I was going to go to bed, but I made the mistake of picking up a juicy black marker and started the inking. That kept me up til sunrise ; )

She has a beautiful face and a crazy hat and wild wings that take her flying anywhere she wants to go.

So I slept half the day away, but what a pleasure it is to wake and know that I'll be spending the rest of it finishing the ink on her face and body, then I get to paint her! She'll be mostly blues and greens, the colors taking their cue from the sage.

Check back to see how it comes out!

Namaste
Jen

Studies in Black and White - Light and Shadow - Past and Future

Buddha in pen and ink

I've done a number of studies in black and white, using pen and ink, and sometimes paint or markers. I love using the crosshatch technique, as I did in the drawing above because the drawing builds slowly, giving me time to step back and see where to bring out darker darks, and where to leave the lightest lights.

The drawing above is of a huge 3-foot tall carved Buddha that I bought from Shanghai. He sits in the center of my studio, radiating serenity throughout the room. Every so often I like to rub his knee or foot for luck, and I like to clasp my hand over his hands and soak up the good vibes. I enjoyed doing this study of him.

Coyote is buried by his wife

In the 1980s while I was living in San Diego, California, I fell in love with a collection of Pomo Indian legends that were collected from the tribe in the 1930s by two wonderful school teachers. They were able to gain the trust of the Indian people, which helped to keep the stories true to the ancient teachings. They're filled with humor, and many layers of profound teaching providing different levels of understanding and enlightenment for listeners of all ages.

In the drawing above, which was inspired by one of these stories, what I loved the most was Coyote's irreverent and fussy personality - his insistence on feeling so bad that he considered himself dead. So in typical fashion, his wife took his insistent words literally and buried him. Then she brought a bowl of food and set it near him to taunt him, but he insists that he is not hungry since he is dead. This strikes my funnybone hilariously. I love the relationship between Foolish Coyote and his wife, Frog Woman.

I spent a lot of time at the Museum of Man in Balboa Park doing research to find out how the Pomos lived, and how to make my illustrations both accurate yet a bit stretched for the entertainment factor. During this period, I made friends with Illace Lavato, the Cultural Director of the tribe living in Palo Alto and visited with them several times, sharing my illustrations with them and asking questions. I donated a collection of beautiful American Indian children's books to their library, and was invited to attend a special Pow Wow where I got to see their beautiful dancing and the gorgeous ceremonial garments they made for these activities.

Coyote flies with the Crow Maidens

The drawing above depicts a scene from one of the stories where Coyote becomes enamored of the Crow Maidens, and flies with them up into the sky, but in typical Coyote fashion, he flies too close to the sun and you can imagine what happens.... The borders on my drawings are all based on traditional Pomo basket designs, and I found it a huge challenge to try to replicate them since they don't follow our traditional mathematics - when I tried to break them down to fit them to graph paper in order to plan the spacing it was a major challenge. I ended up using a ruler and pencil to measure out the spacing since, regardless of the size of the marked graph paper squares, the designs didn't fit predictably.

Coyote watches Turtle shooting his bow and arrow

This drawing depicts Coyote watching Turtle as Turtle shoots his bow and arrow straight up into the sky. When Coyote tries the same thing against the advice of his mother, he learns that Turtle can do this successfully because of the hard shell on his back that protects him from the arrow turning at its zenith and coming straight down, point first. He learns that because he does not have the hard shell to protect him, the arrow pierces his skin, wounding him. Lots of layers of learning to examine there : )

Cover for one of the stories

I completed many illustrations, some in black and white and some in color, while working on this project. I was also able to secure an agent to see if we could find representation with a publisher. However, according to the publishers in the 1980s, the children's book market was glutted with American Indian stories so we had no luck finding an outlet for them.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that we no longer need to wait for the approval of publishers and middlemen (YAY!), so this project has a good chance of coming back to life, given that I now have more time to devote to it, along with other projects. We'll see what I can bring about...check back to see how it's coming along!

Namaste
Jen

A peek into my past - Angel Spirits and Anatomy

Angel Spirits

I've been scanning in artwork I've done over the years and am enjoying seeing it on screen. Back when I was doing many of these pieces we didn't have computers and we didn't have the Internet. Over the years I've imagined getting into digitizing some of my work in order to work on it in the digital arena. I haven't tried that yet, but it's on my radar screen. I'll be doing more drawing and painting once I've stocked up the beadwork at Dreamkeeper Creations for the holidays : )

The watercolor painting above is called Angel Spirits and I was playing with texture using salt in the background. I love the softness of the angel, who is an otherworldly being surrounded by various little spirit faces. Near her feet, in green, is a "real-life" boy reading/studying/learning. She is his guardian and helps him though he hasn't learned to see her yet.

I love doing angels and faeries, so you'll see more of these now that I have more time. In order to be able to do the angel and faerie figures, whether they're cartoon style or more realistic, I use my anatomy skills.

Anatomy study after Burne Hogarth

When I was young, one of my goals as an artist was to be able to draw people without a model so I studied anatomy fairly extensively. Burne Hogarth is one of the greatest contemporary teachers to learn from because his drawings are very clear and there's much power to them. The drawing above is a practice copy of one from his book, Dynamic Figure Drawing. I did this one back in 1984, seems like centuries ago.

Anatomy study after Tiepolo

In 2004 I took an art class to brush up on anatomy and the instructor had us choose a drawing to copy from the Old Masters. We learned to use the grid system to reproduce the image. I used charcoal for the drawing above to learn what types of marks Geovanni Battista Tiepolo used in his original drawing entitled "Nude Study."

Study after Cambiasi

Another project for the art class was to choose a classical artist and reproduce one of their drawings using pen and ink. I chose Luca Cambiasi. My drawing above is my attempt to reproduce his rendition of Cain and Abel.

Now it's time to get some beadwork done, so I'll sign off for now. Check back for more of a peek into my past works.

Til then,

Namaste

Jen

Life and Death - Art as Therapy

Life is ongoing and indestructible

So as you know, I alternate between posts about my latest artwork and some from the past. Most of the pieces I do have meaning, either for me or as a story or message to the people who view the artwork. This is a difficult post and painting. I write it/paint it to help others learn to listen to their intuition, that still, small voice within, as it can protect you in ways you wouldn't imagine. Listen....

This piece took me 34 years to allow out of my system and it was a cartharsis of sorts. Sometimes art can help us to heal.

I hate putting this post up because I hate the presence of the degradation it tells the story of in this world. I much prefer to keep on my rose colored glasses in which everything is Winnie the Pooh, full of innocent wisdom and love. I have posted this before and deleted it because it is an acknowledgement of the hard to understand evils in this life, but I feel that if I am representing myself properly in my blog it needs to have a place here, it is fundamental to who I am and how I operate. Warning, this post is not for the squeamish. What happened changed my life, as it did many others.

I was enrolled in classes as a freshman at Florida State University shortly after I graduated high school in 1977. I was studying art and enjoying the sunshine and the free spirited open minds as well as the beautiful ocean and pure white sand beaches. I didn't have much money, and by November was looking for ways to bring a little extra in. A friend of mine was going away for the holidays and asked if I wanted to step into her job at a bar for a while, so I said yes.

I didn't know anything about waitressing in a bar, didn't know anything about the various drinks people could order, but I was attractive, and loved being around people in their happy party place, so they hired me to take on her job for several weeks while she visited her family.

As I was working one night, I noticed there was a man who stood out among the crowd, though actually he was sitting down at a table by himself. Dressed in a conservative brown turtleneck and dress trousers, he nursed a short drink for hours, all the while watching me. His undivided attention made me uncomfortable. He stared and stared as I pranced between tables of revelers, filling drink orders with a flower in my hair, dressed in tight blue jeans and white t-shirt  - the sort of standard uniform for the girls working in the bar.

After a while he came up to me, this man, and looked at me with eyes that saw nothing else, only me. I was prey. He asked me what time I got off work and if I'd like to go to breakfast with him. As he was standing near me I could feel the heat coming from his body - like a magnet, but not attractive, it was completely repulsive. The energy coming from his body extended about 2 feet out, and hit me in my gut. Get away was the message I was feeling.

I did something I never do - I lied. I told him I got off work at 3, thinking that he would wait for me until then. Then I felt myself directed by some higher force and I took action that I wouldn't ordinarily take. I left the bar right then - it was only midnight. I went to a group of my friends who were there and asked them to walk me home to my dorm room - I didn't inform my boss and I didn't let anyone know I was leaving, I simply left.

The walk to my dorm felt like an eternity. When I arrived I went into my room alone, put the blinds down, and sat smoking a cigarette in the dark. I didn't know what had happened, this disapperance from work with no notice was uncharacteristic behavior for me, but I knew deep inside that it was completely necessary.

I didn't go back to the bar. I didn't collect my last paycheck. News came out shortly thereafter of some sorority girls who had been attacked by a serial killer - some died, some survived. They'd left their door unlocked and he just went right in and the stories of what he did with bottles and broom sticks to them were horrendous. He was a complete psycho. I didn't delve into the details then, I didn't know that the man who asked me to breakfast was Bundy until years later when a book came out and I chanced to see his photograph. I did not read the book.

The mood around campus after we'd heard the news of the murders was surreal. When I went to my classes I was so aware of my vulnerability everywhere. Long sidewalks full of bushes and trees and spaces where you could be attacked and no one would know. All of the females attending the university at that time were afraid. The males were awesome. In my classes there were always some who'd offer to walk me to my next class or to my dorm - totally gentlemanly, and much appreciated. When we pushed the button for an elevator wherever we were and there was a tall white male in there and no one else we took the stairs instead or waited for another elevator.

We changed our habits to foster safety as this murderer roamed our sacred territory uncaught - when we ordered pizza in the dorm we'd go down in pairs, and the pizza delivery person who normally would just be buzzed in and come on up for delivery was met at the door which was carefully locked upon his exit.

It was just hell. Just hell to know these girls were taken advantage of in their innocence, hurt in unimaginable ways. I lost my faith at that time - my religion failed me. And I lost my trust in most human beings.

I checked out of the university - unenrolled immediately, and went back home several hundred miles away to get to a place I felt safe. It was many years until I could set foot on a college campus again. My opportunity for a college education had been blown all to hell.

It was many years until I could examine what had happened and how to put into some life context the fact that this man who had done these things had asked me to breakfast which was a sure invitation to a private painful death, which I had somehow escaped. I asked myself what does it mean to be a survivor after you've been targeted? What do I do with this?

How do I make it all right that these kinds of things happen in this world, how do I keep on going?

So this painting is about a time many many years later when I allowed myself to think about those events. The girls who died, the ones who lived, my place in securing my freedom from the same fate.

As I worked on the painting my receiving self was open to whatever communications would come through. It began with the image of Bundy - black. Soon I found myself drawing the spirit of the woman/women that were killed, floating out from him, above him, going to their celestial home. Then I noticed his face - at first turned away from the living, dehumanizing - but then turning toward the light of the spirit ascending - and I knew that in his process of death he would realize he had not destroyed anything forever. He had cut short lives, but the energy of these beautiful spirits lived on in wholeness - and he realized he was sent back to himself to absorb the revelation that he did not have the power to destroy, only to change. The compassion with which the rising spirit touches him shows the forgiveness and love that is extended to him by the bigger spirit of the woman. The spirit sliding out of the body on the ground shows that life continues regardless of earthly limits.

The girls spoke to me - their spirits showing me that they are not gone. They are very much alive and well in the place where we all are whole. So the statements along the right-hand side of this image are the ones they expressed to me. I am whole. I am alive. I am. I am. I am.

I didn't know this picture was going to come out of my system. I thought I had put this experience into some manageable context years ago. But as I painted it and allowed the suggestions for what should appear in the image to come through (I didn't want to paint the dead body at all but found that when I did I then had to do the spirit sliding out and the spirit rising, as well as showing compassion to Bundy along the way). I learned through this picture that life goes on, energy is indestructible. It is changing, and the Bundy energy has the capacity to become whole and healed on the higher levels of our existence. Thank goodness.

My heart goes out to the families that must live on in this world without their loved ones. It aches to imagine the pain and outrage of these events. But there is a peace that underlies these events that says life continues. The girls sent me these assurances and I believe them with my whole heart. So I continue. I go without fear and work for a university for 14 years, on campus (prime territory for certain kinds of predators), and I walk the grounds through thunder storms, sunshine, soft spring breezes, knowing that life is everywhere, and though it seems it can be cut short without warning, in reality, we are. We are. I am. I am. So we must live and do our best to be the good the world needs so much. We must counterbalance the atrocities. What else is there?

I am grateful for the protection I received that night. I believe absolutely in intuition. I listen to my still, small voice within. If I hadn't, I might not be here today.

Go with courage into your life, and listen, always, to your still small voice within.

Namaste
Jen

I'm a kid in a candy store!

Gorgeous, fun, and one of a kind!

I feel like a kid in a candy store putting together new Dreamkeeper Creations that'll be available at the Green Drake Gallery any time after this Friday. Lately, every time the mailman comes I pop out to see if he's brought a new delivery of shiny new beads to play with. Working with these is such fun because each bead is unique and the colors are delicious.

When I create each pair of earrings I look at the colors in the beads to see which ones to pull out and accent. For the pair in the photo above, I loved the auburn colors in the spiny shell teardrop beads, and the playful pattern of soft stripes against the rich translucent background of the shell material. They also include a little agate for balancing and harmonizing the physical energies.

The sun was almost setting yesterday as I took these photos so the colors are not as clear as I'd like for sharing. One of my projects for the coming year is to figure out how to do great indoor photos. I've been known to take photos of my jewelry outside in about 40 degree weather but when it gets much colder than that I become a lodge bunny who much prefers the hearth fire.

Ear candy!

The focal beads in these earrings are handmade glass, and the colors echo the beautiful fall colors we've enjoyed for the past several weeks. They go great with a little black dress, or a pair of blue jeans and just about any color top. They're fun and playful with agate, hematite, and little pops of red bamboo coral next to shiny glass accent beads.

These bracelets are sold in sets of five for $20.

I've also finished 9 new sets of beautiful cloisonne bracelets, which will also be available in the gallery. These bracelets are so easy to wear. They don't get in the way when you're using the computer keyboard, and you can mix and match colors to your heart's content. I like to wear about 12 at a time when I'm in a bit of a gypsyish mood.

Our mailman will be bringing lots more beads in the next few days, and I'll be happily putting together their sparkling colors as the November clouds roll in, and getting them up on Etsy for the holidays (let there be SNOW in December!).

Namaste

Jen

The commissioned beadwork Statement Necklace is finished - YAY!

Dazzling Statement Necklace  is finished - WOOT!

Ta da! Here it is, the Statement Necklace commissioned for Beverly Kaye. Oh I've discovered a world of joy in making pieces like this. I tried wearing it for a few minutes (I always test my pieces) and it sits well and isn't heavy. I worked hard on the necklace part so that it would be comfortable. Look at those colors! You could wear this with a number of different outfits, depending on whether you're feeling purple, black, silvery gray blue, or forest green....

The back of the cabochon

I glued the beautiful glass cabochon to Lacy's Stiff Stuff, which is excellent for beading, and after sewing the peyote stitched rows around the cab I covered the back with soft glove leather. Then added the fringe! I wanted this piece to be a bit asymmetrical, so made the fringe fluffy, but not predictable. There are some fun end pieces, such as the polka-dotted smooth oval bead and the glass teardrops. Also wanted to accent the shape of the piece itself so used several bicones in the fringe at strategic lengths.

Beaded toggle clasp

I discovered it would be good to have about four hands while beading the toggle clasp. I wanted the piece to be cohesive, no metal elements, so used flat peyote stitch on the toggle then zippered it up and added beads to the ends. It's fairly soft so goes through its loop nicely.

Toggle done up

The toggle clasp sits nicely and is quite secure and comfortable. Who knew the receiving loop would be the hardest part of the necklace? With nothing substantial to weave back into it presented some challenges, but I think I've got them covered.

Heck of a statement!

So I'm meeting Charlene so she can see and touch it, then will ship it out to her friend. Hope she enjoys wearing it as much as I did making it!

More to come and they'll go into my Dreamkeeper Creations Etsy shop and the Green Drake Gallery!

Namaste!
Jen

First commissioned piece of beadwork for Beverly Kaye via Charlene Binder - wow this is FUN!

Beautiful glass cabochon chose itself for Beverly Kaye!

So I had a commission before I even retired. One of my very favorite faculty course authors and instructors, Charlene Binder, sent me a note and said she has a friend who is going to be celebrating a milestone birthday between 50 and 100 (wow! the older I get the more I admire this). A very Happy Birthday to Beverly Kaye! I'm hoping she is quite proud of where she is, still so very active and influential, apologies for the semi-disclosure if she's still celebrating 29....

Charlene described this wonderful woman and sent me a few photos - I liked her immediately upon seeing them, she seems a cross between Coco Chanel and Auntie Mame - right up my alley to design for!

This particular commission is such solid confirmation from the Universe that making this move at this time (retiring from my wonderful university and going full-time into the art) is the right thing to do. Especially since Beverly Kaye is the author of a fabulous book that every manager should read called Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay. Of course I had to buy the book and read it, I like to know about the people I work for. Lots of great tips in there for keeping talented people.

So here's where I am now with the cab.

The pendant part of Beverly's necklace is shaping up nicely

This pendant will have a beaded bail (the part that attaches the necklace to the pendant) and a beaded toggle fastener, and it will most likely have a bit of fringe, cause you know me and fringe--I LOVE it!

I've already learned a lot with this project. It doesn't matter "where" you work, the Universe sends you challenges and it's all about how you meet them. With this project I spent several hours doing a stitch that I read about in a book written by another beader. I got pretty far but the cab was misbehaving and wanted to pop out of its setting. This beader didn't have the various rows stitched together, and recommended the wrong type of glue, so it was quite wobbly. Finally around 4 p.m., just before kitchen duty (dinner time) and after many hours of work, the cab POPPED out altogether and I just looked at it sort of blank faced, then had to laugh. I threw away the backing I'd been working on, very grateful that my tomorrows now belong to me so I could start over again the next day.

I closed the book and had a conversation with my own artist's muse and apologized for following someone else's directions. I think she forgave me since today, it took only 3 hours to do what it had taken 6 to try to bring about yesterday (epic fail). 

Today is GOOD!!!

I was reminded again to listen to the still, soft voice within, which was whispering to me the whole time I was "misworking" by following someone else's directions. Listen, listen. Our own small voice inside does not lead us astray. Great to get some tips, but if we listen first before applying, we may get much better results.

MUCH better stitching the second time!

Thank you to my muse, who is always invited to SHOUT when I forget to listen. 

I'll post more as we progress. This is one deadline that I am happy to meet - it's just me and my muse and we can take naps in-between and watch episodes of Miss Marple (two yesterday, what heaven, and a nap with the pups as well).

Dreamkeeper Creations is beginning to blossom, yaybers! Yes, I will do some of these for you!

Namaste!
Jen

Little Goddess Necklace is about half done!

Little Goddess necklace with finished fringe

So now I've finished the Little Goddess clay face cabochon necklace's fringe. I love doing fringe - probably because I also love to play with it. When you hold her up, the accent beads line up very nicely making "V" patterns.

The necklace part is coming along

I decided that I wanted to peyote stitch the necklace part so have been working on this today. Have never done this before (peyote stitch with nothing under it) so it's very interesting. I threaded a piece of leather inside the peyote tube to give it some support while I'm working on it. Will probably leave the leather inside after it's finished to lend stability.

I will make a toggle and loop to connect the necklace, so it'll be all beads, with no metal fasteners. I like the cohesion of having the materials all the same. Have never done the toggle loop thing, so will need to learn about that too.

I figure it'll take another day or two to finish--takes about an hour to do an inch of peyote stitch tubing. I work with a piece of thread that's about a yard long, so it can be tricky. Also take some breaks to give my eyes and hands a rest. The plants got watered, breakfast dishes done (how nice that housework becomes a nice break), and there was time for a little porch sitting in a sunbeam.

Will post soon when she's done. Good work today - Roberta Flack accompanied me : ) It's so incredibly wonderful to know I can get up tomorrow morning (or stay up all night) to work on this some more! Yaybers!

I might enter her in a beading contest--will see....

Hope your day was just as wonderful!

Namaste

Jen

How To Retire Without Freaking Out

My new badge of distinction!

Retirement from a chapter in life that's lasted a long time is a bit of a yoyo. You go from having a very structured schedule to complete freedom. This takes some negotiating in order to create some balance.

I had planned to retire at some point after my kids all flew the nest and started to spread their wings three years ago. I wasn't sure quite when I'd retire, but eased myself into it by going to part-time for a few years in order to devote more time to the artwork I love to do.

Pretty soon I found I was burning my candle at both ends because I loved the artwork so much I was constantly working on various projects. It was difficult to leave my studio in the mornings, and I'd look wistfully over my shoulder on my way out the door to the office. Then when I came home after a full day at the office I'd work on some lovely project involving sparkling beads, color, line, form, great music, and satisfaction. 

When I finally decided to retire from the office work and devote myself to the artwork full-time the expanse of freedom confronting me was intimidating to say the least, so in order to create structure and a new sense of purpose I wrote myself a letter, this time as the boss (me) to the new employee (me). I love to read this letter because it reminds me of where the new freedoms are in contrast to the limitations of the other working lifestyle.

What's the purpose of this letter?

When you find yourself confronted with too many things you love to do and a backlog of projects that have been started but not yet finished, it helps to create a new structure around that, sort of carrying the best of the project management skills from the office to the new place of work, my studio--so I began at the beginning by welcoming myself onboard.

How do you write a letter like this?

• Ask yourself what you'd like to hear from a new boss
• What kind of culture and environment best suits your purpose?
• What do you want this new boss to recognize about you as an employee?
• What do you want from this new boss? (recognition, praise, opportunities for advancement, flexibility, creative freedom, encouragement, and support)

Here's what I came up with, and I'm pretty thrilled about signing on--

The Letter

Dearest Jen,

Welcome aboard! We’ve been very eager to embrace you as a full-time member of Dreamkeeper Creations! Thank you for deciding to join us, we anticipate wonderful things to come.

We’re thrilled that you’ve decided to join us in the business of bringing beauty into the world and feeding souls through Dreamkeeper Creations, our joint venture composed of the mix of mind, body, spirit, and soul and the sharing of our results for the benefit of all.

Our mission is to shine a light that will illuminate pathways that others can take to sustain themselves, and to offer support and encouragement where needed to help others reach their potentials. We understand that you have a solid base of experience and we’re excited to be able to facilitate your use of the talents you’ve developed, including your artistic creativity, as well as your business acumen. We’re also here to lend energy to your endeavors, and support in a number of additional ways.

We appreciate the dedication with which you’ve devoted yourself to your endeavors throughout your lifetime up to this point, and we applaud the creativity, the relationship building, and the sharing of all you’ve learned with those who can benefit from it, including family, students, faculty, co-workers, and the larger communities of those in your fields of expertise.

We appreciate the unflagging devotion to doing your best, being your best, and providing quality resources to help others reach their best potential, including love, support, encouragement, information, technical facilitation, and product enhancement through the application of creativity, instructional design, and innovation.

We know from your track record that you’re great at applying yourself, and we’d like to support this. Please feel free to spend as much time learning as you want to, by watching videos, taking courses, soaking up the resources that are widely available on the Internet, attending workshops, conferences, and trade shows, and take all the time you like to practice and perfect your skill sets.

We pledge to provide you with all the resources you need, including fresh air whenever you want it, sunshine as the climate provides, surroundings that provide the right atmosphere for your creativity, including quiet, stimulation, exposure to others in your field, sleep, meditation, and relaxation when and where you feel would be the most supportive of your continued application of your talents and skills. We also encourage you to take whatever time you need to reflect and savor your accomplishments.

A few words of advice – please feel free to exercise whenever you feel you’d like to get out and about, as well as take in a change of scenery. Don’t forget to check in by meditating whenever you feel you’d like some guidance or inspiration, we’re here for you all the time. Sleep when you need to, work and play when you need to. We’re all about balance, which we feel is great for bringing you to your best potential. And please feel free to play whatever music or television entertainment you like for background inspiration.

Drink lots of good pure water, tea, and if you feel like it at times, wine in celebration.  Take whatever time you like to prepare your food – make a salad, fry an egg, or go out to the café to partake of nourishment. Spend time with those who encourage and love you whenever you like, including your fur peeps.

About compensation – the sky’s the limit! What comes around goes around – do your best and you’ll be rewarded with the best of the best in all forms (time well spent, kindred friendships, happy customers, and the wherewithal that sustains you and feeds your soul as well as those whose lives you touch through giving).  

We appreciate all that you’ve done in support of your endeavors and look forward to your application of all of your talents and skills in your position with Dreamkeeper Creations. We’re so thrilled for each moment we get to spend in pursuit of our common goals.

Namaste!

Warm regards,

DKC Team

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Who wouldn't want to sign on?