Handmind

I really enjoyed the long weekend, and did some art and some house cleaning.
Over the weekend, I was reading UU World, the Unitarian Univeralist monthly magazine. They usually have some very interesting articles, and one this month was: Slow Making by Doug Stowe. He quotes Ursula K. LeGuin's "Always Coming Home"
"It was a good thing for me to learn a craft with a true maker. It may have been the best thing I have done. Nothing we do is better than the work of handmind. When mind uses itself without the hands it runs the whole circle and may go too fast. The hand that shapes the mind into clay or written word slows thought to the gait of things and lets it be subject to accident and time. Purity is on the edge of evil, they say."
Stowe continues:
"When an item is crafted with useful beauty in mind, it transcends not only the years it may last but also the need one might feel to hurry in its making. What are the few extra minutes to do things right when each moment of attention is witnessed in the finsihed piece for such a lengthy span of time?"
I like the idea of HANDMIND.

Warm Saturday and ABQ Fiber Arts Fiesta

I bought Gladioulous this week, and they were beautiful. This is the last spear.


This is my booty from the Fiber Arts Fiesta, held every other year in Albuquerque. Pamela and I went this afternoon, and saw all of it before we pooped out. There were some gorgeous quilts, amazing goods for sale and the fabric was great. I only bought a jacket pattern, some beads and bangles, and I got the earrings for a donation to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Very enjoyable afternoon.
I spent the morning getting my car serviced, and put that time to good use. I went through all my pictures on the laptop, labeling all of them so I can find something. My new camera posts them to a date folder, and I could never find anything.
Most of my pictures (probably 75%) are on my old desktop, and will take some time to organize! That may be a stormy winter weekend thing...

Gas and other musing on Friday evening

When I filled up my gas tank two weeks ago, I paid $3.89 (but I did not drive to my cheapy place, too far and I was tired). On Tuesday, I went to the cheapy place and paid $3.48! That is a big difference. I think that Americans getting upset about the huge profits and the rising price of gas, that we were listened to! Finally.
I am looking forward to a long three day weekend. My friend and I are going to go the The Fiber Fiesta tomorrow, and I plan to be inspired.
I am also going to do some art over this long weekend!

Rapture??

Our Senior Minister, Christine Robinson, returned from Sabbatical today, and this quote was in her sermon:
"And we affirm, on this beautiful day, that the rapture must have occured, and taken all of us into the holy place of earth and the blessedness of all that is our lives; Let us live this day as if it were heaven; and that way, we will know heaven. love and peace. Amen"

Lazy Sunday

This is something that never happens: both of my kittehs in the same room, on the same bed, within inches of each other! They usually stay in separate rooms.
Still lazy... fuzzy bucket is on the left, baby cakes on the right.
I intended to do some art this weekend, but instead lazed around with the cats and watched movies (btw I could not cover up with my quilt, as it was covered by kittehs!)

Yeah I know - ANOTHER amazing TED video...

But this is truly awe-inspiring...

Mothersitting Weekend

I had a great weekend. I went to Tularosa to "mothersit" my Mother, and I left town Friday afternoon. Had my Mother's day massage (gift from my son) on Sunday and it was great.
When I got home this afternoon, I was checking email and noticed a rainbow on my hand (see my prior post about the water prism I got myself for Mother's Day). I removed the hand picture from the camera, but did not get it transferred! But I did get one image of my Laini's Ladies card, with a rainbow from the water prism. The quote says "A dream is just a dream. A goal is a dream with a plan and a deadline." Harvey Mackay

NM Wildfires

WE are having a particularly devastating drought in New Mexico and there is a huge 28,000 acre wildfire in Mayhill.




The Mayhill Ranger Station to the east of Mayhill, the station is to the right and the burn area is to the left
Hilda's 3 houses were the only homes lost, but the fire had to jump the road to get to them . Note the blackened butane tank to the left of the picture.
This is the campground that is immediately to the west of Mayhill.
This picture shows the burned and unburned area. Looks like mostly brush and dry, dry grass that burned.

Remember that only you can prevent forest fires!

I LOVE TED!

Windy Days Again

This is my latest piece of artwork. It was inspired by a piece I saw on Jenny Doh's blog. The quote reads What you do speaks so loudly I cannot hear what you say. Ralph Waldo Emerson. This has lots of free motion stitching. I also made a small ATC sized piece that is not finished yet, but says "I am Enough". Interesting process.
These peonies were gorgeous. Doesn't come across in the photo... Both of these photos were taken in Placitas NM during the Placitas Studio Tour
I love Koi. These were not very large, but very interesting.

Happy Mother's Day Weekend

This is my fatso catso studio cat relaxing in the jungle window. She loves the sun. I could not find the other studio cat, or I would take her picture too.
On Saturday, I went to The Placitas Studio Tour. Again great art, and I bought myself a Mother's Day present.
I found these water prisms, and thought I deserved one! You can see them here

This is one of the prism reflections on my new batik fabric. I just had to have this yard of fabric and the reflection only adds to the fabric.

Saturday night another friend and I went to the opening at the Albuquerque Museum of Art. It is a "New light on Tiffany" exhibit. The stained glass, panels and light fixtures were gorgeous. If you get a chance, see the exhibit.

Sunday my son called to wish me a happy Mother's Day and gave me a gift certificate to have a massage! So my Mother's day weekend was very satisfying!

First Friday Arts Crawl in ABQ

My friend and I went Arts Crawling tonight, a feature of the ABQ art scene. We only made it to three galleries, but we really enjoyed the evening and some great art. I also discovered a new Fabric store, Nob Hill Fabrics, 3810 Central, in the same area as Matrix Gallery. My friend found a great looking batik that I just had to have a yard of (you can never have too many batiks)

I helped a friend with her final project in a internet communications class and you can see the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/imentor4success

I am so glad it is Friday, and I am not on call!

I am off of Facebook for some time. Freaked myself out by clicking on something I should have know better, and sent spam to all of my FB Friends. Slight withdrawal, but OK so far! I will probably be posting more to my blog!

A thoughtful post

Since the death of Osama Bin Laden, I have been mulling over in my mind how I was appalled by Americans dancing in the street over his death.
A friend from Rainbow Artists sent this quote around:

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr