Cosmic Tree Cabochon Necklace is a Beauty Indeed!

Gorgeous new cabochon necklace is available at Art a la Carte PA!

For all of us who love TREES, the subtle "image" that I see in this round agate gemstone cab is of a single beeeautiful tree. With the colors, I gazed upon it and they sang out to me. It is paired with what's known as "phantom quartz" or "rainbow quartz" gemstone necklace straps and one of my favorite magnet clasps. Easy on/off but stays put while you're wearing it. Get a load of that needle! It's bent because the size 12 and size 10 beading needles need to be very thin to go through the tiny beads, so by the end of the project they're often bent. I sometimes prefer to use a bent needle so that it'll curve right up as I build up the border rows.

This is the start of the cabochon necklace. These are the colors that sing out from the cab itself. Yummy!

The cab gets glued to a fine piece of ultrasuede, which is the perfect host for the hundreds of beads that will comprise the border. My favorite stitch for this is the traditional Native American peyote stitch. To begin, I put four beads on at a time and backstitch down, up, and through, so they sit smoothly. This is what creates excellent quality. I've found over the years that if I do these too close together the rest won't work; it's the thread/cording that lets the beads breathe so they can sit nicely as I build the layers.

It can take years of experience to be able to gauge how much thread will fit through the tiny 11/0 seed beads, some of which must be able to take at least four, and sometimes five to six passes. I even have to switch needle sizes to get the final stitches done, which are woven back and forth through the border. No knots except for the start and finish. So it takes a couple of yards of thread (no tangling please!) to get through the whole border. If anyone wants to know, yes, I do talk to my thread, and it's usually very responsive. If it wants to tangle upon itself I say, "Oh this is just boring. Do you WANT to be a beeeautiful necklace?" And magically it will allow me to easily undo what could be a potential nightmare.... Only dreams please. Thanks! Magical tips: the cording hates competitive games or violence, so I'm picky about my TV and music while I'm working. YEP! It WORKS like a CHARM! Pretty good for me too! 

Yep, these are my TOOLS! And I LOVE THEM! The beeswax that you see has been used literally hundreds if not thousands of times as I condition the thread as I sew. This strengthens it and helps it not to tangle. The black is not dirt, it's what comes off the cording if I'm using the dark one. Yep, one of my tools is a verrry old-fashioned diaper pin that I used for my son's diapers before we switched to disposable ones (that was more than 30 years ago, how time flies!). Sometimes I have to use this to clean out the holes in some beads, especially wood ones, before I use them. And everyone knows that scissors are sacred, yes?

The spoon on top I use all the time for putting the tiny beads into their saucers for working. Apologies for not polishing it before the impromptu photos. It's sterling, Native American. I picked them both up in California. The one on the bottom somehow found its way into the garbage disposal for a few seconds (I wasn't manning the sink at the time, oh nooooo!) and I know just where to take it for repair. That's on my list of things to do.... 

The "tinies," or "littles" are the 15/0 inside row or two of beads that help the border to tighten around the cabochon. Also a skill that takes years to master properly. I choose a few different colors but wait for the cab to let me know which one(s) to use as I finish.

THERE she is! Do you see the image of a gorgeous tree? I'm in love with it. 

There's much that I do not have control over when I do this artistry. One of those things is the order in which I build up the border. I've learned over the years that before I begin, I must put each color of seed bead onto my needle and discern which ones are the widest and which are the narrowest, because for my process, it's essential to go from large to small (bottom row to top row) when building the border, otherwise it won't sit tightly when done.

Oh gosh, the border is done and I can tell it reeally wanted to be made, because though I don't "count," when I chose the final row to have a bit of extra decoration in the four larger green beads (at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock), the math worked out PERFECTLY. I LOVE when that happens. I suppose I could do the math beforehand, but I don't like to get bogged down when I'm in the creative process, unless I'm doing a beading chart for loomed bracelets or something like that. All the green around the cab will be trimmed off during the last few steps of the process.

Isn't she just lovely?! I don't know if she wants fringe yet, so far she hasn't asked for it, but she'll tell me after her necklace straps are on, which is the next step. Or, if someone is interested in her I'll do the fringe if they let me know they want it : ) It has to happen before the final backing so the start and finish knots don't show....

Here she is with the phantom/rainbow quartz beads that will comprise the necklace straps. She is emanating beautiful, soft, grounding and balancing energies.

So we're doing the second phase of this cabochon necklace. We've glued the backing on, and in this photo you can see the two layers of dark green ultrasuede.

I've trimmed the backing to about 1/16 inch around the outside. (Don't mind the reflected light....)

I push my needle between the two layers of dark green ultrasuede and out the back so the knot at the end of my cording sits inside and won't show. Excellent quality for my work means no knots showing, ever! I love when people say, "How'd she do that?!"

I pick up one bead and come up through the back to the front, making sure I get both layers but don't invade the rows already on there. Repeat, repeat, repeat, all the way around.

This is what the back looks like and I try to keep my stitches tiny and uniform.

Once you've made a few of these your hands learn how to hold everything to make things sit nicely. See that bead sitting on my finger? I'm going to make sure to push it towards the front of the piece so the row will sit nicely next to the other rows.

After I've finished putting on that whole row it kind of sits sort of raggle taggedy, so I sew around it again, and like magic they all sit beautifully aligned next to each other. Here, I'm sewing through the second time.

This photo shows how the beads are nicely aligned after the second round through along the bottom part, but the top part isn't done yet, and you can see it's a bit raggle taggedy. (Is that a word? It is now!)

She asked me for a bit of star power, so I sewed a sweet picot border all the way around with the red that's also in the cabochon itself. There are lots of different tutorials on YouTube for how to sew a picot border, and with this one, I went through twice as well, to make sure the red beads sit next to their sisters properly. Sorry for the poor lighting. Don't mind that white light on the cab, it's just my overhead OTT light (which I could not do this work without!)

The length of the necklace is 20 inches, so it sits a bit below the collar bone. With wear and a bit of age, the color of the copper clasp and wire guards will mellow and blend in. Most times with these necklace strands I take the extra effort to match the two sides though of course with the gemstones there's always a bit of variation; that's part of their charm!

Here you can see the 20 inches. I go through the necklace straps four times so they have about 32 lbs of strength in the cord itself on each side. With these necklaces I don't double up the cord to do this because the needles are verrrry thin so as to fit through those tiny seed beads, and they can break easily. So I take the extra time to go up and back, knot, then do a new thread and go up and back again. I like my work to last a long time : )

The cabochon is just shy of two inches. A really nice size, not too big and not too small.

Here she is! TA DA!

The lovely Cosmic Tree Cabochon necklace is finished! YAY!! Here's the lowdown on the final steps. She's now available at Art a la Carte PA!

Beautiful agate cabochon (the middle part), "phantom or rainbow quartz" necklace beads depending on how the vendor describes the gemstone, copper accent beads, and a luscious selection of seed beads with a sweet picot border. Yes, you can definitely wear her with jeans and a tee! She doesn't mind at all. I wear my cab necklaces with very informal clothing all the time : ) Or pop on a pair of heels with those jeans or some gold or silver sandals and a button down with extra buttons left undone for date nights. She likes to get dressed up with you for special events too. She's one of a kind, no other like her in the whole wide world!

Takes me about 16-20 hours to make these plus materials, which are the best quality I can get (some of my best cabochons come from Jaipur, India, and gemstone beads from all over the world), so when you see the price tag, which will be around $180, it's a giveaway full of love. What else would I rather be doing? It's one of my very favorite things to design these and I want you to enjoy them! Time well spent indeed : ) It's on my list to start doing some videos of the process but I'm not set up for that yet. 

No worries if she sells, I try to keep several special pieces available at Art a la Carte, and am happy to work with clients on custom pieces. The design process is so much fun and so personal, and it doesn't cost any more to have one made on commission. I've done commission work for people all over the world, so you don't need to be able to visit me in person, we can communicate and share photos in a number of ways thanks to technologies today, yay!

I'm at dreamkeepercreations@gmail.com

Thanks for taking a peek! Happy beading if you're checking in to learn! 

Namaste,

~Jen

New Spin on Traditional Mala

It's a busy month for me, and I've finished another commissioned mala. This one is a departure from the traditional bead pattern I use, which, of course incorporates the traditional 108 prayer beads. This one also has the 108, but this person wanted particular energies from several kinds of gemstones. So I stepped slightly out of the box, using 12 different kinds of gemstones for the 108, and gave it 9 rounds. It was so much fun, and I got good goosebumps when it was finished. WOOT! How did I do?

Lots of wonderful energies in this mala!

Close-up of the beautiful shooting star bead,
which is the teacher bead on the mala.

This is one of the magnificent shooting star beads made by my favorite bead artists, Barbara and Katie in Edinburgh, Scotland. There are two accent beads: carnelian, and onyx.

Quality in attention to detail : )

Here you can see the matching pattern of the sides. (Please excuse my working mat which gets a lot of wear and tear....)

TA DA!!

And there she is, her playful self! Sooooo MUCH good energy in this one! I hope it brings comfort, strength, and joy!

Playing with Neurographic Art, SO MUCH FUN!

See if you can spot the pointed part that I missed.
I went back and corrected it, lol.
(You can click on the images to make them larger.)

One of my friends recently taught me (thank you Sandy!) about a concept called Neurographic Art, as defined by Pavel Piskarev in 2014. Last night I checked out the videos on YouTube - wow so fun, and all so different! So I decided to play with it today for lots of reasons, partly to "warm up my hands" in preparation for doing the illustrations for my first children's book, and also because it has developed a wonderful reputation for creating a calm, relaxed state (which art does anyway), and for helping to heal various challenges in the body (which relaxation does anyway). WOOT! It is SO MUCH FUN!! Just playin'. Yes, this is GREAT to do with kids of all ages! And yes, I've already broken some of the rules, HA! Well there aren't very many - much of the literature around it hasn't yet been translated and the basics do vary according to who is teaching it, so I figured it's okay to just have fun. I'm going out tomorrow (yay) and MUST make myself go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight and NOT stay up all night painting it, will just have to look forward to it after I get home! I'm always happiest when I know there's a fun project waiting for me whatever I'm doing when I'm away from the studio.

Almost the beginning of the process.

I wish I'd taken a photo of the lines themselves before adding the rounding and other details, but I forgot. This is a fun activity because I can sit on the porch in a spankin' wet bathing suit and play away! After I'd done some initial circles and lines, I spent time rounding all the pointed angles (one of the "rules" of neurographic art), then one of the circles called to me to make it a beautiful face, so I did. I kept on going, and could see other things appearing in the lines and shapes just as they were, so enhanced them. She's turning into a lovely pregnant woman who's taking a nap and dreaming with her baby.

A little bit further along...

I added what I call "soul stars" and spirals and a bit of love in the little hearts. Also drew her feet, which are curled up while she naps.

A little more doodling, this is fun!

She let me know she's wearing her yoga pants with her lovely pink tunic and that she reeeeally loves the baby, so I added all that in. The baby has the spiritual spiral and so does her mother, baby within its whole belly since it's an ancient spirit coming into a brand new body, and mom in her third eye, from which she dreams and meditates and receives spiritual guidance.

All the lines and black and white are done!

One of the last steps was creating balance, so I worked around putting in the dark parts, balancing the flowers and kitty let me know he'd like more detail so we can see him. I like to pretend those two spirals next to kitty are the yarn he likes to play with when he's not snoozing. Next step is to begin adding some COLOR! WOOT!! The whole thing is very "retro." Why fight it? It's what was already there from the beginning, just needed a few nudges to pop right out!

Color starting to happen!

I might have to go back over some of the black because the gouache fades it out a bit, so that might be one of the final steps once I'm finished with the painting.

Yep, I did go over the black designs in her yoga pants and some other parts too. Now starting to work on the background, which I think of as a soft quilt underneath her. Bringing in some balance with darker colors. Sat looking at those white spaces and asked them, "What do you want to be?" Then I listened, and they told me.

And now most of it is done except for the skin tones which are always scary to me, but I won't put them in until after I test them first on a scrap piece of the same kind of paper.

It's like a little message to trust and keep going to see this little heart shape on my paper towel after I've wiped my brush I used to mix skin tone on it.

Now her face presents a challenge. Her cheeks are too pale for the rest of the painting but going over them takes patience. WAIT for the skin tone to dry! WAIT! WAIT! NOT YET! So I went and tidied up the kitchen and came back....Okay, now you can do that.

So her little cheeks are nice and rosy and her hair, which also presented a challenge because it's black, has some pretty highlights. I also gave the baby a mouth after practicing on the scrap paper, and spent a bit of time going over some of the blacks to make sure they're nice and dark. 

And now I can feel that it's done. So I took the brushes and palettes and water holders into the kitchen and cleaned them up. And of course after I looked at it a while I found one more pointed area I forgot to round off, so I did that. Lol. Never perfect, but good is good enough, right?!

I'm superstitious about my paper towels that I use while I'm painting. I never throw the one away that I'm using until I'm onto the next project. And I've used the same water containers for years and years and years. Classico organic spaghetti sauce. Before that, years ago I had a special green shirt that I had to wear when I drew or painted. I grew out of that one, but not the other superstitions, lol. What superstitions do you have around your artwork? 

Tip for you - I LOVE to use the porcelain palettes because they clean up really well after using acrylic gouache. All ready for the next time!

And I have a ton of brushes, but this time tried out the Winsor and Newton Series 7 ones that are fairly soft compared to my old favorites that have a lot more bounce. I really like how these performed so will use them for the children's book.

I totally encourage you to play with Neurographic art, however it feels FUN for you. You can use plain old black and white, or color in with markers or colored pencils or whatever feels good! Give yourself permission to play, we all can benefit from this kind of activity.

I think it would be LOADS of fun to do a sip and play party at some point, maybe out by the pool with a few peeps who might enjoy this activity My patio table seats six! Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested. You don't have to finish the whole thing but it was actually pretty surprising that it didn't take hardly any time at all, maybe three hours all in all to draw and another few hours to color and go over some of the black. A really nice couple of evenings....

All the joys to you!

Namaste,

~Jen 

Tribute to Our Beloved Bennie

 

Beloved Bennie

Hard to believe this little fella lived to be 101.5 in doggie years (14.5 in human years). Wow, SO MUCH LOVE! And so many darling sweet memories!

This is Benjamin Berghage, also known as Ben, Bennie, Bennifred, Buns, Bunny, Little Man, Tinyboy, Cuddlepuff, Hugmuffin, My Love, Sweet Boy, Chippyhunter (he never caught one but loved to stand guard for hours at the entrances to their homes and along their backyard highways), Spinnyboy, Trotter, The Best Boy in the World Right Next to His Brothers, and many more endearments.

I think he had a vocabulary of about 200 words and I swear he could understand whole conversations. Not only "our" conversations: "Is it time to flirt for your supper? You flirt so GOOD! I could feed you all DAY!" but also the puppy conversations that echo throughout the neighborhood when anything's going on, such as the mail peeps making their rounds, or storms coming, or puppysuppertime, or other pups walking by and leaving their calling cards out front. You could set your watch by him, he ALWAYS knew when it was "3 in the morning bark at the moon time, and maybe I can wake all the neighbors, oh, I'm supposed to potty and come in quick? No way. Just a few more sniffs needed time," "wake up Pop way too early time with the first birdsong," 4 p.m. and just an hour until puppysuppertime so time to flirt, 8:30, 9:30, and 10:30 (outtie o'clock times again), plus "Bigbed Time" at around 11 when he and his brother get snacks after they come back in and get ready for nighttime sleeps with Pops (Bennie) or in the studio with me (Lil Bear). 

One of his many favorite things to do was watch the "Bennievision," which streams all the neighborhood happenings outside the big picture window right behind the couch. He and his brother, Lil Bear, loved to prop themselves across the back of the couch and watch for hours or snooze in the sunbeams coming in.

One of Bennie's fave spots by the Bennievision window.

Falling in LOVE!

I fell in love with him at Steve's pet store years ago when we still had pet stores with pups and kitties and rabbits and birds and fish and turtles and gerbils and guinea pigs and all the lovelies awaiting their forever homes. I'd stopped by after work, which was something I loved to do whenever I was in the area just for the joy of visiting with the animals. THERE he was, and I went into the puppy area and played with him for quite a while. I found it just so hard to leave him, but I hotfooted it home and told my husband, "I KNOW what I want for my birthday!" Then said, "Come with me!" So we hopped in the car and went back to the pet store, and there was some WOMAN walking around with a Yorkie in her arms, well I was about ready to grab him and run, but I realized THAT wasn't Bennie, it was his SISTER! So I dragged my hubby to the puppy visiting room, where I picked up Bennie and batted my eyelashes at my husband. He put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, knowing that if he touched this dog it would be all over. I pulled his hands out and plopped Bennie right into them, and YUP! It was all over. Bennie gave Rob a tiny, polite little kiss on his face and cuddled right in. Happy Birthday Jen!! WOOT! Heck of a birthday, he was a purebred Yorkie, father named Rambo (hence Bennie's fairly good adult weight of about 16 lbs) and mother named Buttercup. I think he took after his mother, he was such a sweetie. 

But here's the thing.

When we brought Bennie home, WHO did he fall in love with and follow around and play with and snuggle with? Yep, it was ROB.

Who's dog is this? ROB'S!

So this lasted for a couple of years, and one day I decided to pop into the pet store again for fun, and LOOK WHAT I FOUND! Or should I say, LOOK WHAT FOUND ME!

Uh oh!

When I was sitting on the floor in the puppy visiting room this little fur ball came up to me and climbed right into my lap, licked the inside of my elbow for a few minutes, then settled in for a nap. Oh GOSH! I fell in LOVE AGAIN! (When he grew up my sister's granddaughter named him Lickiedog as this habit of grooming people he loves has stuck fast.)

So I hotfooted it home and put a total head trip on my hubby, saying how even though Bennie was my birthday present, he didn't bond with me, he bonded with ROB, so perhaps we should pop by that pet store again just for fun. MUHAhahahahaha.... I had a plan. So when we got there I made sure Rob didn't put his hands in his pockets and I batted my eyelashes at him again, real hard, and I said how I just didn't think I could leave this little puffball behind, and GUESS WHAT HAPPENED! Bennie got a BROTHER! 

So we had Benjamin and Lil Bear together for ALL THESE YEARS and they loved to walk shoulder to shoulder all around the neighborhoods in the evenings with us, and they wrestled like brothers before puppysuppertime, and they shared the beeeautiful backyard comfortably, (Bennie's the city boy and always preferred the patio, where Lil Bear is my nature boy and rambles over every square inch of the gnarly grassy/woodsy areas) and one time when they got out the front door they took off for an unsupervised downtown adventure that made me CRAZY with worry, but they stayed shoulder to shoulder then too, and some wonderful Penn State students picked them both up and brought them home to us, THANK GOODNESS. I gave the pup rescuers my brand new perfectly unwrinkled $50 dollar bill I'd just gotten for birthday money, I was sooooo grateful.

Shoulder to shoulder funtimes!
Helping Rob with the Christmas tree.

So they've had many years together and now it's time for Bennie's next chapter, a true adventure indeed. He gets to cross the Rainbow Bridge and get a total reboot on his aging little body. He has physical challenges that he can't recover from, and it's clear that he's in too much pain now. So we are loving him extra (if that's possible) this weekend and Monday is his Return to True Home Cross the Rainbow Bridge Day. I'm so glad he will no longer be in pain. We've had him on meds and special stuff for about a year, but he is fast declining now.

Good Boy Ben! Good job!

Of course I've prayed that things would happen naturally, alas to no avail. And I've had conversations with him letting him know it's okay to go. He sleeps most of the time, so he's been halfway there for quite some months. When one of his tumors started bleeding rather profusely yesterday, we agreed that it's the sign I was asking for to know when is the right time to give him some help. So Rob put a soft sock on the foot Bennie was scratching with and wrapped it with some medical tape, and so far it's working so Bennie can at least sleep and enjoy a few of his favorite things, such as lots of cuddles, extra snacks, and the good sniffs in the beeeautiful backyard. We washed the tender spot but couldn't dress it or wrap with bandages, so we're glad the soft sock is working.

THANK YOU Ben, for all the LOVE, and may you feel ours forever and ever, as we do yours. See you on the other side, Buns, and that will be excellent indeed XOXO 

Yes, with love, we can do hard things. And we've got LOTS of friends in Heaven.

Wishing you all many blessings and much love.

Namaste,

~Jen

I Don't KNOW How to Socialize!

Yep, that's me in my happy place!

I JUST NOW realized something about myself that I never knew! All these years, (64 now)! And that is, I didn't know HOW to socialize for MOST of my life! Working on it now and the learning is FUN....

As you know, if you've read my blog, I was an "Exxon brat" and we moved all the time, lots of times out of the country. So I had a childhood that was full of some truly wonderful experiences, which included being part of cultures totally different from American culture (the Netherlands where I was born, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, England, and other points in-between), and that brought demands to us children (my sister, brother and myself) that kids who were "born and raised in one place" didn't experience. 

Such as learning to amuse ourselves so that we were "seen and not heard," and learning to behave AT ALL TIMES OR ELSE, which meant, basically folding our hands and being silent if we were in a public place, which was often. Lots of time spent in really excellent hotels between all the moves, which required reeeeally good behavior. 

Mom tells us that strangers used to stop her in the hotel restaurants and comment on how well-behaved we were, lol. Mom had several techniques to make that happen, one of which was the raised eyebrow, another was the stare that could practically kill, among others, like bribery with the promise of new comic books for 25 cents a piece, which worked very well on my sister and me. We amassed a collection of about 300 comic books, which, unfortunately we had to leave behind in one of our moves. Damn, they'd probably be worth a fortune today! You can tell which technique mom preferred, lol.

The huge bonuses of this kind of life, to me, were that I got to visit some of the most amazing museums all over the world, I got to attend foreign schools, so learned different subjects (according to the country and its history and priorities), languages (started learning French when I was 9 years old in a British school), went on amazing school field trips to neighboring countries near the U.K., and learned to LOVE so many different kinds of people and their cultures, saw lands that are very different from anything we have here in America, such as jungles with all the animals and native peoples therein and about, waterways in Italy, maids and housekeepers and helpers who took care of us kids, etc., while mom did the Exxon wife thing which lots of people of that era understand. That included business-based schmoozing wine and cheese parties, bridge parties, outings with other Exxon couples, and basically rubbing elbows and hob-nobbing with others of my parents ilk. We were always put to bed before the parties started, and yes, we did sneak halfway down the staircase to peek at the people all dressed up but were careful not to get caught.

That kind of life didn't include relatives or cousins or much visiting with friends our age (my parents were both only children anyway, so no aunties or uncles or cousins), so we learned to amuse ourselves according to mom's command to go "read or write or draw something!" So we kids got good at all that. 

But what I wasn't so good at later on was knowing what to do when you DO visit someone, like a girlfriend. I had no idea that people didn't just sit around and talk and eat and drink and do grown-up things from which we were pretty much banned, until we came back to the U.S. and moved into a neighborhood where there were some other kids. Because we were sort of banned from the grown-up entertaining, which was fairly formal, we didn't get to see that "everyone in the kitchen" thing that you see on TV (God I just LOVE that, but when I tried to corral my family into doing potlucks at our frequent barbecues rather than the host doing all the stuff, I created complete havoc until they got used to it and I'm not sure I've ever been completely forgiven for that). Though we helped with the chores part of kitchen stuff when we were kids, we weren't invited to help cook or prepare the food. Mom wasn't that kind of mother.... Oh when I grew into an adult, I could host a GREAT party, with wonderful foods, music, and lots of service to the guests, all based on whatever my husband was interested in.

So for a couple of years as kids after we returned to the U.S., we learned to do cartwheels and run around the yard, visit the other kids' homes within walking distance, and be home before dark to set the table and help mom with dinner preparations like that, and clean up. Sometimes chores covered mowing the lawn, weeding the garden, picking up the rotten apples in the autumn, etc. Good work indeed.

NOW that I'm working basically mostly freelance from my home studio, I get to visit with girlfriends, and wonder of wonders, every time I go see someone we DO STUFF! We GO PLACES! It's so much FUN! 

All these years I've visited my mother's home we basically sit and stay put. She talks, we listen. She has some truly great stories to tell, such as when she danced with a king at one of the events.... When we went to visit my grandparents once we were closer to adult age, it was similar, Gammy did all the cooking (she was an excellent cook) and we sat and listened to the other grown-ups talking on the porch. Occasionally Gammy would let us do the dishes in her big old farm sink, though they lived by a river, not on a farm, and I LOVED being able to do that! She had a stool I could stand on to reach it and I liked washing her dishes in the soapy water, while my sister dried, but most of the time she wanted to do the water thing while I dried. Nonetheless, we could hear the grown-ups talking and laughing on the back porch, which was just off the kitchen and it was happy times.

So now, I don't have a lot of time to visit with friends, as I'm always busy doing stuff in my studio (reading, writing, and drawing, you guessed it!), but occasionally I do get to visit, and wow, it's such a SURPRISE! I've been to artist's homes where they invite me into their studio and we spend a few hours making something unique and lovely! WOOT! And some of my nature loving friends get together with me and we go hiking or to a farmer's market and come home with lots of edible LOOT! WOOT!

I also have one special friend who's born and raised close to here, and knows the WHOLE territory and MOST of the people who've lived around here for years and years and she takes me on adventures where I get to visit and meet people I'd never know about otherwise (a complete pleasure), and she takes me to places I'd never know existed around here that are really beautiful, and sometimes we play in her art studio and talk up a storm the whole time. FUN!

I have clients who come to my home to work with me on commissioned pieces of art for their Lovies and that's one of my favorite things to do. Yep, we have snacks, and tea or coffee or water or wine, and yep, we talk up a storm, while we work on the designs together, which is LOADS of fun. 

I think I finally understand what socializing can be like. You don't just go sit glued to a chair, you DO STUFF together! Who knew?!

I didn't know I didn't really know how to do this until it occurred to me the other day that I've been working so hard for so many years I didn't realize my focus was totally on accomplishment, and I'd left out the magic that can happen when you just go have some fun with somebody.

So now that hubby's retiring, I'm having fun building in a little fun that is NOT related to work. Who knew life could be this way?

I think I like it. A LOT.

It's very strange growing up "an Exxon brat," always the "new kid on the block," and hauling around these behaviors that other kids haven't had to develop, (similar to military families who are constantly moving), and I'm so delighted to be discovering this, even if it is a bit late. Hey, better late than never, eh?

The catalyst for this realization was, among a few other things, reading John Denver's autobiography, called Take Me Home, which turned on some lightbulbs when I saw so many similarities in his father's military career, his mother's devotion to his father's career, and his own reclusive behaviors (music, tree climbing, dreaming, and reflection) plus the very familiar urge to keep on moving because that's familiar. It's what we know intimately from a very young age.

I'm a bit envious of people who "belong." For me, home is everywhere I make it. For others it's always been something known. I find this fascinating and love to hear stories from people who are born and raised somewhere. So many of those stories are so very sweet and heartwarming.

What's your experience of socialization when you were growing up? Do share your stories! I just LOVE a good story!

Love and hugs,

~Jen

LITTLE UPDATE - I need to express my heartfelt thanks to all in my current community who've surrounded us with good wishes and many truly amazing and much appreciated recommendations as Rob and I go through our "year of collecting quotes on home renovation." WOW. So many people have referred their friends, family in the businesses, and experiences to us, and I feel that after some  26 years in this community we're enfolded, accepted, and loved. Thank you so much from the old new kid on the block XO!

 

Yes, WOW, the SHOW!!

 

Kind of phallic eh? Yep, that's where life "comes" from.
No pun intended, but sweet and amusing nonetheless.
Photo by Sweet Jess

The SHOW at State College Framing Company and Gallery was WONDERFUL for so many reasons!!

I'll put up some photos of my part here, and will post some more of the partee itself, which was so much fun, and wow I met so many wonderful people plus saw some I hadn't seen for quite a while, especially during the Covid times.

Jessica's Introduction Wall 

We had several artists exhibiting at the same time, plus two book authors doing signings, so the audience was mixed and there was so MUCH for them to experience. It was a really nice exhibit because the audience really did mix and they really did look at all the magnificent creations and the talk, as I experienced it, was largely related to the various sections of the exhibit, which is refreshing, as I've been to gallery shows in California where all they talked about was themselves or gossip around town and no one looked at the ART!

 

2nd wall walking through Jess's photo exhibit.

 

Jessica's photos are interesting. What was fascinating was talking with people viewing them and hearing their interpretations. The one on the left is a very powerful image of a woman in chains, red and black. When I was working at the Gallery with Jeff, who helped me choose the frames, he said, "I think most of us know what it feels like to be chained in some way," and I said, "Yep, Tears for Fears has a song about that and it has always been very special to me." We agreed that we both just love Tears for Fears. If you're not familiar with their music, definitely check it out.

Then later I was talking with a woman who decided to buy a print of that photo. She described to me that to her it means "freedom in motion." And it was fascinating to me that she could feel freedom despite the chains, but she said, you see the movement...she's not trapped, she's moving, and expressing who she is in that moment, not necessarily trapped or forced at all. Wow, I loved hearing that interpretation, especially as the quote that was chosen from Jess's books to go with this photo is, "We're just spirits be-in human." Jess taught me so many things in our book, Letters from Celestial Jess, Afterlife Messages from My Daughter.

Each of the photos in the exhibit has a quote to go with it from one of the books, Coming Alive after Death, Recovery from Grief, and Letters from Celestial Jess, rather than a simple "image title." So going through the exhibit is rather inspiring as you read the quotes and view the world through her eyes, as well as your own. Who knows what stories the images will tell?

It'll be up through about the first week of June or so. Go explore the Gallery, best ever place in town for framing and special photo needs. Thank you to John McQueary, and Jeff, and Kevin for your guidance and talents. I'll be back for more project work on the book illustrations. 

THANK YOU to all who attended and all who took the time to chat with me and buy our books, and all the other wonderful artists, I felt in such good company!

Namaste,

~Jen

 

 

 

 

Come and See The SHOW!!

 

Godbeams by Jessica Novak

Sometimes we have the good fortune to witness something reeeeeeally beautiful, and if we have our camera in our hands we can capture it and share it, this moment in time. My daughter did just that, ALL THE TIME! She was a professional photographer, and when she passed in 2015, I inherited her legacy. It was several months before I knew it. I'd inherited her computer and several external hard drives and I was so in shock over her passing that I couldn't look at them until many months after she'd gone back to True Home. When I did look, I found myself absolutely mesmerized by the beauty of her photos, thousands of them. 

The beautiful Andes mountains from above.

Jess traveled all over the world, first on long, long hiking and camping trips here in beautiful Pennsylvania, then all across the U.S. on a road trip, with a couple of trips to Brazil and Mendoza, in Argentina, South America, and wherever she went, her camera was like an extension of her body. She was never without it.

Sullivan Run, PA.

Nothing was too big or too small to capture her attention. She was an observer. And a teacher. A lover, and a seeker. A free spirit, not to be confined, always moving, always dancing, always celebrating the beauties of life, and sometimes a witness to the tragedies, but never capturing them without hope.

Desiderata

This photo that she took is a great example of her observance of humanity's violence surrounded by the peace and promise of sweet Nature. She got very deep sometimes, with just one single, simple image. This one speaks volumes to me. I can hear the gunshots, and feel the crazed drunkenness of the shooter(s) protesting the limitations of their lives. I can also feel the steady, innocent, sweet growth of the soft ferns, one of Earth's oldest plants, surrounding it. Embracing it. Eventually they'll cover it. Eventually the sign and its violence will deteriorate and Earth will win with her beauty and her growth.

The Promise of Life Unfolding

So I sat, looking through her photos and thought to myself, Wow, these should not be left hidden, never to be seen. They're way too beautiful. And I wasn't sure what I would do, but that is when the desire to do an exhibit of her photos was born. Welp, we're there! It's happening! WOOT!!!! Some of my favorite people where I live are the ones who are connected to art. And recently I received an invitation from John McQueary, the owner of The State College Framing Company and Gallery, to host an exhibit of my late daughter's photos.

His timing couldn't have been more PERFECT. So I jumped at the chance to share some of the beauty my daughter captured so that you can enjoy it too.

Welp, WOW, I had no idea WHAT I was getting into. I've done shows of my own work, beadwork, artwork, etc. but I'd never done anything FOR someone else, especially when they're not here in person to say yea or nay to decisions made. Soon after I accepted his invitation, I began to look through her photos to choose which to frame and display, which to enlarge, and made the first appointment to see John to start planning. In between the time of the appointment and the planning stages of this show, I sat up until dawn several times looking through thousands of her photos, trying to choose which ones to share. Oh my gosh! It was hard to whittle it down to just a few! She had pop-art, she had graffiti, she had waterfalls, landscapes, plants, sky, animals, birds, just EVERYTHING! WOW! 

 

We can go anywhere!

So the first hardest thing about getting ready for this show was c h o o s i n g. I hope I've done a good job and it'll be fun for you to see. I've chosen close to 30 of her photos that will be framed or enlarged as canvas wraps (you can pop a frame on those if you choose or hang them as they are), and will have a portfolio of additional images you can choose to have prints made from, any size you like, PLUS we'll have a digital photo frame showing about 200 of her gorgeous images for your entertainment. If you're not familiar with digital photo frames check them out, they're a true delight in your home. Also make a great Christmas present if you load them up with family photos and such.

The second hardest thing was choosing the titles for the photos. I listened, as I always do, to the guidance that comes when I'm feeling quiet and peaceful, and I felt nudged to go open the books I've written about our experience - life with Jess, her sickness and passing, which was totally DEVASTATING to me for a number of years and my RECOVERY, which DID happen and continues to happen each and every day and night, along with her guidance and love and abiding presence, though it's different now. Softer. But the love that comes with her presence is intense, and so, so beautiful. Wonder if she'll show up on show night and mess with the lights, I'd laugh right out loud if she did!! She just might, she's still quite spunky and has quite the sense of humor. But she'd never do anything to frighten anyone. They play with our technologies you know, the spirits, because electricity runs on a very high vibration, like they do, so they can easily connect. There are hundreds of stories from bereaved people about how their lights flicker, and by my troth, I SWEAR, JUST NOW, my light started flickering in my studio (where I'm writing this) like mad crazy. Welp, I got up and got a new light bulb and changed it, but, isn't it just a bit curious that it would flicker now, while I'm writing about her show? Giggles on that.

So with the titles I felt compelled to go to the books I've written - Coming Alive After Death, Recovery from Grief and Letters from Celestial Jess, Afterlife Messages from My Daughter, and choose some quotes, either directly from Jess or from what I've learned from her during this journey of life, and I matched the quotes with her images. I think we pretty much did this together. I truly feel we still work together, though it's not quite as I might have imagined had she not passed when she did.

We go up and we go down, up and down, like life.

Jess has been nothing but purely inspirational in all she's taught me both during her life here on Earth and afterwards. I hope the show will reflect that for you too. Inspiration and celebration of all good things and appreciation and insight and trust that the bad things are but stepping stones to the good ones.

My girl doing some of her favorite things, phone, wine, cigs, writing.

I do nothing by myself, and am so appreciative of the guidance of John McQueary, Jeffrey Muthersbaugh, and Kevin Reilly at The State College Framing Company and Gallery, as well as Peggy and Mark at M&M Copy Services in Bellefonte, who helped me design the bookmarks and takeaway cards that will be available for free!

Setting up a show is a process, as Kevin explained to me, and I'm so excited to see it come to fruition and for you to experience it. Several other beloved artists will also be in the spotlight, including:

Jennifer Tucker and Gerry Lang - photography
Lena Thynell - Watercolor
Susan Nicholas Gephart - Pastels and Oils
Elli Groninger - sculpture
Laveta Piemme - author and jeweler - 
Jennifer Berghage - author and jeweler
Jess Novak - photography

Come and see us April 22nd (Earth Day!), from 4-7 to enjoy wine and snacks and hugs or air-hugs, and soak up a wonderful experience. Exhibits run through June 24th if you have other plans or are feeling a bit Covid-ish.

Note: Laveta's book is one that EVERYONE can benefit from HUGELY! It's called The Peaceful Eye of the Hurricane, and I for one, am loving it and CAN'T WAIT TO MEET HER! 

All the loves to you! Thank you for your patience with my absence from social media as I set all this up! Stay in touch XO!

Namaste

  

Honor and Celebration of Sweet Jess on Cupcake Day 2023

 

Fern at Eagle Creek by Jessica Melinda Novak

So today is Cupcake Day again. It's been a gorgeous, peaceful day, and we've been blessed with some much welcome sunshine, which is rare in what has become what I call "State College Seattle," with all the clouds and rain and wet and mold and lack of sunshine. For someone who spent many years in my beloved California, the sunshine state, it never gets easy going without that golden light, so when it comes wow, I just love it. Especially today.

On this Cupcake Day I'm celebrating the life of my daughter, who was a professional photographer while she was here, and so the first photo I'm sharing is her observation and capture of the lovely fern above, which is like a smile and embrace all in one from our mother, Earth. Nothing was too small for Jess's notice, nothing too big. This one I will have printed and framed and I will hang it in my studio, in celebration of all that is beautiful, and in celebration of seeing the world for a moment through the eyes of my child, who is now a Celestial being, as we all shall be someday, when the time is right.

My ever so favorite photo that Jess took.

So while I was pulling together the photos for this post, this one (above) came up on my computer, which shows her approval and happiness for today, for my celebration of her life, and for the beauty in our world, which is all around us. It is my very favorite photo that she took, so absolutely perfect. I did have this one blown up and framed it at State College Framing Company. They did a great job and it makes me smile and fills me with love every time I look at it in our home.

Another photo Jess captured at Eagle Creek in Portland, Oregon.

I have a folder called "Jess's Green Photos," and it's composed of some of the Nature shots she took on her road trips and hikes. Soooooo beautiful. This is one (above) that is so satisfying to look at because of the composure of ferns, the delicacy of them, the softness, and I especially like it because behind the fern is the darkness. We all work to balance the light with the dark, and she knew that, and liked to capture images that depicted it. It's within and around us all. It's our challenge in life, to find the balance and acceptance of both the light and the dark.

And here's another one. This one always pulls my heartstrings, very powerful image.

Oh so poignant.

This image that Jess took pulls my heartstrings because she captured innocence and trust facing adversity. That is us, isn't it? And when the sun comes out tomorrow, many of these blossoms will still be thriving, yet others will be gone....

One thing I decided to do today for this post was open our book, Letters to Celestial Jess, Afterlife Messages from My Daughter, and see where I land. I knew she would put me at just the right place for us all. And I landed on page 181, where she tells me "Trust the process Momma," and she's talking about the process of LIFE itself. I've learned to do this, and it's so wonderful, though sometimes we don't understand it or "trust" it when crazy things are happening. As we progress through our lives and Earth adventures we realize that we are exactly where we're supposed to be for what we need to experience, age helps to bring about that wisdom. Her advice, as usual, is right on target. 

It's okay.

I've come to realize that with this "gone-ness" of beloveds gone to True Home, it's okay. It truly IS okay. There's something right and good about it. We come from True Home, we go back to True Home, however we define that, and there, we go on to have life and adventures that boggle our limited human capacity to envision or understand. So we celebrate her life and adventures both here and where she is now with a little cupcake, a song, and some celebratory Cupcake wine. I'm sure she's with us when we do this, pouring her love into us all. XO!

My Love doing what she loved best.

Cheers to all on their new journeys. Cheers, comfort, and peace to all still here in our Earth adventures. 

May your hearts be filled with the love of your beloveds both here and there and everywhere, and trust in your own adventures and experiences.

Celebrate lives well lived. And continue to celebrate and immerse yourself in your Earth journey with all your heart, because all IS well. 

Namaste,

~Jen