World Traveler

Well friends and neighbors, it's that time of the year again. Time to take the show on the road and make my annual trek to Asia. My day job, for a large outerwear/snow sport manufacturer, sends me to mainland China and Taiwan, about this time very year to finish up the development cycle and put our products in to bulk production.

My job, as a Technical Design Supervisor is to oversee all the specifications for fit and construction of our outerwear lines. I work with a fantastic team of people who help me make pattern corrections, fit styles on a live model, advise sizing specification and work out all details of quality for each garment we manufacture.

This year we have add two new cities to our tour. For the first time I will be headed to Vietnam and Bangladesh to work with facilities there. It should be a very exciting learning experience. I am looking forward to working with this group and to the inspiration each country will reveal.

So, until I return, my best wishes for a safe and happy holiday.

(re)focus

"One day seven years ago I found myself saying to myself — I can't live where I want to — I can't go where I want to go — I can't do what I want to — I can't even say what I want to … I decided I was a very stupid fool not to at least paint as I wanted to." Georgia O'Keefe, 1923

A friend and fellow artist recently posted this on her blog. She is going to a very rough time in her life, and had been inspired by the quote. She realized she had to get back to the things that filled her life with joy. Taking some time for herself and making art was something she could control. It is the thing realized she had the most power over, in what surely feels like a chaotic and difficult existence.

I found the O'Keefe quote resounded with me as well. Just yesterday, it occurred to me that I had not worked on a "real" piece of art in almost a month. My life has been so jammed packed with the stresses of raising two children, taking care of our home, and going to work everyday at my very demanding job. I had started to forget what gave me joy. I had started to become an angry, stressed out human who lacked any connection to her true self.

Last night, I took the dog for a walk up Sunset Hill. The moon was rising above the clouds, the air was cold on my face, but invigorating. I had Kate Bush, Aerial, pumping from my ipod as we reached the top of the hill turned and looked down on the city of Burlington, the lake and the mountain beyond. It was so breath-takingly still in the darkness. I felt so overcome with possibility and verve.

I knew then, (what I still am holding tightly now,) that no matter what the future brings, I will survive. I will make it through all the trials and tribulations. The stress and the pressure of the mundane melted away, and in the end, only I remained. I walked back down to our house feeling a renewed sense of focus and determination. I started working on some new art pieces and found I felt better.

This is not to say that I have erased all my negative thoughts and anxieties. Those things are hard to wipe out of your mind when they are deeply etched there. But I feel lighter and more present. So that's a start, and there's a beauty in that, that no one can touch or take away from me.

the physical proportions of the typical man

Been busy with things that life seems to be throwing at me the past few weeks. i will have to post photos of the closing reception for the SPACE Gallery, Oh The Horror show. The party was this Saturday and was a blast! It was wonderful to be on display in that space. Thanks so much to Christy and Beth for having me in the show.

I've been gearing up for another craft show this weekend. I've heard through the grape vine that its a great venue, so I am really looking forward to it. Been making some new pieces. Included in what's drying right now is this great collage that is on the cover of a lined journal- The Physical Proportions of the Typical Man.

The Craft show is this Saturday, Nov 7th, at Williston Central School on Rt 2, Williston, VT. 9-4 PM. If you are in the area stop by and say hello!