It's begining...

I love you all. Really. I'm not just saying that.


I've been positively thrilled that so many of you are joining me on the "30 Days of Self" and with so much enthusiasm of your own. You got gumption, kids. I feel so individually excited about each one of you and the glimpses into your lives that I will get to share. If you are a little lost and afraid you may have missed something amazing, don't worry, we haven't even begun yet, just catch up here.

I set up our Flickr group, you can visit it and get to posting (starting Monday if you are the rules following type) right here at 30 Days of Self.

So hop to it, start thinking of ideas, get creative with your camera timer, cropping function, color-boosting, black and whiting (is that a word?), and DON'T BE SHY. I already love you so what is there to fear?

Smoochies,
Umber

30 Days of Self

So I've had a few ideas rolling about and when that happens consistently (as in Mr. BC hears about them more than 5 times in any one given week), I know it's time to do something.

For the last while now, I've been thinking about making a thirty-day commitment to a (undecided as of yet) art form. I've tossed the idea out among a few friends who, while all artists, range greatly in their disciplines. Not a day goes by that I am not creative in some art form (or many of them) but I like the idea of particular goal apart from my daily painting / sewing that would push me to stretch my wings a little wider, test out those feathers I've been preening. What I'm leaning towards is a daily self portrait photograph, which will be know here after as "30 Days of Self."

Now I know this isn't a new idea to the world (in fact some of you - ahem, JSL - are amazing at this), but it is new to me, and that's reason enough to try. So here is where YOU come in: I would love to have any and all who are interested in joining me on this little challenge step up and commit with me. I think the camaraderie, accountability and the closeness in a group sharing a common goal is fantastic and I would love to have you join with me.



Ok now, some guidelines (just in case you're heart is beating a little harder and you're getting sweaty palmed). I think there should be some leeway just to keep this fun and simple so I am suggesting that the 30 Days of Self work this way:

1) We will start Monday, September 1st and end Tuesday September 30th (but who knows, it might be so great that we just keep on forever!).
2) I think we should goal ourselves at capturing 5 self-portraits that we are happy with per week (this can mean ANYTHING you want it to mean, whether you take one picture every day or 50 on Tuesday and 30 on Friday. As long as you feel that you are pushing your-self / striving for consistency, then all's fair).
3) I do not think they all need to be of amazing experiences / places / etc. Personally I am fascinated with daily rituals and mundane chores (but that's another talk for another time), so if half the pictures are of you getting ready for bed, then I still think there will be much that is interesting and provoking about that.
4) I also do not think that the photos have to show your face (but of course they can!). Imagine how amazing a whole month's documentation of what your hands did or where your feet wandered would be.
5) I think the best way to share might be to start up a Flickr group (so let me know your thoughts on that), and upload the previous week's best 5 photos on Sunday / Monday morning.
6) I would love to post a few of the pictures here on my blog each Tuesday, what do you think about that?
7) More than anything, I want to feel good about my own pictures as well as the collection I will have after the month has passed, and would encourage that to be everyone else's goal as well

Ok, so what do you think? In like Flin? I'm really excited
about doing this and seeing a little more
of your lives so let's
get
started!

And now my hand is complete

*sigh*

I would like to introduce you to my right hand, my glam hand.

(Hello, nice to meet you)

My right hand has always had it a little rough, I mean competing with the left hand decked out in a sparkly rock, competing with the left-handedness of my brain (yeah I'm basically ambidextrous but it is from the left hand all creativity pours), competing but always coming up second best.
It's been a tough life.

And then today, it all changed. Say hello to my precious.



I have been ambushing my dear, sweet postal worker DAILY this week waiting for my package from Miss Plume to arrive. He keeps trying to make small talk and ignoring the fact that I'm still in my pajamas, or still brushing my teeth, or pawing at the mailbox, but I think he's noticed how desperately I've been awaiting this little brown box. (and I've never been good at the waiting game)

Of course I had to change outfits to properly showcase my ring today, and of course there was a whole "ring photoshoot."

(This is actually one of The Noisy Plume's photos, but she's just so amazing at showcasing her pieces that I had to post it up)

And OF COURSE I will be wearing my beautiful new ring in Vegas this weekend (after all, what's the point of wearing big heels, sipping a martini, and basically looking fabulous if a gal doesn't have an amazing cocktail ring to do it all in?).

I think I'm in love. Yes, we make a beautiful pair, don't you think?

Thank you my Plume, your lovely soul pours itself into your jewelery and I could not be more honored to swing my long arms, fluttering a little piece of you and all your beauty at my fingertips.

Singing on Sunday

Some days I sound just like Natalie Merchant.
Promise.
Sing tells me I do all the time.

P.S. In case you didn't know, "Sing" is the orange puddle of kitty trying to sleep his way through the afternoon.

Some Randoms Thoughts

Have you ever danced so much that when you woke the next morning, the balls of your feet were swollen? We're not talking just a little sore, we're talking "feels like puffy clouds" and I will most definitely NOT be taking a run this afternoon.

Instead I am sitting inside, sipping tea and popping ripe blackberries, being pleased at how much it was worth it.


While I'm at it, I thought I would share a list with you, inspired by my lovely Devon and her crazy list making skills.

Loveliness:
The sound of waves
Strawberries with brown sugar and sour cream
Horse riding at dusk
Tasting snow
Solitary hikes
Finding bones
Going out to breakfast
Rain on my nose
Squeezing snapdragons
Laughing until my cheeks ache
Afternoon cappuccinos
Kayaking on the river
Lauryn Hill
Hearing ravens knock
Sipping Bailey's at a campfire
White dresses
Snuggly kitty boys
Pristine kitchens
Finding money in pockets
Buying new brushes
Pedicures
Design magazines
Fresh picked tomatoes
Moss

Not so Lovely:
Cleaning the shower
Pork
Graffiti on trees
Smell of eggs cooking
Paying for parking
Temperatures in the 100 degrees
Ill-fitting undergarments
Broken nails
Dead houseplants
Buzzer alarms
Sofa art
Fussy sewing machines
Sticky fingers
Mushrooms
The stair machine
Dry sharpie pens
Crispy cookies
Coldplay
Hearing the word "hecka"
Corn syrup
Unwashed sheets
Going to the bank
Smokers outside my bedroom window
Dull razors
Running out of water while sitting in traffic
Spotty cell phone service

Seller's Remorse

Well, that may have been a bit over-dramatized. I know that I promised (and asked to be held accountable) in my mission to make pillows for myself in rich reds and teals just a few short posts back but this one, this one is oh so adorable! When it flies away I may be a bit sad, but will rest easy knowing that a good home awaits this little sweetie.


I really debated about keeping it, but BC reminded me of my current mission which will have to kept be a secret for now. (but I will tell you, it has to do with SOMEONE making SOMETHING absolutely stunning-that-I-can't-stop-thinking-about which I will be gleefully purchasing as soon as I come up with a little funding from my own art sales - hence the crazed pillow-making-madness that was this past weekend)

And while we are on the subject of pillow-making-madness I am so pleased to present some silliness called "Saturday Afternoon Projecting." If you click here, you will be treated to an eye-feast of small-scale power tools, deadly hot irons, gin, more gin, and a snappy sound track all created by my talented man.



Clinksies friends, enjoy your new week.

Thursday

It has been a fabulous day. Long (oh so long when you get up at 5:30 to drive your neighbors to the airport), prosperous and productive.
Today I:
1) Took myself out to breakfast - it's been way too long (and breakfast is so my favorite meal)
2) Wrote my New and Improved artist statement (for the website - I promise I'm working on it!)
3) Spent several hours painting in the studio (red birds upon red birds, just wait, you'll see it)
4) Whipped up two new pillows and listed them in the shop (these two, I tell you, they Are Some Pillows!)
5) Ran my new favorite three mile loop in the early sunset (I am growing to love "the stairs", seriously!)
6) Sipped a tasty beverage while sitting on the back stairs in the waning light of the sun (the most perfect temperature)
7) Ate a HUGE salad and watched some Family Guy (solo night = big salad, no meat, hooray!)
8) Made granola (ok, that's actually what I will be doing as soon as I post this, but if I write it down then it will get done. See how that works?)


August 7th 2008
Evening Discoveries

The sticky growl of tires on asphalt
(three hundred feet away)
Drowns out the evening song of the gnats
(three feet away)
Every vein in the maple leaves sharply illuminated
(too far to touch)
Glinting off remnants of a party on the stairs
(below my feet)
I sit awaiting the pigeons
(they're not here yet)
In the watery haze of sunset
(all eyes to the west)

The First Harvest

When long summer days hang musty in the golden air, when the afternoon's warmth lingers into the night, when the spiders have all spun their crystalline webs, it is blackberry picking time. There is no season I look forward to each year as much as blackberry season, no food I am so greedy with while harvesting (one for the bucket, two for me) as blackberries. And last night, it was finally time.




In the lilting evening breeze, BC and I harvested our first cache of the year, flirting with nature, garden spiders and gopher snakes along the bus stop for the Number 19 (something I love about this city: Our most urban practices weave through wild and overgrown stretches, making you forget, for just one moment, that you are still city-bound).


A Story-Title for "Mokelumne" 2005

Blackberries fall like thorned curtains, staining fingers.
Beaver tails slap
cows bray
oars gently splash
All sounds competing for my unconscious notice.
One silver tree, caught by the sun’s falling rays
Stands like a blessing for all the wonder there is yet to see on the river.

The BEST thing I've seen today

I love this. There is something so beautiful and ridiculously silly about this whole video, that by the end I was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. So take a moment and watch (and hope and wish that someday you will have visited so many places...), 'cause this is what Brad and I want to do for our next video.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.