No Worries Duff!

The cake building competition was a lot of fun...........expensive but tons of fun! It will be a long time before I want to eat cake and butter cream frosting again! The Boys built a replica of the old rock house across the street from where we live and the girls built their version of a cruise ship. The most fun for me was watching the pairs work together, share [whisper] information, and put their vision to cake. I was the designated "trimmer" and built a "dingy" with a young woman rowing. The girl was crafted out of taffy and by the time the cake was complete, she had melted into a heap inside the little water craft..................looking as if she couldn't hold on until the rescue people arrived.........:(

Enjoy the pictures and know that there will be yet another competition this Christmas. Watch and laugh!

Oh, by the way, you think you are cold? Take a look at this........................

It's All Good!

OY
UPDATE:

I've been out of the blogging business for a while; back to it to let anyone who wants to know...................that all the issues which had gotten in the way of an 'easy breezy life' are over and all the work from outside folks has been completed! That is a big "hip hip hooray" for us on the prairie! And just in time for the holidays. Now we have to clean up.

We will be hosting a cake building competition; boys against girls at our place Thanksgiving eve and will post the pictures - cake outcomes - however they come out! Beautiful or ghastly; winners and losers! We are looking for good times and lots of laughs. It looks like we will have pumpkin pie and cake after our Thanksgiving celebration.

Check back to see the results on Friday!

Isn't it interesting.............................

Have you ever noticed that just when things begin feeling comfortable and you are "going with the flow"; everything seems to be in sync - life is good..............................you're coasting....All of a sudden little things begin to get in the way, you find obstacles in front of you - not of your doing but issues that need to be resolved and if you get flustered they become bigger problems and the mess gets stickier and deeper and the hurdles pile up.....................

That has been my recent life - feeling good about not working full time, having time to do creative things, see friends, pet the dogs, and plant some flowers. So I'm having a blast and life is good and smooth....... that must have been TOO easy for the universe to handle because all of a sudden the stuff hits the fan and I have one problem after another and no one can figure it out......I find specialists and they can............hooray! It turns out that the professionals I have used for years made a mistake which causes lots of problems and much expense! The professional turns to his insurance and they investigate and say that they won't pay - I should have known...............not specialist [the professional] but me, the one who went to school to become a teacher, the one who knows virtually nothing about ... except TO GO TO THE professional for help and listen to what he has to say............While this is going on we are dealing with the many steps to get support to drill for a new well and because it is a public bureaucracy and there are so many steps - it feels as if it will go on for ever....I await news of work to keep an income and the climb continues..........................................

Ok, life happens. The experience was a reminder to me that life IS messy and I have to allow it to happen, especially when I cannot change what is happening. Everyday is practice for tomorrow and the question has to be, what have I learned from this................It is a reminder that there are many things I can't control and when those things happen I have to breathe and allow things to be.................they will be done in their own time....

Then TODAY we signed the last paper........the well guys set drill in place and promise they will find us water! I continue to have work/income and one of my pieces of art got an honorable mention in an art show!




Life is good again!

Allow life to unfold like the petals of a young rose coming to full bloom, sit down and watch the sky change, pet the dog.................smile. Be grateful!

EC

I've been thinking of this so I re-posted!

Spheres, circles, cycles, beginnings, endings, change, growth, connecting...............spheres/made of many circles connecting to other circles which have beginnings and endings

Life, art, love, joy, gratitude, energy, wisdom........things to ponder.

Art and life, side by side. When I think about art I realize that without it my life would look very different. Art - line, shape, form, color, texture, and space - Understanding these concepts is important because..........if my senses are intact, I need to be able to use them well. Having knowledge and some kind of understanding about color, shape, texture, line, form, and how to use space/how to fill space.........I have a better 'quality of life.' For example; as soon as I swing my legs over the side of my bed and open my eyes I find myself in a three dimensional world full of color, texture, line, shape, etc; when I write a letter, the person I write to may get some idea of how I feel, not only by the words I use, but by the way I write/how intensely I put the letter on the page. If I am angry, my writing looks different than when I am relaxed and happy; as I ready myself to go out into the world for the day, the way I choose to dress, put on my make-up [or not], do my hair [or not], says something about me and what I want others to know about me.

Art is not just about something someone does for money, it is one person's way to express him/herself. That expression tells others about me [the artist] or at least the viewer sees what I want them to see [or not]. As an artist I put what I want to.........on to a page, into a piece of sculpture, through words on a page, or into a piece of music; that is me. I want you to see what you see, to interpret my art your way. I won't tell you what to see or to think...........when I am done creating - it's your turn.............what do you see? Enjoy or not, but feel it in the moment.

Human beings use these skills all the time, they just don't talk about them.

Live with intention - Create beauty - Embrace the positive - Let the rest go

"Working hard, I almost missed it!"

I have been at my table painting almost all day. I have been sitting her for hours............ ...painting three pictures at a time and cutting paper for cards............the many stages in the process; I finally looked up from my table and almost missed the amazing sky! There's a storm rolling in or rolling past but right now it is creeping over the mountains and I am the lucky one - sitting right in front of the San Juan Mountains in the southern San Luis Valley! It is amazing and one of the reasons we live here. There are many times on my way into town or back home again that I have to remind myself not to take this for granted - the amazing views and changes in the weather. Weather in this valley changes on a dime! One minute the sun is shining and the next the wind is blowing and it is raining or hailing or snowing. I love that it is not static or predictable. The only thing that seems to be predictable is a nice long fall. We are rapidly approaching that and I can't wait............the nights are very cool and the days are sunny and not so hot! We got the sky, here in the valley!
Here it is, the view from the west; the storm approaching and me almost not noticing. Scroll down to see different shots, I think you'll enjoy the trip. Have a great evening. EC


one more......................................
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little sky journey. I get to see this all the time and I love it! Life is good!!

"What's a Desk Head ?"

You must be wondering what the "Desk Head" is? OK, let me tell you how they came to be........ I have been an artist since the late 70's. I know, that is a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng time! But I have only been a doll maker for the last 12 years. I have made over 600 dolls in these past many years and I have held onto the left over pieces from the materials I used for the dolls. Not being one to waste resources and loving to always have my hands busy in some creative project, I took the left overs and made a bag of heads...............just because the parts were there. I think at first it was a way to "fine tune" my face sculpting ability to make the best faces, the most expressive faces I could make. As I looked into my bag of heads I had an idea! Using the stands from the puppets I had made for play therapists while I had been actively making dolls for therapists, I took the sections of wood that were formerly the stands for what I then called "stick heads" [my version of a hand puppet] and glued the head right onto the stand. It was quite funny to me and as I laughed I grabbed my basket of left over yarns and my huge box of recycled buttons and began creating a face. It seemed that I couldn't stop that weekend and ended up with a huge collection of "Heads".

I brought a few of them into work with me and set them on my desk. Later that day I had a meeting with my supervisor and returned to my office somewhat disgruntled........I found that it was easy to share my point of view with the head on my desk instead of seeking out a comrade to 'debrief' this meeting. That is how they lovingly came to be called "Desk Heads". It occurred to me that there might be others who wanted a confidant and that this might just be one solution! Later that day, as I worked on my computer, the phone rang.........I took my glasses off and without even missing a beat............I placed them on the nose of one of my new office mate! It was great because I often spend loads of time searching for "my eyes"........those who know me have heard that expression frequently.........."I can't seem to find my eyes!" But when I am at my desk.........there they sit, on the nose of my "Desk Head".

So, there you have it! The beginning, the creation of what I have come to call "Desk Heads". Hope you find one you like or one you can give to someone you love!

Enjoy,
EC Hanson

Group Doodle coming home this week!

Here is the current stage of the "Group Doodle" which has been in California for a bit but is on it's way back to Colorado! It seems to be evolving in an interesting way...............if you are interested in participating in this project please let me know and you will be put on the list to contribute.

It is feeling very "Fallish" around here in the San Luis Valley. Nights are in the low 40's and high 30's! no kidding!! But we are very green this season due to all the rain we've had this summer. The flora and fauna [including the thirteen lined squirrel, horny toads, and humming birds] love it but weed-wacking is not my thing:(

Look for updates on the Doodle project and the ornaments next week.






Stay tuned,
EC