NEW WORK

Mixed-Metal Heart.  

Photo by Jonathan Sabin

This is an example of the kind of things that I've been working on lately.  It is a mixed-metal piece, made from bronze, fine silver, and 22 karat gold.  The bottom part is bronze, which is riveted to the top piece, which is .999 silver and 22 karat gold.  The nail-head rivets are made from 20 gauge, fine silver wire.  I used small brass nuts in between the two plates to create the space between them.  The gold is applied using the keum-boo method, with heat and pressure.  I'm working on doing a whole series of mixed-metal pieces that are connected in this way.  

SPRINGTIME

A Crocus blooming under the leaves.

Butter yellow crocuses in my yard.

Max Leonard, blissful on his porch.

Sophie's world.

I've been really busy lately, with the shows I've been doing and everything else.  I realized today that I haven't really been paying attention to the signs of spring that are all around.  There are flowers really beginning to bloom now, even with the 5 inches of late season snow that fell over the weekend.  The snow was melted before noon the next day, which is Iowa for you.  Another thing that reminds me that it's spring are cats on my front porch.  Max loved the front porch.  When we moved into this house, there were a lot of things that needed repair due to many years of neglect.  The first thing that we fixed, even though money was tight, was the screening on the front porch.  Max loved being on the porch and we didn't want him to get out and get hurt.  Years later when we had the money we put in new screens and storm windows to winterize the porch, so the cats could be out longer in the fall.  I remember the contractor saying that it was the world's most expensive cat toy.  He was right.  Sophie was an outdoor cat when she got her.  She's an indoor kitty now and she uses the porch to survey her world.  When I go to bed at night, the last thing that I do is carry her into the house.  She'd stay out there all night if I let her.

It's hard to believe that it's been almost 6 months since Max died.  I had a meeting today and when I came home, for some reason it hit me so hard that I'd never see him on his front porch again.  Sophie was there though and it makes me really happy that she loves it out there as much as Max did.  Signs of spring are everywhere.

SPRING TRUNK SHOW

I wanted to invite all of you that will be in the Cedar Rapids/Iowa City area on April 3rd and 4th to an open house and trunk show at Bead Haven in Cedar Rapids.  I will be there with lots of new work, as will lampworker, Melissa Rediger and Rebecca Elias of REDesigns.  Cindi will have lots of treats and discounts and door prizes and it promises to be lots of fun.  The show hours are 5-8pm on Friday, April 3rd and 10am-5pm on Saturday, April 4th.  Please stop by and see me if you get a chance!

GIFTS

Ok, I want to say straight off, that if you are easily grossed out or easily offended, please skip this post.  I put the photos at the bottom of the post so you can avoid them if you want. Don't be emailing me later about my photos of animal cruelty or about how you barfed on your shoes.  If you didn't grow up on a farm or don't watch a lot of Discovery Channel, this post might not be for you.   You've been warned.

Last Saturday my sister Jamie, came to our house early in the morning so that she and Paul and I could go shopping in Des Moines.  When she and I went outside we noticed massive amounts of bird poop all over my front steps.  I mean a massive amount.  I couldn't quite figure out how this happened as there is too much tree cover for there to have been a fly over by Canadian Geese.  It had to be some really large bird sitting in the tree that hangs above the steps.  Then she and I found these lovely "gifts" left on the sidewalk.  The curvy thing is a bit of Garter Snake and the lumpy thing is what's known as an owl pellet.  An owl pellet is the indigestible remains of animals and insects that the owl eats.  Kind of like a kitty hairball.  Hawks also regurgitate the indigestible parts of their prey as well.  Since their stomach muscles are relatively weak, the bones of their prey remain pretty much in tact.  I know this is gross, but I really think it's cool too.  Do you see the bird foot in the pellet?  There was a lot of fur and mammal bones too.  Probably rabbits and mice.  I had no idea owls would go for snakes.  For the past couple of years we've had many Barred Owls living in the woods around our house (see my post from September 17th 2008).  We haven't seen or heard them much since last fall though.  I'm really happy that they're still around.  As harsh as it is for the unsuspecting animals, they really are amazing to watch.  I was in the yard a couple of years ago when an owl soundlessly plucked a rabbit off the ground right in front of me.  The rabbit never knew what happened, it was over that fast.  In years previous, we were completely over run by rabbits.  No so these days.  My only problem is that I have a feeling that I've been an unwitting participant in the slaughter.  We have a bird feeder about 10 feet from the house, really close to where the pellet was found.  I think maybe we set up this owl buffet.  Oh well.  At least I didn't see any red Cardinal feathers in the pellet.

Part of a Garter Snake and a pellet from a Barred Owl.

A close up of the pellet, complete with the foot of some poor, unfortunate bird.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND HAPPY SPRING!

Happy Birthday Paul!

Snow Drops in my yard, a sure sign of spring.

Today is the first day of spring and it is also my husband Paul's birthday.  He's lucky to have his birthday fall on or near this special day each year.  My birthday falls during the dog days of summer, right before Labor Day.  I can remember every year when school would start, right around my birthday, no one at school ever remembered my birthday.  The teacher would always make us fill out little cards in elementary school, letting her know when our birthdays were.  But by the time she got around to doing this, my birthday had usually passed.  I can hear all of you out there playing your little violins for me!  

I love this time of year.  It holds so much promise.  The air smells good, the light has a special quality to it, even the birds sound happy.  Paul's birthday is always my signal to think about planting the seeds for my garden.  I start tomato and herb seeds in my basement under grow lights and baby them until about the first of May, when all danger of frost has passed in southeast Iowa.  Sometimes, I can't resist setting the seedlings out a bit earlier.  Though, I don't think much is gained by this as tomatoes don't really flourish until the soil is really warm.  This year, I'll be a bit late with my seed starting as I just ordered my seeds today.  That little bit of time won't really make much difference, but I'm chomping at the bit to get started. 

Happy Birthday, Paul!

DISCOVERY AND THE ISS

The Space Shuttle Discovery is 3 days into it's long delayed mission to deliver the final set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.  Discovery's mission will last 2 weeks.  Yesterday, Discovery did her backflip and docked with the Space Station 215 miles above Western Australia.  Discovery accomplished docking while flying at 17,500 miles per hour.  Most people I know shouldn't talk on their cell phones at 50 mph, let alone dock with a speeding space station.  Well done Discovery!

My sister called me today and let me know that our Dad told her that the docked Discovery and Space Station would be flying over Eastern Iowa tonight at 8:42 central time.  Dad knows everything.  I went outside at about 8:35pm and scanned the sky from the NW to the NE until suddenly, right on schedule the two spacecraft came into view.  It was stunning and impossible to miss.  They travelled fast across the sky and it was over really fast.  It was so bright that it stunned me.  I was alone, but I was jumping up and down yelping excitedly, because I wanted everybody to see it.  My neighbor probably thinks I'm nuts.

It was so cool.  I saw the Space Shuttle fly across the sky once a few years ago, but this was much brighter. because of the 2 vessels flying together.  If you'd like to find out like to find out when the Shuttle is visible from where you live check out the Nasa Skywatch site.

ST PADDY"S DAY

Jamie, the best little sister anyone could ever have.

The Robert's Dairy Cow, only in Iowa.

The color guard.

There's nothing so American as kids at a parade, is there?

And of course, Saint Patrick.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa has had a Saint Patrick's Day parade every year since the 1940's.  For the past several years I have gone to the parade with my little sister, Jamie.  It's kind of become our tradition.  Usually the weather is not so great, either windy and rainy or snowy and blustery.  Not so today, though.  Today, it was 77 degrees with a sky as blue as could be.  Very unusual.  We got downtown late, and still found a great parking space a block away from the action and a good place to stand and watch the parade.  It's always fun, but this year it was a little more special to see all of those folks gathered on streets that less than a years ago where inundated by floods.  Downtown Cedar Rapids is no where near back to normal, but things are beginning to happen. Some former businesses are coming back and new ones are springing up.  If that's not a hopeful sign of spring, I don't know what is.

Read about Cedar Rapids' rebuilding effort here.