Nature's Gifts

"It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know wonder and humility."
-Rachel Carson

Now that warmer days are approaching, I am back to my outdoor ritual of three mile walks down North Lubec and Maple Tree. I love this stretch of road because it is fairly unpopulated by vehicles, and quiet enough to hear the birds and other sounds of nature.

Last Tuesday I arrived home from school eager to "suit-up" and begin my jaunt. I had gifted Chris an MP3 player last solstice, and thought I would give it a try. I knew I would be drowning out the sounds of nature, but I do so love music as well, and maybe this would give a little more bounce to my step.

"Suited-up", headset on, I opened the front door. What?! Where did this chill come from? Just thirty minutes ago it was a warm, sunny, spring-like day. I turned back into the house exclaiming "it's too cold!" Chris, my exercise motivator, sternly said "Alright, looks like the treadmill today." The thought of another boring treadmill session was enough to re-motivate me....so back out the door I went.

The 100 yard walk down the driveway was treacherous. I had to take baby steps to make it safely across the ice to the end. And even at the end of the driveway, cold cold cold. I thought, maybe once I am in the sun, I will warm up. So I turned a right out the drive and onto the pavement, and right into a strong northeast wind that pummeled my face. My ears were quickly numbing. I wanted to turn back, but Chris' words...."treadmill today....." echoed through my mind. I could see a patch of sun a bit up the road...if only I could withstand this cold long enough to make it to that warm spot.

Indeed the sun provided a bit more warmth, at least psychologically, but the wind was still fierce. I bargained with myself that I would do a half-walk, just as far as the market and back. I had Chris' MP3 player afterall, and the music selection was, well, interesting. A bit of Rolling Stones, some Michelle Shocked, Jules Graves, Dire Straits. Yep, I can handle that. But what is this "Rage Against Machine", "Ramones", and "Angry Samoans" stuff?

Well, I made it to McFadden's Market, and I just didn't want to turn around. Yes, I was chilled, but maybe....MAYBE...those trees up ahead on Maple Tree Road would provide some sort of protection from the wind. (I know what you are thinking, why didn't I just dress warmer? I don't know! Strangely, it just didn't occur to me). I kept walking.

Maple Tree Road is remote. I pass three homes at the beginning of the road, and the rest of my walk is tall spruce on either side, the old mines, and a stream. As I approached the far end of my walk, I was given the most amazing gift.

To my left, in a leave-less, dead birch tree, just beyond the stream, were three bald eagles. At the very tip top, a young eagle, a few feet below, another, and below that a mature bald eagle. I turned off the MP3, and stood in winter's last days' stillness, and experienced the awesome power and beauty of nature. These eagles were less than fifty feet from me, and I could see the detailing in their feathers, look them in their eyes. Within a couple minutes, I looked up overhead to see two eagles circling over, in a mating ritual, so close I could hear the flapping of their wings. The sounds were slow, loud, long, it felt like time was frozen around me except for these majestic beings flying over.

I stayed with the birds for what felt to be five minutes of more, until each eagle left the tree, one at a time. Each flight I heard the wings begin their movements as the birds jumped from a branch to take flight into the blue. They hovered my area for a bit, then drifted off.

I didn't feel so cold anymore as I turned and began the return part of my walk, headed home, feeling humbled and reverent.

I am fortunate that I kept walking that day, despite the chilling temps and ice.

It was my best walk ever.

Entering the World of Etsy

I've done it...I have finally, as my cousin put it, "succumbed to the world of Etsy". My friend Becky Wheeler has been selling her work on Etsy for over a year now and it has been a very positive experience for her. Thankfully she was willing to guide me through the process of setting up my own site. There is a lot to it to get started, and I still have so much to learn, but the ball is rolling.

Almost immediately after posting my items, the hits started to roll-in. I had no idea it would happen so quickly! I was even more excited to receive my first "convo" (a.k.a. email from a viewer) which later resulted in my first sale. It took less than 24 hours! To add to my already steep learning curve, the first buyer lived in United Kingdom. I tried to figure out the postage info online, but seemed confusing. It was a bit of an ordeal to get it down this first time, but now that I have done it once, I think it will be much easier in the future.

That's the hope anyway!

Paypal has been another learning experience for me. Still working on that one.

Nonethelss, this Etsy adventure has consumed much of my time the last few days. I will tweak it as I go along - but for now - I really REALLY need to get back to work on "Arting-Up Downeast Maine: UMVA and Lubec Community Art Project." (something like that!)

About 14 weeks left of school...time will pass quickly with a zillion projects to complete, art shows to put up, field trips to go on, grades to pass in, murals to paint, etc.

Summer is already looking to be equally as busy.

Peacock Mask in Progress

Well, I started the day out fairly frustrated. It began with an online purchase gone bad. After that little fiasco, I was unable to order felting supplies due to an outdated catalog, discontinued items, and back-ordered warps and fibers. Looking out the window, I saw my studio door still unapproachable because of a five or six foot high snow mound. The longing for clay is intense, having been away from it for the past few months, and the walk to the barn studio is dangerous, across a thickly-iced yard. I sense a horrible case of Spring Fever coming on and even though I am one who feels most at ease with a dark rainy day - I want that warmth and green here...NOW! Chris, who sensed my foul mood, sanded the yard and spent a large chunk of his morning "carving" a path through the ice-mound snow to the studio door. My goal is to be in there by the beginning of April, to begin my summer production work.

Eventually, my mood lifted a bit after a talk with my sister and a clear plan for the afternoon. I began a mask last fall and had not been able to get back to it, other than some simple doings on last Monday's snow day. Today, I sorted through the pile of merino felting wools and chose some colors to begin the hood. I have had this idea for a peacock mask in the back of my head for sometime now and and am pleased that it is finally moving forward.

In the photos, you can see part of the felting process. The mask and fibers are placed snugly into a pair of old pantyhose, and then smothered in eco-friendly detergent. Hot water and friction causes the fibers to bond. About thirty minutes of sweaty labor-intensive pushing and rubbing does the trick.

Voila...A mask is born.

Still growing though....I hope to finish it sometime in April. All depends on when supplies are back in stock and when I begin clay work. As I said in an earlier post - the entire process for this mask could take 30-40 hours, especially if I am able to complete my original vision.

Back to work.....

A very relaxing weekend....

Since 1982, My family has vacationed at the Samoset Resort on the coast in Rockland, Maine. It was always fun as a child to be taken out of school for a week, in the middle of winter, to spend time with friends, swim, play, go out to "fancy" restaurants. I always felt like a rich privileged kid for this one week, even though in reality that wasn't the case. As circumstances would have it, my parents were able to buy a tiny one bedroom timeshare unit. Who would have thought that we would still be coming here, as a family, 27 years later.

I am only able to steal away from life's responsibilities for a weekend now, and this year, the trip was cut one day short by Maine's unpredictable winter weather. Nonetheless, we had a great time. Friday night, my sister Kristin cooked us up a beautiful and tasty dinner. After, we staked our claims on living room sleeping space (i.e. who gets the fold-out couch, the cushions, or the LL Bean air mattress...Mom of course gets the bedroom). A DVD movie sent us off to sleep.

Saturday was low-key (par for the course). Kristin and I headed out to shop for mom's birthday gift and rambled upon a small but interesting indoor farmer's market in Camden. We found beautiful handmade cards, jarred preserves, fiddleheads, relishes, organic free-range meats, and spiced goats' cheeses. The "Oyster Creek Mushroom" booth was by far the most interesting. We learned about various wild mushrooms, yummy recipes, and medicinal qualities.

Saturday afternoon the women in our clan indulged in the steam room, swimming pool and hot tub; a very relaxing prelude to our evening out. We ate dinner at Amalfi's, on the waterfront in Rockland. The food was delicious and beautifully presented, and the decor quite appealing from an artist's perspective. We had a great time laughing and celebrating mom's birthday.

Sunday Chris and I decided that it was in our best interest to drive back to Lubec since the weather forecast was calling for sleet, snow, and freezing rain over much of Maine from Sunday evening into Monday night. After a lunch with mom and sis at Cappy's Chowder House in Camden, we hit the road. The drive turned out to be quite messy and slow-going. We arrived home at 8:00 p.m. to a silty snow-covered ice rink of a driveway. Chris managed to get to his spiked-snowshoes to help me to the house. He eventually, after much sanding, was able to get the car to the barn for overnight. Our driveway is always an adventure!

School was canceled today, and I find myself enjoying the slow, lazy pace of sleeping in, blogging, and breakfast, and looking forward to an afternoon of weaving.

Where have I been?

Well, it has been a while since I have blogged. Life has gotten pretty hectic between school and other projects. I have been able to do a bit of weaving, but artwork remains unfinished. Since school is on break this week, I am hopeful that I will pick up where I left off with a mask come Friday. When April hits, I absolutely need to be back in the barn studio preparing for the summer influx of tourists.

The other day, someone said that we only have 16 weeks of school left before summer break. Wow! Time has just flown by this year, as it usually does. There is still so much left to do. I am currently working on writing our art plan for the Gifted and Talented component of our program. Grading is due in a couple weeks, and our big push with literacy and differentiation is keeping me busy with re-working some lesson plans and rubrics. The student art show at the library will be coming down soon (see photo above) and before I know it I will be preparing student work for our big art show on Projects' Night in May. Also, students will be getting artwork ready for sale at the West Quoddy Visitor Center over the summer, and work needs to be prepped for the Women's Club Art Show. Things are happening fast!

I am excited to be working with a group next week in Ellsworth to review grant applications. It has been an interesting process so far and I am enjoying the reading. An inside view to the world of giving and receiving grants. Plus, I get to spend a day with some super neat folks!

The most exciting project right now, though, is that I am working closely (madly!) with Maine artist Natasha Mayers to apply for a grant to bring an amazing community art project to Lubec. I have a good feeling about it - and will write more on it later as details become more specific. The organizer in me is coming to the forefront. It all began when my dad coerced me into organizing a parade for Hallowell when I was 18 years old. I ended up doing that for three years, then was enlisted to be on various committees for different community projects. I enjoy the writing, networking, publicity, excitement on event day, and the general creativity of it all. Now, there just isn't enough time to do everything I enjoy, as often as I would like. I hope to be able to do more of this type of thing down the road to help move my art career along. It's a lot of work though. For now, I just need to be able to find a balance, keep my artwork going, stay on top of teaching responsibilities, and...most importantly....maintain my sanity. What's left of it anyway.

Check out Natasha Mayers work:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/natashamayers/

On another note, my friend Ruta runs this nifty business called Tours of Lubec and Cobscook. Check it out if you would like to get a better feel for this end-of-the-earth area we live in. Lots of treasures to be found here.
http://www.toursoflubecandcobscook.com/

Owl

To hear a podcast of one of Chris' poems, follow this link:

http://rosethorn.podbean.com/2008/10/02/owl-by-chris-crittenden-poem/

My other job....

Chris is in California right now - visiting family - working on his novel and poetry. The other day he left Maine for his 6:00 a.m flight out of Bangor. He wore, no doubt, his gloves, cap, wool coat, and LLBean flannel lined jeans...and a layer of thermals underneath. Eight hours later he was in L.A., stepping out of the airport into a balmy 86 degree temp. It must feel strange to, in eight hours time, experience an 86 degree shift. (It is pretty much zero, or below zero, at this point in downeast Maine.) He'll have to excuse my not feeling sorry for him having to endure that sweltering heat!

It has been a while since I last blogged. Time is always an issue it seems. In December I had taken some time off from work to get a few personal things in order, but now I am back at my full-time teaching job.

I love to teach - but admit that teaching full-time in a public school is a challenge. It is hard to balance being an artist with working set hours in a job that is highly demanding of a person physically and emotionally. Nonetheless, it is a career that I would choose over most others. I came into teaching as a second career, but I would say, a bit oblivious to the larger issues in the public education system.

My job consists of teaching art to approximately 150 students, pre-school through high school. I basically run ten different curriculums. Since I am an artist who enjoys dabbling in most any media, I am able to bring that experience to my students. We have an Earth Loom, classroom looms, a kiln and lots of clay, paint, awesome drawing materials, and lots of creativity all around. I am often inspired by what my students create and head home at the end of the day fired-up and ready to jump into my own projects.

The last two weeks at work have been extremely busy. Added to my usual classload and art class committments, this year I am a high school advisor, have to oversee portfolios and mentor a student for senior discovery. I have been busy with closing high school grades, portfolio sign-offs, and the biggie....a student art show.

I basically run two art shows each school year. The winter show is a selection of 35-50 student artworks at the local library. This is a great show - with top notch student work from all grades that I teach. We also have an opening reception and students, family and friends gather to socialize and graze on various culinary offerings (brownies and cookies). When I announce which students made it into the show - I have the students' full attention - each of them I know hoping they will be picked to participate. It is hard to see the disappointment on the faces of those who don't make it. Since I have limited space for the show - I am able to select only 2-4 artworks from each class. That is a difficult task for me!

The big art show, however, has a work from each student in the school. That show always falls on Projects' night in May. The students each pick their favorite piece to display. Then Chris and I spend hours mounting and hanging work for the one and a half hour display. At least the library art show hangs for a month or more.

So - I imagine my blogging and art production time will both be slowed as I get back into the swing of things at school. My mother arrives tonight from central Maine for a visit - and I am hoping that after her visit - I will find the energy and time to begin a new project. Or at least finish the weaving I began in December!

The artwork above is an illustration by one of my second graders. I read the class the book "McCawber the Painting Squirrel" and they created drawing inspired by the story. Notice the squirrel's tail...red and green - having been used as a paintbrush. Adorable!