January means…

1. Winter weather

We got a Royal Sh*tkicking aka old-fashioned snow storm that started on the 1st of January and didn’t stop until sometime in the wee hours of January3. Two full days of snow, wind, some rain and more snow. We started to dig out on Saturday the 2nd and realized it was pointless as the white stuff was coming down almost as fast as we could plow/shovel. By Sunday, the temperatures were hovering around the freezing mark making for some VERY heavy snow and within 10 minutes of shoveling my pathways I’d put my back out. Niiiicccee!

2. Back to routines abandoned – morning walks

I’m becoming less enamoured with holiday excess. Even though we’ve cut way back in recent years – starting our celebrations on Winter Solstice(Dec 21) and pretty much winding it up by my birthday (Dec 28 – my 50th this year!) – a week of overindulgence is probably 6 days too many. As such, I’m thrilled beyond belief when school goes back and routines return to normal. Wrecked back notwithstanding, I’ve jumped back on the exercise/nutrition bandwagon and am much happier for it!

3. Sticking to resolutions – more photos

Part of the reason I don’t post as often as I’d actually like  is that I feel somehow that I’m cheating you all if I don’t have pretty things for you to look at while you’re reading. Maybe that’s silly. Maybe you really like reading what I write. But just in case you need shiny things, I feel it necessary to accommodate. Even though I’m not getting quite as much studio time as I’d like (read: studio=COLD; Stella=attention span of a gnat) I can still show you my world. So one of my intentions in 2010 is to take my camera with me more often.

4. 100 Artists Show – this year the theme of  Nourish & Sustain

As I wrote in my Artist Statement for this piece, titled “Teach A Man To Fish”, I explored my whimsical side when creating this. Each artist was sent a tin can (tomato or apple juice can size … 16oz??) in the mail with something sealed inside. As soon as I realized the contents were 2 bean seeds, the Chinese Proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” immediately came to mind. I also explored a technique I’d seen in Art Jewelry for the fish giving some movement to the piece. I don’t know if I’ll do anything else like this. But it sure was fun exploring my less than dark side!

And just in case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve posted “One Heart ? One World“‘s banner over there on the lefthand side. I hope to have something special made for the giveaway by the time it starts on January 25. This will be my first time participating. It should be fun!