Happy New Year and Courage

 

   We’ve been “mucking out the stall” for the last few weeks now for a party with our relatives. I can’t remember the last time we had people over officially and things have piled up around us for quite some time now.   I don’t think I’ve seen so much floor in this house since a few years after we moved in over 20 years ago – what a great way to start a New Year.  It’s like having a whole new house!

  The clearer view of our abode got me thinking today about courage.  It takes courage just to say you’re an artist much less be one.  It takes courage to do what you want with your work and show it, too.  But when thinking about courage, I was struck by a thought about how it takes more courage to say ‘no’ when those around you are telling you ‘yes’ than it does to say ‘yes’ when others are telling you ‘no’. Does that make sense?   It seems so much easier to always say ‘yes’.

  Anyway, I say yes to the New Year in a couple of ways: yes to all of the possibilities the new year holds, yes to showing you care and ultimately a big YES to owning your life, taking it and running with it as much as you can.

  Make the most of it all and see you next year!

Holidays and Adventures

   It started on the evening of Thanksgiving when leaving my brother’s house.  We all went outside to bid goodbye and there was my car all decked out on the inside with Christmas lights! Everyone laughed and no one was more surprised than I was.

  Every year before Thanksgiving I over enthusiastically point out all of the Christmas lights I see to my husband. He plays strict with me and admonishes, “But what about Thanksgiving? You have to wait”.  But this year he said that I had been very, very good…so he made sure I would have Christmas lights (in the car) on Thanksgiving night.   We drove to the ferry dock with the lights on. People flashed their high beams at us, the ferry worker in the ticket booth smiled and laughed, and when driving onto the ferry the other workers gave us the thumbs up. What a kick and it was only fitting that the car we have named “The Queen” would be decorated for the holidays.

  Last week I visited my friend, Lynne Kelly, at her cabin up towards the pass. There was snow on the ground and it was snow and rain mixed but cold enough so that the snow on the ground wasn’t melting. The woods were really pretty anyway. We spent the day yakking, eating a great snow day type lunch (grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup!), and making Christmas presents. Lynne is very authentic and creative. It was nice to spend a day in her space. I drove home after dark and pretty much sang Christmas songs all the way home.

  We went to my folks on that same island on Christmas Eve and stayed overnight.  In the morning the birds were feeding like crazy outside because it was cold and snowing. Very unusual to have snow by the salt water like that. And the birds always tell you what the weather will be like. We watched Juncos, Chickadees, Flicker and Downy woodpeckers eat at the feeders on the deck. Down in the yard there was an entire covey of quail eating seed that fell down there! That was really cool – they’re so cute with their bobbing head feathers.
When we were leaving last night we got to hear two great horned owls having a conversation in the night woods. It was awesome.  If you have never heard large owls like this then you have missed out on something really special. What a gift.

On the way to the ferry I caught sight of a deer on the side of the road. Once home, we found snow on our cars and in the yards. It turned out to be one of five times in a hundred years that there was snow on Christmas day in Seattle and we pretty much missed it. Still and all, we got to experience other gifts.  What treasure.

Missing My Work…

   

 A polymer clay book, refillable bound,
displayed at the Miniature Book Society Conclave in October.                              

A miniature coptic bound book, 2″ x 2″,
displayed at the Miniature Book Society Conclave in October.

  Both of the books above have gone missing along with two other books that I made.  I had not gotten pictures of one of the missing books – a house book – that I made at ArtFest last Spring. It was my newest book and wasn’t finished yet.  I wrote a poem inside about the loss of my daughter and just losing people in general. Now I’ve lost the book. I wish I had taken pictures. I hope whoever got my books can enjoy them knowing how sad this has made me. I will never be able to finish the book that I started, for one, not to mention that it makes it very difficult to display art work when it goes missing like that.
  I feel sad for whoever has to take the books, too. If you asked, I probably would have made you a book for nothing.

  See the other missing books on my website:
www.mereditharnold.com/gallery