What does your tree look like?

A few days ago I went to the laundromat to clean my clothes, and while the wash cycle was going, I took a walk at Stanberry Park in Cincinnati. Colorful fall leaves and photographs were my main treasures. The photos above are from a huge tree that has been carved through the decades. I didn't notice any obviously new carvings, but one thing that was so obvious was the age of the carvings. About 10 feet high, old lovers' initials were stretched and spread out. The bark continued to grow, and the lines filled in. Almost the whole circumference of the trunk is covered in scars. If you have a chance to check it out, I recommend it.

The photos of the carvings inspire me to think about what kind of scars or carvings there are in my own personal spiritual tree. What events, relationships, dates, times and places have left a permanant mark on my own history? How deep are they carved, and how legible are they? Equally important...what kind of tree is it? Trees are so symbolic in so many way, and the answers are completely subjective.

New Items on Etsy today!

Stacker Necklace Deluxe

New Earring Design. Pretty! And fun to make!

Nice Green Stacker Necklace.....31" long!

Weight Loss Update

Since I started talking about my weight loss a few months ago, I haven't been very good at keeping up with it. In a way that's probably pretty good, because I certainly don't see the point in blogging about losing a pound. I noticed that my last post was August 21, when I was 16-18 pounds lighter. Well as of today, it's 30 pounds. My weight is hovering around the 200 mark, give or take 3 or 4 pounds depending on what time of day it is and if I'm nekkid or not when I weigh myself.


My weekends tend to be more relaxed as far as diet is concerned, but I do work out just about every day. Yesterday I completed Week 4 Day 2 in the Couch-to-5K program for new runners. In the beginning of this program I thought "oh my GAWD I have to run for 90 seconds straight?". Now I'm running a 3 and 5 minute run, twice in a workout. Later this week it will be all 5 minute segments, then 5 and 8 minute segments, then a full 20 minutes nonstop.

I need to get back on the South Beach wagon if I want to speed up this weight loss. I've become too lazy, though I still eat much healthier than I used to. Tomorrow is my visit to Hoxworth Blood Center for my 8 week bloodletting, so I'll get to weigh myself on a proper doctors' scale AND get my cholesterol screening. I'm pretty pumped about that!

No Before/After pics as of yet, so I'll leave you with this photo of a little collection of items I've found on the riverbank.

Shameless Plugs

The 2010 Polymer Clay Calendar by Marjorie Oxman is now available for purchase! I'm Miss September. Rather, my Stacker Beads are Miss September. You can order it here if you want a copy, and they are 25% off through October 11. Use the promocode "FALLFOTO" to get the discount! I ordered mine this morning!

December 5 is the Jingle Bell Run/Walk in Cincinnati. It's a fundraiser for the Arthritis Foundation, but even more importantly, I'll be running a real race for the first time in my life! I've been training for the past month, and hope to be able to do the run comfortably by the day of the race. So far so good! Anyway, if you feel inclined to sponsor me and support Arthritis Foundation, click here to see my personal race page. You can have your name flow down a continuous contribution ticker! I will post my results in this blog. The race is still 2 months away, but that's about how much time I'll need to be ready!

One more thing.........If I haven't already mentioned here in my blog (and I obviously haven't checked), I enhanced my Stacker tutorial page with text to help folks with tips, tricks and hints. I hope the new page will help folks learn how to make them! Initially I wanted to avoid too much text, because automatic translations across the oceans of the web could really do a botched job of it. However, maybe not.

Fall Directions

For the last couple of months I have pretty much neglected my Flickr page and blog. I guess I just don't "feel" the internet thing like I used to. After being on Facebook for a couple years, I kicked myself off after experiencing almost drug-like effects. My friends on there were for the most part pretty darn interesting, and I was always wanting to see what they have to say. Long story short, I want to spend more time doing life than talking about life. Since I ditched FB I am creating more things and being more creative.

John and I have been spending a lot of time in my attic, getting it ready for art-making season. I make art all year round, but the art in my attic is predominantly focused on my found objects/trash that I collect on the streets and the riverbank. One evening I gathered all of my finds and organized them. My attic is a wonderful, dark, inspiring place. Even though I can hear the city streets outside, I cannot see them, so it's almost like a protective coccoon. The photo above features some river finds on a square board. It's my "temporary art" board where I do simple quick meditations of arrangements of the items. This one shows a mountain landscape, with a moon, a second planet, a brown cloud and a rocket.

Yesterday I compulsively started a new bed quilt. My second one, about 3 years after completing my current one. It's turning out exactly how I imagined it would. I'm taking 9"x9" squares of my very favorite organic-y, cellular, biological-looking images. Some of them remind me of patterns one would see through the lens of a microscope, while others may mimic leaf vein patterns. Also, I am using fabrics that I swore I'd never really use, because they were perfect the way they were. Initially I expected to feel uncomfortable cutting these whole fat quarters, yard cuts and multi-yard cuts for a square I can never replace. On the contrary...I felt relief, like by using it, I'm setting it free.

This photo on the right is my cat Sweetie walking on the newly ironed pieces. Like the typical cat of a fairy tale, she tried to pry a pin out of two layers of fabric. Then she nestled in a pile of folds she made from it.

At any rate, I finished this much of it in two nights. Last night I cut about 65 squares, and tonight I cut the black strips and sewed two rows together. It will be roughly queen size. There will be either 96 or 104 squares in all. I think.

I'll try to post blogs more often. Stuff just happens so fast that I can't keep up with it!

Other People's Stacker Beads .. Part 5

Yesterday I received an email from Maika Martinez from Pamplona, Spain. She has been making Stacker beads, and I must say that she's doing just great! One thing I really like about her Stackers is her use of white. All except 4 of them have large doses of white or very light yellow. The "multiple effect" is great. They look good enough to eat!

Maika's Flickr page has lots of great work. She likes to experiment with different techniques, and she does them well. She is also a member of the APE, a.k.a. Association of Polymer clay of Spain.

Thanks Maika for sharing your version of the Stacker bead.

I invite more folks to show me theirs. If you want to give it a try, visit this page.

If you go to my archives from May and April, you'll see others who have done the same!

What a Summer!

Man it has been forever since I posted here. Since the previous post, where I started the South Beach Diet, I've lost between 16 and 18 pounds. I exercise every day, and feel absolutely terrific!

This new routine has transferred mental energy, too. Where I used to want to just retreat into my art studio sanctuary and get lost in the potential of polymer clay, I am now thinking about a new route to take on my bike, or how far I think I can jog. Food also takes up a LOT more of my mental energy, too. Cooking is so much more exciting, so I am always thinking of new ways to prepare my favorite foods. Nowadays I'm eating so much more veggies....probably more in one day that I used to eat in a whole week before I changed my ways. White potatoes have been totally deleted from my diet. My favorite veggies are asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, red bell peppers, orange bell peppers, cucumbers, onions, spinach, garlic, green beans, cauliflower and cabbage.


Here is one of my favorite photos I've taken with my new camera. Yes, this is my third camera in the last 5 years. This is a dried seed pod from a water lily. This has been in my collection of natural items for a few years. Picked it up at Cowan Lake near Wilmington.

My brother took me to Cowan Lake a week ago for my first kayaking trip. It was perfect. And so much easier than I thought it would be. Granted, the surface of the water was like glass....zero current. But the big "field" of waterlilies and the creek that connected to it were just gorgeous! (Sorry, no pix of that!)

This picture is a recent one of me...taken earlier this week. My friend Alyssa and her mom visited the shop. Alyssa is I think 13 years old (her birthday was July 4 but I forget what number she turned!) and is a real natural at designing earrings. She brought in a container of them to show me and hear my professional opinion of them. I think they're great. I can tell she thinks them through. She was sweet enough to give me two pair as a thank you for encouraging her. You can't see them in this picture, but they look damn good.


Green beans at Susan's! She invited me over for dinner last Sunday. It was one of the best dinner's I've ever had. These green beans were so good!

These are little scraps of aluminum and other metals I found on the banks of the Ohio River. The artisitc possibilities of stuff like this kind of just blows my mind.


Well I better get going. I need to do something to prepare for a show I'm doing Sept 26 in Anderson Township. A Fair of the Arts. Be There.