Gold Mine

The past month has been a blur!

I've been out of town for three of the past four weekends now and I am so glad to be home. It was all wonderful fun; family and sun all over Florida.

One of those weekends was spent down in Tequesta with my dear friend Megan. The show, Next Wave, was a hit and the opening night party was packed with guests. I met some superb new artists and re-met another Gainesville local who happened to win best in show!

The best part of those three days though, aside from just hanging out and catching up with Megan, was driving to the Lighthouse Art Center classrooms and packing my car full to the brim with enamel and supplies.

This isn't even all of the boxes full of enamels gifted to me by Megan and the art center. The family of a local enamelist donated every last bit of her studio to the center when she died, but her supplies were older and every last one of her enamels is leaded. This meant that keeping them at a children's art school wasn't an option, but having them at my house is just fine!

This is the new kiln. I'm pretty sure my old one can fit inside the chamber of this one.

I'm excited to get working, even if I now have to fire outside on our screened porch. See, the old-school kiln requires a 240v outlet, which we have for our dryer on the porch. The leaded enamels also carry a bit of a risk as far as our pets are concerned. I can wear a mask and wash my hands, but they can't avoid getting the fine residue dust on their feet and fur ingesting it when they groom.

So, now I wait for the heat to dial it back a few notches. Working outside at a 1500 degree kiln when it's already 100+ outside isn't very motivating. I think for now I'll try to organize and catalog the couple hundred jars of enamel that are sitting in my spare bedroom, dreaming while I do of all the new creations they'll create.
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Next Wave

My sweet friend Megan moved back home to South Florida after college here at UF a few years ago. She landed the perfect job for her not long after that and has become the Assistant Director of Education at the lovely Lighthouse Art Center, a gallery and school located in her home town of Tequesta.

'Galaxy' dish in blue

Recently Megan sent me the call-to-artists information for a new show that will open at the end of June that features artists under 35. I stalled on it since we were headed to the big cities (Boston and NYC) on vacation just a couple days later. When I returned, I was surprised to find out that the deadline for submission was two days later and got myself in gear to photograph the pieces I planned on submitting. Well, good thing I wasn't relying on creating new work for the show because I would have never had the time, and then would have never had the opportunity to be a part of this exciting exhibit.
The board of directors quickly made their decisions and I was officially notified that all three of my submitted pieces were accepted! The large galaxy dish, sea glass pendant, and sand dollar pendant will be on display from June 24 through September 1.

Collin and I are making the drive down for a two-day stop so that we can visit with Megan and also attend the opening reception for the show on the 24th. The night boasts a micro-brew tasting and an awards ceremony for the artwork in the show. It's been a long, long time since my work was exhibited in a gallery and even longer since I submitted it to a juried show with the potential for an award. I'll be crossing my fingers they fall in love with one of them and that I can go home with a new feather for my cap.
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An Atomic Holiday 2011

Last year's Atomic Holiday Bazaar was a blast and I am flattered to have been accepted once again into Sarasota's finest indie craft fair!
Adrian Lucas is the lady behind the scenes and she's fine company to be in with this crowd. She puts in tremendous effort every year to make this event happen and when she announced applications would become available mid April I was mo-ti-vated!

I spent a few afternoons taking photographs of items that didn't sell at last year's shows (I know, major slacking right?) and listing items in my etsy shop and linking to them through Facebook. Then, I sent off my application and hoped that I made a good enough impression last year for her to have me back.

Well what do you know? I did!

(source)

I'll be starting to work earlier than I did last year (hello stressball) and will hopefully be able to crank out lots of inventory to keep my shop and my shows full through the end of 2011. I have a big order list to fill with raw copper shapes, enamels, and tools I need to make sure I have plenty of supplies for the season.

I'm excited to get started soon and I'm even more excited that the room I enamel in this time, has its own air conditioner. So, in my spare time you'll probably be able to find me working at the kiln, AC on 65.
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Retro Bold

The matching peace dove necklace sold at the last minute of the Atomic Holiday Bazaar this past year. One of my favorites, I was just a little sad to see it go.

Although, I do still have these fun and funky earrings for sale now at the etsy shop! I'll be sad to see them go too - good thing I can make more!

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Busy Lady

Lots of time spent on Love, Lindsey Kaye this week so far. I am getting more and more excited for the shows coming up!
I even spent some time on the computer last night finally making a new banner and avatar for my Etsy shop and re-opening it back from vacation mode. And I thought I would have it back and running at the end of August. Hah!

Sunday and Monday evenings I spent working at the kiln. Somehow I managed to fire more than 20 pieces in just two sessions of a couple hours each. Enameling is not a quick process, but I'm getting more efficient. I think my design and craft are getting cleaner too; something I've striven for in this medium.

Check out the slick lighting on that necklace, eh? I invested a little money in a simple lightbox and lamp set I found (surprisingly) on ThinkGeek.com. Lucky absolutely destroyed the homemade version I rigged up with a cardboard box and tissue paper. It did it's job for a while but wasn't really what I needed anyway. This one folds down into a neat little tiny pack, including the lights. I think I might stop in at Michael's craft store sometime this weekend to get a few more background patterns, too. I have lots of paper but so much is just too busy for a project like this. Better saved for handmade cards and goodies.

More to come soon; I have tiny hearts, blossom necklaces, copper hoop earrings, sterling pendants, and a menagerie of animals still to do. I'm happy that our social life is still full but much more quiet. Prioritizing this time to work has energized me for more!
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Keeping Up

If I have learned one thing about myself as an adult, it's that things are rarely as bad as they seem before you actually get started.
As a child, I hated imperfection. A general term, but one nonetheless that could encompass whatever I thought was 'wrong' with something. Perfect to me meant arriving somewhere on time, dressed appropriately and prepared. If I was going to be late to dance class, I would rather just skip it. If I could get there on time but wasn't prepared or dressed (or whatever) properly, again I'd rather not go at all. My fears were in the faces of those who would notice. Notice that something had messed up the plan somewhere along the line and that I couldn't keep up with what I felt were my responsibilities. Fast forward to college and it continued. Woke up late for class; a 'normal' person might throw on sweat pants, forgo the makeup and get there a few minutes late because what mattered was getting there for the lesson. I, would curl into a ball and imagine the hundreds of faces watching me slink to the back of the room as I interrupted the lecture with my crazy ponytail attempt to cover up bedhead.
Therapy for my OCD helped me transition through these feelings to the place I am now. I might not arrive exactly on time and I might not look perfect, but I can find a comfortable medium for myself. I'm no longer paralyzed by a fear of 'imperfection' like I once was. Today I know it's never all-or-nothing. Rarely are there cases where it would be best for me to just stay home instead of being a few minutes late. I am thankful to have had the help I did in understanding this.

Sometimes I look back and can't believe how much more a relaxed person I am now than I was just over 5 years ago.

Recently I have started planning out the work I'll need to do in order to build my inventory for GLAM and Atomic Holiday Bazaar. All lumped together it's incredibly overwhelming. When I break it down though, I can see there is a reasonable amount of work but that it's not impossible.
Not so impossible seeming that I feel like I should just quit, like I should just not waste my time starting because I won't be able to finish everything as 'perfectly' as I want.
All I have to do is work at it, slowly, and enough will get done so that I feel accomplished. So that I will feel competent and that I have put forth enough energy.

Last week I did enamel on Monday night like I swore to myself I would. I finished 5 small teardrop pendants and they're ready for assembly once I drill the metal flowers. This Monday, I let myself off the hook because I wanted to relax with Collin on our anniversary. Tuesday we wanted to take Early on a long walk so that we could wear her out before trying to endure the hell that is clipping her nails. Last night we were dog-sitting for a friend and I didn't think that I could concentrate and maneuver around two big happy dogs while working. Tonight is my favorite TV night. One night after another of potential work gone because I am not prioritizing what I need to. Or, what I tell myself I should be prioritizing.

I'm rambling, and thinking 'out loud' here about all of this. But I feel that with everything I've learned about myself, I should be able to relax and allow myself to not have guilt over choosing other 'work' or even play over this work I have weighing on me. Then again, once I allow myself the luxury of not worrying about getting this done I feel anxious all over about not keeping up.

Lame.
What I really need to remind myself is that last year I had from now to the middle of November to fire and assemble and order all my supplies for GLAM. And I needed to conceptualize and execute my entire setup and branding and pricing.
If I can do that and be well-received and successful. I can do this too. I know the shows are a little bigger, but the work is faster and I am better now at what I do.
I can do this.
I just have to get myself to.
'Good enough' is good enough, and I will never accomplish everything I want to in a day. Things take time and when it's all done I will look back and think, "that work wasn't as bad as it seemed".
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