Can it be?!!

My heart is racing in anticipation...can it be? Is it possible that I have 2 whole days in the studio starting tomorrow? I am going to get the studio ready tonight and then...tomorrow...no computer (sorry to the 1.6 people that read this), no telephone, no children (until 3:30, that is). I just hope I don't spend hours just staring at wool and not knowing what to do!. I will do some sketching tonight and tomorrow I am lost in studio land. Whoopee!

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Is that light I see??

I have yet to put the store back together and unpack my wool to assess the supply situation! I will probably do that after this entry. That is if the glass of wine I am sipping does not put me in a state of extreme relaxation and apathy. The boys are insulting each other over the dinner dishes they are washing and I am trying to ignore it and let them work it out. Hmm, they are done...things are quiet. That is except for the dog chasing the setting suns reflection against the wall. Considering he is half Border Collie, he sure is dumb (did I say that?). Today was full of volunteering, surly customers, errands to prepare for field trips and the like...but now it is actually peaceful. Almost like the last 12 hours did not just happen in what seemed like the last 6. I think I will sneak away to the studio, tidy up and get my space ready for studio time later this week...bye!

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The last two days...

I have just finished a 2 day needle felted figure workshop at the Canadian Embroiderers Association Seminar. 20 wonderful women full of fun and adventure. I must say that my students were the envy of the seminar as everyone came in to see what we were doing. Great stuff, quick workers and close to home. A good 2 days. Tomorrow my day is full of catching up, mailing paperwork and registrations for kids summer day camps, meeting regarding selling Acorn's Journey (my business with my Mom), post office, doctor, bank, the exchange to send workshop deposits for my workshops funded by my grant!....whew. Can I fit it all in tomorrow and lunch with Mom at the Radisson? Oh, I think so! Tomorrow night is Market Madness at the seminar and I have students expecting supplies so Mom and I will be there. Saturday is Mayfair at the Mulberry School and mom and I will set up Acorn's Journey, hopefully for the last time at Mayfair. I am so busy with art stuff, I just can't do it all and be a Mom myself...the most important job ever.
S-t-u-d-i-o? ...next week!!

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Long Weekend

Sunday is here and tomorrow is a holiday. The kitty is lounging in my suitcase as it is currently empty. My next teaching engagement is here in Kingston, but I will have a busy week. It is almost easier being away to teach as I can don one hat, no cooking, no shuttling children to and fro. Nevertheless, I am happier at home with my boys (most of the time!).

I will be at the Embroiderers Association of Canada's seminar teaching figures to a large group of 20. I will fit in some other things during the week like a quick coffee with my dear friend, Nicole and a meeting with my mother regarding the impending sale of our Waldorf education business. I will still sell fibre, but Mom and I are ready for it to go to someone who has the time to invest. It is such a gem of a company and I am somewhat reluctant to let it go, but it will free up some responsibility as well as result in doubling my studio space, which appeals to me greatly. I can then put in proper sink and other things (I want to cry at the thought!) I may even look into a safe way to establish an indoor dye area with proper ventilation. (Sniff sniff!). I need to do some soul searching and give my long term plan some thought. So difficult when as artists we are such slaves to the arts market (however that can be defined!) Well, I have procrastinated today to get some paper work done. I am one third of the way done and need to have it done by Monday! The studio seems way too far away. One more week and I am studio focused...I'm sooo ready to hit the wool!

Visit my site www.andrea-graham.com

Masterworks East

The lecture and opening went well yesterday. Not a lot of people, but a nice group of interesting folks. I had a nice visit with Emma Quinn and Sara Washbush from the OCC (Ontario Crafts Council) as well as a few other people with work in the exhibition. There are some other deadlines coming up for entries, so today I am going through my "call for entry file" to see what I need to work on in the studio. I will also add a couple that Emma let me know about last night. I have also been asked to be an assessor/juror for the Ontario Arts Council and doing that today is the first priority. I had to get some teaching out of the way before I could focus on it, but now I am ready! The least I can do after being a grant recipient myself. Next week I have a 2 day figures workshop for the Canadian Embroiderers Association. The have my class full to the brim, and I am going to be run off my feet. I will. of course, give 100% and love every minute of teaching while I am theres, but I will be glad when I can check this one off the list as "done" and look ahead to time in the studio getting work ready for shows before I need to plan for my June/July teaching!

Visit my site www.andrea-graham.com

Off again today- short trip

Well, I had a lovely time in Almonte. I spoke at the Mississippi Mills Textile Museum to a group as part of their 20th anniversary Gala. They followed my talk with a reception with yummy goodies and wine and I had a chance to meet some of the workshop participants for the following day. I stayed with Kay at her "farm". Yes, it is a farm, with lots of cows, sheepdog, a donkey, chickens and the like, but the most elegant, pristine farm I have ever had the pleasure of visiting. The workshop went very well and I was lucky to have a group of artists as things could have gotten a bit tricky if they had to be walked through the creative part. This is a good thing for me to consider with this workshop which I will be teaching at the Midwest Felter's Symposium. I returned home to switch to my mom hat and checked in with the boys' teachers.

Today (after taking the boys to school and grocery shopping) I will head to Picton to pick up some wool locks at a fibre shop and then head to Bellevile to give a lecture and attend an opening for Masterworks East. A lot of hat switching lately!!

Visit my site www.andrea-graham.com

Studio Tour Weekend-Mother's Day complaints

Studio tour weekend begins today. I hung my work at my friend Robin's place and will head over later this morning. For now I am just having a quiet moment and waiting for coffee! I am there tomorrow, as well....Mother's Day. I'm really not a fan of Mother's Day. I wonder how many other women have expectations on the day and are disappointed every year. I try not to be, I really, really do. I have tried reducing my expectations on the day and this year made sure I was busy so perhaps it would not be so glaringly obvious that I am not appreciated (cue music). Instead, I am coming home after 2 long days (before 2 more long days of teaching, I might add) and hosting a BBQ arranged by everyone else. Just one time it would be nice to be asked what I would like to do on Mother's Day instead of what does everyone else think Mother's Day should look like. I never make it through the day without crying and already feel like crap thinking about it. Then, of course, I must remember the day is not just about me, but my wonderful Mother and Mother-in-Law and I never feel like I do enough for them. Just not a good day for me! But...today is not Mother's Day. It is studio tour, day one. Today I will sell some art. I must sell some art. And I get to hang out with 3 other fabulous women (all Mother's, I might add) and
it will be a great day!

Visit my site www.andrea-graham.com