Lunch with Fran /tarot cards from the past

This is a pic of Fran Saperstein ( artsyfran.com/ ) and I at the Mariott in Kauai. Fran was visiting the island with her DH. Fran is an incredible artist (she's wearing a tee shirt she designed) and she has an art philosophy of "don't think about it, just do it!"...and she is as delightful as her liberating way of thinking! We had a japanese lunch of sushi, sashimi and tempura, and then we went to Starbucks, of course, to finish off our lunchdate. I had a wonderful time with her and wish we could have spent more time together. Hopefully i'll be going to Phoenix in the future, and we can get together again.
Here's a close-up of us!

I added some ripe pears to my patience card, and some foot ripples to "fate"....but the additions are so minor i am not going to bore you with a repost.

I have done 11 other tarot cards - and I thought i'd post them for you to see but i couldn't find the earliest ones i did, so i suppose i probably never scanned them. I hope to eventually make my own full deck - hah! ...like i ever finish a full project! ...and the cards so far have been done for 4 different swaps, so they are all done in totally different styles!




These cards were all "zetti Tarot" cards
They are: 5 of swords, the emperor, 4 of swords, ace of cups and the queen of wands.

Friday another Art Diva, Joanne joannethiemehuffman.typepad.com/ arrives with her friend Katie. I've never met either of them in person, but I feel like i must have known Joanne in a prior life or something! They are both here for an art retreat taught by Lorri Scott and DJ Pettitt. VERY EXCITING- WOOHOO! I can hardly wait! I am so blessed!

"Tarot" style cards....

I finally finished the cards I have been working on.
The scans aren't the best - you can't see a lot of the
lowlight details - oh well! You had to make 6 x 8 originals and on the back explain the symbolism of the card and also the interpretation of the card. My cards were Fate, Theft, and Patience. I haven't done the written part yet, but at least they are finally done. I am filling in for someone who dropped out. There are 60 or so cards in the deck and the cards will be professionally
Mine are a collage combination of magazine ads, tissue paper, and/or hand drawn elements, partially digitally enhanced and then highlighted by hand where ever it suited my fancy!

A fellow Altered Art Diva and artist extraordinaire is

in town visiting - the infamous Fran Saperstein! And

I am having lunch with her tomorrow! I AM SO EXCITED.....we are going out for sushi....this island has the BEST sushi - locally caught in our pristine waters.....

i will take pictures!

catch-up

well.... i didn't realize i hadn't posted in sooo long! after my glassblowing fiasco i came down with a sort of flu - it actually put me in bed!...and i rarely get sick. DH got it too - his lasted 3 days, mine just 2. mainly we were very tired and achy (although he had some stomach issues too). But we are both fine now!

here is how my glass turned out. the biggest piece is only about 2 1/2 inches high, so they are kind of cute...and lopsided.

I have been working on 3 tarot type cards that my friend Angela invited me to participate in. My cards are fate, patience and theft. I've had a hard time with them, mainly because MY SHOP IS A DISASTER! I have piled everything so high I can no longer function in there. My buddy Angie posted pics of her shop "before and after". I'm only posting my "before", because i haven't finished the "after"...but at least the desks are now cleaned, and the shelf units have been emptied and then re organized. everything has been sorted and put away except for under the desk and one huge green garbage bag that I loaded up with everything that was yet to be put away when the realtors showed up and i had to ditch it all fast....an old trick my mama taught me! i also took out enough garbage to warrant a run to the dump...and another run to the thrift store.

Today I received my 36 w gel nailcure lamp,

which i am going to use to develop photo polymer plates to make molds for pmc clay. i got it from a manufacturer on ebay, and it is beautiful! I also ordered some niobium earwires from spiderchain.com......and i have been wearing a pair of them all day to see if they hurt my ears. niobium is supposed to be totally non reactive, better than silver, surgical steel, gold or even titanium. So far, I have had NO soreness whatsoever.....and they come in many colors that will never change and they are only $1 a pair. I'm going to switch to them exclusively for all the earrings I make. (so far I've made none. LOL) I have a pair of earrings made out of my "sunshine and joy" charms that my sister wanted, but she needed earwires she wouildn't infect her ears and I needed them to look like brass to match the charms - so the yellow wires perfect!
my overflowing desks.

yep, I'm still a slob! ...notice all of the unfinished projects......

OK, what else? Here's a pic of my altar lizard,

who I found dead on my altar area in the shop.

I left him there (It seemed like a good omen to

me) and he has since skeletonized. I hope to

coat him with pmc paste and toast him in my kiln

and make him more permanent....... (yeah right, like all of the other projects i've yet to finish!)

I blew it miserably......

This is a photo of the Kauai community recycling center. They used to be publicly funded, but the city no longer sponsors them, so the island no longer has real recycling. Volunteers staff the center, and people drop off glass that the center melts and makes into art and sells to continue operating the center. They do a lot of community service work, teaching kids, etc.

Anyway, today I took a class in glassblowing. It was HOT! (pun, intended LOL)

It was an all day class - only 7 students with a master teacher and his assistant. The teacher's name was Chuck Vannatta and he has a glass studio in Oakland, Ca. He is visiting Kauai until March 18, and was a guest instructor. He taught us to gather glass, marver it, blow it, mold it, block it, pull it, cut it, open it and put a handle on it! We all made a marble, a small glass and another cup with a handle. And we practiced a lot. I don't have my objects to show you because they have to be slow annealed and will not be ready until tomorrow.

I, yes I alone, was the ONLY student who could NOT blow the glass. Oh eventually I made some small dents...but for the most part, my "objects" ended up very thick and stunted. (...and distorted..hahha..a reflection of me) The poor teacher kept giving me tips and helping me - but I was awful at it....and I took up loads of class time....and I burnt my finger..... splattered glass...Sort of reminded me of when I took a welding class - hah! The other students cheered when I blew a tiny bubble of air in center of my blob. It was very embarrassing - ah, well. Here are some pics of me and my futile attempts:

Me and Chuck. This was the only piece I blew decently, and because i was practicing and other students were using the glory hole and the "bench" I had to scrap it.

...and she huffed, and she puffed and she huffed and she puffed.......

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY?

actually, this is the postcard I made that I will be sending out - it was going to be the bird image for a fatbook page I'm supposed to be working on, and it was done in blue - but i changed my mind. So I reworked it into this - it's all digital - my nephews eyes, my hand.
Other than this- I haven't done anything the last few days. My DH and I both had a flu - or maybe it was sinus - and it has been raining and raining. Yesterday the rain stopped, so we had to take advantage of the good weather - and we mowed the lawns- all 5 acres! DH bought a new tractor, so he had a good time trying it out and learning to manuever it.
I bought some photo polymer plates (called PPP's) and I am dying to try them out, but I just can't get my butt into the shop to work on anything. They are usually used in printing, but they can also be used to make fine molds (with photos, words, etc) to use with precious metal clay. I want to try it before my friend Joanne comes to visit so that we can play with the process together. I belong to a group called metal clay, and this process is the challenge of the month.
what else? hmmmm..... A friend of mine wrote a book- "16XMOM" - about her family, their history and growing up in San Jose. It is not published yet, but i really enjoyed reading it - it brought back such memories!
I need to send her my thoughts about it NOW - but i am such a procrastinator!
I am also reading a book called "The Devil in the White City" written by Erik Larsen, about the 1893 Chicago world's fair and a serial killer, (much worse than Jack the Ripper) who was in Chicago at the time of the fair. Incredible history and really interesting...it's based on fact.
On a sadder note - I got a lovely card from Leigh Mitchell, wife of Ron Mitchell, who was my mentor and my friend. Ron passed away in December from cancer. She was writing to tell me that a large group of LA friends are having a rememberance for him in Burbank next weekend. I am very saddened to have to miss it. I met Ron on "Doogie Howser, MD" where I was the 2nd AD. He encouraged me and promoted me to 1st AD, and would have made me a Production Manager, like himself - except I didn't want to do it! I worked with him on and off over the years on many projects - and my children grew up knowing him and playing on TV sets. One day I found my boys running around the production office, squirting the office staff with squirt guns, ducking behind the furniture and causing general chaos. I started to reprimand them, and up from behind a desk pops Ron, "Uncle Ron" as everyone called him, leading the water fight!
I will truly miss him, he was a rare and wonderful human being.