I found a Pickleball friend playing Mahjong when I went to pick up my latest Art acquisition today, a vibrant stunner by Kate Freeborn.  Then went to check the mail and this is what I found...  A Sand Dollar! :)

While at the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona on our 14 year delayed honeymoon, we toured the process gallery and many things struck me, but one in articular really struck a chord. He used string and weights to measure the arches he wanted to make. It is fantastic as an art piece in itself, never mind an incredibly inventive method to determine an architectural structure.  Wne I was at a time in my life that I was drinking a lot of tea, I woud dry out the tea bags probalby thinking I would compost them, but as they collected and formed a beauriful array, I felt the connection to Gaudi, and began making this homage  to him.

Retirement... What can I say?
It is a wonderful thing.  I feel strange even saying that I am retired... I feel so young, and I never really had a 'career' and I never managed to make very much money... but I learned how to be frugal, how to be a non-consumer - how to use what I have at hand - how to live below my means.
What I absolutely LOVE is the TIME I have!  I have time to devote to studio work, to learning new things, to reworking this website (creating rabbit holes!) The days melt into each other and I am in love with my life more and more.

(Image: my former place of employment, the Portland Museum of Art where I worked from 1988 (on and off) until my retirement in 2021)

 Patience is a virtue, or so they say.  We built the studio in 2015, and here is is 2023 and we are finally getting around to the interior work.  This too will be slow, and I will  have to continue my embrace of patience.  But it is happening!!!  Insulation and drywall going up!

It is so hard to believe that I actually learned how to code and create a website using html! I took a course WAY back in the day and made a funny joke that what I got out of it was a $400 travel mug... But low and behold, I DID actually learn something and used what I learned to create my first website and blogs.  I came across some code while updating this site, and just had to laugh and wonder... How times change!

A little something different, Images transfers... I have done them before, but using different media and methods.  These are done with a synthetic gelatin plate and magazine images.  Not precious, and addicting to make.  I do not see them going much further than this stage of play... but it is FUN!  You never know how they'll turn out, and I love that!

I just came across this bright and inviting image of Our House Shaped House! Designed by peter and I. A dream home, on dream property - just a few minutes walk to the ocean! I never want to leave this place.  It is HOME!  The road to this slice of heaven was not easy, It was rife with angst and despair.  Life at our former residence was infiltrated by abuse, neglect, noise, trash...  The backyard neighbors were terrorizing their children and because of our close proximity, us too! It finally became unbearable and we began the process of finding a place to buy, build, and find refuge.  This is it.  PIE!

Instead of spending time in the studio, I have been working on the computer trying to wrangle this website together into something cohesive.  Simplifying while also complicating.  I am adding ALL the work from ALL the years, but organizing it so it makes some sense.  Some work will miss the cut of course...  I make a LOT of work.  The last time I was in the studio I started yet another series.  This time Seaweed paintings on canvas and panel.  They'll make it on the site eventually.  Here's a sample.

Here's the thing... I would not be updating my website if it weren't for Pickleball.  Seriously!  Many of our new Pickleball friends have told me that they have looked me up on line and some have found my website.  I knew it was so out of date, and was embarrassed to think that anyone was having a serious look, so It spurred me on to do some long needed updating work on this dinasour!  Thank you Pickleball!!!