Woman with Blue Bird, one of a kind, hand made wall sculpture with yarn and beads, 21" tall, by Tammy Vitale $150.00

Ok.  I thought I had the blue licked.  Apparently now.  And I certainly cannot blame it on the short days since the length of the days has my head all messed up right now – not that I’m complaining.  I love long days.  It’s just that my head and body don’t seem to have caught up with the idea that is it is light outside it can well be close to 7pm.  Which upsets the rhythm of my day.  I don’t much use clocks.  Maybe I should.

Last week’s surge into the studio produced only so so results.  Woman with Blue Bird and Woman with Red Flowers (right) two new item pieces that I made.  There are more, but I am  so amotivated that I cannot even get them finished enought to photograph (Blue Bird here isn’t wired yet – you can see the holes where that will happen.

Heather Bartlett, my partner in creation for the Body Politics work, brought over a body cast of herself that she worked on with her husband.  I got a clay cast from it, and got that off the armature with only two cracks, but one of them, if it enlarges too much, will make it not work.  So I am slowly drying it and keeping my fingers crossed (photos of that are below – it reminds me so much of the lovely Venus of Willendorf figure, and all of the goddess figures of that long ago time – I really hope it makes it!).

Two of the torsos I made have design problems that I’m trying to work through so they can be saved (one male and one female – the "clothing" drape I put on them pulled away in the one instance, and cracked in the other).  But I have to say 3 of the masks turned out really well.  I’ll take pictures and put them up later on.  Maybe that will be good impetus to get myself back to this page and blog!

I am down to only one space that I need to bring work home from – the gallery in Charlottesville.  That’s a full day’s trip, but then I’ll have everything back here locally (except for what’s out in galleries wholesale)  – you can see them listed on my website).

I met today with a mentor from the Board of Dirctors of The Solomons Business Association for one last try at finding a way to get involved with them.  It was really a good meeting and we wound up talking about how art could help make Solomon’s a destination for something other than guys going out on fishing boats.  I really hadn’t much thought about that until our chat and so I will hang it there a bit longer.  Tomorrow is the County Chamber of Commerce monthly meeting and it is going to be held at AnnMarie Gardens in their new building.  I’m looking forward to seeing what that looks like and seeing and chatting with folks I’ve met there.

One of the sculptors, Rainer Lagemann,  I met at the Buyers Market sent along new pictures on his website.  He never sent answers to my interview questions – too bad.  I really like his work and would have liked to have his interview.

Here’s a photo of Heather’s casting before it came off the armature.

Thought for the day:  When I call a day a sabbath, I inform both myself and others that this is a time when the usual measure of accomplishment does not apply, when I will not commit in advance to any task or goal or activity no matter how enticing but will simply folllow the thread of desire that comes from the center of stillness.  If that means I lie on the couch for hours watching the fire in the woodstove, that’s okay  If it means I go for a walk but get mesmerized by the dance of bugs skimming along the water’s surface, that’s okay.  It is a sabbath, a time of rest and renewal, a time to replenish, to conect deeply with a silence that is always there althought often missed within me and the world.  Calling it a sabbath, I recognize that to me it is sacred…All creative endeavors change us…Change, even when it ultimately leads to living from deeper and more consistent contract with the still center of our being, is never easy.   Oriah Mountain Dreamer, What We Ache For:  Creativity and the Unfolding of Your Soul.