A drive to Belén (70 miles round)

July 21, 2015

The blue Toyota that brought me here is lost, rollover and junked hitting steel guardrails five blocks from my home at the time, on Richmond. I survived with only bruising, and bought a little Jeep for $10,000 in cash from a man I met in the Sprouts parking lot. That was four months ago.

Here, I took a spontaneous trip on I-25 South to Belén, NM, 35 miles outside of Albuquerque. I live elsewhere now, my own home, near Juan Tabo and the East-West highway. If you take I-40 west for a while, you join up with I-25, and you can either go up or down.

I only took the main road through town, detoured down a paved road that dead-ended at a cattle ranch. Mesa Rd.?

Just a road, but my favorite kind of sky. I drove home as the sun was setting. The main town thoroughfare curved so deeply the sun was on all sides of me. Take I-25 north for a time, then head east towards home.

Penland prep

June 15, 2014

Leaving in a little over a week.

Got the FJ A/C refilled with freon at a great Hasidic-run shop in my childhood neighborhood, off Ditmas Ave. The mechanics do this nifty thing where they pump in UV reactive dye alongside the gas, that allows them to pinpoint the source of any refrigerant leaks in the future using "extra special goggles," as the tech explained to me.

Fingers crossed, I'll be riding cool through the Virginias, a bit of Tennessee?, then finally North Carolina.

The workshop is about ring design and fabrication. I have virtually no experience drafting designs for jewelry, so here is my self-assigned homework from studio today. Over time, I will learn what I want to build and how to show it, but for now these 16 clumsy little doodles.

(Sakura Gelly Rolls are a guilty pleasure of mine and have been since I was 12. Their GLORIOUS range of colors is texturally diverse as well (sheer glaze, dimensional matte puff, silver and gold sheen, metallics, neons, glitter). They are my favorite way to accent designs for jewelry and apparel as each dot of ink has a dimensional, jewel-like quality to it. Gelly pens are NOT just for pre-teen girls....)

Far West Texas, 2013

June 7, 2014

In preparation for my trip down to NC in a couple weeks, I thought I'd share some photographs from the second-to-last big trip I took (the most recent being my relocation from TX to NY with just me, a cat, a bag of Barnana, and all my belongings in the car).

In July 2013, my good friend B and I headed out in the FJ with some good desert outfits, a pair or two of crazy tall heels (just in case), and loads of chia seeds, fiber crackers and bananas.

Our goal was to hit Marfa and surrounding areas, pass through some border towns, see a star show, see Donald Judd's Chinati Foundation, check out the Prada Marfa store, exist in the desert, and leave time to explore/look at rocks.

Our first night, we slept in an average old motel with two beds. We were near a large town.

My travel belongings laid out on my side of the room

We moved westward....

We spent a night at a "tourist's/motorist's camp," whose rooms were basically open-air stalls crammed with two twin beds. It was cheap, and breezy, and clean. The town, whose name escapes me, was quite strange.

They had a wonderful little pool with fountains

More legs; spent a lot of time lying down, recouping energy

We headed up an unpaved mountain path to get to the Chinati hot springs just out of Marfa proper. Below is the spring-fed cold pool where I learned to swim for the first time.

The first place I swam without fear; the first place I showed my breasts to the moon

Having failed to obtain fresh groceries before setting up the mountain, we improvised with some dry goods and spices we found in the communal kitchen, plus a questionable beverage made from Crystal Lite concentrate + Bragg's apple cider vinegar in water.

We had a little cabin a few feet from the hot spring. It was filled with carved wooden trinkets and tiny furniture.

Heading down the next day, we passed through a ghost town called Ruidosa. We stopped a while; ruins filled with tires and HOT sun.

On one lovely night, B coordinated for us to visit a star party at the McDonald Observatory, which boasts the highest-elevation public-access road in the country. When night fell, we were allowed to look through various telescopes at planets and star clusters.

We spent a night in Marfa at the El Cosmico "tent hotel" (they have trailers, too!). It had gotten unbearably hot for me. When it cooled down at night, I bundled up in woollen blankets and laid in a hammock under the stars.

We ate a taco that, for some reason, contained grits.

We drove down a broad, empty highway to visit the Prada Marfa installation. We took our clothes off because nobody except distant truckers could see. The sun felt good.

We passed an air base fencing in a massive, unidentifiable floating white object. Even though no one was about, we didn't dare step through the gate.

Finally, the death toll on my FJ's bullguard, including one pretty (dead) ladybug.

Haystack Session 5: Glass with James Mongrain

April 16, 2014

I received exciting news from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts this morning––my acceptance letter into Session 5's goblet-making class with James Mongrain. I feel infinitely grateful that I will be able to learn from a dude who makes incredible things like this:

Venetian-style blown glass by James Mongrain

I've always been interested in goblet-making and it was one of my most favorite things to do in the hotshop, back when I was blowing/assisting 40+ hours a week. I find it to be such a conceptually rich kind of object that can be looked at and played with a thousand ways––but I never had as much technical prowess in that regard as I wanted. I'm glad for the chance to learn a little more while enjoying the phosphorescent waters of Deer Isle, Maine. And eating Tom's delicious Haystack food! And chasing the cats! And meeting new people!

Update: and I am thrilled to note that my old friend and very talented glass artist Keunae Song will be at Haystack at the same time!

Penland Session 3: Metals with Tim Lazure & Jen Townsend

March 29, 2014

I got some mail...

I got accepted to this workshop I'm really excited about! Scroll down to Session 3 to read about this class led by jewelers Tim Lazure & Jen Townsend.

From Penland's course description:

This workshop will offer a unique opportunity to see two very different approaches to ring making. We’ll cover a range of techniques from basic fabricating to lost-wax casting and make everything from understated bands to sculptural and flamboyant cocktail rings. We’ll also address object capture—whether this means a stone or some alternative material featured in the ring. We’ll discuss the meaning of rings throughout history and what these little pieces have to offer conceptually. Symbolizing love, status, affiliation, or commemoration, rings are small but potent. Come join the two-ring circus!

It'll also be my first time attending Penland not as a work-study/scholarship student, but as a fully paid-up student with leisure time and 100% dedication to studio. The scholarship program at Penland is incredible, but it's a very different experience––and I'm excited to make the shift.