The Blue Cat

This year for Halloween my three-year-old daughter wanted to be a blue cat. I had been asking her for several months about what she wanted to be and she never wavered. I kept thinking she would change her mind about this costume but she never did. So by October first I had to do something about it. After searching on line for blue cat costumes and coming up empty, I decided to make one.

This past year I taught myself how to sew. It is a new concept to me, but something I have always wanted to learn. I learned to hand stitch as a kid but we never had a machine in the house. Sewing was not something my mother did, and my Nanny was too old to teach me. So that was that.  I had a broken machine sitting in my garage for some time and finally got it repaired, and found a friend to teach me a quick lesson. For months now I have been hemming pants and curtains and I felt ready to try my hand at the Blue Cat Costume.

I took Mia to the fabric store and let her choose the blue hues, and little by little... mistake by mistake, I got the thing put together. I bought pre-made cat ears and made  blue "slip covers" for them. Then traced one of her dresses and made my own pattern. Sewed on a furry tummy and furry sleeves and made a tail out of cardboard tubes and slip covered with fabric. She asked for bells on the end of the tail. Cute. The hardest part was figuring out the zipper. Apparently my machine is so old that nobody in the Orlando vicinity sells parts (I needed a zipper foot attachment). But I got it figured out with what I had, and bonded it with some fabric glue. Worked great.

I can't say the costume would stand the test of time if she wanted to play dress up... but Mia has some funny ideas about things. And apparently she only wanted to wear the costume for Halloween. I couldn't even get her to try it on for fittings before the big night. Had to bribe her once or twice. I am not a great seamstress, I definitely sew things the hard way. I am learning. And I feel really proud about teaching myself this skill. I find it to be really useful. However hard I worked on the costume, Mia resisted my use of the sewing machine. "I don't like that noise. Turn off that machine" she'd yell from the next room. Well too bad. It's for your costume. I don't care if the machine is from 1960 and sounds like a lawn mower. It works.

The funniest thing about this costume was my forgetfulness of taking a decent photo of her all dressed up. We went to a friend's house for Trick or Treat and in the midst of all the hustle bustle, we got 2 good photos of her, but neither was of the full costume. Duh! Anyhow, she looked adorable.

Yoga Studies

Ahh, the weather is finally turning here in Central Florida. A true breath of fresh air. It has gone from hot to lovely. I love the fall weather and the freedom it gives me after months of being locked indoors from the summer heat. The change in temperatures calls me outside to the porch studio and allows me to work in the moderate temperatures, rather than sweating it out to a near faint.

It has taken some time but I've finally been able to consistently carve out some creative time once again. My free time has dramatically changed over the past six months, and it has taken me time to adjust. My daughter's three-hour nap has been reduced to about one hour, thus allowing me less and less time to myself.

I have just finished three more mosaics for Full Circle Yoga and I am working on a fourth before delivering them to the studio. The first is the "OM" symbol, done in black and teal. It is a smaller piece, 12"x12", and I like the swirls that compliment the symbol. The second mosaic is a woman balancing in Tree Pose. This one is a little larger, about 12"x18". The third piece is a gift for the owner, her logo laid out on a garden stone.

Finally, I've come to accept that I'm not faithful to video recording the creation of my pieces. I have tried and failed. It's just too much work for me to set up and take down the camera and tripod each time I have a few minutes to work. I wish I could leave it set up and ready to record, but my outside studio just won't allow it. Maybe in another lifetime. Another studio.

Busy Summer

I can hardly believe how my summer has gone by so quickly. The long hot days have been taken over by family emergencies and a recent pregnancy, both of which have left me little time for creative endeavors. I was away from home for nearly 6 weeks, and shortly after I returned, found out I was pregnant.

For anyone who has never experienced pregnancy, let me tell you... it's hard. It's exhausting. And just finding something to keep your stomach happy is a challenge as well. The little monster in my tummy decides what I can eat and what I cannot. S/he doesn't like chocolate, or citrus, or peaches. Or apparently black beans. We recently took a short vacation to St. Augustine where I ordered a bowl of black bean soup. I took one bean (not one bite - just one bean) and bee-lined it straight for the ladies room. Luckily there was no line for the stall, otherwise I would have chosen the sink for expressing the bean. Nobody needs to see that!

Now that things have calmed down a bit, I'm working on a piece for the yoga studio. It is a lady meditating... and coming along nicely (just very slowly) This time I'm recording a video of the mosaic process so people can see what goes into these pieces. I wish I had more time for mosaic lately, but this summer Florida heat is a killer. I dream of the cooler days yet to come.

Dragonfly Stone

My latest piece is another garden stone. It was made from both Italian glass and ceramic tiles. The glass was brought back to me from a friend who visited Italy in 2009. I have been saving it for a special piece. I made a boarder with green glass beads, and the rest of the tiles were handmade by me. The dragonfly wings are a purple/ brown glaze (same tiles I used in the Octopus mirror) and the body is purple. I like the combination of green and purple. I have a photo of this garden stone on my phone, but having trouble getting that connected to my computer here...  maybe I'll figure it out soon and can post it. Ugh

I decided to give this as a gift to my mother, for her front doorstep. The last garden stone I did is holding up quite well in the Florida heat, humidity and rain. I wasn't quite sure if it would break apart due to the outside elements, but I feel confident that I know what I'm doing.

Dragonflies are one of my favorite subjects to work with. Carefree. Delicate. And fun to watch.

Fly away little friend. Make a new happy home.

Love; Sold

I recently sold one of my favorite pieces, the Love Mirror.  I give thanks to my friend Christine at Full Circle Yoga, who lets me use a part of her retail space as gallery space. It's always exciting to know that someone out there likes my work. I love all the little details that went into making this piece: the beads inside of the top hearts, different textures that make up the picture. I hope the new owner found a special place to hang it. Now I need to create a couple of new pieces for the yoga studio. What a way to find inspiration.

Butterfly Garden Stone

I've been diving into new creative endeavors this spring - sewing and gardening. Two skills I wish I had and never really learned. For the past few weeks I have been learning to sew and take care of plants. They seem like simple tasks that I should be able to handle! I love the idea of having a butterfly garden. Once I feel confident that I won't kill the new flowers, I'll expand the collection to include ones that will attract butterflies.

I've been blocked creatively for the past several weeks. I think it is the looming promise of more mosaic mirrors that is holding me back. I tried to work it out by making new tiles and molds over the weeks, planting some flowers and cooking a lot, but nothing has really broken my block. I decided to make something for my new garden. No pressure. It's just for outside.

Last week I took a spare garden stone and drew out a butterfly design. I quickly put together the pieces to make the mosaic. It came together so fast I couldn't believe it. When it's right, it's right.

New Tiles

Some time ago, I found this fish decoration at a junk shop. I always wanted to make something with it and decided it would look cool on a tile. Last week I rolled out the clay and made some impressions. I actually made them to be cast in plaster, so that I can pour and reproduce them to be 4x6" and 4x8" tiles. Pretty cool! Now I can line my kitchen or bathroom with a boarder or something. My daughter will probably say they're scary. She thinks this about a lot of my pieces... I wonder what Tim Burton's kids think of his work?

There is some trickiness to the shrinkage of clay, etc., and my math isn't great... so this is an experiment to see what the final size will be after firing. Hopefully close to the intended size. I will pour and fire them soon and try out a couple of glazes.