Sunday, February 6, 2022

audiobooks

Because I'm an avid listener of audiobooks, people often ask me for recommendations. I do review books on Goodreads, but I try to review "the book" itself there. So I thought I'd start a blog about audiobooks that I love. 

#1 I just re-read (listened) to Stardust by Neil Gaimen. I love when authors read their books. There's no question that it's been read as intended. Neil Gaimen is a lovely reader. He has a unique voice, and he sounds like he loves to hear a story. I would be remiss not to say that this book as graphic novel must also be read! So, ideal would be to listen to the book as you look at the graphic novel. I haven't done that yet but I intend to.

Neil has many good audiobooks some (american gods) read by him, others (anansi boys) not, but as he said in the bonus interview at the end of the audiobook, he sometimes feels that the characters need a different narrator. Isn't it nice how much he cares?

Sunday, June 22, 2014

First day of school? In June?

My teaching year is done, but tomorrow... Oh tomorrow! I am taking a jewelry class, and I'm so excited! I admit, I hoped for rain this weekend. I wanted to clean up my studio, lay out my tools, go through my findings and sketches... I feel like the kid who is gathering their supplies and packing her backpack for back-to-school.

It's a good time of life to be able to choose the class I'm taking; have some experience, skill, and supplies to set my goals for what I want to learn, practice, and accomplish in the class; and to be in a field I passionately love. 

I can't expect my students to come to art class with all those things, but they can bring some. Luckily, most of them "choose" to be there, and many love art too. I hope my students are all as excited for summer as I am for my summer class, and in the fall I hope they feel the same excitement I feel today. 

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Trying to peep my sanity...

Sometimes I look at my work and wonder, "is there something very, very wrong with me?" Then a little glass peep peeks out at me as it's breaking out of its plaster shell. Do I see a teeny smile in its beak? And I know that... Oh gosh... I'm talking to glass peeps... yes, there is indeed something very wrong with me!

Come get your fresh glass peeps next weekend at City Folk Handwork!
http://www.cityfolkhandwork.com/html/events.html

The shy glass peep emerges from its plaster shell into the sunlit field of flowers.
Did it just wink at me? 


Friday, March 21, 2014

Fused Glass Pendants

The dilemma: I've been making fused glass pendant necklaces for years, but they sell so fast I rarely get a chance to photograph them. And they're each unique, truly one of a kind. What catches a person's eye when they see the one they want! The background color? The design? Some abstract imagery they find? Probably a combination of all these. Here are a few that are currently available. And I promise to add more as they come out of the kiln. 

This "strata" design was made with a pattern bars technique



Multimedia necklace - somehow the overalls hardware seemed to go with this pendant, and then of course the necklace needed to be denim. There are several button holes so that it can be worn at different lengths. 



NOT Fused Glass! My twisted, crochet silver wire necklaces  are available in many colors, and can be custom made with the gems or beads of your choice. This one is dark brown jasper. They look like they'd be itchy and uncomfortable, but surprisingly they are not at all so. This style definitely lays better in a short collar- or choker-style length. 

Friday, March 14, 2014

New Glass Work

Peeps!
Now that I have your attention… yes it's that time of year again. Easter's coming, and those peeps are so cute. You can't deny it. But the taste? Yeccccccch! Glass peeps have all the adorableness of a peep, without having to eat it!

For my Fashion-Forward Friends…
Glass Belt Buckles
 The coolest thing about these colorful beauties is that they're interchangeable. You can wear a different color, different style each day but use the same leather belt strap.
 Millefiore was a popular item in the fall, so I made plenty more in time for spring.


Monday, March 10, 2014

Podcasts - Academic Aesthetic

TheArtGuy's Academic Aesthetic podcast could hardly be more in my wheelhouse. This K-6 art teacher covers a wide variety of topics related to art, art education, and technology. The episodes are short - 7-15 minutes - practical, and interesting for a fellow elementary school art teacher.

The episodes I listened to seemed to mostly be based on his personal opinion and interests. His opinions are agreeable to me, and he seems well-informed in his subject area, so I enjoyed listening to it.

Unfortunately, I could not access the podcast through his iTunes link, only via his website. so navigating an episode to rewind, etc. was not easy. I could click on a subject from the episode and see the transcript for it, but could not figure out how to scroll through that text. He mentioned his tumbler account, but the links only opens a dialog box to make suggestions. I for one have become too lazy to do much more than click on a link when I'm ON the internet. If I really want to access or contact someone, I will copy and paste the information, but if the link is there, glowing at me, I might click it out of curiosity.

I hope if this ArtGuy is serious about his web presence he will add some key links that will help navigate and find relevant information. No new podcasts have been dropped since the fall, so maybe it was a passing phase, but he seems to be excited about what he does, and filled with many good ideas to share.

academicaesthetic.com