a little distraction...

A few weeks ago, actually ever since I quit my day job, I've been feeding a stray. Hubby named "him" "George" ("why George?" "he just looks like a George...") and so it went. George doesn't get too close, and he doesn't like it if I get too close, either.

And then there was the incident.

I looked out the window one morning, sans glasses, to see George struggling with some dark shape. Was he fighting? Having sex? Great, stray cat sex on my deck. So I got my glasses. It was a kitten! A little black kitten, in George's mouth. When I stepped onto the deck, George dropped the baby and pushed him towards me. This, from a cat that won't give me the time of day! So I scooped up baby cat and made a nest for him inside. He was hurt - big wounds all over his neck plus missing patches of fur, an ulcer on his lip, and he was running a fever. So, unnamed kitten and I went to the vet the next day & got antibiotics, which he took like a trooper.

It doesn't take long for a kitten like this - a gift of grace - to find a place in my heart. Here he is by my keyboard, playing with a flea comb and "helping" me type. He weighs 3 pounds and 4 ounces - my other cats are 20# and 15#. His name is Pino (short for Pinot Noir) - solid black, gold eyes. Against dark furniture, he disappears when he closes his eyes.

Making Jewelry to Make a Living...

The first studio I ever apprenticed at made jewelry, and not much else. I learned what those time&motion experts were on about - how to produce a lot, very quickly. But I longed to make art instead...

Now I am back to jewelry, but with a different attitude. Rather than making the same design endlessly I have decided to make "small batch" jewelry - like limited editions. That way, I can play with the concepts I'm currently exploring in larger pieces (these days, the magic of vitrograph stringer and texture), without feeling like I'm making the choice of "either/or."

It feels great. I feel great. Working at home is probably the best decision I have ever made.

And now I get to go with hubby on trips. Last week, we were in Orlando and stayed at the most amazing hotel - the Bohemian - downtown. It is a Kessler property, and it was like staying in a museum in the best possible way. There is a gallery, and the halls are filled with art. It made me want to hop on & off the elevator on every floor just to look. They have a piano bar with original Gustav Klimt drawings (not to mention a Wusthof grand piano). It is truly sensational, and not outrageous. Plus, it's the kind of place where *everyone* who works there is a gem. I was wandering the restaurant in mid-afternoon looking at the art, when the manager led me to a special event room just to show me the art collection there. Oh, and the table! Made of alabaster, I think, and lit from the bottom so that parts of it glowed. The gal who worked in the gallery was as good as any docent. Now, if I could only come up with the $9,000 for the Jean Claude Roy painting of a field of poppies that mesmerized me, life would be perfect.