PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe and DolphinSmile Studio

2012-01-16T09:12:00.000-08:00

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Thirteen Threads from the Wild Heart Interview

2011-03-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

http://thirteenthreadsfromthewildheart.com/?p=1839

What a ride to be interviewed by Lulu Red. She started this wild blog on her birthday in January, and it explores 13 threads of creativity. This month's theme is LOOP, and what a fun experience to think about the creative loops we all travel on our artist paths. Lulu Red (Donniece Smith) is an entertaining writer, and painter & jewelry & fabric designer & collage paster & wild cowgirl.

http://thirteenthreadsfromthewildheart.com/?p=1839

Mama Rio

2011-02-23T12:17:00.000-08:00

Our old adobe home is located near the Rio Grande, close enough to see her waters glinting through the winterbare willows and cottonwoods. We stay pretty close to home most days, fishing and photographing the river, making art, watching the ever changing sky and land. Once a week or so we drive up the highway to Taos to visit the hardware store or down the mountain to Dixon's co-op and magnificent community library. On rare occasions we drive to Santa Fe to pay homage to Trader Joe. We did that this morning, and it dawned on me that when I travel too far from the Rio Grande, I really miss her. She is a big mama river, and I just feel better when I'm close to her. This surprised me as we drove back up the canyon. I saw myself craning to see the first view of her as we passed the Velarde orchards, then breathed a sigh of relief when the highway sidled up to her near Embudo. Home, again, in the arms of my mama rio.

When we lived on the California coast, I enjoyed seeing and hearing the ocean nearby, but this feeling for my mama is different, more visceral, more intimate. I'm just learning about this connection, and I suspect that my mama will be teaching me more about it, day by day.

2010-08-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

We're here, in our new old adobe home in Pilar, New Mexico. It seems like we've been moving forever, and we are far from being moved in....there is a sea of boxes still to be unpacked. But we are here. And it feels good.

Solstice Greetings!

2010-06-21T14:32:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends of DolphinSmile Studio and the Sacred Heart Cafe,
Wishing you the fullness of summer's promise on the longest day of the year! I'm writing to share the some wonderful news: my husband Bruce and I have purchased a charming adobe home in the Land of Enchantment, near Taos, above the Rio Grande. It is our retirement dream come true, and we plan to move around August 1.
Our Tierra Nueva home is for sale and we are actively looking for a buyer, or if need be, someone to lease our home. For those of you who have been my loyal customers at my Open Studio Tours for eight years, you are familiar with Tierra Nueva's amazing resources. The Gudrun Hus where I held four of my studio tours is an art/yoga/dance studio available for use of the residents. We live in the midst of an organic avocado orchard, in walking distance to the Rutiz Family Farm next to Halcyon. Here is a description of our home's listing and more information about living in community at Tierra Nueva Home for Sale.
If you know of someone who may be interested in purchasing or leasing our home please forward this link to them. Thank you so much!
I have transitioned my business to become more internet based in the past few years, with my shop at 1000 Markets and an active FaceBook page where I post new listings and photos of my art.
I promise to stay in touch with you with quarterly emails like this one, on the Solstices and Equinoxes. And please remember that I would love to hear from you via email or FaceBook (link below).
My days are filled with time in my Halcyon pottery studio, finishing up the last of my pottery orders. I am still heart-deep in my love affair with mica clay from New Mexico, as you can see from my shop photos. My lastest work includes teapots, teabowls and "Blessing Bread Bowls" for baking bread.
All the blessings of summer to you: long, warm days of bright light, time with family and friends, vacation adventures and sitting on the porch under the stars! And once again, my deep gratitude for all of your generous support for me as I walk my artist's path,
warmly, PattyMara

I'm the Featured Seller on Craft is Art!

2010-05-03T13:18:00.000-07:00

By Gustavo on May 3, 2010

Amazing Pattymara

The title of this article says it all, and I could not be more satisified with the outcome of this interview. I contacted her a few weeks ago asking if she would be interested in being featured as the "Featured Seller", and she said yes!. I wanted to prepare a more personalized interview for her, as I do with everyone else, but being completely honest, with so little time in my hands working on Craft Is Art, I decided to tweak one of the interviews I had made before so I could feature her. She managed to make of this interview a magical one; her wisdom, talent and experience are expressed in every single word of this interview, I could read it over and over again. I am truly honored and grateful for her willingess to take the time to do this interview.
No more introduction, you know her, I give you... Pattymara:
Please, tell us about yourself?

I'm a potter, painter of silk, horder of handmade papers, gardener and heart rock collector. I've been a potter since I wandered into a pottery studio at UC Santa Cruz over forty years ago. I learned to paint silk about twenty years ago. I've been fusing glass for five years. I've loved poetry and collage for as long as I can remember. I'm married to an artist/photographer/fisherman and we shake our heads in wonder and pride as we watch our two adult children make the world a better place. We are native Californians who are planning a move this summer to our adobe home near the Rio Grande in New Mexico. I aspire to learning how to be a beekeeper.
What are your hobbies?
Hobbies! What a concept. If hobbies means something I do for fun, separate from my work, then it would be baking bread from the most wholesome locally grown ingredients possible. For me these days, that means organic whole wheat grown about twenty minutes east of my home at a farm where I assisted at two homebirths. It means organic eggs from my friend Birgit's chickens. I'm a pretty good cook and baker. OK, I'm a foodie. The first improvements we made to our adobe home is to build a greenhouse, to grow food year round. Next will be an horno, an adobe outdoor oven for baking.
What is(are) your specialty(ies)?

Apple Tart (especially when I'm harvesting apples from my orchard in Pilar, New Mexico) and Pesto.

Oh! You mean ART specialties? Sometimes I get food and art confused. I think of my art studio as a cafe, serving up nourishing art to feed the hungry heart. My daily specials at the Sacred Heart Cafe are mica pottery from New Mexico clay, painted silk banners which usually have a poem or inspirational saying written on them, poetry collage books, artist cards, jewelry.
Please tell us about your beginnings, how did it all start?
My mom gave me piles of butcher paper, crayons, paints, paper scraps, paste, multicolored telephone wires, magazines to cut up. I was encouraged and applauded as an artist since I was a tiny girl. And she took us all camping every summer of our lives. I never stopped making art as I grew up. I also cooked for my large Sicilian Catholic/Norwegian Lutheran family since I was in fifth grade, when my mom went back to work in the early sixties. I studied anthropology in college, got my BA in it, but really took more art classes than anything else, and have worked as a freelance studio artist for most of my adult life as an illustrator, potter, painter.

Where and/or how do you find inspiration?
Outdoors, hands in soil. Feet in rivers, wading, fishing, paddling. Climbing rocks to find petroglyphs. Landforms, caves, canyons, moonrise, dawn, twilight. Meteor showers. Birdsong. Heart rocks. Word play. Songs. Moths, bees, dragonflies, raven, dolphin, whale, rainbow trout.
When you are not creating, what do you do?
Most of my days, these days since my children are out in the world on their own, I have the great freedom to make art all day long. When my children were young, it seemed the only time I had was in the wee hours of night ("mama time"). To be painting by daylight is a blessed event, or working in my pottery studio in the sunshine. If I'm not making art, I tend my flowers and my garden. I walk to a nearby farm to buy the most succulent berries and vegetables grown on this earth. I spend too much time in front of this computer screen. I go on treasure hunts at local thrift shops and am often rewarded.
How do you promote your work?
Mostly my customers do that for me. They just keep coming back for more, and they tell their friends about my art. I've participated in our local Open Studio Tour for eight years, and am signed up to do the Studio Tour this fall in own new tiny town in New Mexico. People come and see my work, and they try it....then come back for seconds and thirds. I do have my work in a couple of galleries, one all the way up in Alaska, but mostly I sell online. I'm not very skilled at the social networking technologies yet, but Facebook has been interesting to dip my toes into for sharing my art with a larger circle of customers. I think the best promotion is to always make art that is joyful to make, to look at, to give as a gift. Then, the work promotes and sells itself, sending out an energy wave of delight. Really, it does, I'm not being glib.
What would you recommend to new handmade sellers?
Fill your art with Spirit, with your best talents, thoughts and wishes. Chant or pray while you work. The prayers, the good wishes will infuse your art with good medicine. Make something meaningful. No throwaways. Make something that lasts, that uses supplies that are earth friendly. Know where your supplies come from. Is the earth damaged when they are created or mined or manufactured? Use what you have at hand, REuse everything at hand.

Team up with other artists who share your heartview. Find ways to support and encourage and promote your art together. Collaborate with them, merging your skills to make beautiful creations. I'm currently collaborating with Mannybeads. I make the teapots, she stacks cairns of turquoise to serve as the knobs on the lids.

Befriend your customers with respectful attention, and careful packaging (recycled or repurposed if possible!). Listen to them, ask them for feedback, shower them with attention.
Anything else you would like to say?
Be kind to one another. Buy art from other handmade artisan shops. In my profile photo I'm wearing a "mantle" from OnSlenderThreads. It is one of my most cherished possessions, exquisitely crafted, redolent with lovingkindness. Buy supplies from small shops too. Why give Walmart money when you can send some along to a small artisan shop? Like DyeDianaDye who dyes silks, cuts it into strips and makes the most fascinating silken "yarn". I buy my clay from native potters in New Mexico who hand dig the clay with deep respect for the Mother.

Like my friend the Dalai Lama says "Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon." I'd say the same about art. Keep learning new skills and techniques. Let your art branch out to unexplored territory. Add new spices. Stir often. Savor.
Pattymara on CraftIsArt.com

PattyMara's DolphinSmile Studio: Freshly Baked Bread in a Mica Bleassing Bowl from the Sacred Heart Cafe!

2010-05-01T06:47:00.000-07:00

I baked four loaves of bread yesterday. Two in standard baking pans and two in mica clay blessing bowls. What a lovely globe of golden bread emerged from each of the bowls! A bowl for baking bread? Yes! Because mica clay is ovenware, you may bake bread in mica pottery bowls. And so I did, using an heirloom Sonoma whole wheat flour grown locally at the Huasna Valley Farm, owned by my friends Ron and Jen. I consulted my favorite bread recipe of all time from the Tassajara Bread Book by Ed Espe Brown, a Zen monk. If you have a desire to learn to mix, fold, knead, shape and bake exquisite breads, this is the book for you. The basic bread recipe has 14 pages of clear instructions, each step illustrated with pen and ink drawings. It will teach anybody to bake bread. Try it! http://www.shambhala.com/html/catalog/items/isbn/978-1-59030-704-5.cfm

Recently I had the good fortune to meet Ed at a book signing of his reprinted Tassajara Bread Book. I brought my battered (literally!) book for him to sign, and bought the new edition as well. When I asked him what the difference was between the two editions, he said with great solemnity "The new one has chocolate (pointing to the new hardcover) and this one doesn't (pointing to my antique, bedraggled paperback from 1970)". But he signed each book with a tender personal message in a slow and mindful penmanship, careful loops, full of grace. I felt a dharma transmission from my bread baking guru that night as his pen slowly formed each letter in his notes to a stranger.

Here's one of Ed's poems:

The truth is you're already a cook.
Nobody teaches you anything,
but you can be touched, you can be awakened.
Put down the book and start asking,
"What have we here?"

Though recipes abound, for soups and salads,
breads and entrées, for getting enlightened
and perfecting the moment, still
the unique flavor of Reality
appears in each breath, each bite,
each step, unbounded and undirected.

Each thing just as it is,
What do you make of it?

Edward Espe Brown

~~

About my Mica Blessing Bowls:

Food can be a sacrament when baked with Love, and served in Beauty. Holy Food deserves a mica clay blessing bowl. An elegantly shaped bowl luminous with mica and blessed with magnificent fire clouds, where no glaze chemicals were used. The clay is a tawny russet, infused with a constellation of mica stars. The smoke patterns from the final pit fire, are called fire clouds. A mica blessing bowl is mesmerizing as you gaze into the starry universe of its interior curve.

The Sacred Heart Cafe has two of these bowls suitable for baking tasty loaves:
"Magma" http://www.1000markets.com/users/pattymara/collections/3076/products/71014

"Calico" http://www.1000markets.com/users/pattymara/collections/11631/products/114421

They are kiln mates, born from the same litter of New Mexico clay.

Freshly Baked Bread in a Mica Bleassing Bowl from the Sacred Heart Cafe!

2010-04-30T08:10:00.000-07:00

April Musings

2010-04-21T10:41:00.000-07:00

April is my birthday month, and of course, my favorite month. Gardening, loving the longer days of spring light, throwing pots in my studio and cleaning/shedding/packing for our move to New Mexico in the summer. We harvested our winter potatoes yesterday, and tomorrow I'll be planting organic romaine, basil and tomato starts. Many orders are flowing in to DolphinSmile Studio, and I'm dodging April showers to throw and trim and polish the mica pottery.

2010-02-12T12:52:00.000-08:00

New painted silk Artist Card Originals, each with their own poem.

Taken by Surprise into the Arms of the Sisterhood

2010-01-27T08:48:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, I received this luminous mantle named Flamingo Sky, from my two sister friends Diana and Kay. It has set my heart aloft, coming at a time of need. Diana (www.dyedianadye.1000markets.com) dyed the silk, stripped and spliced it into long feathery tendrils and mailed it all to Kay (www.onslenderthreads.1000markets.com) who then designed and knit a most wondrous mantle, added long wingtip featherings of silk strips and chose numinous gemstones: pink agate druzy and quartz. The addition of the gemstones adds a curious design feature...they weight the garment, settle it into place. My favorite way to wear it is with one jeweled wing at my back, and one over my heart. When I move, the gemstones gently rock against my body, reminding me of their healing presence.

I won the prize for best newlestter design on 1000 Markets!

2009-11-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

1000 Markets ran a contest recently and I won! My newsletter design was chosen as the best, and I am so proud. It was fun to make using their new template for email newsletters, but WINNING the prize is as good as it gets! I got a $100 gift certificate for anything my heart desired at 1000 Markets. What a joy! This is prize that I have chosen from "OnSlenderThreads" http://www.1000markets.com/users/onslenderthreads, a hand knit mantle that I have been wistfully watching for months...knit with handspun merino, bamboo, and silk noils. It's soft and warm with beadrops of carnelian and carved jade that give purity, protection, vitality, and energy stabilization. Isn't she luminous and sentient?

So....then.....while I await her arrival I found these perfect leggings from DyeDianaDye's shop, and I decided to jump on them and put them in my cart, because I knew they wouldn't last long in the "Succulent Wive's Holiday Gift Guide" http://www.1000markets.com/groups/thesucculentwife/collections/16643/products/105444

Perfect right?

Then add my ruby and freshwater pearl earrings from "Izis" http://www.1000markets.com/users/izis

I am glowing just thinking about wearing these hand made, heart infused beauties. Next on my list of gifts to myself is a ruby and citrine necklace from Mannybeads, http://www.1000markets.com/users /mannybeads

Going Within for the Holidays

2009-11-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

With my Day of the Dead Hospice show completed, I'm looking forward to a slower pace for the upcoming holiday season. For the first time in over twenty years, I'm not doing a holiday showcase or sale, and I am jumping for JOY. It feels like a gift to myself, to focus on going within, taking time to soak in the silence. Here is my holiday wish for myself and you, dear Reader:

May this season of Silence bring us closer to the heart of Nature, closer to our Heart's Desire, closer to the spring of inspiration that nourishes our Soul. May we find solace in Simplicity, comfort in one another. May we find time to enjoy the gifts already in our lives.

Equinox Blessings and Happy Autumn

2009-09-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

There's a crisp chill in the air and September is gone so swiftly. My garden is still pumping out tomatoes and basil and leeks and eggplant, and I'm roasting vegies for maranara ssuce for the winter.

Hello and bright fall blessings to you! I've got some news to share and an upcoming show at Hospice of San Luis Obispo

After eight years of participating in the Open Studio Tour, I have decided to take a wee break. I have been stocking my online shop at 1000 Markets with over one hundred works of art, including my pottery, painted silks, Day of the Dead festival ware, jewelry and collage. This year, since I'm not doing Open Studio, I will be setting up a gallery show of my art at Hospice for two weeks, from October 19 - November 3. I invite you all to see my work there. Follow this link for date, times and a map to Hospice of San Luis Obispo I will donate a portion of my sales to Hospice in deep gratitude for the healing work they do every day.

I have created custom art for many of you, and am available to creating your heart's desire for holiday gifts or something special for your home or office.

Drop me a note; I love hearing from you!

All the best, PattyMara

Day of the Dead Art with FREE Shipping!

Day of the Dead and Halloween Skull Mug: "Spiral Eyes" $22.00	Ceramic "Sugar Skull" Wall Mask for Day of the Dead, Custom Order $75.00	Dear Friend Ofrenda Tile and Family Tiles Too $15.00	Heavenly Fishing Day of the Dead Ceramic Tile $20.00
Ofrenda Tiles for Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Brother and Dear Friends $15.00	Eat, Drink & Be Merry Set of Two Black and White Bowls $35.00	"Sugar Skull" Mask for the Wall, Day of the Dead, Handpainted Ceramic $75.00	Sugar Skull Mirror for Day of the Dead and All Year Round $25.00
Day of the Dead Tall Mug Handpainted Original $22.00	Peace Please ~ Day of the Dead Clay Skull Free Shipping $75.00	"Poker Face Ace" Day of the Dead Square Plate Free Shipping $75.00	We'll Dance When We're Dead Skeleton Earrings or Pendants $18.00

About PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe & DolphinSmile Studio

I paint silk, throw pots, fuse glass and collage poems in my enchanted DolphinSmile Studio on the central California coast. The spirits of the land and the devas in my garden keep me company.

When it's real, art can heal! I've named my shop the Sacred Heart Cafe, because I want my art to nourish you and warm your heart, and be delicious, tasty medicine for all who see it, carry it, hang it, wear it, love it and give it away.

Please visit my shop blog

I enjoy custom orders, and have been very successful creating "heart's desire" art for my customers. Also, many of art products in my shop are made to order just for you. With this option you are invited to suggest a special color, image or message on the art I make for you. I offer gift wrapping for all of my products, and all mailings are packaged securely.

BonBons of Gratitude for finding my shop at 1000 Markets!

PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe & DolphinSmile Studio Policies

I am committed to creating an online gallery and shop that will delight you and give you the opportunity to purchase my art securely, with Amazon's A - Z Guarantee.

I will ship your order within three days via USPS First Class or Priority Mail with delivery confirmation. Shipping charge includes packaging and handling. Gift wrapping is available at no extra charge. Custom orders will take longer since I am making it specifically for you, and I will keep in close contact to let you know of my progress and anticipated completion date.

I do want you to be completely happy with your purchase. If you have any questions, or concerns about your purchase, please contact me. Your complete satisfaction as a customer is very important to me.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling DreamCoats

2009-07-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

The talented artisans of Bohemia Esprit are collaborating on creating four Art To Wear coats. You can read about the travels of the four dreamcoats here: http://www.1000markets.com/blog_posts/8969

I have the great honor of working on the purple/bronze coat, and have begun by using a piece of silk that I had stuffed into my fabric closet after a I tried to speed up the heatset process and ended up burning the silk. It turns out that the burns added a bronze pattern to the dyed purple background which matches Diana's coat dye colors perfectly. I'm using the silk as a lining to the coat to make it reversible. The cut of the ingenious pattern created by Diana of DyeDianaDye allows for a simple lapel that folds back gracefully to reveal the inside lining.

I added a subtle new color to the silk, by wrapping and tying, then soaking in Dye-Na-Flow claret dye. I then hand painted accents of metallic bronze Lumiere fabric dye with a brush. After I heatset the additional dyes (this time I did it the safe and slow way!) I draped it onto the cotton coat and am pinning the edges and will hand sew the two layers with metallic thread.

Then I'll send the coat on to the next artisan, Kay of OnSlenderThreads. Magic is afoot!

Update #1 Two artists from Bohemia Esprit have now dreamed about the traveling coats and so I have taken to calling them "dreamcoats".

I've finished lining the coat with the silk and need to add embroider around the burn holes to stabilize the frayed silk edges. I've finished with all the sewing except for this final handwork, and decided to take her with me on a long train journey to Albuquerque, then sending her on to Kay (OnSlenderThreads), during my travels in New Mexico. When I mentioned that to Diana, she wrote: "I smile to think of the coat on the train with you, traveling to New Mexico. And what a joy it is to relax, and listen to the dreamcoats, as they give us their names and their needs, and fulfill ours."

Bohemia Esprit Market at 1000 Markets: You will love this beautiful collection of art!

2009-07-05T09:41:00.000-07:00

1000 Markets

Bohemia Esprit

Visit the Market

Day of the Dead Market at 1000markets: Amazing Artists Here!

2009-07-05T09:37:00.001-07:00

1000 Markets

Day of the Dead Market

Visit the Market

2009-07-04T22:50:00.001-07:00

1000 Markets

PattyMara's Sacred Heart Cafe & DolphinSmile Studio

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Remembering My Emma on Summer Solstice

2009-06-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Today is Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. It also marks the two year anniversary of my soul friend Emma's passing. This light filled day is my day for remembering the bountiful treasure of our friendship of eighteen years. Two years ago I recieved a letter from Emma's sister Judy, only a week after I'd mailed off Emma's birthday gift. I remember thinking, 'Oh, goodie, there's going to be a big party for her in Seattle, and I'm invited!" But reading the letter brought me to my knees. Judy wrote: "Emma is here beside me but only for a short time now. A few weeks ago she experienced initial symptoms of a very serious illness, which has progressed rapidly and will soon claim her life." Judy was writing from Emma's hospice room, and three days later, on the Solstice, Emma smiled, her eyes lit up, and she took one long last breath and let go.

What took her life is not important really, a rare degenerative brain disease, mysterious and always fatal. What is imp0rtant is that Emma chose the short route home, lingering less than a month from first symptom to final breath. Her community of family, friends, clients and colleagues in Seattle was a riotous group, her memorial celebration proved that. There was music and poetry and drumming and dancing, outside in one of her favorite parks where she romped with her dog Murphy for years, rain or shine.

Judy's note continued: "The 'Murphy' scarf you painted for her is hanging in her room at the hospice, at the foot of her bed. Remembering Emma playing with 'Murphs' lightens my heart." That silk scarf was one of my first attempts at silk painting (it is full of globby mistakes), and I sent it to Emma when her cocker spaniel Murphy died after being her companion for nearly twenty years. I painted him with wings, flying in the clouds, with many bones to keep him happy. Emma grieved his passing by weeping into that scarf, and she thanked me with these words: "Tears of Grief deserve to be caught by the softest silk" She always capitalized Grief, acknowledging its sacredness, that altered space in between the worlds. On one of our many visits, I took the photo of Emma with Murphy, and you can see my mischievous seven year old daughter's fingers reaching into the photo (that same daughter who was just married in New York last week).

Emma was my Muse. A teacher and therapist by trade; a poet, wordsmith, photographer, singer, drummer, circle dancer by Joy. She accompanied me through the passages of my life, as a mother of young children, struggling to find time for my artist's path. When I experimented with a new medium, I mailed her one of the first of my efforts. The silk Murphy scarf was joined by the Emma Box, where I merged my illustration with lowfire ceramics for the first time, using ceramic glaze chalks on clay. It stood on her mantle for many years, filled with white sage gathered on one of her visits to California. We never lived in the same city, she was my Seattle sister. I met her at a retreat gathering on Whidbey Island, one Winter Solstice long ago. We recognized one another at first glance.

I sent her one of my first ceramic doumbeks, a drum which was played at her memorial. I filled he home and therapist's office with the first of my flying heart silks and many more banners featuring her poetry which honored the passages of women, celebrated our bodies and our souls. She was a Soul Collage therapist and teacher, and created stunning collage cards of her own. The photographs she took of me on my visits to Seattle are luminous with the joy we felt in each others presence. I treasure one she took of me standing by a Dale Chihuly glass sculpture. The exuberance in the poppies' glow, my gesture of open arms, my soft, dazed smile reveal what being with Emma gave me. Now, each year Emma has a place on my Day of the Dead altar, her picture near the tile I made that says: "Dear Friend". I plant marigolds in her memory each June, to decorate that altar.

A few months after Emma's death, I received a box from Judy, filled with all the art I'd sent Emma: silks, ceramics, a Soul Collage card she made for me, a silver Zuni bracelet from her travels and that last birthday gift (unopened) which I'd sent her a couple of weeks before her death: a pair of fused glass earrings. I wear them now in her memory, flashing pink and green and silver sparkles, Emma's colors. All of the art in that box was covered with ashes, her ashes, which Judy had sprinkled into a raku woman sculpture that had shattered in the mail. My art has never been so blessed, so honored, so anointed.

I'll finish with one of Emma's poems, which she gave to her Spirituality and Healing students at their last ritual circle, their last day of class:

May you walk your path with love,

with courage and curiosity.

May you rest when you need and take note of the lands

through which you pass,

the grand scapes of sky and mountain

the tiny plants and stones

at your feet. Hear the birdsong,

the crickets and the distant creek.

and please do keep following

the road before you, your road.

The call that draws you on,

until you find the next Sign,

the next clue, leading to your destiny,

your destination, your heart's desire.

Here Comes the Bride!

2009-05-31T12:44:00.001-07:00

Our daughter is getting married on June 13, and these wee mice will be perched on top of their cheese cake. Their New York wedding will be an opportunity for us to meet the groom's family who live in Ireland. Notice what the groom is holding? A pint of Guinness.

We are so proud of our daughter for her wonderful life choices. And are delighted that our family is expanding!

A Divine Mother's Day

2009-05-06T10:11:00.001-07:00

From the artists at the Day of the Dead 1000 Mariket

Getting Ready to Go....

2009-03-26T16:56:00.000-07:00

I'm getting ready to go fishing in New Mexico. Poles and tackle, waders and vests have been mailed ahead, and await us in a friend's garage in Albuquerque. I've packed my bead box, wee vials of essential beads for a half dozen necklace sets, plus tools and findings. This designing "ahead" of the making is a discipline for me since I prefer to make my jewelry intuitively, choosing from my plethora of mica clay, ancient glass, gemstones and vintage beads at my fingertips. Like any process that feels unfamiliar, it is a worthy practice. So I design and choose and organize, culling it down to the essentials. Getting ready to go.

In the midst of my getting ready, my elder friend June, recovering from heart surgery in January, asked for me help when she found herself with an infection that required some big decisions on her part. For the past two days we have been dancing through her fears of returning to the hospital "prison". We waltzed and jigged and tangoed through two emergency rooms, cat scans and blood work and mighty decisions as she stood on the threshold between this life and the next.

After doctors' consults in office and on the phone, June decided to return to the hospital, but before we did, we played hookie. Yup. I took her to the beach. In our tiny coastal town Oceano, you can park in a sandy lot at the edge of the beach and gaze into forever. We got there at high tide, with the waves coming as close to our car as possible (good timing!) and sat there breathing in the salt sea sounds and aromas. June is Otter Woman, a swimmer in fresh water and salt, who swam a mile a day for decades. We sat there in the car, parked nose into the sand, and talked about what she wanted. Turns out she wanted a few simple pleasures. She hadn't been allowed to take a shower since January. She wanted to take a shower, to swim again, to immerse herself in the waters of life. A shower. Check. She wanted a window that opened to the fresh air in her room so she could feel the breeze, see the sky. Open window, sky, breeze. Check.

On our way up the coast to the hospital, almost there, she spoke longingly of a tasty lunch we had shared last year at a favorite bistro in town. On a whim, I asked her if she was hungry...and to my surprise (she had lost her appetite since her surgery) she answered YES. For what? Golden Curry Noodle Bowl! Big smile on my face, as I turned the car around and backtracked through town, and she laughed out loud "You mean NOW? Before we go to the hospital?" No time like the present, and anyway, it's lunch time. Time for some sacramental food from the Sacred Heart Cafe, which just then, was at June's favorite window booth in a tiny Thai cafe. We shared a golden curry noodle bowl with gusto, her first awakening of hunger for several months. Holy food. We spoke more, between spoonfuls, of what she wanted. Inclusion in every decision, every procedure. Check. The option to say no, if her heart said no. Check. A whole different experience than her last one there. Check. She insisted on picking up the tab. Check! And on we danced to the hospital.

In the ER, the tango began, and June knew every step, because we had practiced them beforehand.
She was met by compassionate nurses and her surgical team and more tests, more options, more decisions. Every single thing she wanted, she asked for, taking all the time she needed. Our last steps twirled her into a quiet private room, with an open window, with sun streaming onto her bed, with a nurse who remembered her and treated her with loving dignity, getting her ready. Ready for a procedure that would require frequent showers, promised by her doctor.

I'm home now, getting ready to go again, to go fishing for heart rocks and brown trout, for time together with my husband of thirty years, for time alone with my journal and bead box, for celebrating my sixtieth birthday at holy mineral springs, sinking into hot healing waters, fishing for a new place that may call us home. Getting ready to go. Check.

Our Lady of Perpetual Chocolate Shrine and Snack Bar

2009-03-02T20:30:00.000-08:00

During late October for the past eight years I have created a Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) ofrenda (altar) during my Open Studio Tour. For many of my central California coast customers, it was their first experience of this vibrant celebration remembering our beloved relatives and friends who have passed on. On my altars I place bouquets of freshly picked marigolds, "the flower with 400 lives" which I grow each year in my garden. Named cempazuchitl by the Aztec peoples, the scent of marigolds is believed to draw the souls of our loved ones back to earth, forming a welcome path for them to follow home.

Also on my ofrenda, I place photographs of my dearly departed in colorful frames, alongside an offering of their favorite food. For my Minnesota dad, a plate of snicker doodles or divinity fudge, specialties he loved when made by his mother, my stalwart Norwegian grandmother Lila. For my mama, a child of Sicilian immigrants, a glass of deep burgundy table wine. For Marya, my "other mother", it has to be chocolate, bittersweet and dark, and plenty of it.

It was in Marya's memory that I set up my first Our Lady of Perpetual Chocolate Shrine and Snack Bar. The shrine is sculpted from clay, fired, painted and gilded. I usually balance some dark chocolate kisses on her head, and surround her with organic, fair trade chocolates, bon bons and brownies, cocoa dusted almonds and butterfingers.

Guest to my Open Studio are invited to enjoy some chocolate, as well as fresh baked Pan de Muertos (Bread of the Dead). I bake this bread (or ask my eleven year old nephew Aiden, a fine gourmet baker to do the honors) once a year for my altar. Redolent with anise and decorated with skull and bone shapes, the oval loaves of pan de muertos fill the air with an aroma to die for! This year, the ants found one loaf and invaded it. I set it outdoors as an offering to all the ants I have killed over the years. They seemed to enjoy it very much.

Please visit our Day of the Dead Market showcasing the creative work of six unique artists:
http://www.1000markets.com/groups/dayofthedead

Here is a prayer to Our Lady of Perpetual Chocolate, which I wrote the year my other mother Marya passed away, suddenly and too soon.

Oh, Bountiful Mother, our Solace and Comfort. Give us this day our daily bar of dark and sweet delight. For all the children of war, transform all the bombs.....into bonbons. Where there is fear, let there appear.... a comforting cup of cocoa. For those who hunger and thirst for justice, gather us together and shower us......with fondue. When there is sickness and no desire to eat, bake us some magic brownies. For all the lonely hearts of our world, deliver a heart shaped box of......nuts & chews. Where there is bitterness in our lives, infuse it with the sweetness of.....fudge. Oh, Truffled Goddess of Delight, we yearn for your cocoa kisses. Be always present at our parties. Wrap us in your creamy arms. Melt in our mouths. Amen. Alleluia. Pass the brownies.

More Peace and Love Please

2009-02-23T12:28:00.000-08:00

I found my peace sign necklace from the sixties recently. The leather cord is smooth with sweat, the knots tight from forty years of wear and tear. I wonder how many miles it walked with me protesting the war in the sixties and seventies? I gave it away to my cousin Jane when I left the country to live on boats and sail around the world. Twenty years later she gave it to my daughter Lauren. And when she was cleaning out her room to move to New York with her fiance', she gave it back to me.

Full circle, spinning wheels, what goes around comes around. Imagine. Imagine. Imagine. A world of peace and love, where all the children are cared for, educated, encouraged, celebrated.

I have my peace sign back, and there are still wars today to protest. Still veterans coming home wounded to welcome back. Still families grieving their lost ones. Still innocent children both in this country and across the universe in Iraq and Afganistan suffering from wars.

The PeaceLoveMarket here is a refuge for all of us who are calling for peace, dancing for love and celebrating what still holds us together. I'm working on more art for peace and love. A Sacred Heart of mica clay with a door open, crowned with the fire of chiles, burning for justice, burning for more Peace. More Love.

In the shadow of Mt. Whitney

2009-02-13T17:39:00.000-08:00

Every year, spring or fall, I go fishing with my husband Bruce. Here we are on a recent trip to the Eastern Sierra, where we camped and fished Lone Pine Creek, below the trailhead for Mt. Whitney. Just to the right of us is the creek, teeming with rainbows. This photo is one we take every trip, me and Bruce in the same spot, surrounded by high desert sage scrub, camera on a tripod, with a timer. Bruce then plays with the photo, in photoshop. This one shows us in color, and the world around us in black and white.

The Human Heart

2009-02-11T10:42:00.000-08:00

My valentine wish for you is that your heart's wings unfold and fly.

I've been reading about the human heart. The electrical strength of the heart's signal (measured with an EKG) is sixty times stronger the brain's field (measured by an EEG). But wait! Guess how much stronger the heart's magnetic field is. As much as 5,000 times stronger than the magnetic field of our brains. Amazing knowledge from the field of quantum physics is emerging about how waves of energy (electromagnetic, like what our hearts emit) can create and change and influence not only ourselves but the world around us. Trippy, eh?

When I say "May your heart have wings" my wish for you is to feel your heart expanding inside your body, as your energetic (electromagnetic) wings unfold. And from that place of poised outstretched wings, know that we are not limited or confined by the physical barrier of skin and bones. We transmit electromagnetic waves of energy that can change matter...atoms...the physical world. WooHOO what a ride! If you want to read more about the quantum physics of the heart, read Gregg Braden's "The Spontaneous Healing of Belief".

Here is a sweet animoto valentine from me to you: http://animoto.com/play/MDcZ0MxvixxBTnkW7rMM0A/...

Love is all we need. Love is all we need. Love is all we need. This musical figment has be brought to you by our new Peace and Love Market. Come visit for a magical mystery trip back to the sixties and the seventies. http://www.1000markets.com/groups/peacelove

Update on my sweet peas: they are now about six inches tall, climbing toward the sky. I planted leeks in their bed to keep them company. Kurt Vonnegut said that mirrors are really leaks into other universes. I call leeks, those bulbous spheres of culinary delight, mirrors from other universes.

The New Love of my Life

2008-12-30T22:43:00.000-08:00

After nearly forty years of being a potter, I have found a new clay that has won my heart in a way unknown to me. "Clay?" you say. Yup. Clay.

Clay recently, lovingly dug from northern New Mexico. Clay full of MICA, which is a powerful insulator, numinously beautiful and energetically medicinal. Pottery made from this clay can be used as cookware on the stovetop. That's right. Over an open flame. It is durable and holds the heat for a long, long time. Food or beverages cook and served in it tastes.....enchanted. And it sparkles, sparkles, sparkles.

I just got back from a week in northern New Mexico, where I met Felipe Ortega, while staying at his eclectic Owl Peak Pottery and B & B in La Madera. He is a Jicarilla Apache traditional potter and medicine man....and gourmet chef and baker. The cup in the photo is one of his mugs, which I purchased there, hugged all the way home on the airplane, and loved for two weeks. Then I heard the voice of my friend in north Idaho, sliding into her winter sad, and I realized I had to send my mug to her to shine up her dark days. It was the thing I loved the most, so I knew I had to send it. Now, I hear the lilt in her voice when we talk long distance.

See the black markings on the mug? Those are called fire clouds. It is where the wood of the fire rested on the pot during the firing. Fire clouds are ephemeral, uncontrollable and a true gift of the fire. This mug's entire inside is black, with cloud shapes kissing the outside in certain places.

I have fifty pounds of Felipe's hand dug micaceous clay and slip in my studio now. Working with it is all I really want to do now....but I have a big illustration job on my desk with an impending deadline. So I think about that clay as I do my work, and know that soon I will have the unbroken time to make its acquaintance in my studio, on my wheel, in my hands. This clay. It carries the medicine of the Earth. And I have fifty pounds of it, two big dark brown bags of it waiting for me.

This mug is magic. It carries the Corn Blessing that Felipe offers as each pot goes into its final fire. As my friend holds it to her heart, its medicine flows to mine.

Update! I have made three mugs and a vase from the clay and I've added photos. Since they were my firstborn, I impressed rock art images of a birthing woman and Kokapelli, the humpbacked flute player of the Southwest.

These pots are now "leather hard". When they dry, I will apply mica slip and polish them with a smooth rock.. The last photo shows a chunk of the mica slip, which I will soften with water to apply it to the pots. It will add a glistening sparkle to the surface, and become the glaze.

Update 2: Handling the Handles.

As you can see from the photos, I am experimenting with handles. I followed Felipe's lead on the first one, attaching the handle to the plane of the rim, to create a continuous line. With this design, the thumb rests on top and serves as leverage when lifting and tipping the mug to drink. The other two handles are more traditional for me, "pulled" and attached to the wall of the mug, a bit below the rim, with a depression for the thumb to nestle into.

Update 3: Four More.

Today I finished four more mugs, experimenting with shapes, trimming a foot on the bottom of three, and leaving the cutoff wire scallop pattern on the bottom of the fourth. I left these mugs smooth, to practice the burnishing process, which is next. I used Felipe's handle design on all four. Pictures soon.

Update 4: Mica Slip and Burnishing

I was able to "slip away" from holiday revels and spend a happy hour or so in my studio today, sanding the drying mugs, then applying a first coat of micaceous slip with a sponge. After it dried somewhat, I burnished the mica surfaces with a smooth river stone, a quartz rock and a rubber rib. Experimenting with several to see what seems to work best.

The burnished clay takes on a smooth shine after burnishing. I get the impression that I am smoothing the platelets of clay molecules so the mica has a reflective surface to shine on. I'm not really sure if this is happening, but it seems so.

When I was finished I walked home through the woods, passing the eucalyptus trees where hundreds of monarch butterflies are clustered together beating their wings to stay warm as the evening chill descends. As I stood watching the wings fluttering, it seemed the tree was breathing. Monarchs are orange and black, the same colors as a golden orange micaceous clay pot with black fire clouds. I may add some butterfly accents to a future pot in honor of the monarchs who migrate here in the winter, on their way to Mexico.

Update 5: Bowls and a Butterfly Today (Dec. 28) I threw seven bowls on my potters wheel. I will trim the bottoms tomorrow by flipping each one upside down onto my wheel and finishing the bottom with a trim tool and rubber rib. I have learned that the smoother I make the pots on the wheel, the less hand smoothing/sanding I'll have to do later on. This clay requires so much hands on sanding and polishing. The mugs on the top shelf of my drying rack are now polished and are awaiting the fire. Once I trim, sand, slip and polish the bowls I will have enough to fill my kiln. Just for fun, I made some beads, bear, raven and corn goddess pendants from the clay. I shot the photo of the monarch butterfly in the woods by my studio. There are about five hundred more of them in the branches above!

PattyMara's 1000Market Video

2008-12-05T14:24:00.001-08:00

It's a Beautiful World!

Come Visit my new shop at 1000 Markets

2008-12-02T21:00:00.000-08:00

This handpainted silk "Winged Heart" banner with black bamboo flies atop my new shop at
1000 Markets. Come visit at:
http://www.PattyMara.1000markets.com

Aurora Borealis StarMara Fused Glass Earrings

2008-11-29T12:56:00.000-08:00

New from StarMara's kiln, wear these fused dichroic glass earrings and you will light up the night sky.

They glimmer and glow like the Aurora Borealis and will delight anyone who wears them, or receives them as a gift.

I will send them to you in an elegant black gift box, with fancy ribbons. Free shipping within the US and Canada.

To purchase, click on their photo in my Etsy shop (PayPal) or follow the link to my new 1000 Markets shop (Amazon).

Ha de ansii? What are you lacking? Do ansii! I lack nothing!

2008-11-26T11:21:00.000-08:00

I am full of the blessings of this rainwashed world outside my door. I warmed by the company of our grown-up son once again sleeping under the roof. ("Boy in the House", we sigh to one another, when our son is visiting. We breathe deeper, resting assured that for a brief and comforting time, our beloved son is home. And we get to listen to waaaaay different music. Of Montreal and The Killers are playing now. I like!)

Ha di ansii? Do ansii! is the traditional Apache greeting. What are you lacking? I lack nothing!

On this day before Thanksgiving, before the turkey is even completely thawed, I lack nothing.

Outside my door, growing profusely in my yard, white sage.
Are we human or are we dancers?

All I Ask of You Silk Painting with Dragonflies and black bamboo

2008-11-17T15:20:00.000-08:00

"All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you".

This black silk is handpainted with golden gutta and Lumeire metalics. It glows with shimmering beauty, as four dragonflies hover around the tender words of this Sufi song.

The hanger is made of two pieces of black bambo0, beaded and wrapped with black hemp.

Listed for sale at my Etsy shop (PayPal) and my 1000 Markets shop (Amazon).

Benjamin of the Magical Fez at Owl Peak Pottery

2008-11-13T20:16:00.001-08:00

Benjamin, one of Felipe Ortega's apprentices, holds his micaceous clay pottery, which we purchased. They are being shipped to us...and I can't wait to start cooking in them. I brought home bags of freshly blessed and blended New Mexico chili, four different varieties. Great fez, eh?

Felipe Makes a Pot and I Get to Watch

2008-11-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

On the day we left Ojo Caliente and La Madera we returned to Owl Peak Pottery to pick up pots which we had purchased, and Iwas fortunate to be in the studio with Felipe as he made a traditional bean pot from the native micaceous clay.

It was a treasured interval of time to watch Felipe make pots. In this photo at the left, he builds the wall of the pot with coils. In the photo below, he is shaping the pot from the inside with a rib tool. He said "I tell my students that the beauty of a pot is not the outside shape. The inside shape is the beautiful soul of the pot." The finished pot is drying on the woodstove. Next it will be coated with micaceous slip, polished with sandstone and then fired in a wood fire. After this first firing, a corn blessing is offered then the pot is returned to the fire to call in the fire clouds, the black and silver colorations that are unique to each pot. Only then, after all the forming, polishing and firings, Felipe signs his pot.

Felipe Ortega's Micaceous Pottery

2008-11-10T21:28:00.000-08:00

We stayed at Felipe Ortega's Owl Peak Pottery Bed and Breakfast, in La Madera, New Mexico, for three wild nights of meeting new friends, enjoying fabulous food cooked in his earthenware pottery, bread baked in the outdoor "horno" adobe ovens and marvelous stories flavored by the flow of good wine in good company.

http://www.felipeortega.com/index.html

Here are several of Felipe Ortega's and his students' pots.

See that glow? This is traditional hand built "coil and scrape" pottery made with local clay called "micaceous" because of the high mica content (40%). It is so thermally sturdy, it can be used as cookware on the stovetop. We bought mugs from Felipe and bean pots and a bowl from his apprentice Ben. They are on the middle shelf in the photo awaiting their final wood firing, for the smoke patterns ("fire clouds") to emerge. I will treasure these pots. Someday I will return and take classes from Felipe. The mica slip that is used for the final polish is exquisite. I can already feel that my own pottery will be changing, just from watching these potters at work and at play.

On the Road to Taos

2008-11-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

This pink art gallery was on the road to Taos and I had to stop to photograph it. The big heart reads "AllOne". It was a blustery day, with big fat snowflakes and a stunning sunset. I love New Mexico! Everywhere we go, from the mineral springs at Ojo Caliente, to the La Fonda Hotel in the Taos Plaza, I am meeting Obama volunteers. We are still walking around with big cheesy grins, pinching ourselves. We have a new president! And New Mexico took names and kicked ass. All along the roads in the tiny towns of this enchanted country I see "Obamanos" signs.
Si se puede, indeed.

In Guad We Trust

2008-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

At large, from Northern New Mexico, I am in Our Lady of Guadalupe country. This is a gallery in Chimayo, near the shrine where holy dirt is available for collecting. There are crutches, canes, baby shoes and photos hanging everywhere in the shrine. Testimony to the miracles of healing that happened there. You can see me in the bottom right window, reflected.
I

Hospice Show on Dia de los Muertos

2008-11-01T21:52:00.000-07:00

I spent most of the day on Friday setting up my show at Hospice of SLO. Here is the winged heart silk banner hanging from the ceiling. It was purchased almost immediately by one to the women setting up the big Day of the Dead altar for all the Hospice clients. This event will happen tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 2, and I am looking forward to the entire day long event.

Being with people who are in the sacred place of Grief is heart opening for me. I am in the company of tenderness. And everyone who works at Hospice gives me such a lift. Hospice helped my mom in her transition during her last stages of Alziemers disease, and I will be forever grateful to them, angels all.

Hospice El Dia de los Muertos

2008-10-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

I will be setting up my Day of the Dead artwork/altar at Hospice of San Luis Obispo for their beautiful event on Sunday, Nov. 2. I just unloaded another kilnload of latte mugs especially for the show. Details/map to Hospice here: www.hospiceslo.org

2008-10-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

And on Monday I'm phone banking and on Tuesday I am driving folks to the polls, or doing whatever needs doing to get out the vote. What are you doing for our America?

All is Calm

2008-10-22T21:47:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to bring a moment of calm to this busy world. This is an ACEO card (Artist Card Edition and Original) that I painted in a tiny rowboat on Mirror Lake, near Sandpoint, Idaho in September. It helps me stay centered as I get ready for the encore weekend of Open Studio. All is calm!

Open Studio First Weekend A Great Success, One More to Go!

2008-10-21T22:36:00.000-07:00

I had a blast last Saturday and Sunday welcoming over a hundred people to my Open Studio Tour. It was wonderful seeing my faithful customers and I met many new ones too. My Day of the Dead jewelry was a hot seller: all the beaded dancing skeleton earrings sold quickly. I'm making more this week to replenish the earring tree which I made from a rock rose bush branch from our meditation garden.

On Sunday during the tour I had time to play a few songs on my accordion with my band Hear the Darlins Roar. Our drummer, Barry, emailed me today with the great news that his Day of the Dead skull mug that he purchased was a big hit at the office. More mugs will be going to live there soon.

Our Lady of Perpetual Chocolate Shrine and Snack Bar was visited with great devotion by all. The most popular item there was Aiden (11) and Nina's (12) home baked Pan de los Muertos, a sweet, anise flavored bread shaped into skulls.

This week I am filling orders and replenishing stock, in preparation for the second weekend of the tour. I sold three of my beaded turquoise and coral watches, so more of those will be next on my to do list.

I'm on a YouTube!

2008-10-21T22:26:00.000-07:00

This month I participated in Little Black Boxes, a special offering of arts and crafts from Etsy artists. (www.thelittleblackboxes.com) Every month an indie artist Ali, makes a YouTube of herself opening up the little black box, describing each piece of art. I submitted a sampling of my illustrated pet angel cards, and Ali loves them. Too funny. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_604_6R9PI

New Greeting Card with Skulls & Our Lady of the Guadalupe Dunes

2008-10-15T09:22:00.000-07:00

Fresh off the press, our new line of greeting cards: Fishtale Greetings! This card features six of my handpainted Day of the Dead sugar skull tiles. Comes with 100% recycled paper envelope, and is blank inside for your personal message.

Other images in our premier printing are: Our Lady of the Guadalupe Dunes, from an original illustration of mine celebrating our local dunes, as well as Bruce's amazing photography. His images include light paintings of our garden calla lilies, peacock feathers and his hilarious street sign and manhole cover photographs.

All of our new card designs will be displayed at my Open Studio Tour this weekend. (gulp!)

Countdown to Open Studio: 6 days to go!

2008-10-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today, with six more days to go, I finished six silk chakra banners, three WooHoo! What a Ride! banners, one "Do not Stand at my Grave and Weep" banner and seven tiny "Peace in my Heart, Peace in my Home, Peace on Earth" beaded silks and two "All I ask of you is forever to remember me as loving you" beaded silks.

Helloooooo.....

2008-10-06T20:20:00.001-07:00

New Colorful Day of the Dead Tiles

2008-10-06T20:13:00.001-07:00

I have painted twelve of these six inch ceramic tiles with colorful calaveras, in the tradition of the Day of the Dead sugar skulls. They are listed in my etsy shops for sale, and will be on my Day of the Dead altar during Open Studio. Each of them is one-of-a-kind, and we just sent art to the printer for greeting cards with six of these beauties. Stay tuned.

Poker Face Ace, another Day of the Dead Handpainted Ceramic Plate

2008-10-05T09:19:00.000-07:00

This plate cracks me up. For anybody who can play cards and not show your hand in your facial expressions, this is not for you. For the rest of us who can't hide our emotions when those aces appear in our cards, this plate is for you.

Here is the joy when life brings us sweet surprises, mystery grace, familiar connections~out of the blue.

Oh. My. Dog. Fastest Sale Ever.

2008-10-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

I just sold the Catrina plate, after twenty minutes of posting it to this blog, and my etsy shop. I am stunned, and delighted and the expression on my face looks just like this one!

Guitar Hero Calavera Plate

2008-10-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

A companion piece to the catrina plate below, this one is playing his guitar. For all the musicians in my life, still here or long gone, the music plays on.

New Kiln load of Calavera Plates

2008-10-04T10:01:00.000-07:00

I've done three firings this week, and am relieved that all four of the new square plates emerged from the fire in perfect condition. These two calaveras (skeletons) plates were handpainted, inspired by José Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican engraver and illustrater, 1862-1913. They measure 11 inches square.

Dancing Skeleton Beaded Earrings, Pendants and Ornaments

2008-09-30T20:17:00.001-07:00

This skelly has jointed arms so they wiggle and jiggle. The skulls are handmade with paper mache, then hand painted and beaded with a black and white glass bead, sea opalite and seed beads. Too cute.

Open Studio is Coming SOON!

2008-09-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Save these dates: Sat Oct 18, Sun Oct 19, Sat Oct. 25, Sun Oct. 26!

Fishing North Idaho

2008-09-11T07:13:00.001-07:00

At large, from the panhandle of North Idaho, fishing every day with my husband....I'll post a picture this evening. We fish from dawn to dusk, and have waded into and enjoyed the beauty of rivers (Moyie, Clark Fork, Coeur d'Alene, St. Joe's) and lakes (Spirit, Mirror, Jewel, Cocolala). My soul battery is charged full!

Wedding Bells Ring for Marti and Kathy!

2008-09-01T21:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008 was a perfect day for a wedding. My Halcyon friends Marti and Kathy exchanged their vows under the silk chuppah. Surrounded by their large families and a warm circle of friends, they sealed their hearts forever. You can see them at the bottom of the photo, blissed out!

This was one of the most rewarding custom silks I have ever designed and painted. I loved the entire process. To see the chuppah being carried by four long time friends, under a clear blue California sky was a blessed joy. It doesn't get much better than this for me.

"It's a mitzvah to sew a chuppah!"

2008-08-27T12:21:00.000-07:00

I'm finished! I had a long day yesterday with a particular challenge sewing the nine panels, getting them all to align, and then hemming so it was finished elegantly on the reverse. At the end of the day yesterday, my target day for completion, I realized I needed to design special holders for the bamboo poles to slip into, then be tied down. I used blue leather to create sheaths to protect the silk at each corner. Now I am confidant that the chuppah will be nicely anchored and protected by the leather holders and the silken ribbon ties.

This morning I harvested four bamboo poles from my garden, and with the help of one of the brides, we walked the poles through the eucalyptus grove and to their home. The photo above shows it hanging from the eaves of their patio. The detail photo to the right shows the corner piece and me, proud chuppah mama. I can't wait to see it up on the bamboo poles, backlit by the sunny sky above. Illuminated silk has a shimmering beauty that is breathtaking.

Marti and Kathy are both touched by the beauty of their chuppah. And I am filled with joy for them. I look forward to attending their wedding on Saturday. Pictures, of course, will follow!

Here's a detail of the effects that are caused by salt sprinkled onto the wet, dyed silk. Gorgeous, eh?

Dyes on Silk! Chuppah Design, Part 6

2008-08-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I painted all day long into the wee hours. Silk dyes are intense, concentrated and permanent. My style of painting is to work fast. I have to open up all my (Jacquard Dye-na-flow) dye jars, set out brushes next to them and have lots of clean water on hand. There is very little time to deliberate once I commit to painting a large area like the background of the center panel Peace Angel. I have to dive into painting completely....no slow "getting my toes wet" first. Once a line is painted in a large field it has to be followed up immediately with another and another and another. Any time spent between brushing will result in a "dry line" (my term for the concentration of dye that accumulates at the edge of each brush stroke, drying darker than the rest of the line). Sometimes I use these lines as a design element. This time I wanted a solid but translucent field in the background so I worked fast to avoid the dry lines. I had to make sure I had enough dye mixed (cerulean, midnight blue, periwinkle and black) because I couldn't stop to remix more. At the right and left lower edges of the background I decided to leave three"glow lines" (my term for saving the white of the silk as a highlight, or glow) by not painting the white, and letting the dye spread into it naturally.

Painting the Angel's body and wings was done with diluted washes of teal, violet and cerulean. I sprinkled salt on the wet areas to create a random patterning that changes every time. Salt finds its own way.

The four side panels were also painted with the diluted washes, and the calligraphy then overpainted with Lumiere "Light Body Metalic Acrylic" fabric paint, burnt orange. Salt was sprinkled on these panels.

The four corner pieces have an indigo background using the same mix as the center background, and the knot line work is painted with the burnt orange metalic Lumiere.

Today, I will be heat setting all nine panels, done with an iron, then washing in cold water, then ironing dry...then the sewing will begin.

Chuppah Design Part 5, Stretching and Gutta Lines

2008-08-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

Time to rrrrrrip silk! I measured the dimensions for nine pieces which will be sewn together to form the completed chuppah: center panel, four side panels, four corner squares. And ripped each piece. What an amazing sound.

Then, each piece had to be stretched onto an adjustable frame, using special metal hook/pins. Silk has to be stretched and suspended above the work surface when it is being painted. I stretch the silk upside down.

The next step is to place the inked pattern on the table and flip the stetcher frame onto it so that the top surface of the silk is facing up, and the pattern below is visible. The silk is now ready for gutta application. Gutta is a latex product, used to "trap" the dyes. Left to their own inclination, silk dyes spread like watercolor on wet paper. Most silk artists use a clear gutta, but I have become quite fond of using gold metalic gutta for most of my work. I use a plastic bottle with a needle nose and a special metal tip designed to control the flow.

I believe that gutta application is the step that requires the most practice and skill. If the linework is crisp and accurate, the stage is set for a beautiful painting. Without it, the piece is weak. I have experienced more frustration over the years learning how to apply gutta. It is an unforgiving teacher! If a mistake is made, there is only a tiny window of time to correct, by washing it out immediately. Maybe one minute....after that, it is permanent. The brand I use is Jacquard water based gutta, which does not have the toxic fumes of the solvent based brands.

I spent all day on Saturday stretching and gutta-ing the nine pieces of silk. I used up all of my stretcher frames. Once the gutta is applied then a drying time is necessary. If anything touches the wet gutta, disaster! When I am doing one silk, no problem, I just flip it over and let it dry suspended over the table. This time I had to find drying spots for each one of the frames, and walk very carefully around the studio and hallway and bathroom and office!

Here is the center panel Peace Angel with its gutta lines completed. With all nine panels done, I let the gutta dry overnight. Today is painting day. Goddess willing, the colors will blend and shine!

My goal is to paint today, and let it dry overnight, then heatset and sew on Monday. The wedding is Saturday, Aug. 30.

Whoops! Chuppah Design Part 3 and 4 Redesign

2008-08-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

I met with Marti today and she had a few changes to make to the chuppah design. It was fun sitting on her patio beside the eucalyptus grove, talking about balance and symmetry and composition. We scrapped the bottom banner, moved the trinity celtic knot to each of the four corners and rearranged the calligraphic message. Added the peace prayer back into the angel's wings, this time inside the edge. I think it is an improvement, and it feels ready finally.

Chuppah Design Part 2 I have a pattern!

2008-08-21T14:31:00.001-07:00

The drawing is now 5 feet square. I had to turn my wall sconce sideways to make room on my wall to photograph the pattern. I have added the 8" borders on all four sides, and added the saying "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience" as requested.

I made a design decision to remove the "Peace in our heart, Peace in our home, Peace in our world" wording from around the Peace Angel. It felt like it was competing with the border calligraphy. Instead, I put the peace words onto a small ribbon banner on the bottom panel centered with a celtic knot heart, pictured above. And I like it! I will letter Marti and Kathy's names and the date of their wedding deep inside the celtic knot, to be a sweet surprise.

I'm now ready to transfer this pattern to the silk. Stay tuned!

Chuppah Design Part 1, Pencil and Ink Rough

2008-08-20T14:34:00.000-07:00

Here are my pencil and ink drawings. I had to tape together paper to create a 44" x 44" surface for the drawing. The inked drawing will become the pattern I will use to transfer the drawing to the silk. The scale is difficult to convey in these photos. This drawing covers my entire drawing table. I had to rotate it 90 degrees to work on each quadrant because I couldn't reach far enough over to the other side of the table.

Just looking at the inked drawing I now notice that I did not finish the arc of the earth that the Peace Angel is holding. I'll ink that in next, and I think I will emphasize the "point" of her wings in order to emphasize a heart shape. I'm also going to add a spiral before and after "Peace in our world" in order to balance the calligraphy.

This is the first time I have used a web photo to view my design process, and make changes based on what I see on the screen. Very different from my usual approach for larger pieces (draw it. . .walk away for awhile. . .put it up on a vertical surface. . .squint my eyes. . . make changes...put it up on the wall again....).

My First Chuppah!

2008-08-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've been commissioned to create a handpainted silk "chuppah" for my Halcyon friends Marti and Kathy. A chuppah is a canopy used in Jewish wedding ceremonies that represents the home of the couple. It will be 5 feet square and suspended above them by 4 bamboo poles carried by their attendants as they say their vows outdoors at Rancho Miranda.

They have chosen my Peace Angel design as the central image. It will be surrounded by a calligraphic border which will say:
"We are not human beings having a spiritual expericnce. We ARE spiritual beings having a human experience."

I'll be posting pictures as I cut and piece the silk together, stretch it onto a frame, do the gutta line work, then paint. Stay tuned!

Custom Wedding Silks

2008-08-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

Today I finished a gorgeous custom wedding silk banner for Linda and Joyce. They have been partners for 35 years and will be getting married at the end of the month. Best wishes fly to them! Here is a photo of their custom silk, with a quote from Martin Luther King. Size is 44" wide x 36" tall.