Lil' Mamma

September 15th is my Mom's birthday. Sam Pearson is easily the most nurturing, caring, hilarious, dependable mother ever. Yeah, I know you love your Mom too, but this is my blog.
I don't write about my parents often, because it's daunting; how can I really do either of them justice? They raised me to try my best, so here goes.
When I remember my Mom from when I was a little kid, I think of her Bermuda shorts, knee highs & penny loafers, gold hoop earrings, big purses with tobacco from her Kent 100s packs, (for the record, after "umpteen" years of smoking, she dropped the bad habbit like a hot potato 13 years ago, when she became a grandmother) Wrigleys Spearmint gum, loose change and crumpled Kleenex. Funny how sentimental I can get about the contents of her purse.
I remember long roadtrips to her homeland, Mississippi in her Cadillac, me sitting on the arm rest (aka "the horsey") flopped over on her shoulder the whole 600 miles. She let me sit there like that, paralyzing her right arm until I just didn't fit anymore, probably around age 7.
She's an especially talented caregiver of the sick. "If I had a nickle for everytime" (as she's fond of saying) she put me in a clean nightgown, changed my sheets, cooled my fevered head with a wet bath cloth, I'd be a millionaire. When I was in 7th grade I had my gall bladder removed, resulting in a nasty staph infection that I swear damn near killed me. It went on & on, I must have missed a month of school, to date it was the most painful, awful physical experience of my life. What I remember most is how much fun we had! I'd wake up at 2 AM in excruciating pain and she'd shuffle me down to the den where we'd watch TV and drink Sprite and snuggle on the sofa.
6 years ago today I was in Charleston SC, 1 month into a building arts curriculum on her birthday. She brought my oldest niece Ellie down for a visit and, long story short, that was the very day of my first real undiagnosed MS episode. So weird that it would be on her exact birthday.
Throughout the course of this illness, she has been my hero, my confidant, my helper, my advocate, my partner in crime. And once again, I can look back over all the bad stuff and what I'm left with is the memory of all the fun times we've had, all the jokes & laughter. When I got my first brain stem lesions leaving me with a temporary lazy eye, we laughed our asses off about how goofy I looked. What are you gonna do, not laugh? Not likely!
Need someone to hang out with while, in a fit of anger & relief, you break a set of dishes in the trash can by the road at 11 PM? Mom's there.
She can get things done with her old school Mississippi charm, or as a last resort she can cut through red tape with a very appropriate & sophisticated tongue lashing, you know, in a classy way without uttering one single bad-word.
Old people, babies, and everyone in between flock to her for help. We were in line at Wendy's once when we saw a man fall as he was crossing the street. He got up and made a bee line for Mom, coming up to her and announcing "I fell!" No telling how many people he passed on his way.
Frequently when we're shopping people will ask for her advice on an outfit. Notice, that never happens to me.
(Here she is on the right with her cousin in Mississippi this summer)
You know that supposedly common experience teenagers have of being embarrassed by their parents? I never had it. Not once. My Mom was always the coolest, and all my friends knew it.
I'm really close with all my family and I spend a lot of time with my sister and we love to invoke Mom's words of wisdom in her awesome accent "And for God's sake, stop by an outlet mall!" on a road trip or "Well, it's been cool" if you're deciding on the food poisoning likelihood of a pot of beans left unrefrigerated a while.
I could go on & on about why she's such a bad-ass, but instead of trying to cram it all into one blog post, I'm just going to end with Happy Birthday Mom!
I love you!!!

A Dana Thread

So here I am, awake too late, mind too stimulated to go down. I give up! I was reading another post of Dana Dee's Blog
and it got me thinking all about old cemeteries.
She brings up the idea that celebrating Decoration Day , honoring your dead ancestors is part of a full spiritual life. I concur.
At the very least I find visiting old cemeteries (even crappy new ones) to be the nicest little break in normal life; a visit to another realm if I may be dramatic.
I love looking at the gorgeous scenery, wondering about the changes the landscape has gone through since the oldest tombstone dates, speaking out loud the names, figuring ages at time of death, wondering about each life. When these old places are properly tucked away, it's easy to imagine what their funeral may have looked like. When you're standing right where mourners of decades or centuries ago once stood, just the thought honors those lives.
Here's a little diddy by my man John Lee Hooker about Decoration Day.
I think it's a pretty sweet way to pay homage to human life, your own included.
In the next, oh let's give me 3 years I am taking myself a little vacation up & down the east coast, from Philly back down. I will stop where ever I dam-well please to ponder and photograph. The "anchor" stops will be cemeteries. I plan to do it solo, but who knows, maybe I'll take someone along. It isn't the kind of trip you need a friend there to have a good time.
But, I don't know, I can think of a few people who would be a blast to take along!
Eh, whatever; "it's my funeral"-I mean vacation!

Please do yourself a favor and pop on into my dear friend

Dana Dee's Blog. ...(right there!)

Her ever growing writing style is beyond inspirational to me. She is an excellent story teller and writes about the coolest observations in the most original way. Best of all worlds!

Studio 136

Welcome to Studio 136 of Concord, N.C.'s Water Works Studios!
My sister Brandi & I have been waiting for this day, plotting, planning, envisioning, conjuring and waiting some more for this. It's 1280 sq. feet of climate controlled inspiration!
It has tons of natural light coming in from a row of windows with southern exposure, overlooking the greenway. Perfect.
The site is two old buildings that were first the city's stables for the coaches, then the waterworks, and now finally a group of art studios started to revitalize the old downtown area and hip-up Concord. The buildings are old and the areas that have not been renovated still have all kinds of cool stuff everywhere, including infrastructure for water purification. The light under this pipe is beautiful.
Beauty and inspiration abound; look at the patina on these doors.
This area is the gallery where all the artists (me!) will be showing their work.
Brandi & I met with our friend Sean there this morning to show us around. He's one of our neighbors! It will be worth the rent just to have the luxury of his company and the opportunity to pick his brain. He scoffs at us for saying so, but I want to be him when I grow up. He knows how to do everything! You'll be hearing more about him and his overabundance of skills in days to come...
I can move all my woodworking tools and everything else in here and finally have no impediments to creating. I can't say what this means to me. All I can say is "It's about damn time!"
And also that I am filled with gratitude and excitement. I can't even do it justice in this blog post. Just take my word for it, this is a big step in the right direction and Brandi & I will show that space some art-action like it never dreamed of.

End of Summer Creations

I built a light tent this month. Just look at these fancy results! I'll have more on this later, but I threw a few of the pics in this post.
I was struck by the idea to make thunder or lightening blots. I was inspired by a little lightening bolt pin Dad used to always wear on his black hat. It was only about an inch long and shiny nickle plated or something silvery and it was such a bold little graphic, perfect for the dynamic artist/designer/cowboy/renaissance man himself.
I really enjoyed making the earrings, I made another pair yesterday too.
One of my bffs Tiffany is getting married next month and we got together recently to make some things for the event. I won't say what yet! Having time together with friends just making stuff and shootin' the bull is ever more rare the older you get. Such an indulgent luxury, our time.
Even making a b-double-e-double-r-u-n up to the hipster store right before 2 AM after a night out is an activity to be savored! This was on a different night, we were being good at the taking of the previous picture.
I've so thoroughly enjoyed my summer in every way, really lived in the present for this one. I took the first few precious weather months to get the most of the outdoors and get lots of exercise and sun! I've also spent some quality time with quality friends, there's nothing else like it. And throughout all this I've worked on new designs, tried out new ideas, focused on jewelry making. I've also begun listing things in my neglected Etsy shop!
I was so tired last night after completing two pairs of earrings that I forgot to use the white manikin in the light tent! It was so much sawing, sawing, sawing and filing, drilling, sanding. I of course relished every bit of this zen-inducing tedium. Behold some results!
I will get better pictures though.
I'm off to set up my awesome makeshift photography studio!
My parting words are, enjoy the last little bit of summer. Fall's up next!

I'm a guest blogger!

Thanks to the wonderful world of bloggin' I have met Laura (Rhinestone Armadillo).
She has the coolest blog about all kinds of creative, beautiful and hilarious things and is always a real inspiration to me.
She's been having guest bloggers for her Summer Of Awesomeness project and I'm on of them! Thank you Laura!
If you want to see:

Click here


You should really check out her blog, it's a hub of coolness and I guarantee you'll be hard pressed to find another one quite like it.

Goodbye July!

July 2011 has been a good one and I wanted to enjoy the last day of it proper.
I went to The Farm with Roxi in tow and soaked up the visual delights all around me. I can smell the barn now, looking at this fine patch of spider webs in the corner.
This is a little gateway in the fence for two legged critters; we had a filly when I was 11 and she could squeeze her tiny self through here! Dad had to put up a little chain across to keep Daisy on the right side of the fence and I think of her whenever I walk through.

I can't get enough of the dusty cobwebs...
Door to the old tackroom. There was a kitty who gave birth to many a kitten behind this door in a box of nails.
I got to enjoy a summer storm while I was there and enjoyed every second of that magical transformation of the air and the light; colors come alive and the world sings when it's like this.
I found a "D"
"D" is for "Dusti"
This goobress right here? Roxi is in a state of pure Joy, it's infectious.
Chains, I love chains. I can remember several manly tasks I "helped" Dad do with these. I am forever on the lookout for some like these...they're on my wishlist.
It was a beautiful day, the 31st of July 2011.
August is a transitional month, and I will shortly find myself in a terrible state of excitement & anticipation for Fall.
But I'm not going to rush it...
..........not going to rush it..........
...........not going to rush it.........