S is for Spin Fun.

The Valentine Gnomie... The white flag should've read, "I surrender!" Didn't really have time to create and be clever, if not brilliant. Wrapped him in an assortment of valentimey decor and called it "Done." Meanwhile I worked on a magnet board for the room.

The following is from an in-class party last week:

Treat #1: Rum Balls by Birthday Girl Vonda! A professional chocolatier.

Treat #2: Peanut Butter Bars brought in by the very trim "Peanut Butter" -- Don't ask about grams of fat, she said the next class.

Treat #3: Cream Filled Chocolate Mini-Cupcakes, brought in by Shauna, a chef.

The On-as: Donna, Vonda, Rona & Shauna!
It was an amazing, fun and HARD workout. I asked birthday girl Donna (who I've known for about 17 years, & whose son is a pal of S's) if she's had a good life so far... Rona was trying to kill us. Well, Rona made us earn the treats.

I've learned that when treats are offered at Spin, take one. Once I said, "No thank you." Only to go home and do a lot more dammage than one mini cup cake would have done. Thankfully, there aren't treats very often... and never before a trio of treats.

M is for Mosaic.

Came across this site... a designer turned mosaic artist. Does Petraits, portraits of animals on tile with glass and tile. The animal portraits are very lovely! I like the bees and the the variegated colors of the fur. Check it out here: http://www.newstoneagemosaics.com/customdesigns.html


For years I've been saving shards of broken plates, vases, mirrors, left over tile thinking someday I'll make something out of the beautiful unfortuneate Joe Bennion pottery and other pieces, recycling them into something that reflects a childhood full of spilled milk and meals together.

Something grand like this?:

It is from MacKenzie-Childs. Only $995.00...

Centerpiece

Entry

The far above left is "before." Below is some of the Xmas hullabaloo. The pictures don't capture it. I was anxious to take it down and didn't check that I got all the shots that told the story of the "Holiday Home Tour" that wasn't. The overall counter was covered with sparkly, icy stuff. Snowmen, penguins, skiers. Colorful collaged trees and a guest book. To the left was a banister decorated with ornaments and faux cedar garland.

S is for Show & Tell.

Look what I did on Tuesday! Just a touch of silliness and lovely fun.

The pins spell PAX.
A gal at the Beehive Bazaar made something like this and I liked them -- she didn't want to trade and I didn't want to spend $20. for one, especially since I knew there was a Styrofoam cone waiting for me at home and plenty of cool scraps left over from my Mom's birthday quilt. I threw in some of M's Hello Kitty ribbon, et voila! These will be fun to pull out for Christmas for the next many years.

S & Co. like them as well. Noelle's term "driftwooding" is perfect here. I culled do-dads from long forgotten boxes of Christmas stocking materials. Lately a lot has been going on that is goal directed. Creative projects with a purpose. This was lovely to work on, just because.

In the beginning of The Wind in the Willows (a book that taught me that children's lit. often puts me to sleep...hard for me to finish) one critter is pleased to be not working while everyone else is. The moment a vacation starts... It is also nice when you are to meet someone, the schedule changes and then you have a hour of uninterrupted time to yourself. The house was quiet. The children were working hard at school. Classical music played in the far distant laundry room that was churning out clean clothes.

S is for Star Mill Antiques fire.

http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_7655704

http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695233686,00.html

Last night my sister-in-law MVL told me that she saw on the news that there was a big fire the Star Mill Antique store in American Fork. My heart sank. Daniel Copper is a friend of ours, he has always been very kind to our children, us and very generous. What is he feeling? What will happen to his store? How is he doing?

I read that the main building, the mill itself was not harmed. Yet... smoke is an insidious neighbor. I will go visit today with some fruit and a note from all of us. K especially loves Daniel's place! It is a treasure trove of beautiful old things, lots of wonder and great combinations. In one corner of a warehouse he might but a collection of globes, hanging upside down from the ceiling. One room is white. Doors on doors on doors. Jars of old bottle caps, pennies, rubber balls, random mystery relics of past simple consumer goods.

Daniel Copper is an architect and a very nice man. He reminds me of a starling (the bird). Simple and practical on the outside and then with closer look you see all the colors and depth, talent and grace, strength, and the fragility of a bird. He has restored the mill and several of the surrounding houses. I was also saddened at the possible loss of another historic structure in Utah, especially one so cool. Old buildings are torn down here like the owners/cities are swatting flies... witness downtown Provo in 2007.

Another reason my heart sank: What about the 15th? A while ago I bounced into Daniel's store and told him that I was painting our living room purple! and our handrail red, and our entry green, a bathroom yellow, the kitchen gray, the outside blue... Without a pause he said, "Then you'll be on our Christmas home tour right?!" I said, "Sure!" before I knew what I was getting into. Every few years he hosts a home tour of/for friends of the store, of homes that decorate with antiques, or "junk" as he sometimes calls it -- especially "junk" from his store. I prefer Nanette's reference to my "authentic" style, a combination of Daniel's style of junk and my sense of humor & history. The house is shaping up into a glittery house of ORDER! Complete with cupcakes, and gingerbread, on the 15th.

For Daniel, who has told people if you only go to one house go to [ours]... I have been dolling (literally), lighting, glittering, gingerbreading this place up. My studio, with a large shelf from his store, is even scheduled to be cleaned up for the tour! And I'm serious about the cupcakes. Until he tells me otherwise I am still planning on an open door on the 15th, it might be a good way to help him out.

Since I don't know who is reading this blog, the good, the very good, the bad and the ugly, I'm not posting the details (addresses) here. The other homes are far flung about Utah County. If you want more information leave a comment or contact me.

Wouldn't be a bad idea to include Daniel Copper in your prayers.

Where did November go?

Charming Warty Toad from Paper Source, in SF. He flew home peeking out the top of my back back. A few travelers had fun with that view. TSA didn't seem to mind. Warty Toad will be part of our holiday decorations. K wants to play "Find Warty Toad!" every holiday. Winner gets to kiss the toad? Nooooo! A chocolate Kinder-egg!
J = a friendly flying "Invincible Archer"
M = Princess Barbie Hello Kitty Butterfly
N = a clever Astronaut, without the helmet, which was found 1 Nov 07.

C is for Conceptual Crap and Art.

C and I were just in California for the 100th year celebration for CCAC, now CCA.

CCAC used to stand for California College of Arts and Crafts. A few years ago the powers that were changed the name to the very generic and bland CCA, for California College of the Arts. Several people at the celebration had buttons created by the print-maker Jack Ford, that read, "Conceptual Crap and Art." Seemed fitting.

I really miss "Craft" in the name. Craft is so dang right and cool, not only the 70's macramé and scrap booking (all that is great too!) but the notion of craft, doing a skill so well it becomes art. The question remains, can graphic design, architecture, art education be a "craft?" Of course. All of it can be art as well. Dialog about a teapot or a blown glass vase can be just as valuable, deep and riveting, as that of a sky scrapper, or logo design or painting.

Them is fighting words ... to put that in writing makes artistes defensive and craft people repulsed. Don't compare my teapot with some lousy logo... Don't compare my use of clay with your use of steel or that %!™&#*¡?* computer! All the elements are the same though! Line, contrast, content, composition, materials, intent, use, location, climax, value, color, flow, the list goes on and on, happily. Embrace it all -- and GET TO WORK!

The place (CCAC's Treadwell Hall, the ceramics building, especially) is still so inspiring to me. Someday (strike up the soaring violins and moving cellos) I'd love to work/teach there, simply be more involved. Or ideally, create that environment in my family life, it is serious and committed while also being progressive and light.

The above art that I discovered in a bathroom at CCAC is an example of that last statement. :)

Wouldn't you just love to see this artistic combo at a bathroom at BYU? Within a day it would be sanitized, treated as vandalism. What a shame.

The contrasts between BYU and CCAC were staggering to me. One school (CCAC) celebrates and encourages creativity through any outlet necessary and the other tries to teach creativity through obedience to all sorts of ideas, religion, leaders, famous dead artists' rules, to craft. How ironic that CCAC had craft in the name and now doesn't celebrate craft and BYU was supposed to be spiritually based and had no spirit.

P is for very Plastic surgery.

S's kindergarten pumpkin.

M and her mentor. (How sweet!)

S's high school pumpkins.

Happy hob-goblins in the entry. Where did the candy corn go?!

A little busy these days... cleaning up and out, putting up Halloween decor. S remembers when I didn't decorate at all. Too much fuss. Les enfants want and need the seasons and their markers. A good excuse for glitter, as if one needs a reason.