thoughts...

Thoughts today.

About how lucky I am to have the group of people around me that I am proud to call my friends.

great people. good hearts. good souls.

It really makes a difference.

Positive life breeds positive life.

Positive thoughts too.

And in print, having to type all that, reminds me exactly how important it is....

never take your days, your people, or your creativity for granted.

Because someday you will wake up, and everything will change. Life evolves, and you do your best to evolve too. Nothing is still, stagnant, unless you believe it to be.

I am not stuck.....I sometimes trick myself into believing that....stuck in my job, stuck in finances. just stuck in the mud and the mire.

Life is good. and deserves respect.

Creativity is good. and deserves time.

And never forget that it is the PEOPLE that you have that make life rich. And I am very lucky to have hit the jackpot here folks. Gold. Solid Gold.

home

545 west 8th street

So the big news I have eluded to, the reason why I have been a little loopy, a lot less focused, stressed and blurred, completely distracted at times, my source of great excitement and surreality......I am now a great big 'ol adult.....Jesse and I bought a house.

a great house.

a cute, fun, adorable, exciting, quirky, old house.

in whitefish.

in town.

right downtown.

where I can ride my bike to work.

and the post office.

and the grocery.

with the woods and a creekbed right behind us.

with deer in the yard.

and big trees.

and garages.

with room for the bungalito.

and all of jesse's crap.

with a porch for tex.

and room for my own garden.

and for flowers and a clothesline.

...

so exciting.

I really still don't know what to think. We have been here now two weeks and it seems like we just got here, every day I walk in the door. My door. To my kitchen.

It is all so great and overwhelming.

home.

Market season is here and summer is coming quick! Started off a little windy....but great to be back into the swing of things. I can't tell you how excited and hopeful I am for this market year, I have lots of great stuff that I didn't have last year, have acquired a few new pieces mostly from the spring semester at school, and most exciting of all........I have a S T U D I O!!!

This year I am trying out doing two different markets every week....one here in Whitefish and my favorite market, the one in Columbia Falls that I did the past two years. They are both such great places to hang in the early evenings, good music, great food, and usually I see at LEAST 10 people I know. The great part about Montana, and the reason I still live here, are the people. Montanans I swear are some of the friendliest and most humble people out there. The support for handmade crafts and art is part of people's livelihood for a lot of Montanans too, whether it's selling raffle tickets for the local soccer team, buying veggies from your neighbor farmer, trading venison for rhubarb pie, enjoying local honey.... There is this great respect for craft-work, and for independent work, and for eeking out a living in Montana doing just that....eeking out a living. I can't tell you how invigorating, as an artist, it is to be surrounded by people who all make or grow and sell their own products. Farmers markets are this great buzz of creative work, and it just fills me up...I love it.

I have the great pleasure of sitting and setting up next to a couple that do the "market circuit", they run a screenprinting tee-shirt business. They are awesome people, just the kind you want to sit next to when the wind starts whipping through the market and your tent is looking a little ornery.....Scott and Charisse are just awesome. Their Tee's are hanging in the background of the shots of my booth, really great and creative stuff. You can find their work here:

WHITEFISH STYLE

So here's to a fun market season........

Where there is always good company, in the shade and the sun, in the wind and the rain. Where pie and beer are forms of currency, and kids are covered in sticky colorful sugar of some kind. Where I find that I am in the company of great art, music, and love.

Mushrooms in the garden yesterday......reminding us all that there are always little surprises hiding in the dirt.

Garden season has hit, and I have full blown Lettuce and Arugula, just thinned out our Beets, and am hoping to find more seed potatoes before it's too late. If the sun would shine, that would help too.

Farmer's Market season is here, and I am so mad at myself for forgetting my camera! I didn't take a single picture of the first market for Rag and Stone this year....dammit. (but i must say, best table yet folks) Oh well, I will get some shots on thursday at the Columbia Falls Market for ya'll....I have got this year dialed down to a green army trunk, two fold up tables, and a little wire screen for my earrings. Packing light compared to a lot of vendors.....I just need a dolly, or something with wheels, to make it all that much easier.

Hope your day is filled with little surprises, maybe a little fungi. Love, Erin

Mariposa lillies, sometimes called butterfly tulips, are my favorite wildflower. They are so simple and gorgeous. They stand alone, on one stalk, and command attention. There are so many different kinds, they are all over the country, but I saw them a lot in Colorado growing up, and there are a lot in Glacier National Park. Like this pretty little one:

Calochortus apricultus

a pretty awesome little flower.

this flower is all over Glacier Park, and every time I see it, it's love.

After writing yesterday's post, a little more melodramatic than I meant, I realized I hadn't shared my newest piece. I also realized, it's not so bad, I like my job and the freedom it can create for me. I do miss my new friends, but I am so blessed to have some pretty rad friends here too.

Studio time has been rare, yes, but I had this piece almost wrapped up before AK, and so all I had to do when I got home was pop in this be-a-uuuutiful little moonstone. I rarely get the opportunity to make myself something, and this little pendant I think I am going to have to keep. For a lot of reasons.

Moonstones have always been associated with women. They represent the wain and wax of the moon, mooncycles, and all things female. Moonstone is a representation of the mother goddess, and helps to experience, process and balance emotions. It is a direct reflection of the wearer, neither detracts or adds, and helps to show what "is".

That being said, I can't think of a better stone for me lately. Processing life has been a great and beautiful challenge lately, lots of great changes and opportunities. Lots of stuff.....big stuff...to process. More on that later. In the meantime, I am going to run fast to the studio before something gets in the way!

love, Erin

Post Adventure Depression

also known as PAD. That's what we all referred to when we were in AK, knowing that this trip of a lifetime was slowly coming to an end.....back to the real world......

I have really had NO time to process this amazing adventure. Jumping back into life has been such a whirlwind. My job is off-the-hook-busy, I have been pulling 50 hour weeks trying to whip the brewery into summer mode. (for all of you joining, I help manage a tasting room and bar in Whitefish, the Black Star Draught House) We have 6 new employees, doubling our staff, a new menu, and a whole bunch of rain that keeps the brave tourists inside, and the weaker-at heart at home. It's been a weird start to the summer season.....slow....and nuts for me.....but not because the bar is busy.....

studio time is next to nil.

and mostly, I just wish i was still in AK. I met some of the BEST folks, all with an abounding zest for life, and adventure, and the outdoors, truly a masterpiece of friends. SOOOOO...I thought i would share a few of these great people with you.....I miss them all.

the lovely Emily....she built her own boat.

Canyon, fairly dubbed the "cruise director"....none of this would have happened without him.

Biscuit

Matt

Ladies....from left Robin, Grover, and Emily.

my man and his morning coffee...

The other double kayak, Chris and Robin, they were much faster than Jesse and I.

Leaner and Grover....

There is nothing better than meeting people, connecting with people in the world who share the same fire for life....all of these folks I am proud to have met and traveled with.

This trip has also served as a platform for friends to start up a non-profit for youth in the outdoors.....check 'em out! GO YAKIN!

Tidepools!

There is something so magical about the ocean....everything is alive, everything is moving! One of my favorite days in AK was tidepool day, I took my green tea and my raincoat, and I explored this stretch of beach for hours....and hours.....I couldn't get enough.....The colors and the textures, All i could think of was "how am I going to translate this into silver!?"

I have many awesome pebbles and rock bits I hope to bring to you in jewelry form soon!

ALASKA!