did anyone else ~

get up too early this morning? argh! my son and i got up, started the a.m. ritual and then i realized that it was only 5:14!  i leave some clocks set to the old time for a bit, to remind me that when people start acting cranky it may be because their stomachs don't know we chose to change our clocks & they are hungry, or tired, etc... 

'i am always doing that which i cannot do,

in order that i may learn how to do it.'

~ pablo picasso

a big thanks to heather at humblebeads for firing up a lot of imaginations with her 5 challenges... i have now completed four of them and the fifth is firming up in my head... 

'fun with focals' day 4 - assignment - chain up your focal... 

i was feeling like constructing... started thinking of calder mobiles... 

einstein's ideas about relativity came to mind as i worked ~ beginning with 14 ga. copper wire seemed substantial, but then the wire wrapping, chain, and additions of dangles made the focal feel like a miniature ... pond leaf was created by mellisa at chinook jewelry design... the sterling flower tag from cathy dailey... and the copper peace tag was made by cindy at cindy's art & soul... then the piece tinkled as i worked on it, so i thought of wind chimes too... 

'pacifistic calder chime'

'fun with focals' day 2 - assignment - to use ribbon, thread or leather as a bail...

last weekend there was an open studio tour among a good number of ceramic artists... it was wonderful - complete with discounts, giveaways, peaks inside the studios ... i was a giveaway winner at pam's indian creek studios and received some wonderful pieces... when i saw the hand charm i knew it was the focal for this challenge... the perfect oxymoron - hard stoneware, and a glaze that makes it appear so very soft... and, afterall, it did raise its hand to ask, ever so politely!

the hand, to me, harkened back to ancient times... something that could be unearthed in a cave where the floor was covered with the debris of ages - leaves, twigs, stones... and so i used wool yarn, cotton yarn and embroidery floss together, pulled it through the pendant and then wrapped it around a copper bar... over that i used brass wire to wrap on stone, semi-precious stones, a twig, clay beads from kristie at artisan clay... i thought of the copper age... wo/man using simple tools of stone or copper... so i hammered out a couple of long copper links as well... also including some leather and spiral forms which are ancient symbols...

 'relic of the copper age'

and now, some mom guilt... for the first time, my middle child decided to go out with his friends for halloween... our family loves this holiday so he had a hard time, but it was nice for him... so i didn't get a picture of him on my camera because he cut out while i was finishing up on the other kids...

the zombie

and a battling gladiator

used all of the tips and observations i picked up at the zombie walk!

and for those who may have been wondering - zombies do like candy after dragging around the neighborhood!

have a creative day! and check your clocks - all of them! (even the ones that have the signal image that tell you they are correcting from the keeper of the 'real' time!)