I hear my studio calling...

I guess 2:15 a.m. is about the middle of the night.  I am simply not used to warm nights - not even summer in Montana has many warm nights but here I am dorking around in the middle of the night in flip flops and shorts and it's February.  I am leaving in an hour to catch an early flight out of San Antonio.  Ranch life is sweet and my hosts are awesome but I hear my studio calling me.  When I left a week ago three fellas were spraying insulation. I guess the place has been totally sheet-rocked this week which means I can paint the interior walls next week – fun colors in the bathroom, the office, and the nap room.  My excitement is bubbling – tickling my nose and fizzing my innards.

Can you see three guys in this photo?

Read more

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am just bursting with love today!!!  The Cosmos is grinning down at me – warm and friendly.  I am at the ranch in Texas which is beaming with life and sunshine.  A teeny new little 3 week old miniature baby burro with fluffy old man eyebrows has been hanging close to his mom and kicking up his heels playfully – both new additions since my last visit three weeks ago.  A new calf came into the world yesterday, slick and big-eared.   One of the hunting dogs had puppies which I hear are teensy but will go see for myself today.
The chickens ran toward me like a crazed fan club when I showed up with a bag full of scraps.  They sure are silly fun quirky fretful critters.  Yesterday we flew to another ranch where the boys caught fresh bass.  YUM!!  Paul impressed us with his culinary skills during a fresh fried fish feast (say that 3 times fast!).  Desert was fresh strawberries dipped in warm chocolate.  Yum!
I woke a few hours before the sun and stretched through my morning yoga Sun Salutations before sipping tea and getting to the desk part of work.  An early walk in the fog had me a bit worried about stepping on snakes but once the sun came up, I pulled on my sneakers and went for a run – which did not seem as difficult as the first time I ran on the ranch nearly a month ago.  Phew!

Read more

Pick of the Week

I selected “Victor” for this week’s Pick of the Week because of his name and the cause.  My friend Aaron Mulky has created a unique fundraiser to take care of one of our tribe in her time of need.  Echo Oak was injured when she fell 200 feet while climbing ice.  She spent a cold winter night outside before her rescue but she is recovering thank goodness.  Aaron and his partner are going to climb ice for 24 hours straight to raise funds for Echo’s medical bills.  See their event. 

Buy “Victor” for half price and all of the moola will contribute to Aaron’s efforts – Victor-ious all around.

Read more

Why Climb Ice?! (has more to do with my art than you think)

I am crazy about climbing and even crazier about climbing ice.  ICE?!!!  Yup.  I’ve tried to reason that one out myself and can’t.  How can a sport where frozen fingers, bitter cold cramps, huge helpings of danger, long difficult approaches and a guarantee of suffering be something to be crazy for?

Ah…but the ice.  The ice!  Constant changing sculpture…capturing light, holding light, bouncing light, sucking light, reflecting light, spitting light.  Magic.  The stuff of crystal balls…enticing…confusing…delicate and impressive.  Like the eyes of the snake in the Walt Disney version of Jungle Book…ice entices.  “Trust in me…eeeeeeeee,” the snake sings, his eyes spinning, working their magic.  Allure, hypnotism and like Mogli I am drawn in grinning stupidly.

“You…are…so…beeaaauuuuutifulllllll…I say all dreamlike.

But then comes the moment of getting down to business…which means getting my feet off of the ground and that is where the voices come in.  I’ve a zillion of them.  “You haven’t eaten enough.”  “You are not strong enough”  “You’re nuts.”  Maybe its too early…too late…the ice too hard…too soft…too long…too blue.  What if these weren’t the right gloves?  Underwear?  Chap stick?  Egads the voices can be loud and obnoxious like a kindergarten class before school.  But the bell rings…the voices get louder and the activity even more frenzied before the teacher claps her hands yelling, “Settle down”  I send the thoughts to their desks…better yet…I try to shut them up inside the desks and worry about the mess later.  Right now I gotta climb.

And so I do.  Clumsy at first…I know and now accept the fact that it takes me awhile to warm up to any activity I am doing.  Others leap out of the starting gate and whiz into things.  I wheeze.  But long after their jumpstart I’ve found a pace and a place in my mind where the energizer bunny lives…I can keep going and going and going.  Thank god.  Somehow I find myself being of the right constitution to keep plodding.  Onward and upward…one foot in front of the other…or an ax placement in the ice a toe kicking a crampon point in…I can make myself keep going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the clumsy klutzy start, the doubts and dreams tumble and jumble together creating an intoxicating tonic that quenches my thirst for living.  The same elixir propels me to create - pushing boundaries and scaring myself in the studio day after day.  Art happens in the places and spaces outside the comfort zone.  Curiosity, drive and passion push.  Art happens when I get my feet off of the ground and the Energizer Bunny steps in to propel me forward.  Much of art is plodding - one chisel mark after another – chasing a vision sparked by light.  Art making is as ethereal as water – flowing or momentarily frozen – constantly changing, challenging, and compelling.  Humbling.  Inticing.  Adventurous art is a leap of faith finessed with skill and the kind of sharpened intuition which comes from a bold spirit tuned in.

 

 

 

 

 

Read more

Ice is Nice

I debated Saturday night whether to spend Super Bowl Sunday on a ski tour around Bunsen Peak in Yellowstone (wouldn’t be able to take Zaydee) or ski near Chico Hot Springs with Zaydee and include a soak afterwards.  I woke early feeling a bug in my bones and knew I had to cancel ski plans with my girlfriend to hunker down in my cozy cabin while snowflakes fell big as cotton balls.  Seems like everyone around me has been sick and alas – finally – I succumbed. 

 

 

BUT – being ill has its little blessings.  Sipping tea, I talked for 2 hours by phone with my dear friend Wynn in Nashville.  After weeks of phone tag my couch time allowed talk time.  I read a book – what shouldn’t be but seems to have become a luxury in my busy world.  I looked up some artists who inspire me on the internet to see their new creations.  I soaked in my beloved claw foot tub.  I slept.

Luckily a few days before the bug I enjoyed a relatively warm day playing on ice with friends and have a few pictures to share.

 

Cool amphitheater of ice at Big Sky.

The extra bulge in my coat is a warm pair of fat gloves...

Climbing behind frozen falls is fun and challenging...

Read more

Monday morning - humming, sipping, and sniffing

Monday morning:  Temps are below zero and dropping.  The landscape is soft and pale as crystals hang and wait their turn to cling in a delicate doily-way to trees, grass, mailboxes and eyelashes.  The kids are off to school and a week with their mother.  Last week was full of basketball games, after-school practices, and homework.  Ali’s 6th grade girl’s basketball team had a tournament at Gallatin Gateway Friday night.  They lost their 2nd game by only ONE point when a foul against a teammate in the last 6 seconds brought the chance to get two free-throws and possibly tie the game, (which would have put them into overtime and a chance to win).  Alas, the poor little nervous gal made one out of two baskets and they lost the game.  She broke out in tears but got hug after hug from her teammates.  I am impressed at the heart and gumption these young gals show.  Ali is a pint-size force to be reckoned with.  

Saturday night we had a pajama party with Mom. Sami baked two different batches of cookies, Paul made popcorn in a pot on the stove and we watched “The Sound of Music”  cuddled under blankets on the couches.  I thought I had seen the movie enough times in my life that I wasn’t particularly keen on our choice of entertainment but the kids are gearing up and doing tryouts for the musical at school.  BUT I got goose bumps in the first few moments and several times throughout.  We thoroughly enjoyed the movie and I have been singing ever since (though nothing like Julie or the girls for that matter!).  Julie Andrews is such a bright sparkle isn't she?  Speaking of sparkle - Mom wore black lounge pants with rhinestones to qualify for the pj party dress code.  Jake lasted half-way through the movie but got squirmish and went to bed early announcing that he wanted to be rested up for our big ski day at Bridger Bowl.   

Skiing with these three munchkins is SO much fun!!!  Jake rips it up!  Sami and Ali explore the mountain and pick runs with confidence.  We laughed and whooped our way down slopes, ate a picnic lunch and sipped hot chocolate.  The temps neared zero.  I was more-than-a wee-bit-thankful that we took several breaks in the upper lodge to warm up since I was so sore from Crossfit the day before.  Getting back into shape after a year of healing leaves me with plenty of sore muscles but it is more fun to be sore from playing and working out than from major surgery!  Humming "Sound of Music" tunes, smelling my favorite Volupsa "Baltic Amber" candle, and drinking tea on this happy Monday morning - the eve of a new month in a year that has launched as especially promising and full of rich blessings.

 

 

Read more

Windows and Pipes

Paul took this picture Thursday.  I haven’t been on site since Monday morning (this is a Bozeman week with the munchkins).  I can hardly wait to stand inside and look out a window.  Just opening a door will make all of this seem more real.  Plumbing is going in.  I hear I have a shower stall.  Duel flush toilet from Costco (great price!) will go in soon.   We haven’t set up a cistern for water yet.  Keep your fingers crossed that we find water the next time we drill!  Itch’n to move in!

 

Read more

Pick of the Week

Each week - one original artwork is offered at half price with all of the money going to charity.  "Rizzo" looks to me like a bit of an insomnia sufferer like myself or maybe he has simply had too much coffee.  "Rizzo" is the pick and Tibetan Doctors are the recipent.  My friend Mike Cooperstien is actively and soulfully involved.  Just follow this link to learn more:

Please Help Tibetan Doctors

Click here to purchase "Rizzo"

Read more

New York Debut of the Frog Bronze!

New York!  New York!  (the place so nice they named it twice!)  The frog bronze titled “Spring” is in route to the BIG APPLE for the N.A.W.A Open Small Works Exhibition.  Here’s how it happened:

I made a pact with myself to enter one juried show each month this year.  I have only entered 2-3 juried shows in my life and the last one was the Western Design Conference in Cody, Wyoming - well over a decade ago.  So I started by entering a show in December just to begin to get myself into the habit.  Voila!  My sculpture was accepted!!!  I have been told that over 650 artists entered and only 65 were accepted.  "Spring" is one of five sculptures selected for the show.  The exhibit is at the National Association for Women Artists – which is the oldest professional women's fine art organization in the United States (founded in 1889).   So here are the exhibit details:

Exhibition Date:    February 2-22

Place:                The N.A.W.A Gallery  80 Fifth Avenue Suite 1405, New York, NY

Reception:           February 9, 2011  5-7 pm

If you make it to the show or the reception call or write to me – I want to hear ALL about it!  I haven’t the moola for a jaunt to New York but I am tickled pink that this little bugger has a debut in the big city.

Read more

Devil Woman Saloon - peek at the sculptures

  Finally a few picture peeks of the finished sculptures at the Devil Woman Saloon for you to see.  I will be frank.  Once we stuffed these buggers into their allotted corners, they simply “died” in the dark.  The post-placement moment was seriously and painfully anti-climatic and a far cry from the expected “TA DA!!!”

Yes my client was there.  Brenda seemed happy and excited but then she is a super nice person (that’s an understatement) and could very well have been just being kind.  I grabbed her teeny tiny long haired teacup chiwawa Cami and bolted to the ranch warehouse in search of some lights.  With Cami tucked in the crook of my arm, I loaded up with clamp lights and extension cords, crossed the ranch to the Saloon and attempted to “show” the sculptures with a bit of hard harsh light illumination.

Better.  At least Brenda could get a bit of an idea but the sculptures were far from “finished” and not worth applauding.  The delivery day was a confusing gamut of emotions.  Honestly I felt as if I had crossed valleys, climbed peaks, thrashed my way through thick jungles, inhaled buckets of sawdust and sat my tuckered scratched and famished body down eagerly to a deliciously prepared full five course dinner at a table set with white linen and one of those silver shiny cover thingees over my plate lifted with a polished flair by a decked-out butler and there…. Before my ravenous eyes and centered on my fine china plate….lay… (drum roll please) …a little smelly dog poo.

Ok.  The sculptures are a far cry from dog poo.  They might even be GRAND without upstaging their surroundings as planned but first they must be lit properly.  The excessive emotions could simply be chalked up to: a) being a passionate artist b) being an emotional girl c) hormones d) the culmination of expectation after a rather challenging journey.  I am guessing all of the above played into an unsettled feeling that left me cranky (poor Paul) and far from satisfied.  We sat down in the saloon and shared a few shots in “celebration” but that was a bit like planting a flag before reaching the summit: anti-climatic.  The next day Paul and I scampered to the nearest city in search of lights.  We scoured lighting shops, landscape warehouses, Lowe’s and Home Depot in the hopes we would not have to return to the Devil Woman Saloon empty-handed but the specialized lighting we need is not something places keep in stock.  We had to order the lights.  I spent another day putting the final parts and pieces together (whip, crystals, trident, etc.)  We screwed a few little $8.00 desk lights on top of the sculptures so I wouldn’t have to leave Texas with them totally in the dark.  I felt better and we snapped a few photos. 

The “Devil Woman Saloon” sculptures have been tangled up in a long road of unexpected twists and turns.  We launched the project nearly 18 months ago believing I could whip these buggers out in a few months time but I blew the deadline by one year(a first for me)  But then last year was full of challenging “firsts” and unexpected painful endings.   I have taken more-than-one deep breath, calmed down, accepted the lighting delay and returned to Montana.  The “Devil Woman Sculptures” are in place.  The proper lighting and professional photos will happen next month.  Thank goodness Brenda has such a big heart and faith in me. 

Visit my YouTube channel for project videos

Read more

Up before the chickens

COCK A DOODLE DOO!!!  The roosters clucked a cheery loud hello this morning in the moonlight when I walked to the ranch office with a cup of tea and my computer.  Yesterday they just clucked a bit and helped guide my way through the pre-dawn fog in the wet heavy darkness.  I guess the chickens appreciate moonlight and moon shadows too since they up earlier and cheerier today.  I love the moderate temperature, the dank earthy smells, and the clucking and carrying on.  Right now a covey of ducks are swimming in a big puddle right outside the office door and from the sounds of it – they are having quite the gossip session!

Ranch sounds and smells put a grin on my face and a bit of a song in my heart – a different song than home, where everything around my cabin is wild.  Nothing is cultivated (another song and reason to grin).  I didn’t grow up on a ranch or a farm but as a young child I always felt a bit of romantic longing for the lifestyle.

I like being up before anyone else.  Quiet time.  Meditation time.  Yoga and a cup of tea time.  But I must admit having barnyard feathered friends clucking and quacking away hypes up the expectation of sunrise like musicians tuning their instruments builds the pre-performance energy.  The silly little critters seem to be hell-bent on waking up a sleepy headed, blurry-eyed sun – just their clattery insistence oddly enough elicits a rather domesticated feeling of family.

So I settled in to sip tea and write when my phone rang.  Paul had just woken up, turned on the TV (something we don’t have at my home) when he noticed a show called, “Woodsculpting.”  He thought it might be of interest to me so while he waited for his coffee he settled in to watch the show and there I was!   The show was about me - a whole show – at 6 a.m. in Texas.  So I crossed the ranch yard again, roosters crowing, ducks quacking, Hobo the German Sheppard barking and a cup of tea in my hand to watch the show.  Filmed years ago for DIY – I have never actually watched the episode on TV – let alone a gigantic BIG plasma screen TV in a saloon where I had just installed a few big sculptures.

Oh yeah!  THAT!!!  The sculpture installation…!!  Yesterday was a big day.  Heavy mesquite logs-turned-into-sculptures were unloaded outside and set up inside the Devil Woman Saloon.  We used a John Deer tractor and broke a Genie Lift but luckily no injuries to people or the art occurred.  You’ll have to wait for the final pictures since today I will be putting the finishing touches on the sculptures (trident, Swarovski crystals, whip and lights):

 

Read more

Twenty Five Photos in Billings Gazette Feature

 

I love the fact that Zaydee made it into the feature article written by Donna Healy of the Billings Gazette!  Many of you knew Shiva, the special dog who shared a precious chunk of my life with me.  Shiva used to always upstage me whenever photographers showed up.  A natural model and total ham for the camera, Shiva would glean the lime-light whenever it so much as glanced my direction – just look at the past articles and TV spots on my Artist Page. Zaydee is a whole other cookie.  Horribly abused before being rescued by a sweet Montana couple, Zaydee showed up in my life as a bit of a basket case.  She’s come a LONG way!!  No longer scared of her own shadow - much less the power tools in my studio – she relaxes and hangs out with me while I work.  She barks to let me know if someone is around (usually I have ear plugs in and am oblivious).  Zaydee has warmed up to the camera – or at least relaxed enough that Bob Zellar from the Billings Gazette captured this photo of her napping in the mesquite sawdust.  The whole article along with a short video can be viewed on the Billings Gazette website (yes – Zaydee is in the video too!!!) 

 

Read more

Two Little Artworks for a good cause

I am going to drop off two Works on Paper at Printing for Less for a fundraiser.  The e-mail from a friend of mine explained:

“There's a fundraiser at my work place for a coworker's wife (Carrie Kling) who has been sick for years. She has reflex sympathetic dystrophy.  It is a disease of the central nervous system that causes intense pain. She needs to get another treatment in Tampa, FL which their insurance doesn’t cover and they have tapped out the financial resources from family, friends and personal savings for the first two treatments that she received.”

My sweet little town has a number of frame shops – all of which generously often donate framing of the piece.  The believe the most one of my Works on Paper has raised in a fundraiser auction is $300.00 – that was for a museum if I remember right – not a lot but little bits add up.  Always happy to help, the tables were turned last year after my own surgery.  Paul Meyer from Vern’s Wood Goods approached me with the idea of a fundraiser – for me.  Boy did that stir some emotion and push my comfort zone!!  What a gift!!!  The fundraiser (of course) was a gift but more than that – the opportunity to step fully into humility and embrace receiving was an opportunity to grow.  Full of hesitation, I tugged on the uncomfortable tight-fitting, breath-constricting role of receiver and found that it quickly conformed and fit comfortably with the added bonus of WARM FUZZIES.  Paul Meyer and I have never met but check out this quote from the fundraiser idea e-mail he approached me with:

“If you want to carry this burden on your own and spare your community the privilege and rewarding pleasure of supporting you, well, you will miss out on one of life's great treasures, and one of the benefits of being a free spirit.  Don't stop being a free spirit NOW for crying out loud!”

He nailed me.  He compassionately strummed exactly those notes which screamed loudest when I found myself struggling to accept.  Paul Meyer gave me the opportunity to grow and feel.  What a blessing.  I don’t know Carrie Kling but my heart hurts for the challenge of dystrophy and the money challenges which add insult to injury at a time of struggle in her life.  Have you struggled with the role of receiving?

Read more

Clearstory - oh glory!!

Sub zero temps put a halt to progress this week until yesterday when the boys were able to nearly finish the clearstory!!  The purpose of the clearstory it to allow ambient light into my studio (the windows haven’t been cut yet- they will be much bigger than the picture shows).  The BIG bonus of this particular clearstory is the nap room which will be in the back.  YUP!!  Thanks to Paul’s brainstorm, the nap room will sit up there like an observatory – perfect place to close my peepers or blow kisses to the sky!!!

 

Read more

From wood to bronze - a new sculpture!

I don’t believe that has ever happened to me before.  But then many things happened during this past year that never happened to me before.

I lost socks.

Seriously I don’t believe I have ever lost a sock in my life…a pair of stockings or two but never a sock.  Stockings are a given because stockings are uncomfortable, unnatural, inevitably itchy and confining.  So off they come at any opportune or inopportune moment.  But a sock?!  Never.  Now I have several lonesome mis-matches loitering at my cabin and Paul’s house.  He and the kids have a gazillion mismatched socks.  I used to raise my eyebrows and shake my head at the big basket of single socks mostly because Paul had socks in there but now I do too.  I inherited a huge pile of mismatched socks when I opened my heart to this family, which is no big deal and kind of sweet but I never expected to join the quandary of lonesome socks! 

I also dented my truck.  Twice.  Something I have never done during decades of driving but two times I backed into unseen obstacles last year.  I still shake my head, shrug my shoulders, and grimace when I see those big dents.  Dang.  I am chocking it up to last year.  By anyone’s definition, last year was exceptionally challenging and I have the dents to prove it.

BUT – I have digressed since the purpose of this post is to introduce the NEW bronze.  I glanced at my blog this morning and realized I’ve forgotten to post a picture of “Munch” even though the photos have existed since before Christmas.  Lordy.

 

“MUNCH” limited edition of 19

Look back two posts and you will see this bugger in its original state of wood.  I love how the chisel marks and even the wood grain are captured in bronze.  We went a few rounds at the foundry getting the patina just right.  Of course the patina process was happening the same time I was working around the clock to finish the Devil Woman Saloon sculptures AND move out of the space…what a whirlwind!  Here is another view of the finished piece:

Eighteen out of nineteen SOLD before the sculpture was officially launched on my site last week.  Patron Members always get the inside scoop and first chance at new art and this time they snatched ‘em up!!  I don’t blame them.  I would like to keep #19 myself but for now the bugger is for sale on my site.  A warm content feeling mixed with a bit of awe wraps my heart when sculptures find enthusiastic loving homes. 

Read more

Happy happy New Year!!!

How did I get so far behind on my blog? I’ve zillions to share from nearly two weeks of holiday cheer with Paul and the kids. We spent Christmas together for the second time at my little cabin on the mountain (their choice). They picked out a tree after school just before dark on a single digit temperature day. Warmed by hot chocolate and enthusiasm we worked together under their (well…mostly Sami’s) supervision to decorate my cabin. Lights and more lights wrapped rustic fir beams and trimmed windows. 
 
The tree was the biggest we’ve stuffed into my wee little space yet. Imagine a tree in a one room dining, kitchen and living room space turned into a festive magic indoor camp for them at night since they sleep in piles on the couch and floor. My little 28’ x 28’ home bulges near-to-splitting with life when we are all here. 
Each day brought fun stories and photo opportunities worth blogging about but I ignored my computer for the most part during the past two weeks.  Honestly – it felt good. We played board games, hiked and sledded. I got out and climbed ice.  I cooked my first ever full-on Christmas dinner (ham and all the fixings for my family and four guests)! I am still amazed at how scrumptious everything was. Seriously – cooking has never been a keen interest of mine but bless my little old gas Wedgewood stove and those awesome kids who love to help in the kitchen! We pulled it off, licked our plates, and even turned the ham hock into a batch of split pea soup (also a first for me).
 
We had a sledding party New Year’s Day despite the single digit temps. Living at the end of the road near the top of a mountain in Montana offers AMPLE sledding runs. We have the standard short and sweet hills but we capitalize on the 2 mile downhill on my road (four wheeler pulls them on the sleds back up) and the other two long ½ mile runs with switchbacks, trees, and STUNNING views – not that anyone could see through the powder. Folks came in bundled like Eskimos left in a snowstorm with icicles hanging off their eyelashes, noses and chins. Plenty of hot chocolate, whiskey and Baileys kept people in the sledding mood. The sky was blue, snow fresh and fluffy, and the sunset stunning.
 
I have sledding video footage destined to be posted soon. I also have a nasty little cold and piles and piles of catching up to do but find myself full of joy, energy, and gumption while enjoying a few quiet days at my humble cozy little cabin. 
 

Read more

Carving to Casting - the launch of a new edition

Sneak peak of a recently completed carving taken just outside the foundry where it was molded and cast into bronze. The new edition titled “Munch” features a momma and baby bunny stuffing themselves with cabbage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I began the carving in Cody Wyoming while attending the “Women Who Design the West show.” We were asked to bring something to demonstrate…thus a new little piece began in September.  Last month I swept up the little pile of woodchips and delivered a finished carving to the foundry. 

“Munch” will be cast in an edition of 19 - which means only 19 of these cute little buggers will ever be made. Photos of the finished bronze will be posted this week.  Stay tuned...

Read more

Taking Shape - 2nd story studio

WOW! Paul has only put eight days into construction and already I can do the “Snoopy Dance” on the 2nd story!!! 
Joy! Joy! The little room in back upstairs will be the painting/drawing studio – free from the sawdust of sculpture building in the main studio. The huge steel beams are part of the hoist system which will allow me to lift and move large objects…er…art…all by myself. Wahoo!!!

I shopped for toilets online early yesterday morning. Here is my dream toilet:

But of course such prettiness is not in the budget and then a brand new toilet was just given to me by a friend who doesn’t need it. Now, what does a studio-less artist do with a free toilet while construction is happening on her new studio? Ah ha!! I just might have to paint my own toilet. We’ll see. Truth is - it took a chunk of yesterday just to catch up on the HUGE bin of mail and bills. I’ve a zillion projects planned without throwing a toilet bowl on the “to do” list but -well…?!
 

 

Read more

Sculptures Drying - Ladies Trying

Eleven straight days working 12-14 hours each day at the studio and those big o’l mesquite logs have transformed. Almost complete, they are standing under the temporary hoist system drying. Hand hewn chisel marks under umpteen layers of my own concoction of mixed stains - inlayed turquoise and swarovski crystals complete the sculptures. My paws are sore, my neck is creaky and my fingernails are darkly stained. I left the studio yesterday completely fried and hungry for some air.
Today I got up before dawn to join two girlfriends.  We threw our packs in the back of the truck and rolled over icy roads up the narrow canyon to what JoJo has dubbed “The Hyalite House” for the annual women’s clinic at the Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival. Since I fell in love with ice climbing at the festival years ago, I have returned each year as a volunteer eager to share my love of ice with others. Falling in love with ice climbing was easy; finding boots to fit my little feet in a sport dominated by men was the tough part. A year or two after ice climbing entered my life, my friend Supy began an ice climbing clinic just for women despite the fact that many of the local guides and retailers doubted a female audience existed for such a clinic. The turnout of curious brave women willing to push their limits to try something new within a supportive environment was overwhelming. The women’s clinic quickly grew to the largest on-ice-clinic for women in the world. Always sold out, more than 60 women come from all over to paricipate in the one-day clinic taught by some of the best female ice climbers in the world.
 
I volunteer each year to carry ropes, belay, and help coach the eager group of women. All ages and a variety of backgrounds make up the all female mob. Many of the women aren’t rock climbers or climbers at all. Some have never even tried a winter sport. What joy it is to watch gal after gal transform! Belief, compassion, patience, humor, and a few good tips can make all the difference. Intimidated by the ice, psyched about the “bad ass” feel of an ice ax in their hand, brightened by their accomplishment - what the women take away from this day of camaraderie is a big dose of self confidence, sore muscles, and HUGE grins.
 
Today was a treat. Crisp air, fresh snow, sculptural ice and the transformation that comes through empowerment make the volunteer day more-than-worthwhile. The sculptures are drying. Tomorrow I will pack up the studio. But tonight I imagine more than one gal is dreaming a few new dreams and perhaps tomorrow many women will awaken with a broadened belief in what is possible.

WAHOOOOOO!!!!

Read more