Curvy - In a Roundabout Way

Curves.

Earrings have curves. Women (are supposed to) have curves. Road and vines have curves. I suppose the French have curves too (sorry, had to throw in a little artist humor there!).

Learners have curves, too.

It doesn't matter if you're old, newborn, or in school. Anytime you learn something new, there is a serious learning curve going on. Today has been one of those days for me. And I loved it!

The day started as an Institute Day for the teachers in our county. This means that all teachers employed in my county get together at a host high school and attend workshops of various topics. Of course our county is so large that there had to be TWO venues - one for K-5 and one for 6-12. Of the many workshops offered, I attended on on RTI (Response to Intervention), a new initiative here in Illinois that is sort of a backlash to NCLB. Don't get me started on that one! The other was a seminar on conducting a Socratic Seminar in your classroom. Now that would be cool - an alternative assessment that actually gets the kids to think on their own and not just memorize the 'right' answers! Finally a chance for the kiddos who can't seem to take tests well to outperform those A-list kids. What a boost for the self-esteem.

But I digress. Where was I?

Ah, yes. Learning curves. This evening, after packing for our camping trip tomorrow, I logged on with the innocent intention of checking my email. In the process, I learned about Twitter, I vistited some great blogs, like this fellow jewelry maker, Elleabelle. I visited my Etsy site and added some more items, and I visited other Etsy sites that have much more traffic than mine in order to glean some marketing ideas. This internet business is such a new and HUGE learning curve for me and many (most?!) of the people in my generation. Let me just say right now that I will NEVER join Twitter. Who has time for that? Like I'm going to stop teaching just to send a text "just busted Taylor for copying...again" so that my friends and coworkers can stay tuned. As if I really am interested in the blow-by-blow lives of people I've never met!

Sorry. *deep breath*

All in all, I learned a lot today.

Everyone has the right to learn. As teachers, that is our basic tenet, and we strive our hardest to ensure that everyone learns. It's just that making each lesson unique and fresh and entertaining is tiring. And some days I'm not sure that I've reached a single soul. When today's lawmakers keep putting more and more requirements on our plate, and not providing anything to make it easier, it's no wonder that most teachers don't make it past the first three years. *frown, sigh*

But I'll keep plugging away because that's what I've learned to do.

Pastel (and whatever) Guy

Announcing.....!

Now Open! Studio 206 Jewelry is finally available online!

Here's the dish:

While not everything is 'up there', there is enough to see what Studio 206 is all about, and more will be added a couple times each week, so stay tuned. There's also a section where you can request items. So for all you fans out there, find your PayPal number and start shopping! Christmas is in what, 80 days?

Studio 206 started after a class in stained glass when I started making picture frames and little angels. Along with some pendants made with techniques learned in the class, I frantically made enough merchandise for the local craft fair. The rest is history. This fall is my 8th anniversary, and I've moved from stained glass picture frames (they were pretty cool!) and custom windows to silversmithing and set stones. There was even a detour into pastel painting (I'll be back to that one for sure after the holiday season!).

Along the way there have been an amazing group of people who have become regular customers. To think that they like the results of my tinkering enough to request custom pieces is so affirming. There have been stained glass windows for a restaurant and several homes, jewelry for several bridal parties, a couple mother-of-the-brides, proms, and Christmas gifts. Even a retail store joined in the fray and regularly bought jewelry to display. My paintings made it into a couple shows this summer, even winning an award at an international exhibit in Tacoma, Washington. A gallery in St. Louis hosted an open house featuring my pastels in September, and I've even sold a couple of them.

So the next chapter has begun, and I've already made my first internet sale. Everything I read says that the Internet is the next venue for art sales. For people in my generation (yes, my birthday was yesterday! I'm now officially in my forties) who phoned a store and then went to look at things in person, this is a little weird. But I started this blog, have a website for my paintings, and now a cyber venue for my jewelry.

It's very enervating, and a lot has happened in 8 years...

...but I'm still waiting for the day when I see my jewelry on a complete stranger.

Thanks to everyone who has supported me in the past, and an advanced thanks to the customers-yet-to-be.

Pastel (and whatever) Guy

Glacier Ice

Here's a pretty pile of blue. Here's what was going through my head as I developed this design:

1. I wanted to use this Peruvian Opal that I found at a bead show a year ago (the light blue beads that look like candy in the photo above).
2. Silver always goes well with blue - brings out the coolness.
3. I really like making random patterns.
4. I also really like the look and idea of a 48" necklace that you can layer (or not)

So, I made a palette of colors that could go in this piece. I don't often use the seed beads (the itty bitty ones), but they gave space between the opal pieces, making them stand out since there is such a differential between the two. I added some milky glass stones, too, in order to expand the color range a tad. Now it could be worn with pinks, too. Usually I use the milky glass with lavender or pink crystal.

The result is a right pretty piece that matches my wife's eyes...

The next dilemma was to come up with a name that would be catchy but not too kitsch-y. Robin's egg is too cliche, light blue is boring, ice blue is a tad over-used, too. Even though it reminded me of my wife's eyes, naming it after her wouldn't mean anything to anyone but the two of us. Hmm. Glacier Blue. Caribbean Blue. Cerulean Blue. Ocean Blue. Sky blue (boring). I think I like Glacier Blue.

My Etsy site is coming along! In fact, this little pretty is on there for purchase if you're interested...

Until next time, when I have some hammered silver earrings to share...

Pastel (and Jewelry) Guy

Greenishness

Green.


Envy, leaves, grass, emeralds, olives, and jade are some of the things that I think of when I see green.


Oh, and celery.


Don't forget frogs, wintergreen, Christmas trees, soybean fields, and the carpet in our house. (Seriously. What were they thinking?)


Neither my wife nor I can wear much green because it tends to make us look sick. I guess that's the Scandinavian ancestry showing through. But green is such a great color. It's cool because it's the fern grotto at the bottom of a waterfall. It's the complicated photosynthesis equations I had to memorize in Plant Physiology (I'll admit to actually enjoying that in a nerdy kind of way). But most of all, it's the energy of living things. In the summer, there are millions of leaves all busily converting light energy into sugars. In the spring there are hundreds of little baby grasshoppers trying to make their way. In the winter, there's the rush of the holiday season (Christmas for us), with the endless shopping, filling jewelry orders, and decorating our Christmas tree. (OK, trees. As in 4 or 5). And the fall? Hmm. Today, I noticed the tiny shoots of green grass sprouting in my lawn's bare patches. (Of course, I also noticed the green aphids on my azaleas - grrr!)


As I look back on a weekend of an outdoor art show with perfect weather (I was a spectator for once!), a NHL preseason hockey game (our first ever in person!), seeding the grass, and hours and hours (like about 8!) of grading papers, I feel fortunate. That's it - lucky. I feel green all over with leprechaun-ish luck for the job that will always dish out the green no matter what the economy does. But most of all, I appreciate my wife, my kids, and my family.


Oh. right. ...and my art. Because without that, I'd be seeing red instead of green.


How lucky are you today?
Pastel Guy

The Littlest Angel Award

It's the time of year when everywhere you look, there's inspiration for art. The low-lying fog over the soybean fields this morning on the way to work. The big puffy clouds on the horizon whose color I'm still trying to figure out (They weren't white, they weren't purple really, but I guess they could be in a painting; the shadows of the tops were the same color as the sky on the horizon...), the roses coming back to life in the cool fall air, the Monarch butterfly that hatched in my classroom today.

But the true inspiration today came from one of my students in the last 3 minutes of the last class. This 12-year-old kid came up to me and said, "You know, Mr. W., I've tried all week to be nice to this kid, cuz I was trying to live by the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer', but I don't think I can do it any more, Mr. W. What would you do?"

Remember, this kid is 12. I'm not sure what this student's homelife is like, but I do know that he doesn't have many of the material advantages that many of our student body enjoys. However, this kid must have some sort of parent or influence at home to listen to his problems, and to give him this kind of advice - and the kid listened!

That in itself is worth more than a boat and 2 cars in your 3-car garage that's attached to your 3-story house with a stay-at-home-mom who may take you to soccer, but doesn't ever really listen to you.

So this little 3-inch angel from my studio is for today's inspirational student who confided in me at the end of a very long day. Thanks, kid, for reminding me that it's the human factor that matters.

I just hope I was able to inject a little bit of humanity into someone's life today.

Peace,

PastelGuy

Chain of Thoughts

You know how an idea can just hover around? You're driving and you think a little bit about it. You're doing dishes, and whoops! there it is.

This pair of pretties exemplifies just that. One small thought is linked to a larger thought that is then developed into something faceted and beautiful. They may not be totally related, but there they are, making a whole that has its own beauty.

A couple of days ago, in my language arts class, I had the students do a free-write for twenty minutes. By this time in the year, they have 'used up' all their ideas. "Mr. Weld, this is too hard!" one of them whines. "I can't think of anything to write about," chimes in a second. I respond with, "Well, write about how you don't have anything to write about. Don't stop. Eventually, one thing will lead to another, and before you know it, you'll be on the verge of prophecy." *dumb looks from the nickel seats*

Being the good teacher that I am *raspberry followed by raucous laughter*, I was modeling positive writing behavior by writing in my journal book while they were doing the same. Actually, I was mulling over this same topic, and so I later blogged about how I have made an effort to read others' blogs, and how that has led me to a new appreciation for modern writing, and how it has reaffirmed my belief that anyone can write. I know that most of the people who write blogs are not formally trained in writing. Yet they can be riveting works of literary art *fist pounds open hand in emphasis*! I'd like to get my students to start blogging for real. Give them a real audience to write for besides their teacher. Hmmm. First I need laptops with Internet access for each student.... WAKE UP! But there's gotta be a way. See?! One thought leads to another, and eventually, this one will take shape, mature, and become the latest in teaching pedagogy (big word of the day!).

Ach! It's late and I'm feeling that weird mix of fatigue/punchy/philosophical. Enough!

The earrings above (Sorry! I'll post something besides earrings next time!) are smoky quartz, pearl, glass, and sterling. I thought the faceted, clear beads mixed well with the smooth, opaque pearls. And I am really into the whole longer drop thing. It's airy, elegant, and well-balanced.

$20 and still available, if any one's interested.

Until next time, when I'll show you something besides earrings,

PastelGuy

Spring, Hope, Eternal Bliss

One of my mom's favorite quotes was (IS, I suppose), "Hope Springs Eternal". Over the years, I have pondered exactly what that means. When I was little and literal, I pictured all this hope (not quite sure what hope looks like - I think it was just the word 'hope' in all different fonts and colors) geysering out of this hole in the ground forever and ever. Now in my older years (yep, birthday next week!), I suppose it means that humanity is basically a positive experience. We tend to forget bad things with time (another fave quote: "Time heals all wounds."), and focus on the good. Even the times in my life when I have been hurt to the core pale in comparison to all the many more fantastic memories that I still savor. Considering that the amount of pain during the bad times was so much stronger than the amount of pleasure during the good ones this seems a little backward.

Not that I'm complaining at all. Good is good. Good is great! Emotion is such a powerful component to learning and remembering. I was listening (stop laughing!) to a keynote speaker one time who said that any time a lesson is truly learned, there was pain involved. Think about that. For all you parents out there, remember that. You're not doing your kids any favors by making their lives any easier! And that's the teacher in me speaking.... don't get me started *rueful smirk*!

So even though it's fall, I've posted some cheery, spring-y, pastel-y earrings made of Swarovski crystals and faceted glass beads on sterling silver wires. $25.

It's amazing what a little pair of earrings can inspire!

Be inspirational!
PastelGuy