Angelas Diner

so today at work, i was talking about my previous career - i used to be a technical director for the evening news here in providence….. actually i did pretty much all of the behind the scenes tech stuff, from Chryon to floor to audio.  but i ended up as technical director before i chucked it all (for a TON of reasons, including marrying the director <hi hon!>) anyway, i’m a geek now, working in a cubicle farm, surrounded by geeks, and really loving it.  back to the original thought, i was talking about what i used to do, and wanted to show a pic of the switcher i used to run.  didn’t have one online, so i came home to put up this one (by the way, this is CLARENCE, he got the job after i left! and clarence and i don’t look ANYTHING like each other, in case you wonder about that…..)

the art show last night went well - i met so many people, and i really love to talk about what i do, and i had hershey caramel kisses on the table so i got to nibble on those as well.  all of us artists bought tickets to the concert - i watched the first half before intermission. (after intermission, i volunteered to sit downstairs and keep an eye so Jean could see the ballet - she worked so hard, and she enjoyed it SO much!)  the music rose up from the front of the hall, i could see the conductor, the top of the harp, the top of the bass, and the two french horns…. so i closed my eyes.  to begin the holidays this way, to take time to talk about a passion, to listen to a concert…. a lovely pause from the ordinary.  time to let my mind reflect and wander, rejuvenate, imbue - i have one more day, today.  a day to create, to listen to music, to visit a gallery in Providence, to let my mind transcend before work begins again tomorrow morning.  i will pause, enjoy, savor, relish….today.

Yesterday afternoon I set up in the basement of the Kent Performance Hall in Westerly - the gallery was invited to show during a Musica Dolce concert that is tonight.  The basement of the hall, a former church, is dingy and old.   The paintings and art, along with all the decorations, really brought life to it… here are a few pics of my own display.  First, a couple of close ups, and then a further away shot - you can really see the clutter!  I am going to take a couple of cloths I have to help “disguise” the tower of postal boxes that look as if they could tumble down onto my table at any moment!

Today, Thanksgiving Day in a New England town, started out foggy and grey. I watched the sun rise, drinking coffee and listening to the ticking sounds of a quiet house. The sun pushed through the fog, and by 8:30 this morning it was 55 degrees…. unbelievable!

I took a walk, came back and started the dinner. At work, they laughed because this year I “outsourced” Thanksgiving dinner. Got it all from Whole Foods…. just have to reheat, really low key, low effort, relaxing.

The sun was so warm, we all sat outside and talked how we should have a Thanksgiving picnic…

The sun was so warm, so golden - it pushed away so much grey today. Inside and out, and for that, I am so incredibly thankful.

i took a class today at The Bead House in Bristol - we learned how to make our own findings such as clasps, and earwires. my work is on the cream colored cloth…. and the instructor’s samples are on the black show pad… Kim is a fun teacher - and was good at helping all of us, even if we were at different skill levels. I’m going to practice a bit more with less expensive wire before using my sterling, but I’m at a very comfortable place workwise — I’m looking forward to moving up a notch by creating my own elegant yet simple sterling findings.

if you click the pics, you’ll see everything in greater detail… it really is a great class to take

the beads i really enjoy usually have “something going on” inside with a clear glass encasing…

i snapped these pics this morning (can you tell i really should have had more coffee first?)

Four beads - two have golden aventurine swimming around the colored cores… one is an earthy brown with green and blue enamels, and the third, the center bead, that one has pastels enamels layered over a grey core.  That bead has a funny story to go along with it!

It’s a BIG bead, it took a while to make over the torch.  As I’m working, I have the garage door open, and my neighbor across the street came over and watched me…. this was a couple years ago, and I was still a new lampworker.  Well, I got all nervous as I made it bigger and bigger and rounder and rounder.  I actually DROPPED it on the garage FLOOR as I was putting it in the kiln!! And she was watching the whole time, fascinated, as I quickly picked it up and popped it in the kiln…. man!

Later, when I took it out, after it finished annealing, I figured I’d have all kinds of garage yuck stuck to it.  But NO!  It only has a tiny little crease up near the hole.  Survivor, that’s what that bead is.  I should hang it from my rear view mirror, it has great depth, and the story always makes me laugh as I remember what a klutz I was.

I’ve decided to give a glimpse into my creative process - and want to explain beads and why i love to make them…..specific beads, that is! today, let’s look closer at the enameled beads that i make with clear glass - i just listed an etsy necklace using this type of bead… here’s a really large picture– you can see the detail really well (click the picture, it gets even bigger!) :

i take clear glass, and layer various colors of enamels to come up with beads that have a depth and movement to them….. i was thinking of winter sunsets when i made the ones in the necklace above. i remember one necklace that i made last spring - i had come back from a weekend away in western massachusetts and visited the clark museum. at the clark, i saw a Renoir painting of peonies that vibrated with reds, white, and pinks.

this is the necklace I made from the beads inspired by the Renoir painting.

we now have a very basic website for the little dudes - check it out!

just basic pictures for now - we are learning html together…. sam and I.  the site itself is my typing, but all sam’s pictures for now.  love it!

on the bead front, i made beads and pulled them off mandrels, and they are soaking in a bowl in the kitchen right now.  i’ve also been busy taking new pictures for my etsy shop, where i’ll be posting jewelry next……. stay tuned!!

i really didn’t plan on raking today…. it was kind of cold, and all i wanted to do was work on beads and read (got a couple of magazines, a book too). but the boy had a friend over and they took a ton of leaves from the front yard to make this fort in the back yard:

it’s cool and all, but i ended up finishing off the front because it looked half done. actually the work was relatively quiet overall - a rake, me, the boys in the back yard… gave me time to think. in a way, it was a relief to just rake leaves into piles.

a couple of days ago i snapped a pic to put on the blog, but never did get around to writing and posting. pumpkin spice coffee. it’s the right time of the year for it now. i don’t think i really ate dinner even - just made a pot of coffee and sat reading the newspaper.

really have been working on the etsy shop - and i made my first sale for being back! and it’s heading from Rhode Island to Melbourne, Australia! COOL!

I’m posting my little fingers off, and snapping pics, and working working working to make this shop shine on… and i love the etsy pics stacked up on the left here…

been looking through some old pics too, looking for where i put the pics of the totes, and saw this one- enjoy a sunset pic i took back in 2004.