My three things might be more like thirty… since it’s been too long.
First off - hello 2020!
The days roll into weeks, the weeks pile into months, the months push into years and we keep swimming, sometimes floating, sometimes on the verge of sinking, and sometimes gasping for air as we reach out for a life raft, hoping someone or something is there to save us. After a few months of that sinking feeling, I started looking for a path to that floating feeling. Sometimes it takes taking the wrong path to get on the right path, there’s always that, but every experience informs the next. luckily for me, I had a few paths in mind and found several things that have helped remind me of what happiness feels like and I almost feel like I am floating. maybe once we all get passed the current heavy load of news and fear of contagions that feeling will come. Until then, let’s take a moment to wash our hands, twice (something I heard a mother say to her child yesterday at my son’s state track meet).
Yeah, I know, it’s getting old, but just this week I had to give my own family a lesson on how to properly open a public door with the least amount of physical contact and then a lecture on why we don’t put things in our mouths that aren’t food and how important it is to wash our hands, often! yes, I am sorry to say that I am one of those people. I have this overwhelming fear of being sick and always wipe out whenever I do get sick, and while I have not bought a face mask, I am diligent about washing my hands.
• In better news, 2020 started off pretty exciting! I joined a community dance group that I love so much and feel like it’s shifting something inside of me. Two hours of dance every Sunday morning, it’s my kind of church. This Sunday I will be providing the music for the group, which is fun and a bit daunting, like having a huge dinner party and hoping the guests like what you make for them. I am still working out my playlist, but you can check out the past playlist I made here.
• Anthropologie started selling two of my prints this year, which I couldn’t be more thrilled about. I first discovered Anthropologie around 20 years ago in Cleveland, Ohio. I fell in love with the store and clothing the very first time I walked in. Having my work on their site is just the coolest thing! As cool as seeing Victoria Smith of sfgirl post her collection of my work on her beautiful site here. I have Artfully Walls to thank for all of it, providing a wonderful place to sell prints of my work. You can see more of my prints on their site.
• Online classes - I was planning on taking several of my older online classes down this year, but have decided to leave them up for one more year at the sale price. So all workshops on my site are available until January 1, 2021, if not longer depending on when they were created. I am also planning on offering a brand new online course this spring. I was hoping to have it available sooner, but a large commission was offered to me that I am so grateful for. I will post news of the new workshop as soon as it’s on the rise.
• I have slowly been getting back to making more pots. My friend Mary Ann set up her Raku kiln and invited me over for a firing, it reminded me why I fell so deeply in love with clay so long ago. I cannot wait to do another firing and hope to have an online pottery sale in the upcoming months.
• Other randomness… I am still loving my karate class and working on getting my orange belt, although I am really in no rush since I love my yellow belt, it’s pretty. I did get my patch and feel rather official now. Who knows, maybe one day I will actually know what the heck I am doing and be okay at it. It’s definitely a challenge, but I love it.
• I started drawing song lyrics and other phrases to share on my instagram stories.
• I am also crushing hard on Devandra Banhart lately, this song and video are on repeat. Why is he so cute!
• And then there’s this beautiful video, it makes me want to put on a pair of my white high tops (it’s an obsession) and go dancing in a museum.
• Lastly, for now - I am loving the art of Mark Milroy. His great tshirts make me want to make my own.