Noticing my Neighborhood

Sonny actually pointed this out, so I can't take credit.
On the sea wall on our walk.

I don't know how long this little guy has been there, but I am glad we spotted him.

Sunny winter walks

Seaweed! Beach!


Sail boat!



Early flowers! Otter trail!



Cool round house! Norman!



Poop on a rock! (defying the laws of gravity and physics! sort of)


xox

Where we deviate from the usual.

A couple of weeks ago Geoff and I went for a walk on our own.
This doesn't happen very often, as Norman generally comes along, which is fair, since he's a dog and all, and they like to go for walks.

Anyway.
We went on our own because Geoff wanted to show me the Look Out, which I had never seen before.




It was perfect.

Walk with your Head up

I am a foot watcher.
When I was little, my Amma used to take me on walks, running errands and generally keeping me occupied. One of the lessons she taught me while we were out and about was to always keep your eye on the ground. "You never know what you might find." I mostly only found dirty old toys left behind by some other tot on a walk, but she found some pretty amazing things.

She once found a heavy gold bracelet, which ended up being appraised for A LOT.
(She found it on the golf course and took it to the clubhouse. No one claimed it so she got to keep it!)

And it became a force of habit for me to keep my eyes on the ground while I am out walking, which has saved me from tripping over my own feet inumerable times.

(I have huge feet)

A few weeks ago I came across this. RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR HOUSE.


It was so inspiring because I did just that, I looked up and I found THIS!

That is the tree in front of our house.
That afternoon was brightened up significantly after that.

xox

New direction? New work?

Geoff woke up sick yesterday so I've been playing nursemaid. Not in a pervy way.
Lots of soup and tea and being quiet so he can sleep it off.

So I haven't been as productive as I would have liked in the studio, but I have been able to spend some time brainstorming. Which has actually been pretty good. I've been thinking about working with Fairy Tales again, maybe taking the Moonstruck pendant/medallion idea and incorporating it.

I've been thinking a lot about what I would like to see, on myself yes, but also the kind of jewellery that I would flip out over if I saw it in the store.

I have caught myself designing smaller items that are a lower price point than what I was making just a year ago, trying to find something affordable (like under $50)and easy to buy and frankly I am bored. I am feeling like I am not designing for myself anymore.

School was so perfect for really pushing interesting ideas (as school is supposed to be!) and I was able to keep it up for a while on my own, but I am just not feeling inspired by some of what I am doing right now.

Not everything. (I've been jazzed about a few things! The loveknots were pretty fun, and I've got a BRAND NEW THING on my bench waiting for a name. I'll show you later) But I am definitely feeling a creative rut looming over me and I want to avoid it. Neatly sidestep it altogether with some really engaged new work.

SO! Early next week I am going to pick up some fresh silver sheet (so exciting just on it's own!) and mess around a little bit.


But rather than leave you with a long winded, personal post ("oh artists!" you'd say) here are some pictures I took on one of our walks last week, catching the last light of a really beautiful day.



Thanks for listening!
xox

I enjoy long walks along the beach

We've been taking some long slow walks lately, to get Norman's knees back into tip top shape (he blew out both back knees in the fall, and he's slowly getting better.)
The vet recommended taking him out gradually and really slowly. So we let him set the pace.

I don't know if it's apparent or not, but I am not a stroller. I walk with intent.
Hustle even, you might say. Geoff is always asking me to slow down when we're out walking together. And that was before Norman hurt his legs.

So I have started taking my camera with me and catching the world around us. It slows me down and gives our Norm a chance to sniff around too.





It certainly doesn't hurt that we live one block from the ocean in one of the most beautiful places.