What’s Important?

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Yesterday, I sat at the computer twice to write about a new design and I left the computer idle both times. The first instance occurred first thing yesterday morning. I had a jewelry photo ready to go and narrative on tap when the phone rang. “I need you now!” uttered my husband on the other end of the line. He had discovered a newborn calf. Since we were not expecting it yet we didn’t have its mother in the safe pasture. When he tried to move the pair, the little one ran through the barbed wire and electric fence onto the neighbors property. Eventually, following a loud yell when my husband encountered the electric fence, we retrieved the little and got the pair all the way to the barn. The poor newborn was so hot and tired that it . . . (good grief, the phone is ringing again this morning. . . got to go to the barn) . . . (45 minutes later) Yesterday’s “found” newborn was so hot and dirty by the time we got her to the barn, that she had to be hosed down and have the thorns pulled out of her nostrils.

Late yesterday afternoon, I again sat down to write and the mobile phone rang. Since my husband was here at the house, I just kept writing. Yet, there was another newborn that needed attention. One of our customers had a newborn calf that arrived three weeks early and couldn’t eat or stand. We grabbed  a bottle, tube and warmed the frozen collostrum from our freezer, setting off on a mission to save another life. I was worried the little one would perish in the hour and a quarter drive to the ranch, but there she was when we arrived, barely able to hold up her head. I fed her all the collostrum while the two men kept the mama cow away from me and we left shaking our heads at the less than 40 lb calf. Yet, after our friend followed my advice and fed the calf both at midnight and six am, she’s standing this morning. They will bottle feed her until she can stabilize. While the calf may still have grave difficulty, it appears there is always hope.

Oh, and about today’s phone call. It WAS from the barn. We watched as another cow delivered her healthy bull calf without assistance. Whew! I need to close this writing before the phone rings again.

As for design work . . . it seems that the more compulsive I become about sticking with work, the more apt LIFE is to remind me of what is important.

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Another Tiny Diversion

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At the first of this calendar year, I wrote about my little diversion from design work when our first grandchild was born. Today, I have another diversion of a different biological configuration. Today the pictured calf was born early and small, but thankfully is quite healthy and eating well. She’s the first calf born to those cows that will make up the pairs in our October sale. I always know that once these little creatures start being born it’s not too long until sale time. This little gal has a good mother; therefore, the photo was taken from outside the pen while the mother made  disparaging sounds in my direction. I’m certain she was saying, “If you come in here with my calf you’ll be real sorry!”

I enjoy listening to each new mother cow as she encourages her calf. The harsher moo echoed in the pasture pre-birth changes to a softer, gentler, more singing and elongated sound directed toward the calf. I never cease to be amazed at this occurrence. On the other side of this duo, the calf actually seems to pay attention. I’ve been almost close enough to touch a newborn only to hear that Mother Moo and have the calf immediately get up and move away.  It’s a shame that we humans don’t exercise that power over our children.

With six more births pre sale due in the next few weeks, I look forward to that hopeful feeling that often comes from nature in the Spring of the year when things branch out and bloom. In ranching, the best “blooming” comes from successful births and healthy calves.

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The Song Remembers When

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I’ve always liked Trisha Yearwood’s song by the above title. Based on something most of us can relate to, she sings of hearing an old familiar song over the radio and lets the tune wind her back to a memory. Couples may have “their song” that reminds them of a first meeting, wedding or other time. Music can bring up a memory out of the blue when you are riding in a car, sitting at a desk or moving along with daily chores, but it’s not the only memory initiator.

Last week, using the drill in the house, my husband, unbeknownst to me, brought in an old tin can from the garage which housed the larger drill bits. He set it on the bookcase and went about his work. Later, it caught my eye and took my breath. As the picture shows, it’s just an old tobacco can, rusted, dented and worn; but it is a definite reminder of my father who died in 2000. It sat in Papaw’s workshop for many years. As the tears gathered in my eyes, I could almost smell that tobacco smoking from his pipe and see the gnarled mouthpiece of that same pipe he chewed upon when he quit smoking. The can also conjured that funny memory of my father doing a little jig the day he put that lit pipe into his pants pocket just a little too soon and it caught his pocket on fire. These are good memories and I’m thinking of leaving that sad old can in the house.

I’m sure I could name many other things that bring back memories, but today I’m thinking about some of the special jewelry pieces I’ve made that “remind me of a time”. One of these is the seed bead piece pictured here. It reminds me of our family joy when our daughter got married here at the ranch over three years ago. It was a small outdoor wedding, but totally ours as we did the planning, work, and setup. This simple, but beautiful event, set in the bluebonnets of our front circle, left me quite exhausted the following day; so I gathered my seed beads, plopped in a chair and declared that I should not be bothered. I sat there all day and made my very first freeform pendant. I still love wearing it and it emits happy memories when I look at it.

I’ve sold a good deal of pieces for weddings in the past years and I’m hoping that some of them bring pleasant memories for the purchaser. I also hope that those tourists who pass through the hill country and pick up a local artist jewelry souvenier find pleasant memories when wearing each piece. Certainly, those folks who have recently purchased “Ralph’s Rocks”, picked up and polished on a ranch in Cameron, Texas, which I’ve wired and hung on copper neck wires were looking for a little piece to help them remember our hill country.

Many people look for little treasures while traveling to help them recall the trip. I’ve repaired many such “treasures” for people who just couldn’t part with an inexpensive and, in my mind, often not so pretty, piece of jewelry because of where it came from or the special person who gifted it. I enjoy hearing the stories of why the piece is meaningful.

While all our design pieces certainly will not store precious memories, I’m struck today by the power of the few. I believe I’ll be paying even more careful attention to construction of my designs in the future so those little treasures will hold up. We just never know when the “necklace will remember when”.

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Balance

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I was explaining to my younger friend, Dr. G, how I was trying to keep things in balance, indicating that perhaps this is more necessary as we grow older. For example, we might work at the computer until the backache sets in, then move to the jewelry making until that arthritic hand hurts, go to clean the kitchen, etc. and then start that cycle all over again. Hopefully, by the end of the day things all come together and reached closure (or nothing does!).

Today’s balance involved stopping in the middle of baking to go round up cows who for some reason wanted to stay in the shade rather than coming to the barn to receive their shots (go figure – - who’s smarter on that one?). Is it true that if you put your cookie batter in the refrigerator while you round up cows, it will actually taste better? I don’t really think so.

Design balance can also involve a little bit of this and that. I used to try to create asymmetrical pieces without much regard for balance. They either hung crooked because there was too much weight on one side or were not very attractive. You can always tell when people who normally look at your neck to see what jewels you are wearing suddenly start looking you straight in the eye. Something must be amuck with your jewelry piece and even the face looks better than the asymmetrical design. That means it’s time to go back to the design drawing board.

I recently received the Wee People Newsletter from my friend, the doll maker. She has wonderful artistic taste and her newsletters are a feast for the eyes, ears, and spirit. I hope she will forgive me for including the U Tube video below which she  shared with her readers. The photos are by Hans Silvester who also offer a book of similar title available on Amazon. Although I might dub this video with many titles, today it shows me balance. The stills that start part way through the piece show marvelous artistic balance achieved by individuals as they have decorated their faces and bodies. Often the Omo people shown used earth objects to form asymmetrical beauty. The photos offer a lesson in balance for designers. I’m hoping that if I watch it enough, I’ll begin to “see” better and transfer that to my designs. At the very least, the music and photos of the video together present a peaceful aura.

As for the balance from computer, to design table, to cows . . . I can only hope for the best.

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Doggone It!

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It’s hot, really hot and although I’ve made a cool spot for my blue heelers to lie in, they still think it might be better in the house. Today, after each of the three received their customary brushing in the laundry room, the fattest one refused to go outside. She did NOT get the “I’m a human, you’re a dog” thing at all. Finally I relented and Cheyenne got to stay indoors.

As I worked diligently on a copper bracelet and began to hammer, the dog became very annoyed. She actually appeared to squint one eye as if the pounding hurt her head. When staring directly at me did not cause me to quit hammering, she finally left the studio as shown in the right picture. She didn’t go far but just went to the hallway where she could continue her stare. Finally, I gave in and quit hammering. No, I wasn’t finished, but just look at her sad eyes.

When I put down the hammer, she came back into the studio as if to say “thank goodness you’re finished.” She did her cutest, lay on my foot and look sad act and all was well until she discovered the cat looking in the studio window. Racing through the baskets of wire and tools on my floor to get nearer the cat, she left jewelry components strewn all around. That did it! I put her OUT and will not be such a sucker next time.

Here’s the question, “if a dog is this annoyed by my hammering midday, what does my husband think about it in the late evening hours?” Should I ask him? Probably not, because I don’t think I want to hear the answer. I’ll just continue to think I have a very sensitive dog!

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Children’s Art Versus Creativity

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I was pleased to hear from several readers after my last post which showed pictures of my grandboy. Summer is definitely the time for family visits and time with children. After the initial excitement of the visit wanes, children may be left wondering what to do.

My daughter shared a blog, http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/ , wherein the author talks about things she does with her child and the neighborhood/friends craft group. It’s interesting to see the author’s excitement over involving the children in artful activities. She provides links to other blogs that may be of interest to you.

I remember planning art activities for my children. We would go to the library and pick up books on how to make your own glue, paper mache, etc. I distinctly remember a recipe for making glue out of dryer lint. It made a horrible mess, but we did it!. I think the biggest mess we made was when we tie dyed. One of my piano students happened by that afternoon and she took off her tennis shoes and dyed them. I was a bit concerned when her Mom came to pick her up, but she took it better than I would have.

My initial concern about children’s art projects stems from a deep belief in the power of creative thinking. I believe we must take care in nurturing children and involving them in artful activities without curtailing their own ideas. If the art activity teaches a technique rather than a product, I’m all for it. Yet, if the goal is the production of a slightly varied piece like the example provided for the child, then I might be against it. We want children to think for themselves rather than merely copying. That’s why a blank piece of paper is so much better than a coloring book. While there is nothing wrong with copying to learn how to do something, let’s don’t call it creativity. (By the way, if the purpose of working in a coloring book is to learn small motor coordination, it’s a good thing.)

Research tells us that creative thinking is alive and well in young children until about first grade when it begins to wane a bit. We see it ebb and flow throughout their years, but know that it must be nurtured in order to thrive and become valued by the child. Adults who tell the child they want him or her to think creatively and then give them a pattern and color chart to follow are not modeling what they are saying. I remember when my son was four and his teacher gave him a pilgrim to color for the classroom bulletin board. When he colored it purple, she grabbed it and threw it away telling him that pilgrims can’t be purple. “Mama”, he said, “I’ve never seen a pilgrim and I didn’t know.” I don’t think that teacher had ever seen a young, irate Mother like me before, but we did get things straight!

Amabile says that creative thinking results in that which is novel and appropriate. That purple pilgrim probably wasn’t appropriate, so we might not call it creative in our adult schema. For a child, however, who had never seen or colored a pilgrim before, it may have been.

It seems that the bottom line is clarity. Let the child learn a technique, such as paper mache, by copying, but call it copying or replication. Then ask the child to think creatively and use the paper mache technique to create something new and different. Call this creative thinking. AND if the child isn’t interested, let him be. Creative thinking can be developed in many ways that do not involve arts and crafts. Some kids just don’t want to make things and that’s OK. Out future creative scientists may just be out working on their bikes rather than inside handling tempera paint!

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Summer is . . .

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. . . for visiting grandchildren! A very brief break took us out of state this week to visit our grandboy and his family. It was a real treat to see how he had grown since our last visit and watch his developmental progress. I’ve forgotten how you can truly observe physical and mental growth at this age. I can hardly wait until he is ready for play dough (the eatable kind, of course), finger paints and colors, although I’m reasonably sure that his Dad won’t let him help me design jewelry for a while.

The picture below indicates just how pleased “Sir” (grandpa) is with this little treasure.

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Listen to Your Mother

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I heard this repeatedly as I was growing up, but thought I was past it since my Mom is 88 and I’m . . . growing out instead of up. Last week, however, I realized my Mom still has her bluff in on me. During a nursing home visit, I mentioned that a group of beaders was coming to my house the next day to work on some things. Mamaw immediately said, “what are you going to feed them?” “They’re not coming to eat.” I said. “They’re coming to work on jewelry.” “Well,” she replied, “I’ve found that things always go better with food.” I left the nursing home determined not to pay attention to her suggestion, but in the end . . . I could say the pictured brownies just happened to be left over from the group of men I fed at lunch that same day, but that might be a big story. I guess I’m still doing what my Mother says.

During the same visit, several folks stopped by to speak to us at the table where I was working on some copper neckwires. I noticed Mamaw was real quiet and after everyone had moved on she reported, “I didn’t want to tell anyone, but those really aren’t very comfortable.” I truly disagree and love to wear my neckwires in various shapes, but I didn’t argue and won’t be making her any more in that style. Perhaps she will prefer one of the pieces pictured below.        

Today, while discussing my upcoming trip to Atlanta to visit our first grandchild who is 4 months old, Mother said, “hug that boy for me.” I DO plan to listen to my Mother about regarding that suggestion!

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Can You Fly?

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It’s not a secret. I love my Blue Heelers and although the puppies shown in the picture are gone, I still enjoy walking or playing ball with the older girls each afternoon. Today I was particularly taken by Frosty’s “never give up” attitude. She’s the dog on the far left of the picture. Even as an adult dog, she still believes that she can fly. When a large bird, usually a buzzard, looms over head, Frosty chases across the ground in an effort to reach it. Today, as the bird flew completely across the yard, Frosty ran as fast as she possibly could and I had to move out of the way to keep from being run over. At the end of each of these bird runs, she leaps high in the air in a last supreme effort to grasp the bird. I keep telling her that these efforts are foolish, but she just doesn’t get it. I can easily say that my wire working is a bit like Frosty’s bird chasing. I’ve been struggling with it for months now, working flat out until my hands ache in an effort to improve. Yet, like Frosty, I never can quite catch that perfect technique. Often, upon completion of a wirework piece, I sigh and admit that it is terrible, but like Frosty, the next time an idea arrives, I delve into it again. Shall I persevere like Frosty and keep working at this technique? The piece I did last night seems more pleasing than most have been. It does give considerable satisfaction to be moving closer to the mark, but will I ever FLY? If I keep watching my dog, rereading that children’s book, The Little Engine that Could, and continue repeating “I think I can, I think I can,” then I believe there is hope! Perhaps we can all FLY! (Thanks Frosty)

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Nature’s Color Challenge

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Reading about what inspires an artist often helps us understand the power of nature in its presentation of color, form and texture. Many artists comment that their ideas come from nature. I believe that particularly bead embroidery artists who focus on authentic replication through the medium draw upon nature. The piece shown today reflects the harsh colors of the current Texas drought which has produced our brown landscape. The green in the middle is akin to the few sprigs of healthy grass that sprout where the land has been watered through irrigation. (There are a mere few because the deer eat all of the rest!) 

Using your imagination, you may be able to see how the lower picture provides further description of the dry land. It also captures an unusual ranch event I want to share. We raise registered Black Angus cows and one of our important donors had a difficult labor requiring that the calf be pulled. While this is not so strange for a first calf heifer, what followed is highly unusual. After delivering the bull calf, it was apparent that something more was eminent. Fearing the worst, a prolapse, the men tried to stop the outward movement of the protrusion. Thankfully, the yet to be delivered little heifer twin wouldn’t be dismayed by this and wiggled her head as if to say “get me out of here!” Twins are extremely unusual and we’ve only had one other set in the past 10 years. Following a visit from the vet and stitches for the new mom, we’re hoping for progress. I’m only slightly embarrassed to say that while I held the cow’s tail and watched our skilled vet stitch her, I could only think about how great it would be to use his knotting technique with my beading. (Perhaps, I’ve fallen overboard!) By the way, the twins have been bottle fed and will be again every three hours while the Mom decides which calf she will take. 

Ideas and inspiration come from the most unusual circumstances and I believe that nature will speak to us if we’re prepared to listen. I wonder if nature is telling me to design in multiples of two for a bit . . . ?

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