New Small Sculpture

This is a small sculpture I just finished the other day. This one is about motherhood, and reminds me of my mother, not so long ago. She was very ill from her chemo treatments, but she still encouraged me to fly. That little spiky ball you see on the wood in front of the sculpture will represent the lung cancer that was slowly claiming my mother's life, and it fits inside a small cavity in her chest. It's hard to see it in the photo. Even in illness, my mother was trying to encourage me to live my life and be free. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

"Show Crack"

I have a new term for an old problem. "Show Crack" is something I've been using for a long time. Show Crack is that stuff that gets into your head, and stops you from making logical decisions pertaining to art/craft shows. For example, this last ACC show I did, when the paperwork arrived in the mail box, I got all excited. As I was reading through it, my head began to fill with Show Crack, and I started dreaming big. I actually signed up for a big, expensive booth, thinking I would fill it with small and large (6ft!) sculptures and it would be awesome. I wrote my big check and mailed off my paperwork, patting myself on the back for "taking it to the next level". That lasted about a week. Then life set in, and I wasn't getting much studio time and I begin to worry over this empty LARGE booth I would have at the show. What changed, you ask?? Well, the Show Crack had worn off, and real life was showing itself to me, once again. I have a young daughter, and she is my first priority. She is the kind of child that wants to be with you and be involved in whatever you are doing. Or she wants you to play with her in whatever activity she is involved in. This is not conducive to making clay sculptures!! I also have other time constraints, like eating, sleeping, and trying to exercise regularly. Then there are things like the grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and the time-eating computer. So long story short, right now, I do not get a lot of studio time to create work. I've never been a very prolific maker anyway - I get bogged down in details - and what in the world was I thinking when I signed up for that bigger booth? The answer: I must have been smoking Show Crack! So, in the end, the large booth wasn't too empty (it certainly could have been fuller!) and the earth didn't stop rotating, but I learned my lesson (i hope!). But it almost happened again recently. My husband and I are planning to spend 6 weeks out in San Francisco this summer, and I'm excited about it. Then, last week, I received my paperwork from the ACC for their San Francisco show - AND it would be happening while we were there! We would already be out there, and I'd have a place to stay! All I have to do is complete enough work and have it, and my booth furniture, shipped to our townhouse out in San Francisco. It couldn't get any easier! Yay! I can do the San Francisco show (gasp with excitement here!). And so I left the paperwork out to discuss my plan with my hubby when he got home later that evening... He got home late, and we didn't discuss the SF show that night. The next morning, my brain kicked in again, and I realized that it would be so hard for me to do this show. I was smoking the crack again! We leave July 11th, and that means I'd have to have ALL of my work completed before we left, which means I have under 3 months to do it. While it IS possible, it means I would have to really PUSH to get it all done. That means no birthday parties (my niece and my daughter), no trips to GA to see my family, and no work on the house will get done (we have a lot to do before our trip because we are renting out our house while we are gone). We also have ALOT of company coming at the end of June and staying through July 10, so that means all my work would have to be done by the end of June..... and you see where this is going??? And I also realized that it isn't a step in the right direction for my goals. I think it would be a great opportunity, and you never know what can come out of that, but I need to focus on making work for galleries right now. Darn. *Huge Disappointment*. But, that doesn't mean I can't make it happen next year. I just need to plan for it! Okay - I think I avoided the dreaded Show Crack this time, but I'll have to keep a lookout for it! I am planning on attending the show though, and checking it out. This is a great opportunity for me to shop the show, look at booths and make the call for next year. Whew. It is going to work out in my favor, I think. So, if you are in the area, go the the ACC show in SFran and hopefully, I'll see you there!

	2010 Show Dates
	Public Shows
	Baltimore, MD	Feb. 25-28, 2010 **NEW** 4-day show
	Atlanta, GA	Mar. 12-14, 2010 (Preview Party: Mar. 11)
	St. Paul, MN	Apr. 16-18 , 2010
	San Francisco, CA	Aug. 13-15, 2010
	Wholesale Show
	Baltimore, MD	Feb. 23-24, 2010 **NEW** 2-day show

No Kids at the OB's Office??

Okay, I have to warn you. This is going to be a rant about what happened to me today. At the OB/GYN's office. It's not too gory or personal, though. I just wanted to warn you. So I have a small cyst in my breast that was discovered 6 months ago. No biggie, the doctor said, but let's keep an eye on it. Let's have a follow-up ultrasound in 6 months. Okay, that sounds fine to me. So that ultrasound was set for today at 2:00. Recently,I've been having some tenderness in that same breast, and now a noticeable lump was there too. (That's the end of the "body talk", no more gory details from here on out.) On Tuesday, I called the doctor's office to tell them about the tenderness and the lump, but to explain that I had an ultrasound scheduled for today. I assumed they would send me to the ultrasound and then call me about the results. That wasn't the case. Yesterday afternoon, they called me to say that the doctor wanted to see me BEFORE the ultrasound to check it himself. Annoying, but okay. They gave me a morning appt at 9:20. So I hop on the phone to the babysitter to see if she can cover me. She is available at 12:00, so that means I won't have child care for the morning appt, but I will have someone to cover me for the afternoon appt. I don't have any family here, so sometimes it is hard to find a babysitter on such short notice (less than 24 hours...). I think, Fine, No problem, I will take the kiddo with me. The doctor and I had a conversation last year about how much he liked seeing the kids he delivered grow up and be happy healthy kids. I'll take snacks and her favorite toys and she'll be an angel. So I arrive today, on time, for my appt at 9:20. Only to see a sign posted that said something to effect of "no children allowed at doctor's visits due to the germs and the health of our pregnant patients". I'm paraphrasing here, because I don't remember the wording exactly. I get up to the registration desk to check in, and I say, Sorry, I had to bring the kid, I didn't have a choice. The receptionist said, OH! I'll have to check with the Manager about this. I'm thinking, WTF?!? My daughter isn't even sick right now. Not even a runny nose!! Okay, I'll wait and see what happens. So she comes back and says, Sorry - we are going to have to reschedule. Is there another day that works for you?? As my jaw hits the ground and my eyes bug out, I tell her that this doctor wanted to see me before my ultrasound, and that sorry, the babysitter couldn't come until 12. She goes back to her Manager, and comes back with the Manager, who tells me in a not-so-nice voice that this policy has been in effect for one year and she's sorry. Can I come back at 1:00 after the babysitter arrives??? Yes, the sign is new, but the policy is not. Are You KIDDING Me? You guys asked me to come in, with less than 24 hours notice, and then you turn me away over this weird new policy concerning kids in the office???? I'm not one to make a scene unless I'm ultra pissed off, which I wasn't. I was still too flabbergasted to be mega pissed. I was mad, yes, but not fly-off-the-handle kind of pissed. I agreed to the 1:00 appt, letting them know by the tone of my voice that I wasn't happy. I was in that office last September, so I know that sign wasn't there then. This couldn't be an old policy. How come I've never heard of this "old" policy of theirs?? Shouldn't they inform patients of such an unusual policy??? After an extensive conversation with my OB at the friggin' 1:00 appt, I found out that basically, this is a case of CYA. They had a patient get very, very sick last year and they thought it was from the office with all the kids in there. They later discovered that the patient got infected at a birthday party, but it was enough of a scare that they put this policy in place. The doctor's wife is a big-time attorney, and I feel certain she advised him to do so, in order to protect himself from lawsuits. But really? At an OB's office? No kids? How is that going to protect anyone, really? You still have to go to the grocery store, and you still have to pump gas and hand money to the parking attendant. Germs are everywhere, on things and in the air. That is why everyone goes crazy with hand-sanitizer, but even then, you can't live in a bubble. It is a sad, sad world we live in when you can't even take kids to the OB's office. It was those doctors that pulled these kids out of our bodies, for crying out loud! Has anyone else every encountered this policy? Have you other mothers out there ever had a problem with kids at your OB's office? I'm tired; its been a long and exhausting day. I couldn't even work in the studio, as I was completely worn out by the days events. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a less stressful day. BTW, all is fine with my health. Nothing to worry about! Yay! That cheers me up, just being thankful for that. I have learned to be very grateful for my good health. Don't take it for granted!

Yummy Recipes

Hey everyone! Last week, we had a launch party for Bloodrose, a web comic that my husband, Charlie created with his friend, Nick Smith. It has really turned out great and has gotten some press, as well. Anyway, we had this party and I made a couple of new recipes out of a cookbook Charlie got me for Christmas. It's an awesome cookbook - it's all about using fresh foods from the farmer's market and what's in season and all that. Everything I've made out of it is fantastic. Keep in mind, it isn't a "20 minutes or less" kind of cookbook, but the food and the photos are all wonderful. So I fixed the Zucchini Toasts and the Cantaloupe/Prosciutto melon balls and both plates were empty by the end of the evening. I scanned these in, so excuse me if they are a little crooked. I obviously haven't figured out how to scan things in properly... And then there are the melon balls.... So if you try the recipes, let me know if you enjoy them. Then run out to the nearest store and pick up a copy of the cookbook. You won't be sorry!