woodchips, sawdust and a boo boo

One morning last week I had just begun to work in the studio - about 40 seconds of grinding wood with a tungsten carbide wheel on an angle grinder when the one second it takes to injure oneself happened.   Ear protection, a dust mask (purple), anti-vibration gloves to protect against carpal tunnel, my hair pulled back in a ponytail and tucked under a cap... I really was wearing eye protection too but the boo boo happened.  Ok.  So I could have been wearing goggles instead of protective eye glasses but the goggles had gotten scratchy and hard to see through. 

OUCH!

Wood found its way into my left eye.  I rinsed it out with water since I hadn’t remembered to replace the eye wash in my studio first aid kit.  When it became evident that I couldn’t keep the eye open and work, I duct taped some wadded tissue over the eye, put on goggles along with the rest of my safety gear and tried to get back to work.  Both eyes were watering enough to quench the thirst of a potted plant.  I tried rinsing again, repatched the eye, called Cliff who was returning from town and asked him to bring me some soothing eye drops.  Then I tried to grind again but I couldn’t see through the non-stop tears.  I lay down for an hour in my studio nap room with the soothing drops in my eyes but as the pain and symptoms persisted it became apparent that I would have to see a doctor.

“You really did a number on your eye!” she said from the other side of the magnifying eye apparatus.  “Looks like a bear clawed your cornea in a crosshatch pattern.”  She flipped my eyelid inside out and removed a piece of wood stuck there before putting a patch on my eyeball.  Yup.  You read that correctly.  My eyeball was “bandaged” with a large clear contact lens looking thing.  I left her office with blurry vision, minus a $120 doctor bill, a $100.00 bottle of antibiotic eye drops and relief.  Phew!!  Luckily eyes heal rather quickly.  The pain persisted for a few days and one week later the vision is slightly more blurry than the right eye.  So the injury happened at the tail of 2011.  I have begun 2012 with a NEW pair of unscratched goggles, a fresh bottle of eye wash is in my first aid cabinet and my safety awareness kindly rekindled.

polar plunged into the new year!

 

What better way to bring in the New Year than a vigorous life-affirming dive past the ice into a COLD Montana mountain lake?!  The heart leaps with a powerful punch – jump starts underwater followed by a mad dash and splash through the water back to the snowy shoreline where the dogs are excitedly barking (perhaps cheering me on or shouting orders to get back to shore and safety?!) Dry towel, flannel pants, socks, slippers, hat and coat...

Everything zings and tingles!  Yes…it kind of hurts…mostly my fingers and toes when the feeling comes back but luckily my buddy Yogi’s sauna was waiting for us.  He lives right near the lake.  The “Polar Plunge” is an annual New Year’s Day ritual for many zany people and cultures.  An invigorating purge and launch into 2012!!!

jake's reliquary

“I’m going to make a series!” Jake announced shortly after he finished creating this fabulous reliquary sculpture. He found the log months ago while helping us clean up from the studio building project. Jake began the process of burning the piece after he acquired my permission to use the torch. Just last Saturday Jake and I spent a dedicated morning together in the studio working on his sculpture. The rattlesnake tail came from a very unlucky reptile that ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time last summer. Jake and I dug around Cliff’s freezer to find the tail (along with the whole snake skin) where Cliff had been saving it for Jake (and for this project specifically). Jake is still trying to decide what to name his sculpture but “flames” and “rattle” are two words that keep getting tossed around. He is plotting his series telling me about other objects which carry special meaning for him.  Jake just turned 11 last week.

I don’t know who is more proud – Jake or me…?

a"buffed-a-lo"

Projects abound.  Duties never cease.  Inspiration overflows.  Momma Nature beckons.  I simply need more time each day!

Just when and where do I fit in good “blog  time" to share with you?!!  I have begun work on a brand new small sculpture series.  Challenging good stuff (well …we have yet to see if the “stuff” is actually any good but I can tell you that it feels good to finally be settled into my space; hunkered down making marks on wood and flinging sawdust into the air.

Ahhhhh…..!!!

“Sojourn” the bronze bison bench visited my new studio last week.  The sculpture spent a portion of the year at the Bozeman Jet Center.  I brought him home to clean and polish.  Plenty of wax and a good buff’n have the life size buffalo looking sharp and ready to participate in the Livingston outdoor sculpture project.  He will “keep court” in front of the local post office once I have the bolts welded to steel mounting plates.  Quite a few years have passed since the long days spent carving this bugger in Black Walnut.  Lordy I put a “hurt down upon my body" during that creative carving marathon which included a five gallon bucket of ice to plunge my hands and forearms into so that I could continue carving night and day.  The original carving is in a private collection in New Mexico.  The limited edition bronzes have found homes in one museum and a few private collections from Arizona to Ohio.  The "buffed-a-lo" will soon be installed in front of the Post Office but he is still up for adoption!!!

zaydee, me and paddleboard make three!

Synchronicity and a bit of manifesting teamed up to give me the opportunity to try the latest outdoor adventure toy – Stand Up Paddleboarding. 

Fun Stuff!!! 

An impromptu Labor Day plan to float the river in a raft with friends led to more of an adventure when we bumped into a friend who was getting off the river right when we were getting on – she was kind enough to let me try her board.  I hopped on and headed downriver but Zaydee wasn’t too psyched to be left on the raft - relegated to simply watching.  She insisted on joining me on the board.  We managed pretty well together though I admit it was more challenging whenever she decided to leap for a flying bug.  We only fell once while floating for a few hours– but that fall was a warning slice of the seriousness of the sport and the power of the river.  We had managed plenty of 2 foot waves but this little bend in the river was a sneak channel behind an island with some large trees blocking the flow.  We got sucked under near a bank.  Zaydee simply could not surface on her own so I had to pull her up with my feet and finally a good grip on her collar.  I would definitely get her a doggie life jacket next time!!  A few photos just arrived from Stacey Herries so I thought I would share a peek at our fine floating day.

bridger traverse

About a week ago I enjoyed a perfect autumn day tramping along the top of the Bridger Mountains with my girlfriend Amy.  The two of us had some girl chat to catch up on and I needed some “mountain time” before the emotional project of packing my mother’s things and moving her from the home she shared for decades with my father into the cozy sweet new condo she purchased this summer. Amy and I quickly zipped up the switchbacks to Sacagawea Peak, spotted a goat family during their morning breakfast and then skirted along the ridge to the rocky Ross Peak (the grey/white rocky multi-summit peak just left of center in the photo).  We mis-navigated the summit approach to Ross Peak which added a challenging bit of rocky traversing.  Essentially we climbed up the side of Ross Peak visible in the photo and then scrambled our way around the steep rocky mountain to the opposite side just below the summit.  I called it a “circle the summit” day.  Amy is a brand new mother and we had a commitment to watch her son that evening – thus we skipped tagging the summit of Ross Peak after spending a few hours climbing around the mountain since we still had to descend to Ross Pass and then hike up and down a few more peak places along the ridge before walking down to Bridger Bowl where I had left my truck earlier that morning.  Splendid day!!  The blisters weren’t bad at all and the day energized me for the large focused six-day task of moving my mother into her “new digs.”

hefty hoist-love

Gone are the days in town when I would stop my work to blow the sawdust off my Carhartt’s, then walk from my studio to the gas station to buy a six pack of beer, walk with the beer to Livingston Meats to coerce the big-armed butcher into helping me lift or turn a sculpture.  I hated to bug him but that was simplest.  Sometimes I would time moving heavy stuff with lunch and invite one of my strong fellow friends to the studio to eat and lift.  But what does a gal who lives at the end of the road near the top of a mountain in Montana do when she has to lift BIG stuff?!  Paul thought of everything.  He integrated an ingenious sweet smooth strong hoist system and steel I Beams into my new studio.  I can lift ANYTHING. All I need are straps and the touch of a a bright cheery yellow button.  Check out this 2400 pound hunk of mesquite just waiting for me to sink my teeth into!!!

mt holmes

Good energy churns and chimes on this post-summit happy-heart morning.  I woke with the sun after a FULL night’s rest – a rare yummy feast for this chronic insomniac.  Yesterday was a whole different beginning to a day which none-the-less turned splendid.  After 4 hours of sleep and 3 hours of flipping around in my head and bed, I rose in the dark before the alarm to pack for a summit day.  Zaydee was psyched to see me pack but bummed when I asked her to “STAY” in the dark on my deck.  I have never done a summit in Yellowstone Park for just that reason – dogs are not allowed.  But Felicia had this summit on her “tick list” and I was happy to join her for an adventure.

The classic sign that you’re “in the park” is the token monolithic slow rambling buffalo in the middle of the road.  The frost clinging to the buffalo’s hide and head added the classic touch signaling the time of year – autumn in the park is chilly - 22 degrees at 7:30 a.m. at the trailhead.  Brrrr!  Beautiful crystal frost sparkles gleamed while we zipped up our coats; tucked our hands in our pockets and took off at a snappy speed.

Just over 3 hours and 9 miles later we were plenty warm as we navigated the scree trail up the flanks of big bald Mt Holmes.  Our zipped off pant legs and coats were scrunched in our packs.  The sun warmed into the 80’s.  We lounged like lizards for an hour on the rocky summit.  Smoke from forest fires obscured our view of distant peaks but we were able to pick out a number of peaks near the park which we’ve tagged - a perfect sunny summit place to celebrate the season.

bee three

First bee bombed.  The wee bee was just too clunky.  Bee #2 seemed more wasp-like than bee-like.  The folks at Boyer Bronze found a dead bee and kindly saved it for me.  But when I used the real bee as a reference for Bee #3 – the shape still wasn’t quite right for the project.  So the head of Bee #3 ended up on Bee #2.  I adjusted the body and….viola!! Finally a bee I can live with. The critter will be legless, wingless, and antennae-less until the next stage of casting.  I put the wax bee in a cup and bounced it down the mountain with the bronze dog to the foundry.  The bee is part of the bronze dog commission (it will perch on the dog's nose.) Then I went “shopping” for wood - which means I wove between stacks of logs, beams and boards at Matt Ridgeway’s sawmill yard until an Ash log presented itself as a good possibility to experiment with.  Matt will saw it up for me tomorrow - just another step in the “toe-kicking” and “brain-picking” stage of launching a new series of small-ish sculptures. Can't wait!

autumn in the air

Yesterday evening Zaydee and I ran up a trail through the woods along Suce Creek.  The trail felt almost damp and cool – certainly a subtle change from dry summer dusty trails.  I watched a singular large yellow leaf fall quickly to the ground.  Nothing poetic or romantic about the swift no-frills fall – no spinning or floating – just a quick silent exit from the tree to the ground marked the change of seasons.  The leaf fall left a pang and a bit of panic in my chest; I am not ready for summer to be over.  But this morning rose deliciously crisp and cool.  The sky hung low.  Something about the change of seasons clicks a renewed sense of purpose in my soul.  “Pay attention” Momma Nature whispered in the charged air. I left my cabin in striped flannel pants, herded by sky as if tucked beneath the soft protective wing of a mother bird and pushed toward my studio nest.  Even my morning cup of tea brimmed with purpose (and tasted better) as the smell of autumn lingered.  Time to get to work!

studio open house and the park county studio tour

I could ramble on about the joyful GRAND open house and the Park County Studio Tour which took place last weekend but I am feeling plumb tuckered in the “ramble” part of my life after a full weekend of guests and entertaining.

We started with a kick-off party and art opening Friday night at the Danforth Gallery which featured all 40 artists in the Park County Studio Tour and ended with an artist’s gathering Sunday night after two full days of Open House visitors. I would be more inclined to rave about the celebratory weekend if I had a pictures to post.  But Stacey and I were so busy entertaining the endless stream of happy awestruck well-wishers that we never took photos.   Some of the guests took photos which I will post when I get them.   Stacey showed (and sold) some of her vivid encaustic paintings and was a huge help during the whole Open House.  I am tickled that so many people made the trek up the mountain to the end of the road to share and celebrate my dreamie new studio.

scratching my way…

More-often-than-not…I haven’t a clue how to begin a new piece.

Big blank piece of paper + huge hunk of wood + journal page + computer screen = scary shit.

I don't have a starting gate with a gun or the intro notes of a song.  I rarely have the grace of simply knowing. Sometimes I have a vision – which is more often a gut feeling than a crystal clear path.  I never have step-by-step instructions.  BUT begin I must.

Maybe I’ll begin more than once – which is better than not beginning at all.  I just have to make a mark, or a cut, or a sentence.  Gather a bit of gumption and scratch my way…

special #19

WAHOO!! More-than-excited and oozing with inspiration I can happily report that a grand mesquite log has entered my brand spanking NEW studio to be transformed by wee little me!!!  The log has “#19” inscribed on the bottom – which just happens to be a favorite number of mine.

I’m feeling LUCKY!  The log was patiently waiting outside all winter for the studio to be completed. I am itching and the clock is ticking…

seven days in the wilderness

After seven days floating through the wilderness on the Salmon River in Idaho, the kids didn’t want to return to civilization.  Our friends drew a permit and invited us along with a few other families.  Ten adults and 8 children floated 80 miles of the Main Salmon River through Idaho.  We camped on sandy beaches, visited petro glyphs, fished, rafted, star gazed, sun-soaked, swam and played for a blissful week.  Well – mostly blissful. I could certainly have done without the zillion bug bites I got our first night after we launched – but it was totally my fault. Enthusiastically we decided to skip pitching our tents to sleep under the stars.  Everyone crashed snug in their sleeping bags on a tarp on the beach.  Everyone except me.  Insomnia kept me up wandering around and tossing outside my over-heated sleeping bag – which would not have been a big deal except for the no-seeums which came out after dark in an invisible but persistent and hungry frenzy.  While everyone sported a dozen bites or so from that night, I collected more than 100 bites on each leg with a zillion more on my back, arms, face and head.  DAMN itchy!!!  BUT – luckily the rest of our trip was bug-free.  We saw one bear, one rattlesnake, dozens of goats and eagles, a deranged overly friendly deer and lots of fish.  We had a blast.  Unplugged from civilization; recharged by Momma Nature.                                                (just click the photos if you want to view them larger)

dog feet and a foundry date

Here's a peek at the dog sculpture - feet first. The bronze will be done in two weeks - just in time for my big GRAND opening and studio OPEN HOUSE!!! Yes that's clay - not my usual medium but I have a knack for any medium and this was the best choice for the commission.  You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find good pictures of dog feet.  Zaydee has furry feet and I needed lab feet.  But I used some photos sent by a California friend of his greyhound dogs feet.  I went through a few "dog model" experiences which were nightmarish before dear Sage came and hung with me for a day at the studio.  She has fine feet!  She was however lacking a "willy" and believe me - good photos of boy dog parts are MUCH harder to find than feet photos!!  The fella isn't lacking however.

I don't believe I'll post more photos until the bronze is done because I don't want to reveal too much to the client before they see the finished dog.  We'll see....I might change my mind...

squeezing in play time

Between life, family, work, visitors and unplanned trips to ER (see below) – I am not quite certain how I manage to find time to play but play I must. Much inspiration and down-right gumption come from adventures in Momma Nature – fuel for my lifestyle and thus (of course) my art.  Integral. Luckily much of what I do is practically in my own or Paul’s “back yard.”  Hyalite Creek for example runs past the bedroom window and sings to me nights  at Paul’s house.  The Bozeman house is at the base of Hyalite Canyon - a mecca for mountain biking, ice climbing, rock climbing, lake floating, and peak bagging.  We simply follow the road next to the creek out our front door up the canyon to play.  We floated the lake  in tubes, fished, and hung out after hiking up to Palisade Falls with Paul’s sister and family one afternoon while they visited from Europe last week.

Paul and I squeezed in a Sunday evening ride up to Emerald Lake (also in Hyalite Canyon).  I was bone-tired after a few seriously sleep deprived nights but managed the energy to climb on our bikes over 2000 feet in 4.5 miles of backwoods single track – one of my favorite trails.  Once we got to the stunning ice cold lake surrounded by a rocky cirque, we stripped down and jumped in.  Refreshing!!

Paul challenged me to do a snow angel (much to Zaydee's delight) before we jumped on our bikes for the zippy fun downhill ride to the trailhead at sunset - a great way to top a weekend spent mostly working!

from foam to clay

Aroma as thick and delectable as jam flavors the air after a rainstorm on my mountain.  How blessed am I that the walk to work in the morning is through the woods?!!  Can hardly fill my lungs enough as I take deep breaths and Zaydee skips around my feet.  I am a fresh air addict.  Mmmmm....

But let me share a few more photos from the recently completed dog sculpture.  Paul, the kids and I enjoyed a snowy wet rainy Memorial weekend here on my mountain.  Sami and a girlfriend had a slumber party in my new studio nap room.  Everyone pitched in to put clay on the Styrofoam doggie.  What a great batch of enthusiastic assistants!

between the snake and the ER

The post-Texas-trip return to my studio was spent in the office part of art life Monday. I cranked and crammed in an all day attempt to catch up in my perky little Limalicious office. Thank goodness the desk offers vista views of mountains and sky. Afterwards I was startled by a rattlesnake while walking to my cabin. Ok - “startled” is hardly the right word. My heart leapt into high-gear and tried to Tick Tock its way right out of my throat when the bugger sprang into coil-up-rattle-and-spit-fire-from-its-eyes mode all in about the sum total of .0002 seconds. My reaction time was less impressive. I couldn’t take my eyes off its BIG fangs and my feet were stuck like a mouse in a glue trap less than ten inches from the snake.  I took a slow step back and looked for Zaydee. Perked, alert and curious - she seemed glad enough to heed my command and high-tail it forty yards to my front door.

Phew!

The snake had nothing to do with a middle-of-the-night round in ER. The snake encounter was just one dark Oreo cookie paired with the ER dark Oreo cookie. The yummiest unforgettable white creamy scrumptious filling stuffed between those two events was a Gillian Welsh and Dave Rawling’s concert. Their performance was the best soul-spark, heart-grin bright light batch of magic I’ve witnessed in a long while. They are soul-food of the best kind and the evening’s helping came complete with a cherry-on-the-top chance encounter with them under the Montana night sky a half hour after the concert. My feet still felt light and skippy from the performance and I gushed in a totally star-struck jumbled up tongue jam. Dork.

Oh well.

Heart happy – I headed to Paul’s house full of kids and out-of-town company. Cliff called. He was choking on his own blood while driving himself to the hospital with an insane gusher nose-bleed. I punched my truck into 90 miles an hour over the mountain pass between Bozeman and Livingston to arrive at ER less than 20 minutes behind Cliff. They had stopped the bleeding but he was nauseous from swallowing so much blood, his blood pressure plummeted and he quickly passed out.  His body twitched with all the drama of a cardiac arrest. My heart cemented itself in my throat and the medical team descended upon him. I firmly called his name over and over in an attempt to call him back into his body.

Lordy.

Seems he had complications as a result of the nose surgery 3 ½ weeks ago. Hours later I brought a woozy, white-faced, plumb-tuckered and nose-medically-stuffed Cliffy home to what looked like a bloody murder scene in his cabin. Crawling into my own bed an hour before sunrise, I closed my eyes to conjure the creamy Oreo cookie part of the evening and counted my blessings.

doggie skinny-down time (if only it were that easy for me!)

A rasp and a Sawzall were used to shape the Styrofoam armature of this little doggie.  Pretty simple process but those little Styrofoam balls stick with static to everything. Pesky. My helpful critics (whether I ask or not) – seemed a bit worried at the look of the fella at this stage.  I am sure Cliff and Paul thought the sculpture looked too puny.  BUT the Styrofoam is simply an armature for the clay – thus it must be smaller than the final critter.

playing catch! (up) with the dog

PHEW!  I am dropping off the sculpture of the dog and bee at the foundry today while on my way for an evening of rock climbing before I roll my butt onto a plane in the wee hours of Sunday morning for another trip to Texas.  I promised progress photos of the dog sculpture project but have been busy settling into my studio as an artist at work rather than an artist working on her studio. Here are a few of the early stages working with Styrofoam: