Winter rads 2014-2015

(still has meaning whatever your belief about God)

Prayer in Thanksgiving for Inspiration by Vienna Cobb Anderson

O God, the author of creation,

We thank you for the gift of inspiration :

For opening our eyes to see new possibilities,

For enriching our minds with visions never dreamed,

For guiding us to trust the unconscious's view,

For sounds to tickle and delight,

For teaching our hearts to receive the unexpected gift.

For these and the many wonders you have wrought

Within the secret places of our souls,

We thank you, O God of endless creation.

(Surely this group has been an unexpected gift which inspires me in not only dealing with cancer but in the strength of a caring community. Melody)

Go Coyote!!!! Cheering for you today!!!

CoyoteNV -- thinking of you and praying for you today. Love your focus.

Amen!

Amen.

Wnderwoman~ That is truly beautiful and I will keep the prayer in my studio for the rest of my time there.  Thank you. 

Good Morning. It was a rather remarkable evening. I know you were there. The museum curator said that there were half a dozen new people who had not been to previous Third Thursday programs - who did not sign the guest book.   I found the words to share with the folks who came to hear them. I did speak of us and how we inspire and give strength to one another. The audience was very responsive to that and later came up to me and shared hope and good wishes, telling me about sisters, mom's and friends who are doing well several years after their bc.  Then I went into the presentation about artistic inspiration. They weren't always the words that I wrote down and faithfully practiced, however, they were the spirit of those words. I have been so worried about losing the words, and I did, but others came to fill the void. I stuck with the format and did follow along with how I had originally set it up so Hubby, who ran the PowerPoint presentation for me, was able to stay with me.   He told me that he thought it was actually better.  He knew and understood my worries.  He is my greatest supporter and I am very fortunate to have him in my life.

The support you gave me made a huge difference in my ability to do this.  I don't say that lightly.  Your words of encouragement buoyed me up and helped me find the confidence to put myself in front of people and open my mouth... and game me hope that something intelligent could come out.  The words are there in me, but come out more slowly than they used to. My thought process is slower and it feels as if it has to pass through a few more circuits before it gets released.  "This program is on a 3 second delay to assure acceptable content" sort of thing. 

Apparently this presentation was promoted on Las Vegas radio and television station as public service announcements. So.. I had my 15 minutes of fame ... and missed it! 

After all of that emotional and physical energy drain, driving the hour and half trip home - arriving at 10:30pm - Hubby changed into work clothes and irrigated the orchard and pastures from 11pm til 1am.  This man is 77 years old. He is a miracle.

Hubby said to keep all the materials I created so when I do it again I won't have to recreate it. Ha!  No way that is going to happen again.  On Wednesday we received a copy of a technical book that he and I helped with by providing technical input and editing for content.  They credited each of us in the contributors list.  I told him that the material for the presentation and the book can go in the box for our great great grand children to see when they want to know more about their ancesters.  I don't need to climb that mountain twice. 

Thank you again so much. 

Coyote. We had faith in you and we are glad your husband was there to confirm that it went well. Can you hear us applauding? And an extra cheer for your husband. Now you can relax and DO art instead of talking about it. Enjoy!

WheelyGirl. Good luck with the interview.

Mqt64. How is your nephew doing?

Congratulations Coyote!!! We knew you'd knock it out of the park.

Your hubby sounds like a great man. Supportive and a hard worker.

quiggy ~  I'm not sure I would say "out of the park".  I made it through it without a melt down thanks to the support of my friends here and my husband.  I did not discuss this with anyone else.  I think I reached a few people, I learned a great deal about my artistic approach during the process, and met some nice people.  

This is a recently made necklace. It is made of silver, antique Native American trade beads, turquoise and coral.  All of the component strands can be worn separately on a long basic chain as shown or on the short connector that the feather is on.  The earrings can be worn four different ways. I haven't counted the ways to wear the necklace.  I've done this concept in a variety of stones and chain combinations.  The ring chain is forged and constructed in my studio.  The feather is sculpted in pure silver.

 

This is my most recent gourd. It was done post treatment. I finished it last month.  It is titled "Eternity." It was inspired by my experiences over the last three years. It is a visual expression of what I can't express in words. It is an important piece to me.  I showed it at the presentation for the first time but I did not tell them what it means.  I'm telling you.   I doubt that I can ever sell it. 

Coyote, your work is amazing! It gives new meaning to amazing grace. Glad your presentation went well.

WheelyGirl, good luck on Tuesday Tuesday.Will be sending good thoughts your way.

Wondrwoman, thanks for asking about Danny. He's doing better, the fevers are down but he is still in the hospital.

I'm hanging in there and hoping for good news on Monday. My daughter called in tears on Thursday because her dad had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. He has multiple medical problems, most recently fighting an infection in large open wounds on his legs. Apparently they stabilized him in the ED and admitted him to"tune him up"so he can get back to Mayo clinic on Sunday. Then yesterday my sister called and said that my 94 year old dad went into the hospital for an outpatient sinus procedure and ended up with a pacemaker! When they got him in the OR his heart rate was in the 20s. The anesthesiologist said he wouldn't put him to sleep with a heart rate in the 20s and my dad told him in his usual form that he wouldn't have surgery without anesthesia! It was scarey but I talked to him last night and he was in good spirits. He challenged me to a race to see who can get off the doctor's list first! He has had a-fib for a long time and had been getting more and more tired lately and he already felt better. So, the race is on! What a life! But the good news is that it is a life for both of us.

mqt64 ~ Your dad sounds like an amazing guy.  It's good to hear that he's doing well.  Incidents like that clarify the difference in getting older and being old.
The years beat on us to be sure, but they also give us a perspective that only comes with more of them.  I don't think our culture has enough respect for "people of age" and the intellectual asset they (yikes - that's we) are. When my husband retired from a federal agency career in the early 2000's, several other folks retired at the same time.  It took a decade for the intellectual void to fill - if it has. He still gets calls to help resolve issues.  Sounds like your dad is one of those. 

WheelyGirl - I hope the interview goes well. My son works in HR as a recruiter and he tells me there are more jobs coming on line these days. If this is the one you want, I hope it works out for you.

I think we are beginning to pay for our beautiful winter. It was 117 degrees on the back porch of the studio yesterday.  My flowers have gone dormant. I hope I can keep them alive until fall when they will bloom again.

Happy Father's Day to the special men in your lives who qualify for that celebration. It's a day without the Honey Do list here.

TY for the kind words about my art work.

WndrWoman - I wish your relative well. Recurrences have a special sort of terror with them.   Condensing our experiences to two pages was a big job and a really good idea. Smart!

Jana 

WheelyGirl ~ Here's a thought.  Perhaps they will be fortunate to have you as an employee. Think about all the positive things that you bring to the position. Ask yourself if this is the job  and company you want. Use the opportunity to interview the company to see if it fits you.  It is as important to you as it is to them to get it right. According to my son, the days of 1000 qualified applicants for every job is over!

 

WheelyGirl ~Sounds to me that you definitely bring the goods!  I'm wishing you the very best and an easy interview!!

mqt64. Thinking of you today and hoping you can move ahead with the surgery.