Gratitude . . .

It is the week of Thanksgiving. This year is different for our family. Generally we have a housefull of aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. This year, the extended family have found themselves traveling to visit others around the area and our family will be enjoying a quieter celebration. I am grateful. With children growing, becoming adults, and moving on in the world, our time surrounding a dinner table is growing fewer and fewer. When we do find ourselves around the table, it seems that we are rushed and not as connected.

My memories go back to the time when the children were all in elementary and middle school. I have fond memories of sitting around the dinner table. It was generally casual. I love to cook, but hate the cleanup. Often our dinners were dished up at the stove and we carried what we needed to the table. In my childhood, dinner required "setting the table" with plates, glasses, napkins, knives, forks, spoons, and all of the accompaniments like butter, salt, pepper, jam, etc. Each meal was an event. And it was lovely. But I often choose a more casual approach. . .

Once we were all settled, I wanted to engage in conversation with the family. We would play "High Low". One by one we would go around the table and tell about the high point of our day, and the low point. Some days, we would have wonderful, exciting "highs". Mostly; however, it would be simple things like who they played with at recess or completing their homework on time. This simple ritual gave me a wonderful glimpse into my children's daily lives when they were away from me.

We will play a similar game around our Thanksgiving table this week. Each place setting will contain three pieces of candy corn. Each of these pieces represent an item of gratitude, which we will take turns sharing. This will be followed by a prayer of Thanksgiving and Gratitude before we begin our meal. Then - considering that my children don't sit around the table together often anymore, I am sure that it will resemble the "wild rumpus" that is oversaw by Max in the book "Where the Wild Things Are",(which is my favorite children's story -and hopefully, there won't be any gnashing of terrible teeth.

Although I try to maintain an attitude of gratitude throughout the year, I wish to take this time to express my gratitude for the wonderful blessings I experience in my life everyday. I am grateful for family - my wonderful husband of 22 years, and my children; I am grateful to still have my parents in my life and my ability to pick up the phone and talk to them any time I want; I am grateful for some amazing friends (you know who you are - I have awesome girl friends!!!); I am grateful for my job; I am grateful for my talents and the opportunity I get to use them every day; I am grateful for my home - it's not perfect, but it protects me from the cold and rain; I am grateful for so many of my daily conveniences like good cooking utensils and my gas stove, a washer and a dryer, a refrigerator, indoor plumbing, a warm coat . . ." I could go on for hours! May you all take time to recognize those people and things which you are grateful for and may your Thanksgiving be a day surrounded by friends and family.

Gallery Opening

Last night I attended a gallery opening, complete with great art, music, food, and . . .chairs by me! This was a first for me. I have attended sales and shows, but I have never had my work featured in a gallery show until now. It was quite exciting!

Sometime after the Gresham Art Walk, I received a phone call from someone who had visited my booth. She said she was working as a curator for an upcoming gallery show and was determined that she wanted to have some of my chairs included. What a great feeling!

The theme of the show was Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water. I submitted 3 chairs made especially for this show. I think my favorite was "My Blue Heaven" which featured a mermaid playing beneath the waves.
Here is mermaid chair hanging on the wall of the display.

Me, standing in front of the display.

Here's Chrissy Missy attending the gallery show . . .and what is that cool bag hanging on her shoulder?

Is that a Laurie Miller design? Yep! One of my other product lines that you can see at my shows this season. . .heavy cotton tote bags with unique black and white designs. Perfect for groceries, school books, or a bohemian purse.

Thanks for sharing this experience with me. It was really wonderful . . .now I need to return to the studio to finish up all kinds of treasures for my upcoming shows! Hope to see you there.

A Work in Progress

Pam is a coworker. She is a kind and compassionate woman. One of those people that you feel blessed to have met. A few months ago, she returned home from work to discover that her apartment had gone up in flames. She lost everything but the clothes on her back and her beloved cat.

In the process of rebuilding her home, she asked for a chair to brighten up the kitchen area of her new apartment. Her request was simple - lots of bright colors and lots of flowers. The chair is near completion. There are many details yet to be added, but you can see the main idea here.

Be sure and check back in the next few days and you can see the finished product. Thanks for your patience, Pam . . .it's almost ready.

And as mentioned before, I am currently ramping up for my Christmas sales. Here are a few new items:

This is one of several designs created with pen and colored pencil. Each one is sold in a double mat, ready for framing. You'll have to come and visit me to see the other designs.

Here is an example of my hand mirrors. Perfect for daughters, your hair dresser, a friend . . .everybody needs a hand held mirror. This is one of several designs.

So here is the deal - my big sale is in Seattle. If you are in the Seattle area, be sure and visit me on December 6 & 7 at the Phinney Winter Fest. Otherwise, if Portland is a little more doable for you - I will be showing a variety of "giftables" at the Scrooge Lives Holiday Festival on December 3rd and 4th at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham. The hours are from 10:00-6:00 on both days. Other than that, I will be doing a private sale - I will post the date when I have more details. Make this year something special and think about a special hand made gift for those people who are close to you. Contact me if you need a special order.

I want to thank those of you who commented on how they are going to try to cope with the chaos of the holidays. It seems like alot of you are looking at doing more service. In fact, I am going to a holiday party the first week of December. We are going to do the traditional "white elephant" gift exchange. But this year, we are putting a new spin on it. Instead of cleaning out junk to pass on to someone else, each person will wrap up a description of a service they are willing to do for someone else. An hour or two of housework, a batch of cookies, an offer to teach something you are really go at, etc. I thought the idea was brilliant. What a great way to share the holiday spirit. Keep those ideas and suggestions coming. Maybe you will share something that no one else has thought of.

Christmas Surprise

*This is a Christmas secret. Only proceed reading if you can keep a secret. . . . . . .

Christmas is coming . . .my favorite time of year. Yet also a time of. year that brings out the worst in me. It becomes so full of stress. Last year I found myself just days before the holiday, and I had yet to feel the "spirit".

As an artist - this time of year requires alot of time and energy away from home doing shows and supplying people with gifts. Sometimes it takes some of the joy out of it. And the joy is replaced with stress. Now don't get me wrong - the idea that someone picks one of my creations to give as a hearfelt gift is very humbling. It is an honor to make my creations and know that they are being shared.

We have a wonderful tradition at Christmas of gathering with all of the extended family on Christmas Eve. We have dinner, a special program/talent show, the reading of the Christmas story, presents, and Grandma's famous eggnog. It is a wonderful evening filled with laughter, family and all that is Christmas. But the commercialism has become more and more taxing.

So we devised a plan - as the adults drew the names of those they were to buy a gift for, it was decided that we would exchange gifts that were hand created. The gifts could be very simple - some home made jam, hand copied family recipes, a photo album, etc. Or in the case of my sis-in-law . . .a home recorded Christmas CD for the grandparents.

My husband has a variety of equipment and we worked this last week on recording several pieces for our family CD - 2 daughters, my sister in law and myself did an accapella version of Silent Night and Still, Still, Still. Later we added versions of other classics. But here was the dilemma - where can we get good acoustics for vocals at home? Answer . . .the bathroom.

Chrissy prepping to sing (notice to music taped to the bathroom wall)

Cierra and Auntie Michele -

Auntie Michele listening to our creation.

Chrissy and Jon working on the mix and playback.

So here is my question? As the season approaches, what is your family doing to keep the spirit alive and to limit the chaos?

Here's to a wonderful and peaceful holiday season!