Getting Unstuck

I was terribly busy for a while. My "day job," which will be coming to an end by about Labor Day, is at its busiest right now, so I'm working more hours than usual. I've also been trying to up my game as an eBay PowerSeller so that when I'm no longer working a job with a wage, there will be no significant loss of income. And I've been giving my all--all that's left, that is--to volunteer work with my favorite nonprofit.

I looked back over my calendar for the past couple of weeks and saw that, although I'd written in blocks of studio time, I rarely made art. Consequently, life was beginning to feel as mundane and meaningless as it did before I threw myself back into being an artist about a year ago.

So one day last week, I had a couple of cups of strong coffee in the late afternoon and then gave my mosaic studio a good cleaning. I got all of the projects that are in progress on one work bench and cleared the other for new work. I had "parked" materials for new projects all over the studio, so I spent an hour sorting materials by type and color.

A day or two later, I added some things I noticed that I needed while cleaning up--some better task lighting over my main bench and a bigger, heavy duty garbage can. I also prepped my next project, a lamp, by covering the lampshade with a beautiful botanical fabric that will serve as inspiration for the mosaic on the lamp itself.

The pay off came last night. My family was all out doing other things and I had the evening alone at home. I hit the ground running in my studio! I was able to easily gather up materials for the new lamp project--broken pottery, glass marbles, brown beach glass, and red stones--and begin work.

It really helped that I'd spent those several hours this past week preparing the space for creative work. Once I finally got started again, the creative juices were really flowing. What I had intended to be a solid diagonal green line somehow morphed into a stem that blossomed in pink at both ends, setting the tone for a much more organic piece than I had originally envisioned. Ahhh...back in business.

Preparing to Show at a Local Coffee House

One of the seating options at Espresso Buono, 5106 196th St., Lynnwood, WA

Espresso Buono, a "European garden cafe" in Lynnwood, Washington, is the next place I'll be showing and selling my mosaic art. This coffee shop is a hidden gem. It's on 196th Street, a busy thoroughfare. Once you order your coffee and take it out back to the garden, it's as if you've been transported to a completely different time and place. There are ponds and trails, garden sculptures, and a variety of indoor and outdoor seating options. Check out the photo tour here: http://espressobuono.com/

Penny, enjoying a granita and a good book

The proprietor, Penny Wight, is an energetic person with great enthusiasm for the arts. Art work and books are sold at the cafe, and there are frequent concerts. In Penny's latest Tweet, she muses about hosting a music festival on the Espresso Buono grounds in 2010. She includes information about the artists currently selling at the shop in her website: http://espressobuono.com/our-local-artists.htm

I am still doing my part-time "day job" as an editor for a local university until my replacement is hired and trained, but today I am working from home. So it will be a great day to take a coffee break at Espresso Buono and wrap up the details of when I should begin bringing my work over. This venue is going to be perfect for my mosaics. People who love to sit in a garden setting to drink coffee will also like my birdhouses, I'm sure!

Refrigerator Composition:
The Law of Attraction

Tonight is the Edmonds Art Walk, and my first real show as a featured artist at a gallery. My mosaics will be on display (and for sale!) at The Rose House, 555 Main Street, Edmonds, WA. The Art Walk runs from 5 to 8 pm tonight.

The Rose House is also open to the public on Saturdays from 9 am to 3 pm, when a weekly Arts & Wellness Fair is held. This beautiful Victorian home is just one block from the Edmonds Farmers Market. The works of about 15 artists are on display inside the house, and there will be other artists selling their work in the yard. There's also a weekly charity garage sale, with lots of fun stuff!

















I have a few more pieces to install this afternoon, and I'll be glad to have a little break from getting ready for this show. I've been gluin' and groutin' till the cows come home every night. (As one of my children pointed out, this could be quite an expanse of time, since we don't actually have any cows...) My garden and other aspects of my life need some attention.

The Rose House, Edmonds, Washington

THE ROSE HOUSE, 555 Main Street, Edmonds, WA


Here's an email I wrote to my cousin Patti this morning. I wanted to share the same information here on my blog.

Hi Patti,

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. It has been a very busy time for me. I'm the featured artist at The Rose House, 555 Main Street, in the Edmonds Art Walk on Thursday night between 5 and 8 pm. Now that Betsy is nearly grown up and is so much more independent, I have found some time to start making my own pottery tiles and incorporate them into mosaic works. I still have a couple of pieces to get grouted for tomorrow night's Art Walk, though!

You are probably out of town now, but if you get a chance, stop by The Rose House any Saturday between 9 am and 3 pm. This is the big Victorian home at 6th & Main that used to be pink and then was repainted white about 10 years ago. There are Art & Wellness Fairs happening there each Saturday, and you can go into the house and enjoy the artwork of about 14 different artists. There will also be a few more artists selling their work outside and a garage sale going on in the back yard each Saturday.

There is a story that goes with the house. It is owned by a local company that was planning to tear it down or give it away so they could build a corporate headquarters on the lot. One of the blessings of the recession is that this isn't going to happen. The house is back on the market, and a nonprofit has been formed to try to buy the house before somebody else does and make it into a community center for the arts, wellness, sustainability and global understanding. I'm very involved in this effort. For the time being, the house is being rented month-to-month by Susan Blalock, the president of the nonprofit. She's working with major donors to try to come up with a down payment, as well as raising awareness and small donations so we can keep paying the rent until something bigger comes through.

I hope you'll get a chance to stop by the house...I'll be there this Thursday night and all day each Saturday for the foreseeable future (I'm in charge of the charity garage sale!). It's an elegant place that will be a perfect venue for lots of other nonprofits to use for their fundraising as well, plus it's a great space for all sorts of classes, lectures, cooking demonstrations, etc. Upstairs there are beautiful bedroom suites that could be used for artists in residence or to offer respite for health caretakers.

When I first heard about the multiplicity of goals that the nonprofit has for The Rose House, it all sounded kind of "whoo-whoo" to me. But once I stepped inside the house for the first time, I got it. It's just too nice of a place for Edmonds to lose. So many people have told me that they wish they could buy the house, but it's too expensive (currently priced at $1.1 million, I think). So the idea is to buy the house and make it a place that everyone in the community can use and enjoy. Oh my gosh! Did I mention the gardens, the green house, the gazebo, and the decks? Gorgeous!

So, anyway, I would love to get together with you when you're back home. You know where to find me on Saturdays so stop by, or give me a call and we'll meet some other day.

Love,

Sue

My Studio Needs a Blog!

I've been a busy working mom for many years. All this time, I was doing mosaic in my head. Now the kids are nearly grown, so in the past year I've finally had time to actually begin throwing it down. Or perhaps I should say gluing and grouting it down.

I've emptied out a bedroom vacated by one of the kids and created a mosaic studio. I make my own tiles at a local sculptors studio where I can use a slab roller, kilns and so on. I also break plates to make pottery and china tiles, and I incorporate found items. In fact, most of the items I choose to cover with mosaic are found objects. I browse thrift shops, garage sales, estate sales, and antique stores for furniture and other items with good bones that I can mosaic. I particularly like to do clocks.

I'm beginning to have some success with selling my mosaics. I am in two galleries this month and am the featured artist at one of them for our town's monthly Art Walk. You can see my work at The Rose House, 555 Main Street, Edmonds, Washington, all this month and particularly this Thursday night from 5 to 8 pm during the Art Walk. I also have some handmade tiles on display at the Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main Street, Edmonds, Washington.

Sue Soaring Sun