Paper Meditations

          It was rewarding to start the year by reaching 1000 followers to my PaperMeditations Instagram account. I was also gratified to complete some major art projects in 2019. You can read about them in my previous posts, including the table décor for a Bat Mitzvah , and the store window display in the United Kingdom . In addition, I was honored to have been recognized as a Master Artisan with the PA Guild of Craftsmen and to have receives awards for two pieces in the Lancaster County Art Association shows.           Those were the major accomplishments of the year but there were challenges too. When I started writing a monthly blog a year ago I didn’t think it would be difficult to find things to talk about but there have been more than a few times in the past year that I found myself stuck for an idea. One bit of advice my son offered me a few months ago was “write it for yourself as if it were like a diary”. Thanks to th...

I was presented with an amazing opportunity in October. At that time, I was approached by Simon Morgan, the owner of  Bread + Butter Creative , a small  agency from Leeds, UK . He had seen my work on Instagram and asked if I would be interested in supplying 24 Blooming Facets of varying sizes for a holiday window display he was creating for   Owen & Robinson , a jewelry store client. I have always believed my work to be uniquely suited for store window displays so I was excited to take on the job. I got to work right away, got it done and out the door faster than I estimated and was happy that everything was going smoothly... until it didn't.   On Wednesday, November 6 th , I was very relieved to hear that the biggest and most important art project I had ever worked on was delivered successfully to the UK! This confirmation arrived after two weeks of intense work, followed by two weeks of anxious waiting for delivery by USPS Priority Int...

           Halloween costumes have always been important to me. As a child my mother created wonderful, elaborate costumes for me and my brothers. My costumes as The Jolly green Giant and the Statue of Liberty won awards in our local contests. (Somehow, we created our own green make-up!) It was so fun to get compliments on my mother's creations that I wanted my own kids to have that same experience. I also enjoyed the creative process so I carried on the tradition.           My two oldest children are close in age so I was usually making two costumes at the same time every October. I really enjoyed the creative challenge of finding materials and putting them together. I  usually looked in goodwill stores for the basic pieces of a costume and keep adding details. I could hand stitch fabric together but I didn't have my mothers skills on a sewing machine so I relied on hot glue some of the time. My mom taught me that having a "...

      September began with a wonderful break! My husband and I flew across the country to San Diego, California where we enjoyed a week of beautiful weather, beaches, the famous zoo and many other  sights and activities. Unfortunately on the first night of our vacation, I got news that my elderly mother had pushed her emergency alert button and was on her way to her local hospital 3,000 miles away from us! Fortunately my brother was able to be with her and she was released the same night but of course I remained concerned for the rest of the trip.       Right after returning home, refreshed and ready to start a new week I got another alert that Mom had pushed her button again and was on her way to the hospital! I spent that week with my mom in the hospital and then at her home in New Jersey while she regained her strength a bit. That was a stress filled week so I was glad to get home and regroup.       Finally, halfway through Septem...

GOALS           I started August with a goal in mind. I wanted to spend more time on my art by saying "no" to household chores at least for most of the day and catch up on them at night. I am best with the creative process when I am not tired but I can do the laundry anytime! I have come to realize that it is easy to be"doing things" and use it as an excuse not to sit down and create. It is a real struggle so I wrote this little note about saying "no" and had it on my studio lamp all month. It didn't help.Well actually it did for a short time and then I wrote a new list. The new list was to remind me for this blog post of all the things I neglected: cleaning up dishes, preparing meals, vacuuming and making phone calls! At least I had the creative part covered for awhile. Apparently I need to work on a better balance of the things I want to devote time too. Coincidentally, early in the month I came across a Ted Talk and a book that discuss saying ...

Looking at my recent Instagram posts, I realized that I only shared two photos in July... That is really disappointing since I was actually working on a lot! Fortunately, I have the photos to prove it. Following is a synopsis of my creative endeavors of July and a great example of how I work. I would characterize my process as one thing leads to another , and then I get DISTRACTED!  First thing this month, I had fun making the Independence Day piece that you can see on Instagram . I had the patriotic paper in my stash, so I just played around with it until a star was born!  I started a piece early in the month that was inspired by a photo of a flower. I had never tried to recreate a flower before, and I was excited to give it a try... but I got stuck before I even started putting it together. Here is the flower photo, the color scheme, and some elements of the piece in progress:  While trying to move forward on the flower piece, I was confronted with a ...