Off to a good start.......

Hello,  This year has started with plenty of interesting activity,

   I taught a class doing stone sculpture, visited a wonderful artist

             studio, and started a pottery class, 

my studio is stocked with supplies,    

 projects to last months on end....

and the weather is wonderful 

                                                    It's California........

     To prepare for the class I needed stones,
    driftwood, stray shells, dried seaweed etc.
    This is our local beach,
    I live in the coastal town you see in the background .

     
     I find the best material in piles like this.......
    everything needs to be bone dry,
    OH! I hope I find a few bones too.........

     Back at my studio, I lay out some items
     I'll use for my sample I take to share
     with the group...
     this stone is about as big as a fist,
     dry seaweed, these fancy shells
     I did not find at my beach,
     but I have baskets full of things to choose from.........

   
     I use wax linen,
     as it holds so nicely together when making knots....
     I tie around the stone 5 or 6 times
     depending on how much I plan on attaching..........

     I begin to tie and knot on pieces,
      using a half hitch knot as I go..........

     This is the finished sea sculpture,
      as you can see I used coral, beads,
     very tiny bits of dried plant material
     and left the " tails " of my wax linen
      to un~ coil to produce a wavy thread effect,
      being it's stiff with wax it stays where I place it .

     This is a larger one I did all in tones of white
      looks elegant under a dome....

     The class ( sorry no photo's ) was a success,
     and I think everyone enjoyed it.
     you can knot literally anything on a stone,
      piece of driftwood, an old book.......
     The most mundane becomes so magical
     and especially under glass.................

     I was invited to go to a artist studio,
      Lynn's work was quite inspiring,
      but it was her alpaca's that stole my heart....
     such gentle creatures, so curious, beautiful .

     These animals are loved like pets,
      each are named, there are mothers and fathers
     sons and daughters all living together in harmony
     well most of the time I gather......
     If I had land I would want alpaca's and donkeys.......
      I left with a swollen heart.....

     Speaking of hearts........ It's almost valentines day,
     on a trip down to Santa Barbara I pulled into a 'vista point'
     and all the boulders were carved with sentiments
     of love, these valentines will last forever................

     I leave you with hearts I've found....
     dried seaweed, shaped in a heart my husband found for me,
     a driftwood heart I prize as one of my very best finds ever .
    There are hearts all around us,
     when there is love in our hearts
     we see and find them......
           Happy Valentines Day  ~
     Wishing you happy days ~ victoria