Health Care Tips for the Uninsured

If you are, like me, one of the 45 million Americans struggling without health insurance, and have mild frost bite, here is how to treat that: burns!
At first I didn't know why my fingers and toes were becoming sore and red and swelling and hard to move without pain. It didn't occur to me that while at work, I was being trained to polish glass. For those of you unfamiliar with this process it involves long hours of using a wet grinder in the cold shop (aptly named). Because my boss is too cheap to buy a water heater for this purpose all the water sprayed by this hand held tool comes from the ground pipes, and at the time it was still snowing outside! Couple that with my circulation problems and I didn't even notice that my hands were literally freezing.
Just when I realized what was going on I worried that it would prevent me from continuing my work for blowing glass in the hot shop (also aptly named) and working with steel for my mobile project. Luckily, my first day back in the studio went well and actually helped my fingers to better articulate. Between the furnace and the forge I've sustained a few mild burns and am now happy to report that the frost bite is gone!
Who needs doctors anyway?

Breaking Ground

There is work being done on the mobile at last! But first a little inspiration from my friend at Loquita Chocolates. I was invited to a "My Bloody Valentine" party (Fri. Feb 13th) and decided to try some truffle making for the occasion. I got a little crazy with the flavors, what you see here in the foreground is bacon truffles! Yes, that is bacon supporting the cocoa confection, and yes, they are good! Next there was orange blossom truffles and after that, coated in nibs you see spicy rose hip-tea truffles. They were a success, but not nearly as interesting or as beautiful as what is being made here.
After that was such a wonderful weekend of blowing glass and forging steel! Here you see the Pratt studio where I am taking a blacksmithing class and having so much fun. This is the beginning of building the armature for the scale-model mobile. The first glass platters were made this weekend too, but pictures are yet to come.
Well, overall I'm making good use of myself in my spare time, which is good, considering I'll have pleanty more of it soon. The economic decline has caused my work to cut my hours, but I figure I should see this as an opportunity and use every moment to be creative. It might even mean more blog entries!

The Project Update

Things are going well, almost too well! I have started a blacksmithing class at Pratt's Fine Art Center and I'm loving it! It's like glass, only more forgiving. So my Thursday evenings and Fridays will now be spent hammering the shit out of steel rod in order to make the armature for my mobile. My deposit has come through so now I have a little cash to start spending on blowtime! I hope to be back in front of the furnace by the end of the week to make the platters that will hang in the mobile. In the mean time I'll be working on small-scale models (pictures to come) to work out engeneering.
Last week I visited the site where my work will be installed. It's so exciting! The building is going up and I can actually envision the space where my artwork will hang. I talked with the operations manager there and asked how to get a hook installed that would be able to support 400lbs of glass and steel and he said he'd have it done!
Well thank you very much! I am so thrilled to actually meet someone who is not putting up any resistance. This is new, and a little frightening.
Well, so far we are still on schedule for end of June install, but something tells me it will not all go according to plan.
Nothing goes according to plan!
Stay in touch.

night of crazed crafting!

I recently made some shortbread cookies, with marzipan and dark chocolate on top! And then I ate two pieces, and like Alice down the bunny chute, I entered a new world of manic sewing into the wee hours. I crafted yet another apron, this time to honor my friend who had made the wonderful udder design you see on the pocket. I am having such a great time with aprons for some reason! They are a quick and dirty way to accomplish a project in one sugar-influenced evening.
And, by the way, I recently stopped into a gallery that was showing a bunch of paintings that actually looked good! I was intrigued because paintings, especially anything being done today in painting, do not grab me. However these were awesome, I looked up the artist later and found this. enjoy!

Getting Around to Gifts

Who says you have to scurry and get everything done before x-mas? I have no time for such foolishness; I get around to gifting when I feel like it!
So here is the wonderful apron I made for my little tartine! Oh goodness, my guinness, isn't he adorable! And there will be more to come, for now that I've completed and sent in my application to grad school (cross your fingers for me) I have the time once again for crafting and art making- and cooking!

A Winter Knitting Solstice

I had planned for a knitting party on the solstice, and there I would share with my friends the lovely tradition of lighting the pudding. Unfortunately, all the wonderful snow prevented everyone but one from coming! Although it was not a total bust. There were enough people snowed in at the house to make it a jolly time. We ate, we drank wassail, I showed a few people how to knit and crochet and to end the night there was a huge snowball fight. I don't think I've ever been in a snowball fight that I enjoyed before! If only that day could be longer, I love it so.

pudding and boughs

This holiday season is inspiring me to try new things, such as traditional christmas pudding. I found a lovely recipe here which requires steaming the pudding for 8 hours! and then to hang it for a week or more! those brits! What were they thinking? Anyhow, it should be a fun experiment. And it was a good day to have a pot boiling all day on the stove for this weekend it snowed! What a lovely winter treat.
I've also been feeling the spirit of winter in my desire to cover the entire front room with tree boughs and clippings. The snowy day was perfect for an idealic stoll through the park with a pair of clippers. Now all sorts of firs and greens and hollies are cheering the hearthstone.
Tis the season for tea and knitting! I love it!