Studio time and a goodbye to a special lady

I dropped Michael at work at 6:30 and headed for the studio.I was able to make 16 aspen leaves and then I headed home to change for Betsy's memorial. This was at her church off Montview and attended by her former students that she coached and taught, her colleagues from DPS and Gateway and many other friends and family. While saddened by her death, I can rejoice in her faith and picture her in the arms of the Lord coaching the angels to play basketball. The service was a beautiful testimony of her life and those whose lives she touched.

Afterwards I was able to get back to the studio and begin working on the prototypes for the new communion plates. I have four made so far and I think they will give the new pastor an idea of what is possible.
So, tomorrow I will get back in after taking M to work and trim, vein and stem the aspen leaves. And trim the plates and stamp the plates with scripture verses that relate to communion. Then I will need to work on the prototypes for the communion cups. I tell you Christmas break is just too short to get everything I need to get accomplished done.

On other fronts, Gareth has been offered a temp job helping the neighbor snowplow - we are supposed to get snow finally tomorrow afternoon through Friday morning! Colin has set his appointment for his driver's test but not sure how the logistics will all work out.

Looking forward to New Year's eve with friends and family- Mexican feast(as well as us gringos can manage) and games!

where did my studio time go?

Well, after making great plans for getting into the studio Monday, it still has not happened. I ended up driving up to Regis University and picking up my transcripts in order to hand deliver a copy to my school district offices in Aurora. (woo hoo - I actually have a piece of paper stating that I have a MA Fine Art : Ceramics & Art Education - ya baby!) 
I stopped by Savers on the way home and found 2 cute sweaters and a little black dress ( under $25) for Hannah for her new job at Fox and Hound. Then, at Michael's request I headed to Target and then Hallmark at the mall to look for a giant get well card for his boss - Chuck, as in "talk to Chuck". With that in hand, I headed home, changed clothes and grabbed his gift for his work gift exchange at the Tavern in the Tech center and headed back across town. By now, I had pretty much circled the Denver metro area at least once. On the way home, we stopped at Nordstrom Rack since we had a gift certificate to spend there before Dec 31st. 


Today felt like a day of procrastination. While I drank my coffee this morning and caught up on email and facebook, I watched a mouse do laps around my living room and marveled at the fact the neither of my 2 dogs nor my 2 cats were around or awake to respond to its antics. Also, I lamented at the failure of all the mouse traps we have set out for the little pest! By the time I was moving with any speed, it was time to meet a friend at Starbucks at 4 pm in order to coordinate booking our flight to Seattle for the NAEA national conference in March. We are doing a presentation on ArtSource as model for art teacher professional learning and leadership development. Mind you, I did get some house work done, moved studio stuff back into my car and talked to my daughter-in-law, Megan and son, Tim in Ohio for awhile.


Tomorrow is Betsy Allen's Memorial service at 11 am. I need to figure out if after dropping Michael at work at 6:30 am I will head to school to work or head back to the studio to work before attending the service. Betsy was a friend and a colleague at my school who died suddenly the week before Christmas. In the last year, she became a believer. Not sure how much I will be worth after the service, but perhaps I can make back to the studio and find solace in my art work.  Tomorrow is also my mother-in-law and my sister's birthdays!

First Blog

Aspen Leaves

As the Christmas tree stands forlornly in the corner of the living room shedding its needles profusely, I am aware of the need to head to the studio and get some new work started. My church has asked for new communion sets (10 plates and communion cups) but the new pastor would like to see prototype first. Judy from the gallery at South Glen just posted to Facebook that they only have 5 aspen leaves left and has put in a request for more. However, I had to clean all my stuff out of the studio a couple weeks ago and the thought of packing it all back in my car and moving it back in so I can work is daunting. Three of the children (ages 24, 21 and 17) are still nestled warm in their beds at 9:22 am and my 18 yr. old just came home after spending the night at a friend's house. I am pretty sure that she has crawled back into her bed and has gone back to sleep. I also need to call Regis University and verify that my MAFA has posted to my transcripts and been mailed to my school district. If not, then I need to drive up to Regis and pick the transcript up and hand delivery it.  http://web.me.com/lgschmale