Yippee Skippee!

This catalogue for Bead Fest Santa Fe just came in the mail, bundled with my copy of Lapidary Journal Jewelery Artist. And that's my silver and resin cloud on the cover!  Those little letters underneath say "Pat Evans" for all the world--or all the subscribers, anyway--to see. I'd been feeling a little down because I haven't heard from Bead and Button, which at this point means that I didn't get in. Getting this positioning on the cover for Bead Fest makes me feel a whole lot better.

The show is in March...I'm really looking forward to the trip. My cousin and I are going to drive there and sightsee all along the way. Anyone else up for a cool jewelry vacation to escape the dregs of winter? Santa Fe is going to be a great show, and I'd love to see my friends there. (And there are lots of cool classes besides mine.)

Feeling like a beginner....

I started taking some online art classes through my local community college. Although I think of myself as a jewelry artist, I don't think of myself as an "artist" artist. Being in a beginning digital art class with people who can paint rings around me is a humbling experience. (We won't even discuss Beginning Drawing.) However well I end up doing in these classes, I've already learned one big lesson--I'm remembering how it feels to not know how to do something, how frustrating it is when the teacher seems to assume I already know some vital step, how different my final product is from the image in my mind, how much better everyone else's work seems than mine, and how afraid I am that I'll never be as good as the other kids. I may not ever be able to sketch like Degas, but I hope I'll at least keep all these emotions in mind the next time I teach.

Summer work

It must be summer

when starfish hijack my art

and waves call my name

The Power of Lists

Even though September always feels like the "real" new year to me, thanks to many years of school, kids in school, and teaching, I like the fresh start of January, too. I love making lists, having the dream of achieving everything on them, and checking off accomplishments (which usually lasts a few days, at least.) The good news is that even though the lists go by the wayside sooner or later, the intentions in them live on. I recently found a list of goals from a couple of years ago, and I had actually achieved most of them, even thought the list was long forgotten.

So it is that even though I know myself well enough to know that I won't keep up with the check-offs for long, I am busily making lists of goals in various areas of my life--Health, Home, Art and Business. I'm breaking them down into smaller steps, and trying to do a little in each area every day. It's day 2 and I've already slipped up on some things (no walking yesterday, sigh). But that's OK. The intention is there, and I've learned not to let one slip-up stop all progress. So off I went to walk this morning.

It helped that I had an appointment to walk with a friend. I used to keep my goals closely held, so that if I goofed, no one would know. I've learned that sharing the goals with a few close friends, and working with them to attain them, helps to keep me accountable. So I'm adding another goal to the list--find like-minded people to work with in supporting ourselves in that perpetual search for growth. May you find many supporters on your path, too--and let me know if you need me to be on your team. I'll certainly be contacting some of you.