Sacred:  Attainment, Zen Suite, clay/ceramic wall hanging finished with hand-painted acrylics, 22"t x 16"w x 4"d, by Tammy Vitale $1000.00

Spent the day working on Sacred pieces, going back and matching necklaces and amulets with the Emperor and Empress, finishing Attainment, here, and making booklets and sales cards for each piece (see below), which takes a lot of time, but makes me feel good.  I’m hoping that the individualization of each piece like this will help the client access the piece’s energy, create a space for new stories to be born, and begin to create a feeling of community for those who buy pieces from this limited line.

Did you know that in eastern lore, the koi is considered a symbol of aspiration, advancement and courage?  Seems that the koi, in order to spawn, must climb the fierce Yellow river.  Those that manage are blessed and transform into a dragon!  They are also totems for non-conformists and represent surpassing all expectations.  In feng shui, koi/fish are associated with abundance and prosperity and the belief that their energy will make income "float" (I’m assuming as in "go up" as opposed to the old "float" of kiting a check and hoping the money beat the check to the bank….much harder to do these days with electronics, unless you are trying to get a refund, in which case everyone still lives in the dark ages).

I have some running around to do this week to pick up work and then   a nice facial on Thursday (the nicest one – gift from Husband for xmas).  I hope I can get all the photos up on Sacred.  I need to change the size of the ones that are there, update them because all those pieces have amulets or necklaces I want to show with the piece, and I’m thinking about putting up the booklets, too.  I knew when I posted for Jan. 1 that I wasn’t all the way ready, but I’m learning that imperfection is okay, because there’s plenty more time and I can tweak things as I go.  This sure does take a lot of pressure off! 

I’m totally delighted with the glazed pieces that came out of the kiln this morning and can’t wait to share them with you (and post them on the Sacred website), and I may even get the first torso for "Body Politics" painted with chalkboard paint tonight.  She’s a pregnant torso, and I’m going to chalk "war zone" right across her belly.  I can’t thank Heather B. enough for starting me down this path, which I almost started with the torso, This is MY Body, but then I wanted to focus on retail, so nothing else came through.  It’s coming through now, loud and clear. 

Want to send along best wishes to Jana of Jana’s Journeys who got married this weekend.  May your new life help you grow and may it be more than you ever imagined possible.  She has wedding pictures up on her blog.

Alyson Stanfield has an interesting conversation going on at her blog, prompted by the provocative question: Is artwork marketable without talent?  Go join in!

On a sad and weird note:  as I was skimming leaves from the pond this morning, two frogs jumped from the edge into the water.  It’s January 8.  Dead of winter and these poor frogs are all mixed up.  They’re calling for 30 degree weather next week (60s today)…frogs are our canaries…something is very wrong with the mine.

thought for the day:  Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.  Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men [sic] with talent.  Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.  Persistence and determination are omnipotent.  The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.  Calvin Coolidge

Educational systems that give mixed messages about visual art have contributed to the shaping of a society of individuals who do not value or trust their own opinions and feelings about visual art.  As a result of the public’s intimidation of visual art and insecurity about their beliefs and feelings a power structure has developed within the art world comprised of intermediaries whom we have come to depend on as sources of truth.  We actually believe that good art can only be determined by the judgments and decision of art dealers, critics, curators, academics, and art administrators…If members of the public were self-confident about their preference sin art, the strength of the power structure would diffuse…If artists do not develop and expand meaningful goals and act on these goals, their careers will be formed, manipulated, and eventually absorbed by people who have goals that are meaningful to them.  Artists become a means to the ends of others.  Carroll Michels,  How to Survive & Prosper as an Artist:  Selling Yourself Without Selling Your Soul