that’s Me! with jewelry and torsos, set up for the Calvert Artists’ Guild show this weekend at AnnMarie Garden.  More photos below.

I finally remembered my camera.  And here I am actually in a picture because husband (who is the most wonderful) came along with me this a.m. just because.  Don’t you just love that?!  And he worked on general set-up so I only had to complete my own set-up, which made everything move right along nicely. 

I forgot my camera for my opening reception at the Lexington Park Library last evening, so wanted to be sure I remembered it this morning.  The jewelry is pretty much the same, so the photos here are representational for both, since leaving the jewelry up at the library was considered by all to be a "not good idea."

And yes, ArtOMatic is happening!  Two years in a row!  Most extraordinary  (or it’s just getting us back on schedule, although schedule used to be fall.  Then we missed fall 06, so had it spring 07, and here we are in spring again.  But I’m not complaining).  This year I’ll be doing my own space and also doing an installation of sorts with Heather Bartlett with our Body Politics work, since ArtOMatic is the best place in the world for political stuff.  We’ve decided to set it up so folks can participate by leaving messages to their body on a clothesline, on a painted wall blackboard, or on the several torsos I have set up for that.  And I plan to take pictures and do more interviews this year again since that was really fun(for interviews from last year:  here, here, here, here, here, here).  This show will have more space than last, and they are expecting to have lots more artists.  I figure by the time I’m 70 I’ll start to get to know some of them.  It will be fun to see new work by returning artists (I hope) and I’ll be looking for those I interviewed.

(Those are birthday flowers from Husband, along with various cards.  Husband had the flowers and balloon at our table at our favorite restaurant on the island, Dry Dock, when we got there.  LIke I said – he’s the best!). 

ArtOMatic roaming onto the sceen (this all happened last week, with registration yesterday – you really have to be ready when they are!) seems to have revved up my inspiration and my outlook.  I think I so enjoyed getting ready for the Philadelphia Buyers’ Market that the letdown afterwards was partly from not knowing what to do next (and, yes, mourning not doing as well as hoped, too).  But as part of what’s next, I took a look at income so far this year, and found it isn’t nearly shabby and despite having brought most of my small work home, and excluding the Philly market, I’m still ahead of last year. !!!! And I also listed the shows I’m in, and with ArtOMatic find every month booked.  Who knew?  Certainly not me.  I’m concentrating on jewelry close to home, because I need an excuse to buy more beads which means I need to sell some of those I’ve already made into necklaces and earrings in order to satisfy my inner bean counter who is of the opinion I can stop playing with eBay any day now and get rid of what I have before buying more.  Well, I need to placate inner person since April brings the wholesale bead show to Baltimore and I really must go.  Really.

And it’s beautiful outside.  I have my window open and it feels great – and the daffodils are dancing in the breeze and how can you watch dancingin daffys and not feel all is right with the world?  I can see them through my window as I type.  I really need more.

Here are more pictures from set up this morning.  In the first one (left below), that’s Husband on the left and my photos on the right.  The big picture I took of the photos was blurry – I’ll take more tomorrow at the reception. 

thought for the day:  The essence of life is that it’s challenging.  sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter.  sometimes your body tenses, and sometimes it relaxes or opens.  sometimes you have a headache, and sometimes you feel 100 percen thealthy.  From an awakened perspective, trying to tie up all the loose ends and finally get it together is death, because it involves rejecting a lot of your basic experience.  There is something aggressive about that approach to life, trying to flatten out all the rough spots and imperfections into a nice smooth ride.  To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the next.   Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart:  Heart Advice for Difficult Times