the long goodnight

there is finally snow here on the ground. sticking. the long goodnight.

winter bums me out. it's soooo dark. and soooo cold.

winter comforts me. it's like a cocoon, wrapping me in stillness and reflection.

i took this photo in june of this year. it reminds me to hold on. just hold on. something beautiful will come out soon.

gidget

here is gidget. i took this picture this summer, when she was really sick. she had fatty liver disease, and lost about eight to ten pounds. she's all fat and sassy again, now. just throws up once and awhile and then i give her her medicine.

gidget is my cat. but in her heart, she's mama's cat. she could really care less about me, but she sleeps with mama when she's given the chance. purrs for mama, but not for me. mama says gidget is mine. gidget says different.

imagine

i love these button earrings. purpley goodness.

i've been skipping classes a lot. i've been having these terrible migraines--stress, maybe? i dunno. it's just annoying.

yesterday (sunday) i went up and worked in the pottery studio. morphed bowls. five of them. i'm not especially drawn to bowls. or maybe i'm feeling a bit annui-ish. rrrrrrrr. they had the radio on when i went in. it was on npr. i *hate* npr. talk talk talk talk talk. rrrrrrrr. music! i want music! i don't really care *what kind* of music it is, (except jazz--hate jazz) as long as it's music.

hmph. how grouchy i am! so sad.

we have flu brewing in our house. abigail threw up two nights ago, i've felt nauseous for days, and now becca is sick. it's not the swine thing, thank goodness. just some ordinary run off the mill flu stuff.

abigail still hasn't woken up and it's 12:30! poor little thing. becca's in bed, too, trying to sleep. she didn't get practically any last night. so it's just me and deborah. pretty soon i have to go to class, so i'll have to wake somebody up. maybe grammy.

cats. and birds.

so okay. i *love* cats. i'll be the crazy old cat lady when i'm sixty. with a twist. i'll have birds, too. because i freakin' *love* birds.

is that not wierd?!?

these cat earrings are especially winsome with all the swirls.

bizarr-o random accurance two days ago. i was on campus after classes, waiting for my sister to come pick me up. i was standing in the little foyer of the art department, staring out at the little art department parking lot when random guy walks in and says, "hey, beautiful." like, eeewwww! so i slowly turn my head to give this guy a dirty look and see that he is on the phone. YAY! he asks his love for a ride and hurries out to the parking lot, head down, embarrassement oozing off of him. so, people on cell phones; watch what you say. you could accidently start a bar fight.

metalsmithing

this brass piece is my first ever metalsmithing project. see all the mistakes?
the next copper piece is my second one, same assignment. i love this one. i hope to make a pin out of it.

the next assignment was twins; cut out two pieces at the same time (taped together). the deers are my first attempt. i just love them. the birds are my second. i'm pleased with them, but i got the hole in the wrong spot, though. the butt is too heavy, so they hang funny. lame-o! both of them are sterling silver.

paintings

here is the painting i'm working on in advanced painting. i'm pleased with the blue figure, except for her hair. i'm really not happy with the with the other figure's face. it's kinda creepy, ya know?

the next two pictures are done. i'm pleased with this brown haired woman's eyes. i'm really interested in peoples eyes, the most. there's just something special about them.

metalsmithing

here is my first ever ring! soooooo cool!!!! so, okay, there are *tons* of things wrong with this piece, but oh. my. god. i made it! i love how simple it is. the thing that went the most wrong with this piece was when i *melted* it. it's made of two bands; an inside one and an outside one. jack (my teacher) soldered the inner ring to show me how to do, 'cause i'd never soldered before. and i've always been terrified of it. eeek! open flame! so jack showed me how to do it, and told me i had to do the outside one. i can do this. i can do this! so there i was, freaked out, with my acetylene torch and my fluxed ring. heating it up. heating it up. putting the solder on. heating it up. heating it..... oh, crap! it's red! it's *slumping*! turn off torch. dump ring in water. crap, crap, crap. show jack, who says, that's not that bad. advanced student says, "sandpaper it out." yay! salvagadgeable. is that a word? dunno. anyway. so i sanded it till the cows came home. which, of course, *thinned* the metal. hmmmmm... put the two rings together. stretched the inside band. compressed the outside band. soldered them together, and because i was the first one to get done, jack soldered one side of it for me, with the whole class looking on. so i had to do the other side. i can do this. i can do this. so i prepared my solder and then becca comes and says jake had a funny episode where he couldn't see out of one of his eyes. so i left, to get a ride home so becca could take jake to the er. on the way home jake refused to go to the er. i'm getting pissed off 'cause i had to leave my work in the middle of it.... jake's okay. just the wierd, random blindness virus, right? anyway, i went back up over the weekend (before the horrible esperanza concert; see next post) and soldered that puppy. i wasn't as scared of it the second time. i accomplished it! yay, me! so i don't especially *like* to solder, but i can do it. hopefully next time without melting my silver.