mix media lamp

A few years ago at an Art-is-you retreat, i saw this lamp made by my friend, Taryn Reece. I wanted to buy it so bad, but it was "NFS" (not for sale!). Then on vendor night this year, she had it up again in her booth. once again i tried to talk her into selling it, but she would have no part of that! (and i don't blame her). So then i decided that i would just make my own. she sells the images and fibers, so i just needed a lamp! So here is my lamp inspired by Taryn's!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
and this is Taryn's lamp. i still like hers better! probably because she used a vintage lamp with that cool base. You can find the supplies needed for your very own lamp here. the images are on paper fabric for easy sewing.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

also, i am hosting a few workshops coming up next weekend. you can find the information here. email me at keeshagirl4@aol.com if you are interested. there are a few seats left in each class.

So i Gathered.....

(enameled tintype by Stepanie Rubanio)

My talented art girlfriend, Stephanie Rubanio, is having a blog giveaway. Run over to her blog, So I Gathered, to enter for a chance to win a prototype of her new enameled tintype. I'm quite lucky in that i get to see Stephanie real soon in Vegas at Artnsoul. can't wait!

Also, if you don't mind, please send thoughts out to my art friend, JoAnna. her husband Ron is quite ill again and having a shunt put in on Monday. they've been thru so much. i hope this shunt puts an end to all these unresolved health issues he has had. Joanna was the art friend that i sent the angel, "Acceptance" to over the holidays.

Jewelry class sat. Jan . 16th & bottle class sun. Jan. 17th

On Saturday, January 16th, i will be teaching a basics jewelry class here at my house. we will learn wire wrapping and bringing found objects together to create a necklace. what is a found object? found objects are objects you have lying about or things you find at a flea market, etc. and then using them in different ways. you probably have stuff sitting in your jewelry box that might be broken or you don't wear any more or something your grandmother gave you, but your not sure how to wear it, etc. these are items that we can play around with and then turn them into an everyday piece of jewelry. we will also trouble shoot issues that come up when working with different types of items. email me at keeshagirl4@aol.com if you are interested and i will give you all the details.
------------------------------------------------------

and on Sunday, January 17th, i will be teaching a class on altering bottles. we will learn the trick to adding objects to the top of our bottles and more! contact me at keeshagirl4@aol.com for more details.

Polar Bear Plunge

yesterday dillon and i attended the 8th annual Sons of Ireland polar bear plunge. it is a fundraiser that disperses funds to Special Olympics, Clean Ocean Act and a few other charities. It was a lot of fun. There was a band playing inside the convention center and the place was packed. there was drinking, dancing with plenty of excitement in the air. the temp outside wasn't too bad, but i know the water was a brisk 40 degrees! i can barely get myself to go into the water during the summer, so i could not imagine going into that water! i was content to watch and take pictures. dillon was thinking of organizing his friends to participate next year. A group of bag pipers were there to play. the polar bears started singing The Star -Spangled Banner and at the end of the song, a whistle blew and they were off and running.

more on observing

it was exciting to see how i am not alone in my thoughts on living in the present. i am always amazed at how much i have in common with the women (and men) who read my blog. maybe it is an age thing, that as we get older; we get wiser about what is truly important in life. i could easily live in my past and spend my time wallowing in pity over what happened to my child. but what good would that do? who would that benefit? certainly not Tucker, certainly not me, certainly not Dillon and definitely not my friends or family. so i don't do it. occasionally i'll have a sad day; but that is normal. but typically, i try to live day to day, do what i have to do and make art!

speaking of Tucker, he is sick today. i suspected it yesterday. he had a good night but then all of a sudden around 9:30am, it was like the "cold and flu" fairy flew over him and sprinkle some dust on him and BAM! coughing, sneezing, more coughing. the type of coughing that i stay right next to him with suction ready. the type of coughing where we put a call into our neighbor/doctor and say, guess what? antibotics and steroids are on reserve and i am in KECIA RN mode. i've sat with him in his bed all day taking care of him. my back is sore, i am exhausted, but that's ok. i know how to make him feel better because i am his mom.

so if i disappear for a few days, that is why. when he is sick, its is 4 times the work that he normally requires from us (and that is a lot). it is wearing and as i sit here, hard on my body! my back aches so bad.

So, now back to the topic of observing. tuck and i watched "kung fu panda" today. have you seen it? it's very cute and a lot can be learned from it. i was delighted to hear this quote in the movie where the panda felt inadequate and wanted to give up; so the wise turtle said to him; "yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. But today is a gift. That is why it is called the present". silly me, but i found that quite profound!

So in between my frantic caregiving, what did i observe today? i observed my sweet little Kirby, who is 14 now. I watched her as she made her rounds outside. I home cook for Kirby (after a nasty seizure a few years ago, we made some changes, dietary being one of them). she LOVES her home cooking and barks at me to hurry up and feed her. she jumps up and down like a puppy and then she enjoys her meal. as soon as she is done, like habit; she wants to go outside. she goes out and walks the perimeter of the backyard. she has a routine and today i observed her as she started on the right side of the yard and made her way over to the shed, where she goes behind it and disappears for a few minutes. she reappears under the hammock and makes her way to the left side of the yard. she is so cute and i wanted to imprint that on my brain as i know that her time with us is limited and of course, that makes me sad beyond belief. but i chose today to watch and enjoy her sweet little habits.