Check it out!

I am really excited to unveil the new website for Curious Creatures, Victoria Wenderlich's and my joint artistic venture. When we exhibit together we exhibit under that banner and now we finally have a website, thanks to her and her husband Ray for their wonderful website design! Check it out here .

While your browsing the web check out this website here . Vicki and Ray make a dynamic duo and have created the awesome game Math Ninja for iPhone. I played it, its really, really fun and I hate math. Vicki created all the wonderful art and Ray did all the programming. I mean come on its a must have, catchy music, tomato's and ninjas, and who after all doesn't like ninjas?

And please stop by the facebook page for Monster Hollow Studios here I have updated the events page, so you can be up to date on where to find me and my art this spring and summer.

And lastly I want to promote a book series I love. Its the Breaking the Wall series by Jane Linskold. Her new book Five Odd Honors just came out. I haven't read it, I am eagerly awaiting my husband to get home with it today in fact. But I have read the first two in this series and they are excellent. They are among my favorite in Urban fantasy. I read online last night that if the sales of this book don't do well the publisher wont continue with these books. Whether or not its true I don't know but I love these books and want to read as many as Ms. Linskold wants to write, so please read these books, I promise you will enjoy them! And speaking of authors check out the blog of Lynn Colt an up and coming author, who I can promise will bring good things! Next to art and my dogs there is nothing I love more than a good book, and knowing how hard it is to sell your art I like to encourage people not just to read but to buy books. Writing too is an art and it takes a brave and determined person to put their soul on a page for others to read!

Since this is a post encouraging you to check out various links, I don't have a picture to go with it, so I will leave you with this random adorable picture of Shippo dressed as the pirate First Mate NoPants, risky I know when talking about math ninjas, because as we all know its a fact all ninjas even math ninjas hate pirates!

Possibilites

Life is full of possibilities, you never know really which road you will turn down next. If you had asked me when I was 18 what I would be doing now 10 years later at 28, I would not have told you happily married to scientist, owning a house, working at a vet clinic and attempting to become a "real" artist. I would have told you I would be traveling the world, dating a rock star (certainly I was NEVER going to get married) and working odd jobs to get by. If you has asked me then what kind of possibilities my life held I would have denied I ever wanted what I have now. I was going to travel the world and never settle down. The funny thing is I really love my life, I love the direction it went in and the places its taken me. I wouldn't change a thing.

Recently as many of my friends prepare to travel, move or have big changes in their life, I realized how differently I view the possibilities that lie ahead. Now I am happy to stay in one place and I don't really want to run the roads. I like my house and I like my bed, I am too old to sleep in the back of a car or on someones sofa. Instead I look forward to exciting vacations and living vicariously through more adventurous friends. Sure there are still days I wake up and say today I want adventure, but for the most part I don't mind that sometimes the most exciting part of my day is taking the dogs for a walk.

Oddly as my life settles into place my art seems to be in a whirlwind. I am ready to try all kinds of new things, I have more ideas than I have time for. I have thought of three new series I would like to make and have an ambitious idea of a gargoyle table. I have always had lots of ideas but never this many. I am not sure if this is because I know I'm not going anywhere so I can settle in and work, or if its because I recently had months of artists block, so all those ideas that built up are free now. Whatever the cause I am happy to have my creative spark back, I am happy to see so many possibilities laying ahead in clay for me. I cant wait to see how many I can actually bring to life!

Like Christmas in May

Opening a glaze kiln is like Christmas morning! The anticaption, the excitement, knowing there will be atleast one thing hidden under the wrapper you will love. There's even more mystery for me in a kiln than Christmas, considering the fact I never peek into a warm kiln (lessons learned) and my sister and I ALWAYS peek at our gifts! Today I opened a kiln to a few new ceramic loves my life, a couple surprises and no serious dissapointments which is awesome! Heres a few pictures of what santa left in the kiln for me! I am loving the sea-goyle now titled "Ariel" and its a nice surprise how the masks look with glaze. Enjoy! You can see these new creations in person at my upcoming 2010 shows!

Accepted

Acceptance is there any better feeling in the world? For an artist I think not, we all have to develop thick skins because rejection is a way of life when your selling art but acceptance still feels oh so good. Over the past couple of weeks I have been accepted into 2 juried shows and added 2 more events for this year.

First Vicki and I and our Curious Creatures have been accepted back at Artsfest this year, so look at Solomons here we come! And my chess set was accepted into the 78th Annual Cumberland Valley Artists Exhibition at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Out of 138 who applied only 43 made the cut. This one makes me really proud, they didn't let me in last year and I assumed they wouldn't this year. I know that's no way to think but sometimes I cant help it, rejection for me is easier if I am ready for it and when I got in I was so excited I will admit it I cried. After a winter of struggling and feeling unsure about myself and my art, this was a boost I needed.

I am really excited and proud to be part of all these upcoming events and will send out a newsletter soon with dates and times for everything, if you would like to receive one please send me a message so I can add you to my email list!