::grateful::

I am grateful for

The Forest
Pandora

rain and sunshine and a cool breeze

yoga class

WD-40

my artist community

clay

metal

dirt

{this moment}

an occasional post by me, inspired by soulemama's friday ritual.

::grateful::

I am grateful for

this day

fresh eggs

the redwood forest

the beach

lemons!

my family, near and far

my home

listen: work, fitness and nutrition

I recently went on a podcast-listening binge. I love listening to podcasts, especially when I have to do mind-numbing housework, or art projects that need completion even when I would rather run away from them forever.

I discovered one podcast by listening to another. I'm not entirely sure how I discovered Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, but I adore him. He embodies optimism and is a perfect example of Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset. However I found Pat Flynn, I'm grateful I did. Whenever I need a little pick me up, a reminder that my career is not over yet, I go listen to his podcast. One after another. He's cheerful, polite, has abundant energy, is creative and has an amazing work ethic and he adores his wife and children. Plus, he's got some interesting and useful stuff to communicate.

I was tooling around town the other week, listening, shopping at the hardware store when Pat mentioned The Shawn Stevenson Model Health Show. Specifically how much useful information he was able to get from the podcast that he could put to use right away. My curiosity was peaked. So when I got home, I went straight over to the iPhone app for podcasts and downloaded a handful of The Model Health Show podcasts for my chores. Here's the one that helped me pull together the boys room: How to Create a Sleep Sanctuary. Shawn, the Model Health guy is also exuberantly happy and positive and a font of information. His podcasts include him pumping up his sponsor's product at the beginning of the show, but once you're past that you get to some good information.

The positive energy is a nice change from the crazy information pouring out of the news industry right now. It's good to be reminded of optimism, generosity, equanimity, humanity and humor. It is a good choice to surround yourself with positive words when you want to embody those things too.

Here are some of my favorite sources of words and out-loud ideas these days:

TED talks, ideas worth spreading
This American Life
Smart Passive Income
The Model Health Show

What are you listening to these days?

{this moment}

an occasional post by me, inspired by soulemama's friday ritual.

read: All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel

I picked up All The Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr at the airport on my way to Canada in December. It was one of two books I purchased for my trip. I finally got to it in the airport on my way home. This book transported me directly to France and Germany and into the hearts and minds of its characters for the three days it took me to read it and beyond. (I would have finished sooner had I not been completely plowed down by some heinous virus that lasted for those three days plus with a fever that would not quit). Such beautiful language, I had to read some sentences over just to experience their beauty again.

The stories of Marie-Laure, a blind Parisian child at the beginning of the book and that of Werner, a German orphan living in a bleak mining town are told in parallel until they are carefully brought together in the later days of the war as both are desperately trying to hold onto themselves and the best part of the world they once knew. Both Marie-Laure and Werner are in precarious places in the world at the start of the story. Werner an orphan trying to fit in and figure things out and Marie-Laure, a young blind girl living alone with her father in a Parisian apartment and thrown into an unfamiliar world. The precariousness of their worlds never seem to right for very long. You witness their inner journeys and the ugliness as well as beauty of humanity. I wholeheartedly enjoyed this book.

Yes, this is another WWII book. No, you've not been here before. It's a read you shouldn't miss.

Spring!

My mother-in-law, Marilyn reminded me it's been a while since I've updated the family on what's going on in our lives. It was Marilyn's birthday April 4th! Happy 80th Birthday, Marilyn! I feel pretty darn lucky to have you in my life. You make the world a better place with your kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness.

This Easter Sunday the boys, Kitty and I went on a two hour hike. Above, you can see a shot of my three guys on our Easter hike. Coleman did the entire two hours shoeless and is none the worse for wear. It was a mellow Easter for this little family. The guys had a friend sleepover the night before and they all stayed in bed until past nine and woke for a pile of pancakes and Easter baskets filled with the usual sugary treats. Chris had a very chilly but decent mountain bike ride in the morning. After the boy's friend left we all hopped into the car and drove west, to the upper campus of UCSC where we hiked in a redwood forest.

This year has been filled with school, hikes, bike rides, friends and a couple of visits to the beach. We're a little more than three months into 2015 and I can say, honestly not much has happened yet. Wait! There was an historic moment a couple weeks ago when every room in my house was clean - at the same time. I don't have that many rooms, I know, but I was so excited about it I had to snap some pictures.

The boy's room needed an overhaul so I patched walls and repainted their once white walls white again. While I was working away at this I was listening to a fitness and health podcast called The Shawn Stevenson Model about creating a sleep sanctuary (though I'm sure I listened to about a dozen over the course of the three days it took me to complete this room, the sleep sanctuary podcast had a great deal of impact). That podcast was just what I needed to really get into what I was doing - I hung room darkening curtains; bought, refinished and placed a new dresser between the beds; purchased new bedding (Ikea, $70 to outfit both beds). I removed untold things from underneath Max's bed. Including, but not limited to already chewed gum and wrappers for candy I can't remember buying. Oh, and I found the black hole where the single socks go to party.

Their room is quite pleasant to be in now. And they were both quite appreciative of all the hard work I did on it. Max was away at science camp all week and returned to a new and improved bedroom. I really wanted to get that room finished before Max got home. Had I not had the Friday deadline they may still have no curtains, as I was looking for a different color. I just love deadlines.

Our Master bedroom was neat as a pin. Nary a stitch of laundry to be seen. The kitchen counter and kitchen table were both clear of clutter for a day, too! And we had a relatively tidy front yard - it had no weeds, but it also had very few plants so it was a bit brown. But also a pleasant relief, somehow.

I'm thinking of painting the hutch white or just stripping it down to the wood. It's got too much of a presence when it's blue.

Check out the new pot rack. I installed that baby myself. It's level. Methinks we need some color in there.

Prayer flags courtesy of Carmenza, my brother in law's very dear and lovable girlfriend.

Just before all this cleaning took place I helped out with ANOTHER auction project. Yes, I know, I'm such a sucker. My new friend, Desiree, a parent in Max's class at Main Street Elementary was in charge and asked if I wanted to help. Well, I didn't mean to, but I took over. Completely.

The Original plan was to make chess pieces with clay. I didn't really want to do this. It seemed boring to me - and a whole lot of work. We were limited with time, we only had the kids for an hour and a half. So I switched it. I did a print project with them of a field of flowers and a school of fish. The kids made the print plates and I made the prints. It took me a whole lot longer than an hour and a half. It took me longer than a weekend. In then end it was all fine. But that creative process can be really painful. I was, as I usually am, so happy to send it on to it's new owners. I only have one picture of one print. Each child made one flower and one fish. The flowers took them an hour and the fish took them fifteen minutes.

This is the piece before it was framed. Not a great shot, but you get the idea. This print, framed got $250 at the auction.

When all the work was complete, Kitty and I did a hike by the beach. We actually hike most days, but her walks were shorter and fewer whilst I was in the midst of the auction project and the cleaning project. She's such a patient little lady! We love her so.

Coleman, 13 yrs., 6 mos.

The boys are huge! Coleman, at 5' 8.5", has two inches to go to catch up to Chris - and the last time he was weighed he was up to 127 pounds. Max is over 4' 9" and over 70 pounds. They're both doing well in school. Though my greatest wish for them is that they could learn to enjoy themselves while doing their schoolwork, it seems an unrealistic wish. Still, while they resist and complain and it clearly pains them, I think it's also important to them. Such contrarians.

Max wrote a great short story today. This is how it began:

"Hi, my name is Max, I'm ten years old and I'm gonna tell you the amazing story of how I discovered a world that is not our own inside a secret cave, inside a swimming hole, inside a redwood forest." I just love this - not sure why he doesn't embrace it more. Except I think he'd rather be catching birds:

Max (10 yrs., 7 mos.) caught a starling today. It was in the chicken run.

That's all for now, I'm signing off. 

Lots of love to you all! 

Happy Spring!

2015 Auction Project: Complete!

Here's a shot while it was sitting in my studio, still in progress.

Here's a shot of it at the auction...

There were many steps between what I shared last post and the completed Prayer Wheel. However, I didn't take pictures, and Chris did a lot of building one weekend that I was in bed sick, so I didn't even see how it began to go together. As you can see, there was a change of plans. Instead of using the kids tiles for a table top for the prayer wheel we put them directly on the prayer wheel and did just one row of Om Mani Padme Hum. It was Chris' idea and I think it's much better than the beginning plan. If you have specific questions about how we built this you can always email me.

The kids designs are beautiful, and this year they got to see it before it went to auction! I usually am working on it right up to the moment I have to drive it to the auction and the kids don't usually spend any quality time with it. Along with the requisite mantras and sky and earth mandalas, tucked inside were the children's own words and drawings. It went to a very special family and brought in a handsome sum for the school. It would never have happened without Chris' help and I'm so grateful for him.

Now that that's done, I've got to get that studio back into working condition! There's always more work to do!

2015 Auction Project: Part 2

metal tiles for the table top

The kids made copper tiles with mandala designs on them for a table top. We used 5" x 5" aluminum tiles with a copper color on one side. You can purchase real copper or brass sheets too.  I had these tiles from another project and decided to use them.

I had the kids sketch out designs on a piece of paper until they were happy with their design. Then, I gave them a piece of foam - the kind you can cut up with scissors, it comes in sheets of 8x11 or rolls. I had a roll lying around and cut up 12 pieces that were about 6"x6", just a little larger than the metal tiles. The kids then put the copper side down on the foam and copied their designs onto the metal using a ball point pen. You can see the results in the image above - pretty neat! It is possible to then flip the metal and put more design into it for more dimension, but don't use a ball point pen on the front! Unless there is no ink in it. For our purposes, we just made designs on the back.

You can use this material to create a lot of different projects: The frame of a mirror, a framed piece of art, as in our case a table top, you could even use these individual squares to make the prayer wheel we're making next...There are a lot of possibilities with this cool material. It's not expensive and the kids were really into it!

Stay tuned!

2015 Auction Project: Part 1

Prayer Wheel at Medicine Buddha in Soquel, CA.

It's that time of year again! Time for creating a piece of collaborative art! This year I am again working with students at Tara Redwood School, though my son is no longer there. It has been a cherished annual project for many years now and I wasn't quite ready to give it up. This year I will be building a prayer wheel with the kids. It hasn't been an easy project to find how-to's on. Someone gave me a book with a few technical details on the proper mantras and prayers and which way to wind the prayers on the inside and exactly what mandalas to place inside...but it's a wide-open design project, aside from those few details. Ours is a good-sized table-top version, the drum part will be about 12" tall, and the over-all dimensions about 20" - but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

My plan is to have two students per row, six high (we've got 11 students, plus the teacher).  I will transfer their designs to copper foil and adhere them to the cylinder, which is an 8" cement forming tube (very heavy duty cardboard). I'm planning on using a lazy susan bearing set for the spinning action which I ordered from Amazon. The base is going to be an upside-down wooden bowl - found at Goodwill - that will have the children's designs on it. I plan on being the painter once they sketch the designs onto the bowl.

I think the secret to making a great, quality auction piece with a group of children is to know what part of the project to let the kids do and which part I should do. This year the part the kids are doing is mostly the drawing/design part. I will take their designs and implement them on the final piece, and of course I'll be doing the assembly. That way you get the spirit of the kid's work and tidiness of an experienced artist or maker.

Stay tuned for my own how-to on building a prayer wheel! Our auction is at the end of February, so it's going to be a high-speed project for me.