Exploding Whale

I live in Florence OR, and this is not one of our town's best hystorical moments.

Santa's Crib

Here's something fun my pal Amanda sent me.
Have a cool yule, all!

santas-crib.mpg

The Ramp

Sometimes life in a small town is so mundane, so hard, so rural. The same faces, rumors, etc. It can really drive you crazy. Unless you find something magical, something that you can fall back on when down in the dumps, all you think about is getting out.
Last night I stayed late at my shop, cleaning up after Ladies Night. I wasn't planning on staying, I was just going to throw the bulk of it in the sink and come back the next day, but I enjoyed puttering around, so I kept with it.
After all was neat and tidy I flicked off the lights and closed the door. I have a wheel chair ramp that goes down the side of my shop, towards my parking spot in back and I always walk that way. So on my way down the ramp, I hear it. It honestly stopped me dead in my tracks. The roar of the ocean. I was totally wooed by the thunder of the waves, crashing on the beach. I can hear it every night, but sometimes it just stops me and makes me thankful for where I live. It's that magic that keeps me hear.
I love walking up and down that ramp beside my store. In the morning, the sound of the birds is almost deafening. I've never lived anywhere that has as many birds as Florence. It's so cheerful and sweet sounding. The perfect way to start the day - and those crashing waves at night - I just love it so much.

26 Things: The Photographic Scavenger Hunt

While cruising the web this morning, I found this great project: 26 Things The Photographic Scavenger Hunt. Get your camera out and watch for the new list of things to shoot for December. It's great a great way to practice more artistic shots, trying out different settings on camera, etc... while giving you something specific to shoot.

If you do it, add your link to comment section so we can see.

Amazing - Totally Amazing

Julian Beever's pavement drawings are incredible. Check out his chalk/pastel drawings on the street that look 3D, but are totally flat. Keep clicking on all his thumbnails, so you can see what they look like from other angles - totally nuts.

Yippee Skippy

It's been a little while since I had a bowl order, but I got one the other night - I'm so pleased.
I always wonder if people buy them for themselves or for gifts.

VOTE FOR ME @ Girl Wide Web: Collective-Artwerx

Bust Magazine has me listed in their 'Culture Vulture' section of their Girl Wide Web. This is so cool! When I clicked to look, you can rate my site!

Go look and be generous with thos 10s! ;)
http://www.bust.com/cgi-bin/links/rate.cgi?ID=13542

Dear Crissy

I'm crazy about you! You're an amazing artist and what I love most is the fact that you use yourself in your art. You totally have captured me, along with the rest of your huge following. I love how you can change your look like a chameleon... your photos are breath-taking all alone, and then whe you paint and draw on them.... well it's just nothing short of amazing.

You have inspired my son and I to take more photos... try something edgy... maybe tinker a bit with them too, but nothing, nothing, nothing will ever come close to your artful bliss.

======================================

Don't wait - go look at her art now - it's truly hypnotic.
www.dearcrissy.com

mataio turtle

mataio turtle
Originally uploaded by traSEAlee.

My turtle has grown so much... here she is now.

Old Country

When I was little and my "Mumma" (grandmother) talked about living in Hungary, she always referred to it as living in the 'old country'. So you could say I'm back in the old country. I'm in Canada right now - looking after my boys while their father is on his honeymoon with his new wife. Cross your fingers that this one (marriage) sticks.

I'm always shocked when I cross the border, and I don't get any feelings like "oh it's nice to be home ". As beautiful as British Columbia is, I just get chilly willy shivers up my spine when I return. Life here, was just too damn dramatic. Everything was a struggle, a big ordeal, a mess. Moving away to the USA, was the best move I ever made..... with the exception of leaving my dear, sweet friend Patty behind. And of course being apart from my oldest son is hard too, but we have finally got to a great point in our relationship, which might not have happened otherwise. My youngest, Tyler, is spending the year up here. It's really hard having no kids in the house, but I console myself with the fact that he'll be home at the end of June.

I moved away from Canada in 1997 and although I really like it here - it's just not home for me. Whenever I think of home, I think of Marina del Rey. I only lived there for 2.5 years, but there was something about it that made me feel that I belong there. Now living in Oregon, I'm comfortable in my tiny little town of Florence. I think that Canada is not only the 'old country' for me, but the old life as well. Thank God.

Ugly duckling update

Here's the results, after firing. Could have used more glaze on the green base glaze, but oh well, live and learn.

The Ugly Duckling

I was trying a new glazing technique on some pottery peices today. A few people were in the studio wandering and/or painting and they all shared the same look on their faces... something that combined wonder and disgust, lol. You see, they were not familiar with pottery glazes and didn't realize that what comes out to be a brilliant, luminous blue can start out as ugly, dull brown. "interesting color choices" they would say, as they saw my hidious brown beside a rusty brown. "that foam you have there.... uh is that normal?... and what about those chunks?... are you doing that right?" "Just wait till you see..." I replied, "...this ugly duckling will turn into a beatiful swan" I explained I was trying out a new glaze technique that incorporated shaving cream, and 'the chunks' were glass bits, that would melt and explode into a neat pattern. It's true, pottery glazes really turn from ugly and wicked to gorgeous from within the amazing chamber of the kiln, but I ask you this.... since when are ducklings ugly? I happen to love those little fuzzy things.


ugly ducking 1

ugly ducking 2



ugly ducking 3

paralyzed

It's Sunday - my true day off - nobody is home - I have the car - I am totally free to do as I please. I want to go the beach, but I'm still here. I want to work on my art, but I'm not. I want to go clean my studio from the mess I left last night, but I'm online. I want to go do my hair - but it sits like a little brown helmet upon my head. I want to go get groceries and make some delicious food for the week - BUT I AM PARALYZED. Unable to move, leave, motivate myself. I wait all week for Sundays, so I can do all the things I want to do, instead of being at work, but when it comes down to it - I feel depressed on Sundays. I'm thinking back and sure enough, every week this is the same thing. I have grand plans to wake up and enjoy a leisurely coffee, do a quick tidy of the house, plan meals for the week and then head to the beach. All week long, that's my plan. When Sunday actually comes, I am lucky if I manage the coffee part, and then boom - I shut down, like a heavy weight that makes me sink to the bottom of a pond. It's almost 4:30, I just got dressed, it's sunny out, someone - please, push me out the door and point me in the direction of the beach.

she who eats: different looks, same tastes

Check out this neat blog entry about Haagen-Dazs made into sushi...

she who eats: different looks, same tastes

Yahoo! Groups : artsquared

OK - I know we all belong to million yahoo groups, BUT if you are into making & selling small works - this Art Squared group is great! We work strictly in a 4 x 4 inch format. You can do any medium your heart desires, as long its 4x4, and sell it on eBay using great pre-designed templates that band our Art Squared artists together. Check it out.

New Baby

We have a new baby in the family... of the terrapin kind... a little red ear slider turtle. Her name is Mataio and she's the cutest thing ever. I'm fixed up her tank with nice river rocks and agates, a plant (fake cuz she eats them too fast), and some ledges to bask on. She never comes out to of the water to bask though... she only comes up for air then goes back under. I've made sure she can easily climb out on them, but nope, she won't. I'm going to get a turtle dock on Tuesday, and hopefully that will help. I wanted something more natural looking, so I used the stone ledges, but they don't seem to be enticing her to climb up on.
Any tips for getting her out of the water to bask?
I ordered a snazzy UVA/UVB light for her, which should be here any day now. In the mean time I've been using a 'daylight' in the hood. Maybe once the special bulb comes she'll be into basking more.
She's eating very well. I feed her floating turtle pellets (sticks) as her staple, and supplement her with veggies. I've trained her to come to me when I wiggle my finger in the water (that only took 2 weeks) and now I'm trying to get her to trust me to pop the food in her mouth, so I can hand feed her. She's pretty close. She stares at my fingers holding her food, but she won't take it from me quite yet.
My camera is at the studio, so I'll bring it home and post some pics of her soon.

What kind of pin up girl are you?

I took this little quiz and this was my answer.....

you are the smartie pants! you're very intellectual
and love to read and write..its all
good..you'll be successful later on in life!


What Pin Up girl are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

In my little 'small town USA', our annual celebration is "Rhody Days" short for Rhododendron, our flower. They grow wild and rampant here. Really pretty.
So, during Rhody Days, our quiet little town fills with thousands of bikers, families, a carnival, street vendors, hot rods, parades, craft shows, car shows, you name it.
It's coming up May 20th-22nd, so if you are in the area - stop by!!

I made it

April 1st I celebrated my first year in my studio/store. When I arrived to open that day, I was treated to an watercolored sign, pretty purple balloons framing my window (can't see them in the pic below), gorgeous cake, and oodles of food for the day & night.
Jeremy put up the balloons & sign & made food... Lauren made my cake - a gorgeous lemon, tiered cake a with cherry blossom design (and also brought more party food for the evening)... and Justin also made scrumptious appetizers that everyone loved. Later that morning Jennifer & Terry sent the pretty purple bouquet... and my Mom helped me buy party food and letters for my sign.
It was a great day. I had and open house all day, then a party that night.

Thanks to everyone who made my first year a success & a pleasure!! I'm so lucky to be doing what I love for a living.

Art & Soul Withdrawl

I am missing every aspect of my Art & Soul experience. Mingling with the other artist was inspiring, the classses were amazing, and the food great. The surge of creativity I came home with was fantastic, but now it's up to me to carry it on, on my own. Time - I need more time.

Beeswax Collage: "love is beautiful"

"beautiful in red" 8x8 canvas frame

Beeswax Collage: "ready"

"ready" 4x4 canvas frame

Beeswax Collage: "quiet"

"quiet" 8x8 canvas frame

Beeswax Collage

My new thing is experimenting with beeswax collage. It's a great medium because if you don't like something, just melt it right off again. I have a book by the amazing Claudine Hellmuth, callled Collage Discovery Workshop.... and I took her class recently at Art & Soul. This is what I came up with.

Computer woes

I'm going a little nuts at the studio - my computer got a nasty virus and pooped out. I have a back-up computer, that my Mom just brought down from Canada, but I'm getting some kind of blue stop screen, so I can't use it either. I think I'm sending out some kind of freaky magnetic wave - it's cursing me.
It's a little scary to think of how dependent I am on my computer. Hello my name is Tracy and I'm computer dependent - without a doubt.
Today I brought in my very favorite computer, the one from home, it never fails me.... knock on wood. Now the question is, how do I get my info off my old computer on to this one, as it never stays on/running long enough. I'm going to have a heart attack from the stress - I just can't deal with PC problems - not a bit.

Tuesday Pat and I went to Depoe Bay. I'm in love with the beach there - more so than the beach here which can be hard to access because of the dunes. I fell in love with a chipmunk that I named Kripsy Kreme beacause he was a little on the chubby side. Feeding him out of my hand was fun enough, but he also let me pet him. Of course I wanted to bring him home, but Pat played "grown up" and said no. Oh how I miss Kripsy Kreme.

This gull was a hysterical. He was wacthing us feed the chipmunks and he "lauged" when they started wrestling with eachother for food.

Fresh Start

I'm leaving my old blog behind and starting this new one because I had too much trouble with spam and such on the the other. Who knows how often I'll post, but I'm working on making it more frequent.