One of the many podcasts I listen to is The Writer's Almanac. Had to share this poem today. Love it.

Excerpts from "How to be Perfect" by Ron Padgett Get some sleep. Eat an orange every morning. Be friendly. It will help make you happy. Hope for everything. Expect nothing. Take care of things close to home first. Straighten up your room before you save the world. Then save the world. Be nice to people before they have a chance to behave badly. Don't stay angry about anything for more than a week, but don't forget what made you angry. Hold your anger out at arm's length and look at it, as if it were a glass ball. Then add it to your glass ball collection. Wear comfortable shoes. Do not spend too much time with large groups of people. Plan your day so you never have to rush. Show your appreciation to people who do things for you, even if you have paid them, even if they do favors you don't want. After dinner, wash the dishes. Calm down. Don't expect your children to love you, so they can, if they want to. Don't be too self-critical or too self-congratulatory. Don't think that progress exists. It doesn't. Imagine what you would like to see happen, and then don't do anything to make it impossible. Forgive your country every once in a while. If that is not possible, go to another one. If you feel tired, rest. Don't be depressed about growing older. It will make you feel even older. Which is depressing. Do one thing at a time. If you burn your finger, put ice on it immediately. If you bang your finger with a hammer, hold your hand in the air for 20 minutes. you will be surprised by the curative powers of ice and gravity. Do not inhale smoke. Take a deep breath. Do not smart off to a policeman. Be good. Be honest with yourself, diplomatic with others. Do not go crazy a lot. It's a waste of time. Drink plenty of water. When asked what you would like to drink, say, "Water, please." Take out the trash. Love life. Use exact change. When there's shooting in the street, don't go near the window. Excerpts from "How to be Perfect" by Ron Padgett, from How to be Perfect. © Coffee House Press, 2007. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)

Another Fabulous Art Tribe Weekend

Mothers' Day Weekend

We went on a grand adventure this weekend. Here is little man, out standing in his field (well, Liz's field on Lopez Island) watching the border collies herd the sheep.

A nearby working farm had a little food coop in one of their barns. You weigh your produce, write your purchase in their spiral bound notebook, make change with their change box and head home. We bought some beet greens, kale and some pork breakfast sausage. We all *loved* that breakfast sausage! We'll be asking Liz to bring us more each time she visits :)

It was such a glorious day! Mt. Baker in the distance here. We flew a kite on the ferry deck on the way over to Lopez and on the way home we blew bubbles. A *huge* hit, I highly recommend bringing bubbles when travelling with a preschooler. Really it was a big hit with the whole side of the ferry, I could see folks smiling and pointing out the bubbles floating by their windows. The dogs on the ferry loved them too.

little man "fishing" at the Lopez Island ferry landing, with the hose.

More journal pages.

Visions of my cleaned out, organized studio. Time to get rid of all the stuff I don't work with any longer.
Notes for the sewing camp I am teaching this summer.

Playing with cut out typography right now. Paging through my journal and adding words to complete the artwork. I've always loved circles, the colour wheel imagery is a newer addition, and yes, I live in Seattle, so I put a bird on it. ;)

Another opportunity! I'm teaching a silver clay jewelry class again this Saturday at Schack Art Center in Everett, WA. I love, love these days, seeing all the new jewelry created by the artists in class. These samples are all student work.

And oh, the Schack Art Center! The light, the space! I love teaching there (and taking classes there too).

This summer I am teaching a new class at the Schack Art Center. Recycling vintage jewelry into new more wearable creations. This sample has a lot going on, I included a lot of techniques. You can also use the techniques in a more streamlined necklace too.

Dutch Baby with blueberries.