Facial Hair and Good Wine

What a weekend! I had such a fabulous time, thanks to you, B ;). My horoscope says I need to get "out of my head" and "into my body" by way of yoga and meditation. It accused me of being too much of a "brainiac". What do you expect from an Aquarius??

I've been "nutty" about this new series I am doing: jewelry out of recycled chair legs. I wore one to work the other day and a woman thought it was a harmonica. Nifty! Wish I played the harmonica. I've given up on trying to be cool, so I'm just going to stick to what I know which is nerdism and recycled art. I'll be listing more, but for now, there is one on http://www.zoradelldesigns.etsy.com/. I don't think I'll be listing them on my "main" site. In fact, I love Etsy so much, I might be moving my shop there completely one day soon.

New items a person (particularly me) can't live without: wallet made from recycled Bitch magazine from http://www.omglia.etsy.com/ and faux facial hair from http://www.pishposhpaperworks.etsy.com/.

A few stops on my wonderful weekend here in the valley were Pizzeria Venti and Pontin Del Roza winery, both in Prosser. If you are ever in the area to enjoy our beautiful weather and our wineries, make a note not to miss either of these. Pontin Del Roza is a little off the beaten path, but you won't be disappointed; Even the Sideways boys would be pleased.

Splendiferous

I was on the hunt for humans to model some of my jewelry and/or art for an upcoming VenusZine issue, and that was when I came across these two splendiferous characters. Greta and Roseanne are modern ladies who enjoy card games, parlour tricks and cheap wine. They love living in my studio with me, especially on the cold evenings when I have the heater on.

I am moving into one of my favorite mediums on earth...recycled bits. Functional art made out of concrete forms and fancy wall art made out of vintage book covers are now on my etsy site http://www.zoradelldesigns.etsy.com/. I've incorporated some of my drawings into the artwork and will be rightly pleased when someone else appreciates the notation of Fops and Dandys.

The weather has been most fickle this week....it went from 70 to 40 in no time flat. The sun brought out so much inspiration for me this past week, I'm hoping for more of it in the coming days. Also, I've been discovering the music of Nick Cave and the writing of J.K. Rowling, way after everyone else discovered it. But, for me, in my moment, they are quite enjoyable. Also playing in my studio are Bessie Smith and Joy Division. Currently reading The Circus Age by Janet Davis.

Modigliani, Hell and Bellingham

Let me take this moment, into the wee hours of the morning, to give you a quote by Charlie Chaplin: "Nothing is forever in this wicked world, not even our troubles." And there is my new favorite quote of all time by Jean-Paul Sartre "Hell is other people". These quote buttons and more can be found at http://www.nouveaumotley.etsy.com/.

I finished a collection of paintings recently. One, above, entitled "Arabella Strange", inspired by the character of the same name in the fabulous Susanna Clarke book "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell". Last night, I also finished another works of hers, "The Ladies of Grace Adieu" which was equally entertaining. In my collection are also paintings inspired by Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, Harry Potter "Deathly Hallows" and the various musings inside my head.

Both my mother and I broke into tears at the end of the movie Modigliani, starring Andy Garcia as Amadeo Modigliani, a famous Jewish/Italian painter. I wish I had come up with the line "When I know your soul, I will paint your eyes". Hence, the reason, he painted so many women (naked and otherwise), but you will notice, that most all have blank holes for eyes. He was a bit disturbed and I'm sure that is why I like him.

Over the weekend, Dad and I enjoyed a Scandinavian hoopla for my Grandmother's 91st birthday in Bellingham. The weather change is so drastic once you get to that side of the mountains, I was in awe at the snow and the pouring rain. Made my bones ache. Thankfully, there was plenty of yummy beer at Boundary Bay to warm me up. I found myself thinking, "Gosh, there are a lot of 'kids' around here". Now, everyone under 25 has become a "kid" to me. What the hell is happening??

It had been nearly 10 years since I had flipped through Grandpa's collection of Ole and Lena jokes. One of my favorites: "How do you know a gay Swede? Well, the straight one likes butter and the gay one likes Ole." or Neighbor: "My wife is in bed with laryngitis" Ole: "Is that Greek back in town again?"

The La La Theory and trips to the past

I love being a cantankerous little hermit; I get to do so much traveling in my head. If I could travel (in the "moving" kind of sense), at this moment, I do believe I would choose to travel to the past. Just for a bit. Not my past...not to fix anything....that is too boring and sounds a lot like work. No, no....I mean far past, like when-I-was- not-here past. I recently finished the most charming book, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. There were plenty of moments when I did not think it was charming, because someone was not treating a particular circus elephant too well, but the smartly woven characters sucked me in. I also finished up a few engaging zines by Katie from The La La Theory and I am now a zine-fanatic. Zine, zine, zine....zine this and zine that, everything a Zine. If you ever want a quick, intelligent read, stop by her store at http://www.thelalatheory.etsy.com/. I hope to buy a few of each up and give them as gifts.

I'm currently in love with a few Etsy items including these: an old photo of the Barnum and Bailey train in Santa Cruz, red spatz (which I don't think I would ever wear, but think the idea and the look is oh so clever), and a handbound, leather journal with recycled pages made in the Medieval style of bookbinding.

I am currently working on a few big paintings and Twilight (my own wee novel). I think I might also write a zine or two....about talking cats, spider monkeys and garden bugs made out of recycled bits.......

Currently reading The History of Love by Nicole Krauss, currently listening to the last Harry Potter book on audio cd and Anoushka Shankar......

Zoradell's Flying Circus

After many days of the soundest, deepest sleep, I found myself awake at 3:00AM, ready for it to be an appropriate time so that I could start my day. It is during these strange body clock blips that I find it is best to take to blogging. Also, I feel that sleep can be such an idle thing lately, especially when there is so much art to do and so many books to read.

Last night, after a full day of unfiltered creative bliss, I finished my Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell audiobook and loved it so much, I thought I might want to listen to it again the following week. But, how can I justify such a thing when there are so many audiobooks to listen to?? Susanna Clarke is now a favorite author, but I get the feeling through her characters that she does not favor cats, which is unfortunate.

Here are only a scant few of the many projects I've been working on. A bracelet from the Nomad collection, consisting of beads that have been traded, traveled and adored (thank you Mary from Maine for giving me a new love for African trade beads), Benzini the Great rings and a painting-without-a-name that is still a work in progress.

I recieved a large shipment of beads from FMG and loads of vintage beads and baubles from Etsy. Perhaps that is why I can't sleep; because I know they are in my studio and they want to "be" something. I finished the first Gunslinger book and decided not to move on with the series for now, but I am reading Water for Elephants and find there are moments when I would rather starve than put it down.

It is slowly creeping on spring and I am sure I'll have lots of fun stories for you because spring tends to be so magical.

How soon is now?

It is a wee bit early for me, but my eyes popped open an hour ago so I decided to begin my coffee seduction early. My studio is such a magical place to be lately that I can barely manage to part with it at night, then I dream about it, then I wake up eary and come back to it with an energy that makes it feel like the first time. Maybe it's like being in love.

I am currently listening to the audiobook Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel by Susanna Clarke, the words and creativity of which has found it's way into my creations. I am also recently obsessed with the music group Band of Horses and can't seem to hear enough of them. On the old fashioned book end, I am working my way through the Dark Tower series by Stephen King and I often look up from my desk to see Roland the gunslinger watching me through the window. ...

I ordered some fabulous baubles and studio staples from Etsy a few days ago and ache to find them in my mail. Included in the bunch are some vintage lucite beads and buttons, hand dipped incense, loose leaf midori green tea, and one-of-a-kind glass bead and ring from my favorite glass diva.

You can bet your socks that I'll have some lovely new items to offer soon.

I recently had the pleasure of watching the film Bernard and Doris and believe that it has squished itself into my top five movies of all time. Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes are wicked good in their roles as a wealthy, eccentric heiress and her devoted butler.

I came to the realization at the end of the film that what I need, above any sort of relationship, is a Butler. The wealth and cellar full of booze would be nice, too, but they are merely an afterthought compared to the joy of a butler. I am content in knowing that this is what I want and I shall never rest until I get it. It doesn't matter male or female, gay or straight; if you have seen the movie and would like to be my butler, I am currently taking applications. I can't pay you money, of course, but I do have a collection Garbage Pail Kids that I could spare, or perhaps we could work out a trade some other way.

On another note, I am currently working on a collection of jewelry inspired by Susan Sarandon's character, Doris and another collection inspired by characters from my own "novel in progress" called "Twilight". Pictures soon to come......

An ode to the romance of chains

I can't think of anything better than layers and layers of chain. I spent an afternoon listening to some old Joy Division and their song "Love will tear us apart" sounded to me like the perfect name for this piece. Being that it is soon Valentines Day and all, I thought I would get into the spirit of things as best as I could. I think I should follow up this piece with a pair of earrings to match called "Don't kill the messenger" with a fat little cupid and some dramatic chain that falls shoulder length.

We were in Seattle for the Gift Show market this weekend and found a few hot tidbits that will be a fun surprise for clients at our Prosser store. And I found the most wonderful collection of beads and vintage baubles....I can hardly wait to create and picture take and post for you.

I adore Seattle, but it was particularly cold and miserable this weekend, with an extra special side of rude. Poor mother got sick and I found a hair floating in the fresh soy foam of my coffee, but there were definately some much appreciated highlights.

A special note for this picture: it is sitting on a garden mushroom, created by my father the Junkman, out of some odd recycled findings.

When to create great things

Having something note worthy to post in a blog today was on my mind this afternoon. I finished no projects, although I did start a few and had brief thoughts about finishing others. I worked at the shop, got a haircut, and watched a movie that I did not expect to like. The name of the flick was "Art School", I believe, and there were the most amazing actors popping up all over the screen. John Malkovich, for one. And a plethera of others that I will let you uncover when and if you choose to watch it. One character is an aging, alcoholic who attended art school, but ended up with none of the fortune and fame that he had hoped for. In the film, he is always shown looking horrid, wearing stained clothes and drinking straight alcohol from a paper cup. One young art student comes to him for advice (I know, it sounds odd, but you just have to see it) and one tidbit the old man gives him is, "The only time you will be able to create something great is when you don't care if you live or die."

He further points out that a real artist doesn't do it for the parties or the people or the wine, but for those "narcotic moments" when you know you are creating something good....those moments might happen every week or just once in a lifetime.

As silly as the movie is, it is a diamond bag full of quotes. And there is nothing I appreciate more than a movie full of quotes worth repeating and in this case, worth living by.

Heath Ledger

I just came back from a day of errands, fixing paintings for Olsen Estates and a studio meeting to find out that Heath Ledger died. I am so upset. I thought he was a wonderful person and actor (even if he hadn't done Brokeback....but that role didn't hurt). I've always had this empathy for famous people....the ones who you can tell really don't want to be famous. I wonder what happened to him, what made him so sad that he felt he needed to take a handful of pills and fall asleep forever. Or, did he even mean to? I wonder what was missing for him...or what he had too much of.

I can't help but picture him singing his own rendition of "Let me love you" as he trotted down the bandstands in "10 Things I Hate About You". He will be missed.

January blues...and blows

For lack of a better term, January kind of blows. Well, ok, maybe it doesn't completely always blow.....especially at the end of the month when it is my birthday ;). If you are reading this and you are not familiar with Eastern Washington winters, I'll let you in on the truth about this wee haven; it gets so dry and cold, there are moments you fear your eyes might freeze shut and the skin on your face feels like it will crack right open if you so much as twitch your nose or move your lips to talk. Even western Washington winters can be warmer, albiet their winters do last for about 10 months and ours are only two....so I guess I should put a button on my pie hole about it. It is just that I forgot my gloves today and my little hands felt so arthritic (tho I don't have arthritis), parched and....old. I had a daydream about lathering them in shea butter and sticking them in some heated mittens while sitting in front of tube watching a John Wayne marathon. When I had the daydream in the morning, I was sitting there sipping a delicate cup of green tea with a wedge of vegan chocolate cake. As the day progressed, my beverage of choice became a glass of wine the size of my head and...I don't think there was any food......

I'll be sure to turn the heat on early in my studio tomorrow so I can grip my pliers without any freezing of my precious digits.

Winter and snow in your heart

I know that Christmas is over, but all of this winter wonderland around me lately has me thinking about Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney crooning out "I want to wash my face my hands my hair in snow....". Mom and I returned from our fabulous trip to the Portland Gift Show today, where we found some new odds and ends for the store. We had the best time! The show was great and we stayed overnight at Edgefield (which is always a treat) and the beds were so comfy! If you ever go there to eat, don't pass up the wine sampler....I believe they were all my "new favorites". I had a chance to go Cargo in the Pearl District and purchased some wonderful beads and can't wait to bring them into my studio tomorrow for another viewing. That place is a mansion of eye candy!

On our way home, we fell into 3 hours of fresh snow that left us yelping for our lives at certain bends in the road and near large, splashing trucks. I can't help but be inspired by the spindly, dark trees against a cold, grey sky with the fluffy white snow falling in sheets. I realize that this is no time to be inspired by winter; it's all about spring now, baby! But, perhaps I will do some artwork that is an "ode to winter", with inspiration from the lyrics also sung by Rosemary Clooney, "To send me a joe who had winter and snow in his heart wasn't smart, love; you didn't do right by me."