Tales From The Labyrinth

A Door in Time

One step,
This threshold crossed...
this place of opening
into memories
long forgotten,
brushed away with time,
the key
lost in folds of lush silk,
pressed deeply
into my heart
where I listen for footsteps
and remember...
Finding the
place of opening
I step through
and time no longer matters,
only the beat of desire
coming to life
in the cradle of the midnight sky,
as the sun marks,
over and over,
these passages in time taken,
finding the heart's desire
in this moment of
opening a door long closed...

Photo: A door in the village of Lacoste. A tumble of stone and wood being reborn beneath the shadow of the ruins of the castle of the Marquis de Sade, Provence, France, October 2007.

For other keys to other doors, please visit our hosts, Elizabeth of "The House in Marrakesh" and Frank of "My Paint Box."

Cyber Hands

On a day of no sun...
gray clouds dust the air,
thick with rain...
and rainbows stir from other hands,
reaching across cyberspace
touching,
illuminating,
creating,
breathing life
into
the smallest of gestures,
"inspiratrice"
says the be-ing of eb...

Cyber hands and "illuminated photo"
inspired by eb, Stephanie, & LK ...

The Ice Queen & The Bloglandia Polar Festival

Once...
there was an Ice Queen...

Long, long ago
in the silver of the night moon,
she lost her heart
and a sliver of ice nested into the empty space...

and hardened
and grew...

and became colder and colder,
as all the world
went to sleep
beneath a blanket of snow and ice...

Long was her reign
of loneliness...

No sleep,
no waking,
no laughing nor dreaming,
for she had forgotten
all things green,
soft,
and lovely...

Then,
one day,
not so long ago...
The ice queen noticed
that the sky was a different shade of blue,
no longer just indigo,
but shades of cerulean, azure,
and a deepening periwinkle...

And in that moment...
The Ice Queen heard a sound
that she had long forgotten...
The giggles and laughter of a baby,
And she turned towards
this music and the ice in her heart melted

as did her crown of ice...

as she raised her arms in delight...

of all things radiant...
found only in shadows...

And the heavens reached down to the earth
and clothed her in rich fabrics and furs,
for her skin could finally feel the cold of winter...

and for the first time,
in ever so long,
this woman of oh so many experiences,
stepped back into life...

Leaving footprints of spring flowers
in her every step she took...

Photos: Doll, original, vintage Barbie from my childhood collection~ Clothing, hand-made by my maternal grandmother over forty years ago~ Violets and Narcissus from our garden.

Bloglandia Polar Festival Hosted by our beloved Elizabeth Bunsen/eb ~ Be~Dream~Play. Please visit her site for more links to other Snow Queens, Party Animals, Polar Parade and blogs of wonder!!!

New Studio Space!!!

The tables and shelves in the studio are complete...
trim and shelves painted and hung...
boxes of supplies filled and put away with room too spare...

and the guest room is back in order,
much to the relief of my dear Kimberly,
who was here visiting from England...

The curtains part...

and reveal...

my new studio space!!!

Whether you write or make art or have any other creative endeavor that requires a space... having even a corner, or a shelf, or a desk, where your projects can await your attention is precious beyond belief...

Now, all my art supplies are within reach
and easy to find...

and there is counter space everywhere...
where several projects can be out all at the same time,
satisfying my eclectic needs
and inability to focus on only one thing at a time!!!

Some of you have seen my dragon before...
he now sits on one of the glass mosaic pieces
I made two weekends ago...

This shelf was a fun project...

I got this dark wooden shelf from a friend's daughter,
and painted it white...

all the while inspired by the white week
occurring with Elizabeth Bunsen (eb) of Be~Dream~Play...
I'm calling this my eb~be magic shelf...

Once painted all white...
I applied some crackle for affect...

antiquing this lovely piece that will come in oh so handy...
(Thank you Kary!!!)

But what is this???

How did this shoe turn up here???
Could it be my missing other shoe from the Bloglandia Ball???

It must be eb!!!! For the eb~be shelf is working its magic and there is an invitation and surprise revealed on the Be~Dream~Play blog that this shoe is dancing in!!!!

Thank you eb, for making this MAGIC happen!!!!

And thank you all for visiting and asking how the studio is coming along... I'll be by to visit you soon! We've more company tomorrow and if you don't find me here at the computer... I think you all know where I'm spending most of my time!!!

Hearts and Paint

New Note added below on the title change...

An unexpected treasure arrived today...

Today was the begin to paint the new counters day...
When I took a break to get our mail,
I found that a package had arrived from
Kara at Spiritdoll...
and inside was this little heart seed
that she had made...

Isn't this little heart beautiful??

with a blush of green and pink
it beats right in synch with the trim of the counters...

and makes me so excited to begin to see what new
projects are just waiting to be brought into form
in my space reconfigured and expanded...

I'm so happy that this seed heart of creativity
came to bless my art-making space!!!

Thank you Kara!!!

Note: I thought I was going to make this entry a part of the Writers Island prompt for this week, "Treasure." For Kara's gift is indeed a treasure that I will long cherish. I waffled back and forth on whether to take the time to make the entry on the site and then decided to keep it simple and just post here. I am so behind on anything computer related. But... I forgot to change the title of this post! When I saw the prompt come through in my e-mail, I thought the ghost of Long John Silver had gotten into my blog!!! I said, treasure! Here! How did that happen. Turns out I'm the ghost... heeheheheheh

Glass Mosaics with Ellen Blakeley

Soooo...
with my studio space all torn up...
I was very fortunate to spend this past weekend in the studio of glass mosaic artist and teacher Ellen Blakeley...

Now how is this for space???

Ellen is a delight.

She is quite fun, very talented, a great teacher, and gracious and generous with technique, inspiration, and finding order in the chaos of students in all sorts of material all at once!!!

Ellen was the innovator of discovering how to use tempered glass for mosaic art. Over the past sixteen years she has perfected this art medium into a tile and art business that is brilliant, literally. Her pieces  are sometimes enormous, finishing walls, sinks, and even waterfalls. In the picture above, Ellen is standing on a table top, with bowls spheres beyond. Ellen's art has changed how glass tile can be used and installed in all sorts installations, concepts that were before, thought to be impossible.

Ellen is a true artist, for she doesn't see impossible, she always sees that there is a way...

So, eight of us dove into learning some beginning techniques of working with tempered glass...

while Ellen and her assistant Kate (on the left) gave us guidance...

I loved working with this medium...

and learned a lot...
And I'm loving all the new ways I can think of now...
to fill my new space...

All Torn Up...

My studio is all torn up...

Power saws and blades, hammers and nails,
rulers, tapes and levels,
have replaced my paints and glass, clay,
paper and gourds...

and all chaos reigns in the space that houses
our guestroom and the nook where I create...

New counters and shelves are going in...

and a whole new awareness of gratitude
for having a space to create in...

More Calabash ~ Another View

Our dear friend,
Glen...
sent these pictures from yesterday
at the Food For Thought
"Calabash: A Celebration of Gourds, Art, and the Garden" auction...

Reflections in the garden...
Glen and Milt...

Amaranth forest of fingers...

roof of the gourd house...

another great hat
in the great pavilion of gourd art...

one of my favorites...
peas in a pod...

how is this for a woven basket,
of gourds...

or seals romping and convening on a beach...

Glen loved Hesperia...

and I am sure she loves him too...

just look at the way she looked at him...

sharing the beauty of imagination...

and new beginnings...

 

Thank you Glen...

Calabash ~ 2007

Today
was Calabash ~
The Forrestville, CA
Food For Thought
"Calabash: A Celebration of Gourds, Art, and the Garden" auction.

You must forgive me...
for I did not take many pictures...

I was having so much fun
visiting with friends
old and new...

(Annie & Don Jeffries ~ Milt & Me) 

meeting new people...
like this handsome gentleman...

in one of the many fine
Calabash fashionable hats...

Walking the magnificent gardens...

sitting in secret spots,
like my sweet husband here
in the house of gourds...

and looking at all the amazing art,
like my piece Hesperia,
who won an award,
but alas, did not sell
as her price was a bit high
for the occasion...

She was greatly admired,
which did make my heart swell with gratitude...

(photo by AnnieElf Jefferies)

It was such a wonderful day and event,
done with such class,
delicious food, wine, music
and for such a good cause,
feeding and nourishing those so in need...

And a wonderful stepping stone for me...

as I already have ideas
for what I will create for next year!

Hesperia

This sculpture is submitted with joy to the October 7, 2007 Forrestville, CA Food For Thought "Calabash: A Celebration of Gourds, Art, and the Garden" auction.

Hesperia...

Star of the West...

Sister of three,
daughters of the Evening Star...

Golden Apples are your gift...

Your open womb births imagination...

and sweet longing
for life beautiful emerging...

in amethyst nest of kissing stones,
kissing the earth,
touching this place of being
here,
now...

and dancing into life...

this moment of heart meeting heart...

Materials used: ProSculpt and  Apoxie Sculpt clay, alcohol inks and acrylic paints, gold foil, Pearl-ex powders, glass beads, amethyst stones from Crystal Channels, Swarovski Crystals from Legendary Beads, both stores in Santa Rosa, and bark, twigs, and roots from our garden.