babushka love

This one is going to be short friends. I have babushkas to press and pack. A wall painting to finish, drawings that need picture wire put on their frames and dress shopping to do. Whew...And I would love to squeeze a manicure and pedicure in between it all is well.

My pal Lisa is going to help me install the show tomorrow. So not only do I get her most fabulous company but her magic touch as well. I am a very lucky girl!

Okay, gotta get back to the ironing board.

xo

p.s. The babushkas will be available for sale via the Candystore as of November 8th.

rooster research

large platter 17"x17" (this piece is unfired at the moment) with salt & pepper cellars as a chess board. These items will be available from my show FOLKLORE at the Candystore
November 8th through December 7th

It has been interesting thinking about folkloric traditions and imagery and how I might reinterpret them with my own visual vocabulary. Having come from a culture where the "old world" still very much exists (Hungary) these motifs have always been a part of my everyday life...As some might say "normal". My family immigrated to the United States in 1956 from Hungary, escaping the Russian occupation. I also lived in Hungary when I was nineteen (in 1983-1984) and in the early part of this century I worked with a ceramics factory in the south of Hungary in a town called Hodmezovasarhely (translated it means the the town on the beaver plane, which if it were in the United States be called...Beaverton). The opportunity to work with the factory came via a fabulous woman named Maggie whose company, Synergy Designs, worked with the factory in Hungary producing table top and decorative ceramics. Maggie took me under her wing without ever having any design experience other than my own studio work and my Hungarian heritage and together we created a line of ceramics that was produced under my name for her company. (Synergy Designs is no longer in business and the line was discontinued in 2002). It was at this time I had the most amazing opportunity to get an up front view of my own heritage's ceramic tradition. I have to admit at the time, the whole "folksy" motif did not really do it for me. Never the less, I am never one to disregard things completely just because it is not my "thing". I can always find something to appreciate. I was able to see the hand painters working on traditional designs and I spent a lot of time looking at the factories private collection of traditional Hungarian ceramics. I saw more rooster motifs than I care to admit. Though I was not aware of it then something was quietly brewing in my psyche and poof out it comes now, seven years later, in these new pieces that I am creating for my upcoming show.

what I am not going to say

I can't believe I have neglected you all for so long. I'd say it one more time but I keep going on and on about how busy I am so I won't mention it again (at least not in this post). I know you all understand.

I wanted to share this photo of this bus with you. It is parked out in back of the building where my studio is. It is what I see when I look out my window. Isn't it beautiful?!
So peaceful in its decay.

Okay and I also want to share a little bit of this too...(for my show that opens in 10 days!)

This one makes me laugh every time I look at it. She looks a little like Grandpa Munster from the old TV version of the Munsters.

...And this, because it says it all in one photo at what my world is like these days.

Well really only one part of my world. There is a whole other reality going on over here...

Oh and let's not forget about these...

They are available here.

I have more to show you but I promised you that I wasn't going to go on in this post about how busy I am.

{so check back soon!}

Happy Monday Friends!

five of me

opening reception November 8th,2007 6:30 until 8:30 p.m.
at Candystore

It is better to be busy than not...but this busy? I wish I could split into five people right now. All with their own specific responsibilities and they would list like this.

1. Artist (maker)
2. Accountant
3. Graphic Designer
4. Office Assistant
5. Studio Assistant

I am managing to doing it all and somewhere in my mind, nestled between the to do lists and the piled up laundry, I keep whispering to myself that this won't kill me and that it is all good. Yes it is good and I am so happy for it but the down side to doing it all myself is that it becomes very difficult to do everything well and with all the attention every single (and very important) task demands. I've learned this lesson this past week the hard way, by making costly mistakes and having to clean up the mess that they created. Ugh!


With that I want to end this on a positive note with one thing that did get knocked off the to do list for this week and that is my invitation (see above) for my upcoming show at Candystore on November 8th. I hope that those of you that are in the area will mark it on your calendars and come on by. It is sure to be a fun party and I would love to see you there!

By the way my 2008 Calendars are still available so check them out here!

a red & blue day

Yesterday was all about red and blue, well more aqua than blue really. I did not plan it this way. Only as I was uploading my photos at the end of the day did I realize the prevailing color theme.
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A very special guest came to visit me at my new studio. She came all the way from Vermont...My buddy Luara Zindel! She's visiting the Bay Area and I had the honor of hosting her as my very first visitor in my new studio.
(Notice my red and blue shirt-apron combination).
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The red and blue theme continues as I leave my studio only to happen upon this truck parked in the parking lot with this fabulous graffiti painted on it's side.

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I was not thinking about the red and blue theme of the day when I took this shot. I was just immediately drawn to it. Now what does the red graffiti say? At first I thought it said ROMEO but that second letter looks more like an E to me than an O. If you have it figured out please do share!

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And then last but not least this lady, who I am calling Comparative Indicator, came out of my Drawing Room yesterday. The newest addition to my collection of drawings for my upcoming show, Folklore, at the Candy Store.

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And what colors did I choose to clothe this this lovely lady in?
Yup you guessed it, red & blue, well aqua actually.

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