Amy Bryan took the photos and did such a marvelous job! We had fun watching our amazing daughter show off her natural beauty, and Amy had some fun ideas. These were taken during the studio time and we were kind of goofing around. I love that there are goofy and good pics with Mina in them. I had fun putting this together and ordered some collage prints of them to hand out and hang on the wall.
I also created our business Christmas cards, which brought me round to thinking about our year. We accomplished much this year. Chris and Mina created his first tutorial on his dragon beads and it was published in Soda Lime Times. He also had his creations in several other issues of Soda Lime Times. I received word recently that I will be published in an upcoming issue of a beading magazine also, which I can't say more about at this point! So very exciting! We had another exhausting year of shows, FOURTEEN!! Besides which, we showed at three different art galleries (two of which were new for us), sold at the Highland Park Farmers Market ten Saturday's in June, July, August, and September, and participated as vendors at our first two week (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday each week) show. Goodness, that is exhausting just to read! We were featured artists in July at Smiling Turtle Art Spot in Omaha (THANKS DORI!) where Chris also demonstrated during our reception.
With all that work, in addition to our normal full-time and part-time jobs (yes we both have each), we have struggled to balance work, Pixybug, our family time, chores around the house, and our relationship as a couple. I would like to paint the picture that everything is always rosy and never a problem arises. However, that would be lying and not really make anything easier. I have been working on my boundaries in difficult relationships, Chris and I are trying to work on spending quality time with each other, and we are all working on the goal of getting Mina ready for COLLEGE. (Good grief, how did time go by that fast! Wasn't she just a baby yesterday?) Our house is a total disaster (it might be easier to move than declutter and clean our current one) and our TO DO list is pretty long. Keeping this in mind, I was thankful this morning when I read the Art Jewelry Elements post. Jen Cameron shared these poems from Neil Gaiman (I love his books) and I knew I was meant to read them to ease my burdens a bit.
"Life is sometimes hard.
Things go wrong, in life and in love
and business and in friendship
and in health and in all the other ways
that life can go wrong.
And when things get tough,
this is what you should do.
Make Good Art.
Husband runs off with a politician?
Make Good Art
Leg crushed and then eaten by mutated boa constrictor?
Make Good Art
IRS on your trail?
Make Good Art
Cat exploded?
Make Good Art
Somebody on the Internet thinks what you do is stupid or evil or it's all been done before?
Make Good Art..."
-Neil Gaiman
This is precisely why I can't get my bead table organized! It is so easy to get distracted by the beads I touch, that I never get anywhere with the cleaning! This quote was also in Jen's post this morning and it sums up the challenges of being overwhelmed by the big goal, rather than looking at the tiny steps it takes to get there.
"Something that worked for me
was imagining where I wanted to be-
(an author, primarily of fiction, making good books,
making good comics, and supporting myself though my words)
-was a mountain
A distant mountain.
My goal.
And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain, I would be alright.
And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about
whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain...."
-Neil Gaiman
Thanks to Jen, for the uplifting quotes! Thanks to Neil, I can now see that a day in which my cat doesn't explode or my leg hasn't been eaten by a mutated boa, it can be conquered by a few steps toward the tough goals!
