MAP Gathering 2013

It's here!

The 2nd Annual Arts Council Gathering...

this year in Hamilton, MT.

If you are around this wonderful neck of Montana,

you won't want to miss this.

VEEERY excited about this year!

There are some fabulous seminar speakers,

some wonderful friends participating this year,

and the collection of art here is drool-worthy.

If I had a bajillion dollars...

It's like the entire state of Montana hides their most talented artists,

except for this one thing. once a year.

and this is the year....

hopefully.....

I certify.

dammit.

(more here on this tremendous endeavor)

I'll keep you posted, 

should make for a tremendous weekend.

Back to excel spreadsheet land.  

and word documents.

and more pdf files than you can shake a stick at!

I swear I make jewelry.

chop

Sawyer Series: Four Rings you can chop wood in

From left to right:

Sodalite, Carnelian, Jade, Turquoise.

Photo entitled "woodstack".

bahahah.

couldn't help myself.

Three ovals, set sideways,

for when the chopping gets wild, 

and you need all the "knuckle" you can get...

and a sweet slab of square turquoise,

low profile and beefy.

For the woman who works with her hands.

Who isn't afraid to don her jewels while in the dirt.

These rings are hammered, distressed, and come with a heavy patina.

They are meant for the field.

Meant for a heavy beating.

Strong and Stalwart.

Just like a Sawyer.

Because it's October folks.

Old Man Winter is right around the corner.

Better get to choppin'.

XO Erin

Custom work and a Bear

Outside my studio,

off the front porch...

Is this little apple tree.

Jesse was walking home in the dark last night,

from a friend's down the street,

and was startled to hear...

munching.

and twigs breaking.

from the tree.

He definitely was startled by a little black bear,

sitting right here.

Eating up the last of our apples.

The little bear left us some proof of his presence...

and if you look close,

that poop has his toe prints in it!

Standing in the spot where little bears were....

a cool thought.

Just glad it wasn't me last night, 

in the dark,

startled by the twigs snapping,

and the munching.

I think I would have had a hard time getting close to the house!

...

on another note,

the studio porch has recently been a great place to take pictures....

lots of custom work this month.

Here's a peek into some stuff i've made this week.

Tiger Iron Ring,

for miss Amy.

.....

Feather bangle with Montana Sapphires,

for miss Kim.

The inside reads:

"She is clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future"

Proverbs 31:25

....

Happy fall!

I'm off to buy pumpkins.

Some for the studio porch.

Do bears eat pumpkins?

XO Erin

punk rock and applesauce.

happiest of tuesdays,

rainy and cool.

Waiting on a delivery from the UPS man.

Studio time in October is plentiful, 

so it's nice to take a breather,

a relaxing step back from a flurry of summer work

and a good arms length from the computer.

A day to dance around the kitchen.

This is what I did today.

Because everybody loves applesauce.

and I love punk. 

Hope your fall harvest is plentiful this month.

and your house is full of loud music.
I know mine is.

xoxo Erin

on mad hatters, and a thesis.

......Legs.

A goal is just a dream unless it has legs.

And these legs need some stretching.

They've been tucked up under me all day,

curled around my seat,

under many coffee mugs,

intentions to take the dog for a walk,

and leftover lunch plates.

....

I've been nose-deep in computer/excel/accounting/spreadsheet world this week and last.

(A quick and happy realization I really do love my job in the studio,

where silver and stone could give two shits about excel)

The computer stuff is fine, no really, it is okay...

and I am getting better at it.

Minor battles won,

but not the war.

not yet.

But goals are good.  Even the ones that are not all about creativity.

I'm attempting to certify with Montana Arts Council,

as a "market-ready entrepreneur in the Arts"

by the end of October.

And this is no *new thing*

I've been in this process for almost 2 full years.

I've never written a thesis,

but this is probably as close as I will ever get to graduate school.

2 years, yeah....that's about it. 

this IS a thesis.

this IS a business plan.

this is....

a lot.

This is about evolving. and changing. and forcing yourself to do stuff you know you aren't going to like all the time, in hopes that you might just turn out on the other side for the better.  That you might actually LIKE your newfound self BETTER than you did the older version.  You might learn a few things about yourself, about your life, and about what you really do see as important.  You might understand more fully that sacrifice is...actually....not as bad as it sounds. 

oh, and yeah, there's the business stuff too.

it's like taking a magnifying glass to everything I've done and made for the last 5 years,

hoping to find some method to the madness.

Staring the rabbit hole right in the face.

“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: 

"we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, 

or you wouldn’t have come here.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

so if I don't show up here this month,

the computer has swallowed me whole.

(and not into pinterest-land, where my cyber-wardrobe kicks major butt,

and there's always some glossy-page food picture 

of some organic peanut butter or pumkin treat.  

That'd be way better.)

on to more....

break-even analysis and product line list anyone?

XO Erin