The Relief of Zero G with a Dash of Salt
I write to you today from the blissful calm of my new Zero Gravity Chair and nestled into my new, neck hugging heating pad here on the back deck. The birds have been chirping mere feet from me and occasionally a Disney rat (chipmunk) pops up over the deck’s edge to stare at me.
Here under Old Friend Tree, as my son has always called our largest water oak, I’m surrounded by both vivid fall colors and slow-to-turn, lush green leaves responding to climate crisis and record-breaking profits for oil companies, or oily-garchs as I have dubbed them. This must be my new self-care leaf turned over. The shingles booster and flu vaccine I received this week have kicked my backside into semi-consciousness and so I am here instead of pushing through.
The acorns, however do seem to know its time to drop, and my poor Shelties repeatedly keep ducking, convinced they are correct in their insistence that the sky is indeed falling.
My husband came out to visit for a bit, gave me a mental gold star for taking a real live break, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “Safety glasses?!?”
From my fully reclined point of relaxation, I cracked one eye open and replied, “You wince when the acorns land on your head. I’m not risking one smacking my closed eyes.”
He fought back a laugh and conceded their velocity. My prediction for 2023 is a bumper year for Disney rats.
I’ve continually been inspired by the shapes and colors of the flowers and foliage in my small but great outdoors.
(coming to a location near you!)
I spent a chunk of time last summer painting roses in the borders of my illuminations and felt the need, as I tend to do, to hammer them into metal.
Each time I teach a course, I look for ways to help students learn more effectively.
What is intuitive to me after decades of exploration is not so obvious to someone learning a new technique.
In my Eastern Repousse course in particular, I’ve been adding more how-tos for specific design types rather than hoping people make the mental leap between how to create levels of relief in abstract designs to how to achieve the same process in representational designs.
The new module I’ve added to my upcoming Eastern Repousse online course is devoted to flowers and leaves in order to demonstrate exactly how I create undulating and overlapping forms.
The Floral module will be included as part of my upcoming Eastern Repousse course, though I realize that my fabulous, Eastern Repousse alums may want to learn the new material too.
Never fear! If you’ve taken my online course before, you’ll be notified how to get access to the new material.
Falling acorns not included.
Speaking of…
I discovered the wonder of these zero G chairs while imbibing in the salty goodness of the Intown Salt Room (safety glasses not required). It’s been part of my neighborhood for four years, but I only just found this little corner of Tibet…Needless to say I haven’t been out much the last three years.
If you have a Himalayan salt filled wonder near you, trust me: book a session. The experience is non woo-woo, and frankly, it’s so amazing, I wouldn’t care if it were ultra woo.
Breathing in the mist of dry salt is the kindest no-contact thing I’ve done for my muscles and my allergies in…ok, maybe ever. I literally walked out feeling like I was floating on new legs, not to mention I could breathe.
It’s the perfect addition to balancing nesting and resting with all the endless back end preparation for holiday sales and my metalsmithing school’s inaugural year.
Whoops?!? Did I let that cat out of the bag???
Stay tuned! Soon I’ll release my complete 2023 online schedule along with some unexpected offers and new artwork.
Sign up now to make sure you get notified when the Victoria’s school’s 2023 schedule is released, and learn more about upcoming artwork!
