Stories We Used to Tell About My Dad

   It’s hard to simplify stories sometimes.  They can be so complicated and convoluted.  Too many details and the story is lost, too much rambling and the story is forgotten before it’s finished.  But the stories we used to tell about my Dad (in his presence) were usually pretty simple.  We always told these stories whenever we had company for dinner.  Because they were funny and not very impressive and of course, we thought they should be shared.  Here’s one:

  My Dad was a great lecturer about being observant.  We kids weren’t always very aware, apparently, at least not to his standard so when one of us did something that exposed our inattention we would all get the lecture on being observant. 

  One time Dad was giving us this lecture at the dinner table.  “You kids need to be more observant”, he said.  “If you would pay more attention these things wouldn’t happen”, he went on as he reached for the French salad dressing.  “Blah blah blah”, he intoned, as he began to shake the salad dressing.  Off pops the lid on the dressing and bloosh!  French dressing is all over Dad.   Oh how we howled.  We were laughing all over ourselves with glee.  Of course the smart aleck kid (I’m not saying which one that was) points out to Dad that wasn’t very observant of him, and again, we are falling out of our chairs.  Dad harrrumphs mightily and we laugh on, silly over this new episode of quintessential Dad, knowing we now have a NEW story to tell visitors at our table…

  To this day,  I hear how observant I am. That’s not such a bad thing for an artist.  Thanks Dad.

Airport Carpets and Other Weird Things

  Well, I don’t know if anyone follows this little blog or not but if you do, you know that I wrote about my study of airport carpets.  I travel a lot to teach and so to amuse myself on the “road”, I started taking pix of carpets in airports and anywhere I happened to like the carpet.  Since I couldn’t very well take a square of carpet from wherever I was it seemed best to just take pictures. 

   It started in Seattle when I was on my way to teach at the University of New Mexico for an event called Art Universe some years ago.  A friend went with me and it made her laugh when I told her I was going to take pix of the floor.  I suppose she’s gotten used to me doing weird things like that.  We’ve traveled together before and roomed together at different events, too, so she knows just how silly I can get.

Hotel room carpet is busier then I am! Some day I will do an expose (expos-ay) on commercial carpets. What it will expose is still a mystery but I have discovered that these carpets, though functional, are busier then all get out. This carpet was in my hotel room in Miami 2008 at the Merchandise Mart Hotel there. That was a really lovely hotel but god forbid that you look at the carpet too much or you would never sleep. I spent a lot of time watching planes take off from my window in that room. It was interesting to be that close and not be able to hear anything of the planes. Was it because of the carpet?

 

     It’s in my nature to amuse myself.  I find a lot of ways to do this and have to say that I’m never bored.  Do I just think too much?  I want to know who gets to design these carpets?  Some of them are wild and just think, they’re long lasting and stand up to lots of traffic but who wants this carpet after 3 years? 

Orlando Airport Carpet

I really do wonder how long they last.

 Wouldn’t it be fun to come up with designs for an airport?  Or would that be one weird job?  I suppose  there is such a thing as a commercial interior designer who studies years of interior design to know which materials work best for which venues.  Then there are trends to know about too.   It would have to be in your nature to pursue this particular occupation…  I just find it interesting how many people are subjected to it and probably don’t even think about it.

Sharky Lets Go

  Okay, back to the adventures of Sharky Shark.

     After all of the rough treatment by the woodland animals, Sharky had no choice but to HOOEY the little mouse.  I think it was the electrical charge that got to him and he could only react.

Sharky HOOEYS out a mouse!

 

Sharky was stunned that the woodland animals would do such a thing.  He thought he understood their nature to be mild and submissive.  But what Sharky didn’t understand is that anyone will do whatever it takes to save someone or survive if they can just think quickly enough.  Sharky doesn’t understand that because his nature is pretty simple.  It’s all about being hungry and using teeth which is just a simpler way of being.  It is his nature.  He didn’t really mean any harm by it.  He has to eat is all.  It doesn’t mean that Sharky doesn’t like the woodland animals. 

  Interestingly, the woodland animals also still like Sharky!  They understand that his nature is to use those teeth, you see.  They knew it was just a matter of time before he tried to eat one of them but he amuses them so much that they don’t run away from him.  They like to take bets on what he’ll come up with next to try and lure a meal.  They think up scenarios that Sharky might come up with because thinking like him makes them laugh.  It is their nature to be amused and isn’t that good?  Good for them and good for Sharky, too.

Odd Bits I Wonder About

The Little House at Sheperd University, Sheperdstown, W. Virginia

 I wonder about odd little things like why did they build this little house? What was it for?  I love it and I’m glad they did.  Next time I’m at Sheperd University, I’ll go inside the Little House, if they let me.

     I’ve always been intrigued by small things.  Ask anyone that knows me: I even have a special laugh for little things.  It’s a little bit manaical, I’m told, but it makes everyone laugh.

    One of the odd bits I wonder about have to do with tea bags.  Every morning I make a cup of tea and I look at the little tab stapled to the string.  Have you ever seen that teeny tiny staple there?  I want that stapler!  OH the things I could do with a teeny tiny stapler like that.  I wonder if I should write to Lipton or another tea company and see if I could get a tour.  I just want to see the teeny stapler that does that staple. 

   There were 5 things that I woke up wondering about today and that staple was one of them.  I have a teeny stapler from a long time ago that is a tiny Swingline, I think.  It’s red.  I used to make tiny books with it when I was a kid.  I still use that stapler and it’s just a thin plastic one.  It’s lasted a long time.

  I also wonder why in the “old days” people needed tiny spoons to fill their salt shakers.  I used to love those eeny spoons when my Mom would pull out her good silver.  Who needs those spoons though?  I know I do, but just because they’re little.  When salt didn’t come in the pourable round box, how did it come?  I don’t know.

     I wondered how people could felt wool as much as fiber artists do until this last weekend.  I met a fiber artist at the Edmonds Arts Festival so I asked her.  She tells me that she felts with her feet!  That gave me renewed hope.  Maybe I can felt after all.

   I’ve often wondered about airport carpets.  How do they last the huge amount of traffic they have in the airport?  How come my carpet doesn’t last like that?  I started taking photos of airport carpets a number of trips ago because of this thought.  I also take pix of interesting hotel carpets though on the whole, they aren’t usually as fun – except in Florida.

Miami Merchant Mart Hotel, 2008

Sharky Reveals His Nature

Sharky Tries a Bite

  Well, getting back to old Sharky: he couldn’t contain himself any longer (he has no self control).  He had to bite and it has gotten him into trouble.  Sharky went for a little mouse and the other animals reacted very quickly.  They put together ways to apply electric shock and fire to try and get Sharky to spit out the little mouse.  They even had sticks to help him make a better choice.

Mousey Takes Revenge

   Piggy event hit Sharky with a pan and a crystal weapon  until Sharky spit out Little Mousey.  But don’t be fooled.  Sharky’s nature is to bite and eat whatever he can.  He’s never thought about his nature or that maybe there is another way to live.  Sharky can’t really put that together very well in his head because he is just a stomach with fins. 

   So take pity on Sharky, animal friends.  He doesn’t know any better.  He’s hard wired to use all those teeth, rows upon rows of teeth.  He has a need to bite and eat all the time and he was made to be kinda scary.   He thinks that is the only way to be.

Sharky Tries to Be a Boa Constrictor

 

Something My Mother Told Me

    I remember something my Mother told me many years ago:  the look on people’s faces when they’re not thinking about anything particular  reveals their nature.   She pointed to someone whose mouth turned down when not really focused on anything.  I understood this and later I learned, it doesn’t hold true.  I know now that  genetics comes into play for how our faces settle when not emoting.  I understood that my Mother may have revealed more about herself by saying this to me then she was telling about others as she meant it to.   I often find that we tell more about ourselves then we want others to know in this way.

   One of the things that I love about artists is the nature of their curiosity and what inspires them.  The love of  those AHA! moments, heart touches, processes and doors.  YUP, doors.  Doors that open on new worlds, inspirations, ideas.  Doors that make our world expand.  Just plain doors.  Artists are always being inspired, seek it, wish it, dream it and breathe it.  I understand that. 

Marie Segal at Dulles Airport being inspired in a river of inspiration called Life.

   Walking through Dulles airport my friend Marie and I saw amazing art: mosaics and even an interactive, giant, flat, screen t.v. wall. 

    In this hallway that looked like a river to me, I had to stop and take some pix.  The floor looks like water and actually what flows through there is people.  It was inspiring to me.  On the wall  were large light box posters, one of which had this beautiful young girl’s face.  It was arresting.   Marie had to take a picture of the picture.  So I took a picture of her in the river hallway as she took her shot.  Yeah, I was taking a picture of someone taking a picture of a picture. But it was an image that I have chosen not to forget just as Marie chose not to ever forget the image of the girl’s face.  See?  We’re artists, inspired by many things and always seeking inspiration in little and big ways.   Sometimes things we do or say are a door to our nature.  Sometimes there are doors that we don’t see even as we are passing through them. 

Laughter is Our Business: Introducing Sharky Shark

   When one of my brothers lived with us he was often heard to comment that he thought we (my husband and I) are crazy.  I admit that both of us do create a lot of humor just naturally around the house and in our world.  It delights us and there isn’t anything we like much better then to laugh or make others laugh.  We often have a little contest to see who can make the check out clerk laugh first or best.   Laughter is our business.

  So in comes Sharky our resident pet shark.  Sharky was given to me by my dear friend Ann (she tortures me with orange but that’s another story!).  Sharky is a fairly menacing rubber shark of small proportion but large dreams. Yes, really.      Sharky calls our bathroom home.  Some days Sharky just hangs out but his favorite thing to do is act like a big shark (unlike the small shark that he really is).  Sharky spends an inordinate amount of time practicing his menacing skills to prove that he is a big shark.  I’m sure that when we’re not in there, he is watching himself in the mirror practicing his gaping maw look or how to have mean furled eyebrows.  Really he’s just a rubber boy.

  One day, Sharky decided he wanted to eat the other animals that pop up in our world once in awhile.  Sharky thought he would be helpful toward that end and make some suggestions to them for a cook out.  

Sharky brought all the pots and pans that he thought might be needed.  He thought this might fool them into thinking he was more civilized then he really is.

 But of course, Sharky has no idea what to do with  all the parts that come with the pots and pans…

  Because of this, the woodland animals, being a smart bunch, knew that Sharky’s nature was really just hungry.  They knew that the  type of hungry in Sharky’s nature was  that he would eat anything without bothering to cook it first.  This is the way of a shark, after all.  The big tip off, of course, was that Sharky thought the pot lids were supposed to be hats and he couldn’t stop himself from trying to eat a pot!

   After all, what are all those teeth for anyway if not to bite things?  Stay tuned for more of Sharky’s Adventures in the Vortex!

Creative Queens Like Susan Zacher

Creative Queen Puzzle Pin

At the Polymer Clay and Mixed Media Retreat there were many demos.  Susan Zacher put together a make and take and brought everything that we needed to do it. She  supplied 200 puzzle pieces that she painted  with Lumiere paints in different colors (she wanted to be sure there would be enough for everyone!).  She brought stamp inks, glitter glues, charms, buttons,  vintage pictures of movie stars and sayings – everything, absolutely everything we needed to create pins or pendants or ornaments. 

  Susan patiently helped each person as they appeared at the table, showing them all of the things she brought for us  to work with.  These are the pix of the pins that I made, thanks to Susan Zacher.  This was a lot of fun!!

Puzzle Pins Meredith Made.

 

The pin on the left in this picture now says ‘I’ll create my life  dammit’ on it.   Marie popped out that it “needs to say dammit!  I’ll ask Meta to calligraph that for you!” and so Meta did.  It’s vampy and hilarious, a bit comic book-esque or Lichtenstein-ish.  It makes me laugh out loud and I’m so glad to have been part of this project.  Thank you Susan Zacher!  It was a pleasure and we do love you.  How could we not? Your nature is amazingly generous and fun!!    xxooo

The Nature of Things

Artists Meta Strick, Ann Bowers and Heidi Spicer

    Don’t these pixie women look like they’re having fun???  It’s in their nature!  Notice that Meta’s and Heidi’s tee shirts are handpainted?  They each have their own work on their clothes.  This is truly wearable art, created and worn at the The Polymer Clay Collaborative and Mixed Media Retreat.  I painted one with two red cardinals on it to commemorate my first sighting of a cardinal one morning at this retreat.  Wow, what a pretty bird!

  Meta and Heidi taught the mixed media dolls workshop that I talked about before.  Both women are amazing mixed media artists.  Meta teaches art academically in Vermont and Heidi is an O.R. Surgical Nurse. They’re full of creativity and fun.  I was inspired to just be sitting near them the whole week.  Be sure to see Meta’s website (www.metastrick.com) sometime.

  Ann taught a lot of classes: PMC and paper marbling to name two.  This lady is very talented.  Her students were all extremely pleased and their results were really worth seeing.  I didn’t get to see Ann as much because she was teaching so much but she is a kick.  I love her attitude and wish I could have spent more time with her. It’s in her nature to say what she thinks and I like that a lot. It’s an honest way of being.

  

Marie Segal teaching tricks on polymer clay with paints, powders and inks.

  This is my sister friend, Marie, teaching at the retreat.  I took her class on paints, powders and inks because she is the Mother of polymer clay in the United States.  I’m not kidding.  She and Howard have been working with polymer clay and selling polymer clay and supplies for decades (about 30 years).   Marie’s website (www.mariesegal.com) and Howard’s clay supply (www.clayfactory.net) are two places that I visit often.   I just coordinated a group order from the Clay Factory for the N.W. Polymer Clay Guild members (www.nwpcg.org).  Howard has it set up so that ordering things in multiples gets you a discount.  We ended up ordering over $200 worth of stuff.  Howard pays the shipping if you order over $150 worth of stuff so every member saved the $10 in shipping they would have paid for an individual order, $4 for a certain item and of course, tax.   So considering how money is for everyone these days, think about talking to your friends or whatever group you belong to before ordering any supplies.  At the very least, you can save on shipping and tax.  

  OH by the way, I was referred to a hilarious blog by Syd Wellman, one of the PCCMM Retreat organizers.  Check it out: http://margaretandhelen.wordpress.com/

  I love it when someone speaks their mind like these two women.  I’m sure their names are on a list somewhere but do know that who so ever is passionate about keeping lists like that is suspect.  It may be in their nature, to be sure, but more about ones nature later.

The Polymer Clay and Mixed Media Retreat in W. Virginia

What an incredible event this was!  I can hardly believe it’s over already though.  It went by too fast.

  I landed in Chicago slightly ahead of my friend Marie so I snagged a place for us to sit at the gate for our flight to D.C.  Marie found me and how fun that was! It’s been 3 yrs. since we’ve actually seen each other, but we keep in touch almost on a daily or weekly basis.  We blabbed the whole 2.5 hrs. to D.C. without stopping (not unusual!).  As Marie said later about our blabbing constantly: we don’t see each other enough, Mer!

  We got our rental car and headed out into the big world of freeways in Washington D.C.  After only one missed exit, we found our way to Sheperdstown, W. Virginia via a lush and lovely rural drive.  We found out on Sat. when we were on our way back to Dulles to go home that we had somehow missed a freeway that we were supposed to take to get to the event.  We still don’t know how we got to the right place regardless!  I was the navigator and all I can say is that we must be magic.

  The people at the mixed media retreat are all incredibly talented and the variety of skills was amazing.  There were dollmakers, paper and fiber artists, polymer clayers and beaders.  It was really cool to see everyone’s work, their stuff for sale and what they were working on.  This was a *really* great group of people to kick loose with and I’ll never forget it. The authenticity, hilarious shenanigans, incredible demos and classes, generosity and interesting conversations will remain in my memory as one of the really special times in my life.  I wouldn’t miss this event for the world!

  I took a mixed media dollmaking class with Heidi Spicer and Meta Strick.  I met Heidi years ago at a Ravensdale polymer clay conference and we really hit it off. I could tell that we were simpatico and so have kept track of her ever since.  When I saw her name connected to this event, I was sold.  I didn’t know Meta but I should have known that if Heidi was co-teaching with Meta there would be something special there – and indeed there is!  Meta teaches academic arts classes at a community college in Vermont and she makes dolls, carves faces in wood, owns a band saw, paints like crazy, and told us in her intro that she couldn’t learn another new thing. HAH! 

 I had the pleasure of having some really good chats with Meta since we were sitting back to back in the work area.  As we chatted, she painted.  She painted on a paper doll she was making (mine now!), she painted on canvas these amazing faces, canvas after canvas (5×5’s I think), she painted on t-shirts and we talked.  Meta is a kick and a woman definitely worth knowing.

  In the dollmaking class, Heidi and Meta brought a variety of dolls they had made to show and talk about. Meta showed her painted wooden dolls with carved faces, found object dolls, mixed media dolls and more.  Heidi had wire frame dolls that were wrapped in cast padding and covered in Coban – she works as a surgical OR Nurse so uses what she knows!  It was great to take a class and really great to take a class from these gals.  Their talent, enthusiasm, and energy inspired me.  I now have a wire frame, naked doll sans head, hands and feet!  I also have a wooden doll form with simple carved face to work on at some point.

  A little about Sheperd University: they have their own bowling alley complete with pinball machines and pool tables all in the Student Center.  The Student Center is where our community work area was, meals in the dining hall and also our classes.  They even had the old red and green bowling shoes that I’ve been looking for all these years.  I wish I had thought to ask them where they got them.  NEXT year!

   I’ll get my pix downloaded so I can post them next time.