New Website

If you are reading this, you have probably found it because you were looking for my website and it came up missing. Yes, believe it or not, I am getting a new website, and you happen to have checked in while we are doing the switch. Check back in a couple of days and you will find my new site! Soooooooo, exciting!

Why a new site?
Well, it is a long story, but the main reason is that it was really hard to update the old one. It was originally built by my super programer brother in the website language html. If you are a programer, that is cool. But if you are not, it takes major brain cells to do ANYTHING! So, I avoided it. Many of you complained, were confused, even upset, but I just didn't, couldn't, wouldn't update it. So, to solve that problem I went about building a new site. Some progress was made, but much was not. I then purchased this new site from a place called bludomain.com. Not only did they provide an awesome up-to-date looking site, it was cheap, and it is easy to manage. Then came the really hard part, making decisions. Normally, that is not hard for me, but when it comes to writing resumes and promoting myself, it is the hardest thing in the world for me to do. Anyway, to keep this short, I have the beginnings to a new site ready to go, and I have made the decisions as to how the thing is going to be organized and once the server and my domain are connected, you will be able to see it. Yippee!

What is coming?
So, I have the basic site ready to go. Coming soon will be MY Shop. The shop will show all my currently for sale items. There won't be a shopping cart, but you can contact me to purchase anything in MY Shop. There will also be MY Portfolio, the place to see past projects and MY Commissions, the place to see and read about some of the commissions I have done over the past 15 years.

So, check back often and let me know what you think! Always interested in knowing what people think!

Lost: Peace of Mind

Perhaps I should read my own blog more often (ie: last entry), having seemingly found that place of peace and joy. I guess I tend to reside there more often than not these days, and definitely more often than I used to, but yesterday I definitely was NOT in that place. I was pissed.

It all started with an extremely hectic week. Lifeguarding and leading water fitness at three different Y's, taking me from home at 9 am and bring me back at 10 pm. A solid day of meetings and errands on my day off no less. And yet another class to cover and commitments set to fill my entire Saturday. Not to mention deadlines, clients and now a job interview looming in the near future.

As if all that weren't enough, as I frantically raced out the door Saturday morning to get to the Y in time to teach the class, I realized that my "Y bag" was not in my car. My "Y bag" is a bag full of all the stuff I need to do my various jobs at various locations. You know, clean dry underwear, a snack, swim goggles and cap (just in case I get the overwhelming urge to swim for a change), swim suit, CD's shoes, shirt and shorts, a towel, and toiletries. Realizing the bag wasn't in the car, I ran to the house to find it. But it was nowhere to be found. So I hollered out to Tom to find out what he did with it, because of course it was his fault :) But he had no idea. He was convinced that I had taken it in the house the night before.

So, we began to recount what we had done the day before. I had taught a class Friday morning. When I got home I had taken my towel and suit out of the bag and hung it out to dry. We established that it was when I went out to get them, late the night before, was when Tom had thought I brought the bag in. Shortly after I brought my towel and suit into the house, Tom came into the house and handed me my CD's, apparently they had fallen out of the bag and were laying in the driveway. It soon became apparent to me that my bag had been stolen. I think Tom thought I was nuts when I ordered him to start looking in near by trash cans, but I figured if someone grabbed it they would want to ditch whatever was not of value to them and leave with what was. The problem with that reasoning was that there was NOTHING of value to anyone except me in that bag. I had my ID, my suit and towel, my cds, and my shirts and shorts were in the wash. All the thief got away with were my toiletries, dry underwear and swim cap and goggles. I later confirmed that they had been taken when I realized the broken boom box that was also sitting in the back seat was missing as well.

Under the gun, I grabbed what extra toiletries I had and stuffed them with my suit, towel and cds into a paper grocery bag and went about my day. But I was pissed. As I thought about it, there were two real opportunities for this to have happened - while we were at a garage sale the day before when I had neglected to lock the car despite my thinking "you should lock the door, someone will think that bag is a purse" or while the car sat no more that 15 feet away from my back door in my driveway. Then I began to think about all that was in that bag. First there was the bag, the perfect size and shape to carry all my stuff. Then the toiletry bag a pretty quilted thing with everything I could need including: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, a fancy razor for which I had refills at home, a brush, facial cleanser and moisturizer, pain killers and antihistamine. I then realized as I was getting dressed after the class that my deodorant was also in the bag. I was pissed!

And what continued to fuel this fire of anger was the fact that I knew that it was all probably sitting in a trash can somewhere because it was worthless to whomever took it. But I had to spend time, energy and money to replace it all. I just couldn't get over it.

Later Saturday afternoon when I returned home, I decided to walk the alley and see if I could find any of the bag or its contents. As I walked, I was convinced that I was being silly. I was sure that it must have been taken while we were at the garage sale. But I kept walking. I walked the entire alley for two blocks to the south of us. Spoke with a couple of neighbors then wandered my way back home. I found nothing. Just in case, I decided to cover my bases and go the 1/2 block to the north checking the apartment building dumpsters along the way. I was on my way to the last dumpster on the block when I looked between the apartment building and the house and there it was. Three doors from my house, my bag with its contents hurriedly dumped out and gone through, laying there in the dirt between the two buildings. I can't tell you how happy I was.

I am almost embarrassed to admit that something so simple and really so minor could have such an effect, both negatively and positively, on my day. Never mind the feeling of violation, that some desperate, brazen jerk had the gaul to walk into my yard and steal my things from my car. I mean really do I need to lock my car everywhere? But the fact that they did really makes me wonder what has happened to this world and the way people think. What they really stole was my peace of mind.

There is one kind of humorous moral to this story. Of course there is no sign of the boom box, but it was broken. I had it in the car because I was going to see if I could get it to work again. I guess sometimes what goes around does come around. Mr. or Ms. Thief, I hope you enjoy your broken boom box. You really deserve what you got.

Back to Blogging!

It is about time I get back to blogging! Where does the time go? A perfect example of that is my nephew Henry! I was just looking through my most recent (last summer) blog entries and saw the pictures of my super cute (I am not biased) nephew and can't believe how grown up he has become so quickly. Well, he will be two in June, but compared to when I was there last summer he has really become a person all his own in the last nine months. This is the most recent picture of Henry during his first visit to our house.


So, where has the time gone? I guess when I look back we have been pretty busy. I finished shows at Rockford, IL in three days of solid rain. Quite anti-climactic after such an amazing summer. What is it they say about predictably unpredictable? Once done with shows, I poured myself into the finishing touches on the remodeling project on which my husband and I have been working. Also known as our home. By the end of October we were well on our way to moved in and living like grown ups. A very much needed change from the basement we had been camping in. We then set out to finish the kitchen and bathroom. First cabinets, then counters and appliances. The kitchen is together and is the best kitchen I have ever called my own. The bath, well, we recently bought a new tub :) It will be finished soon I am sure.

Then came the holidays and the hopes of a great show. The economy put a rapid end to that dream. On the positive side, I have lots of new work ready to share with the world. About a week later I found myself in PHARR, Texas after my mother-in-law fell and broke her foot. Sickness came upon return which led to the most peaceful Christmas I can remember. I think I need to get sick every year ;)

The new year started with a rapid series of events that have forever changed my outlook on life and what we put our hope in. It started on Friday, January 16, when I received my first colonoscopy, during which a polyp that was found to be of the type that could become cancerous was removed. An eye opener, but not earth shattering. Until Sunday, Jan. 18 when we got a phone call that my husband's sister, in her mid-fifties, had a massive heart attack. There is no more helpless feeling than seeing someone you love connected to machines and tubes. Then on Mon., Jan. 19, Tom came home and had been laid-off.

So, you might be thinking that I am kind of angry at the world right now. Well, I'm not. In fact, I am happier than I have been in a long time and hopeful. Last weekend we celebrated Easter with my sister-in-law, and celebrated the fact that she is still with us. I know it sounds cliche, but these events have helped me realize what is really important in life. It is in times like these - personally, economically, professionally - that make us realize we really are not in control of anything. I have learned to celebrate life today, tomorrow is not guaranteed. Until next time, Linda

Quick project note . . .

Hi everyone, I just wanted to show you a commission project I am finishing up. This project was commissioned by a regular customer of mine. She wanted a mirror for the bathroom just off the pool. For inspiration, I used a piece I did a couple of years ago - Flow Blue.

The water reference is obvious, except I didn't know that it was going to be off the pool. The only information I had was that it was going to be in a bathroom and the bathroom was going to have a blue and green glass tile border. It was just one of those divine things that led me to choose Flow Blue as my inspiration. So, we decided to use a variety of glass tile and gradate the color from blue to green and dark to light.

Here is the mirror before grout. I just finished it yesterday and am really pleased with how it turned out. I will be doing a gradated grout too. I will show you when it is done.

Where's Henry?

In the weeks between my shows in Wisconsin and Illinoise during this summer's Big Aventure, I had the pleasure of staying in Appleton with my brother, his wife and their one year old, Henry! Here are Neil, Henry and Sarah while in Chicago this summer.

My sister-in-law, Sarah, totally spoiled me and I got to spend lots of time with Henry. "Where's Henry?" is a game that we would play each morning during Henry's play time before his morning nap.

We also took a trip to the beach with Henry's cousins and Henry had his first experience with the BIG bath tub! And Henry and I got a chance to play some more too.

I might be biased, but I think Henry is the best little kid in the world! After having the opportunity to spend two weeks in Appleton, I really miss him!

Madness at Madison

So, on July 11, I loaded up my life and headed off to Madison, WI. This was the beginning of my big adventure. I headed off to Madison and wasn't coming home again for two weeks. In that time I would be doing three shows and staying with my brother and his family in Appleton, WI during the weeks in between. This was the first time I had ever done three (much less five) shows in a row. This was the first time I had been away from my husband for more than four days since we were married. And this was the first time I had lived with my "baby" brother since he was ten years old, and now he has a child of his own. It was going to be a big adventure.

After five hours of driving into a head wind (and a full tank of gas) I arrived in Madison. Just in time to drop my suitcase at the hotel and head to the square for set-up. After about a 15 minute wait I got in to set-up my tent and displays at about 8:00 pm that night. It is always nice to do the dirty, sweaty, hard labor of setting up a tent and display the night before a show so that we can be clean and fresh for customers in the morning. That night we set-up having been told that a big storm was coming through after midnight. I can only speak for myself, but I was willing to take my chances because I couldn't imagine getting completely set-up by the time the show opened the next day.

Now, there are several different types of tents artists use, mine being an EZ-Up and one of the lesser expensive brands. Over the years I had had several different displays, some good, some bad, some easy to work with, some not so easy. So, I had developed my system to both display my product but also hold down my tent. So, that night when the glass artist two doors down asked "So, is your EZ-Up going to survive the storm tonight?" I answered with confidence "yes, I think I have it pretty figured out."

So, the next morning when I arrived at the show at about 6:00 am, to hang my work, I wasn't too surprised when I walked about half the show and saw a tent or two down. But when I rounded the corner on to my street, nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. First, I saw a couple of bent tent frames, but as I walked closer, I realized that there were more than a couple and that they weren't just bent, they were leveled. With my mouth wide open, I walked onto the scene of total destruction. By this time the show organizers had "cleared the street" and had piled all the bent, broken, destroyed tents, displays and stuff onto one side of the street, but from what we were told later it looked like a war zone, stuff strewn all over.

I then turned to look where my tent had been standing and there it was, still standing all by its lonesome almost as I had left it the night before. All totalled nine tent - seven across the street from me and two next to me, including the glass artist from the night before, were destroyed in that storm. The windward side of my tent was pushed back onto the curb about a foot, but it had survived. I was amazed.

Here are pictures of what I arrived to that morning.

These are the two tents next to mine, the one on the right is mine.

This is what was left of the five tents across from me.

Looking down my side of the street, my tent is in the middle.
The people behind me, with the green van, didn't set up until that morning.

Looking down the street at the destruction across from me.
The little dome in the front was filled with high end sculpture. Luckily they were all still packaged and nothing was lost.

This is how far the one side of my tent was blown back.

So, I survived two big storms this season - first the big hail storm at Edina and then Madison. I have to say it makes you think every time you see a rain cloud or the wind starts to blow.

In the end Madison was a good show. As always the crowds were endless and I met my goal. Sunday night I was one of the last dozen or so artists to get packed up. A homeless guy named Thomas helped me get my "3D Mosaic" put together and I headed off to Appleton. More stories later.

Where has the summer gone?

I can't believe tomorrow is August 15. The ultimate sign that summer is almost gone is the start of the Minnesota State Fair and that is next week. I just can't believe how the time has flown by. I suppose I was a little distracted.

As my last post reported, I was embarking on a series of four shows in a row - Art on the Square in Madison, WI, Mid-summers Arts Festival at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, WI, The Geneva Art Fair in Geneva, IL, and Powderhorn Park Art Festival in Minneapolis. And as fate would have it, I got invited to the Morning Glory Festival in Milwaukee, WI making it five shows in a row. And I had promised all kinds of interesting commentary along the way. Well, once again, I a dumbfounded as to how quickly this past six weeks have gone.

However, it has been an adventure and perhaps telling you all about it will help me process it too. So, fasten your seat belts and hold on tight . . . well maybe it won't be that action packed, but it will definitely give you insight into the life of a traveling artist.

Until tomorrow . . .