March 6, 2010

  • Time's awastin'!

    If you haven't already done so, you have until midnight Sunday night to vote in this month's PCAGOE challenge on texture.  Go here to vote.   You have to scroll down a bit to find the voting ballot. 

    You are asked to register your name and email address for two reasons. 

    1., so we can be sure that you only vote once.  I know you'd love to vote for me 425 times, but, alas, only one time per email address/name is allowed. 

    2., so that you are eligible to win a prize from the pool of non-member voters.  Your email address is necessary so you can be notified.  :)

    This month's challenge features a very large group of artists with so many different interpretations of the theme, "Texture."  Choosing a single favorite is nearly impossible, and even picking your top three is difficult!  What a talented group of people there are in the PCAGOE!

    me<><

    PS., in my earlier post on this month's challenge, I mistakenly said you'd have until midnight March 8 to vote.  I was wrong and I apologize.

March 4, 2010

  • So, just what IS that stuff?

    There was a gathering of polymer clay artists in Baltimore last week, called Synergy2.  (This was the 2nd such meeting - duh!)

    So many big names were there, it was almost beyond temptation for me to try to go.  Several things stopped me.  First, it's rather pricey - worth it, considering the opportunities to meet, greet and learn from so many wonderful, creative and talented people - but more than I could afford at the end of a winter where we need a new furnace!  :) Also, it's all day, several days in a row affair, and it'd be very difficult, if not impossible, for me to keep up.  To pay all that money and be flat out on my back in a hotel room would stink!  And, I didn't have anyone I know to go with.  I'd really want a buddy for a trip like that. 

    That the event is so near to my beautiful baby boys was only salt in the wound!  But they will be here in just 2 weeks for Jared's birthday weekend.  Whoohoo!

    But back to the discussion at hand.  An ongoing discussion throughout the event (and now post-event, on blogs and websites throughout the PC community) was about what to call this stuff we all love to work with.  It's bubbled into the PCAGOE forum, as well.  Here's what I wrote there this morning:

    My husband and I had this discussion last evening...

    I told him about it and we tossed it around a bit.

    He thinks the idea that we're not using "clay," is silly.  It's a soft, pliable material that has to be kneaded, molded and/or sculpted, and then heat-cured.  In construction terms, there are things they call "mud," that are not organic, dirty, or even terribly wet.  He votes for calling it polymer clay.

    Calling it polymer isn't precisely "offensive," to me, but I'm not sure many folks are going to think "polymer," is any more appealing than "polymer clay."  I am inclined to think, "Hey, do what you gotta do," but I'm really not convinced.  What's the difference between saying, "Hey, this necklace is made from a polymer," and "Hey, this necklace is made from polymer clay."  At least with the old phrase, most people have some frame of reference.  Not sure about the other.

    I guess this means I'm going to continue to just say what it is - polymer clay.

    One of my new friends from the Guild has a blog post with another take: Laurel Steven at blogspot.

    In the forum, I'd say so far the traditional reference is in the lead, as much because so many people have no real idea what "polymer" means.  Lois' son, Ken, is a scientist who specializes in polymer development, teaching at Northwestern University.  I'm sure to him, and his ilk, the word conjures up nothing very "artistic."   

    This will continue in debate for years to come, I imagine.  There does not seem to be a real consensus.  Part of the issue from the standpoint of polymer clay artists is that "real" clay artists (those who use more traditional clays like porcelain or terracotta) reject calling what we use "clay," although there has been some progress there.  Some of them are now "us," having tried and loved this versatile medium.  We're not trying to replace any other clay.  We couldn't - there are unique properties to traditional clays just as there are to polymers.  They can make dishes and mugs and teapots that are food safe.  Such is not recommended with polymer clay, although we can get around such limitations with some imagination.  We can infuse our projects with color and textures much more easily and economically than they can.  And we have the distinct advantage that our clay is so lightweight.  Conversely, "theirs" has more "substance," if you will.  We can't replace traditional clay with polymer clay, anymore than the things we do with polymer clay can be duplicated with any other media.   There's more than enough room for all of us.  We just don't like being shunted to the rear in favor of those "real" artists.  Gaining a more mainstream acceptance is part of the motivation for looking at different things to call polymer clay. 

    What about "George?"

    me<><

March 2, 2010

  • Too good not to share

    When Jason & Tiana went to Minnesota for the holidays, Tiana's family sat for a family portrait, the kids' gift to Tiana's parents.  (Kids being Tiana and her brother, Phil and their spouses, Jason & Dara.)

    I made bold and asked for a 5x7 for our photo wall in the hall.  I finally have a day where I can post it.  :)

     

    It really is a terrific likeness of all of them.  Tiana & Jason at the back on the left, with Dara & Phil on the right, and Fred and a very proud Alaine holding the other new addition to the family, Phil & Dara's baby Kale.  (Jason & Tiana call him "Garnish," irreverent souls that they are!)  He's adorable, although I think Grandma must have frightened him just as this shot was taken - he looks a bit scared, don't you think?  I've seen many photos of this little guy and he doesn't always look scared.  :)

    Fred and Alaine, and indeed, their entire extended families, have welcomed Jason into their midst with such warmth and openness, it gives Faron and me great joy.  It's what parents want for their kids when they marry, but don't always get.  We have been blessed in our son's inlaws and we're thankful! 

    me<><

March 1, 2010

February 28, 2010

  • Odds and ends and bits and pieces - catching up.

    First, a few things I've been doing in clay...

     

    I fixed the house purse.  And here is its backside:

    I think it fixed up quite nicely. 

    Also, I wanted to try my hand at some "faux" materials.  I started with faux bone.  Here's my first piece:

    The wooden pieces are clay too.  I made those mixtures about a year ago.  I think it's pretty good.  I have some more beads of a different design waiting to be aged. 

    And I wanted to make my own version of a Japanese Netsuke sculpture.  I started with this little guy:

    He's got issues - like his legs bent forward so he looks a bit like a cartoon character skidding to a stop, and the design on his back is basic and not very controled, but his texture is great - sandpaper makes him feel like a real turtle, and I love his head and face.  I'll try another.  :)

    And then Rachel got her ears pierced again (they'd grown shut from when she was much younger.) and I offered to make some earrings for her own unique style:

    Apart from the butterfly, these are all symbols from Naruto, a manga series she's loved for years.  And here she is modeling her favorite:

    These are based on the fan her favorite character, Temari, carries.  The fan is some kind of weapon, I believe. 

    Faron has asked me to make a barn to go with a couple of the small houses I've made and that sit around the house.  He told me what he wanted and here is the sketch from which I'm working:

    I have made the basic structures' cardboard supports for baking, and hope to get them covered and baked tomorrow so I can start on the fun part of decorating the barn to look like a barn!  :)

    On a completely different note, Dr Wallace bombarded ExpressScripts with prescriptions for me - here are two of the bottles that arrived here last week:

    The little bottle contains 90 very little pills.  The large one contains 3 times that in very large pills.  Lucky me!  I just thought the comparison was a bit silly.  :)

    And finally, Faron got a deep fryer for Christmas.  And every year at Presidents' Day, he gets a hankerin' for cherry pie.  He combined these two things to come up with his own version of those nasty pies McDonald's sells. 

    He used Pillsbury ready to use crusts, cut into quarters and folded and sealed shut.  The dough cooked up so well!  Yummy!  They are fantastic.  We're making them again next weekend when Jason and Tiana come up for dinner.  And we'll have caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream for the apple ones.  Jason says they will be perfect then.  (He was here for the first round.)  Not that he's thought about it at all.

    me<><

February 26, 2010

  • No photos again. This time it's a rant.

    Years ago - back in the dark ages of the 1970s - the federal government, via the US Dept of Agriculture, offered an "interest credit loan," for rural housing.  It seemed like a great idea to a young couple who hated living in a "mobile home."  We bought our house with such a loan.

    At the time, our payment was set at $357 a month, but the government would "credit" our interest based on our income.  Our first payments were $197.  Every year we were re-evaluated, and, as our income grew, so did our payments. 

    Along the way, our payments were adjusted so that the most we would ever pay was $306 a month.  I'm not sure what reasoning was behind that, but there it is.  Oh, and didn't mention that our loan was for a period of 33 years.  And that, of the $32,000 we borrowed, we'd pay back over $112k.  They breezed past that in the loan discussions, saying that in the distant future, we'd have made so many improvements to our home it'd be worth that.  Until last year, that wasn't even close to being true.  It might be true now - we haven't had the house fully appraised since we've done all the remodeling.

    Fast forward to 2010.  February of 2010.  Each month, about the 5th through the 8th, we get a payment coupon for this loan.  The payment is due on the 13th, so there isn't any wiggle room.  Almost always, we put the payment in the next mail, knowing, from past history, that the Rural Housing Service (RHS, used to be Farmers Home Administration, FmHA) is very cranky if the payment is not in its office on or before the 13th.

    The coupon arrived here on February 9th.  We mailed it out the next day, the 10th. 

    On the 20th, Saturday, we got a letter from the RHS, saying "You have previously been notified that your account is in default for the aount stated above [one payment] and that if not rectified immediately, any government funds you receive, such as Income Tax Refunds or Social Security Benefits, will be offset until this balance is cleared."

    Past history (and we won't go into all of that here - suffice it to say that the USDA RHS has done its level best to steal our home!) has made us very leery of such letters.  Our attorney can testify to that!  We both went into high blood pressure mode and after we calmed down, we decided I'd call, knowing we'd sent the check in plenty of time and that no previous unpaid balance exists. 

    I called Monday morning.  After giving both our Social Security numbers to be sure, I was told that our account is in good standing.  There is no unpaid balance, and the letter must have been generated in error.  The customer service rep checked twice to be sure we had no other accounts which might be referenced by said letter.  There was no notation of such a letter having been sent in our record.  Our check posted in their office on the due date, February 13.  Ok. Fine.  Ignore the letter.

    Faron came home from work Monday evening, bringing the mail with him as he came.  A letter from the US Department of the Treasury was among the junk mail.  "This letter is to notify you that your Social Security benefits will be offset by no more than 15% of the total to bring your account with the USDA RHS into current status." 

    Two blood pressures soared to dangerous levels!

    It was only 5:30 our time.  The USDA RHS is in St Louis, MO, so would still be open.  I called immediately. I waited for 15 minutes while the woman with whom I'd spoken that morning spoke with her supervisor and investigated our account, trying to figure out why such letters had been generated.  Finally she came back and said that they were both in error, and we could ignore them.  Yeah.  We have learned to our cost that one does not "ignore" letters such as these! 

    She did suggest we wait until Thursday to call the Treasury Offset office, to see if they actually do receive an account for collection.  She said that their system resets every Saturday, and that it would take until Thursday for that office to get an updated list of accounts. So I did as suggested and sure enough, there are no liens against our Social Security numbers.

    Just typing this up has my heart pounding!  And this is the federal government, people, that wants to run our health services?   They can't even tell if someone has made a payment on time on a simple in and out account - how will they be able to track the health records of billions of people?  It's terrifying, that's what it is!

    I do plan to call the USDA RHS again this coming Monday, to ask that a letter be issued declaring those two previous letters to have been sent in error.  I want to be able to attach them to the letters for our records.  I don't trust those bozos one bit!

    me<><

February 22, 2010

  • No Photos. Just a plea for all of you to do something.

    February 28 is National Rare Disease Day.  I won't copy and paste all of what is so clearly explained elsewhere, but let me tell you that my condition, Dercum's Disease, also known as adiposa dolorosa, is on the National Organization for Rare Diseases' top 10 list this year - at number THREE!  To get any kind of recognition about our condition thrills the hearts of those of us who live with this disease.  Very, very few medical personnel, from physicians to nurses to technicians of all kinds, have ever even heard of Dercum's, let alone treated someone with this condition.  There is no treatment.  There is no known cause.  There is no cure.  What you get when you are diagnosed is months or even years of trying this pain medication, that pain medication and another pain medication, until, hopefully, you and your physicians find what works for you.  I'm very thankful that my doctors care enough to do some research and found a good combo for me.  It's not perfect - if I overdo things (actually, if I DO anything) I suffer for it, but at least I don't live with blinding pain every minute like I did for nearly 6 years before we got this combo. 

    On that website cited above, you can check what your state is doing with regard to this Day - has your Governor declared it to be Rare Disease Day in your state?  Mine has not, but I have emailed him, using the text in the sample letter (adapted for Pennsylvania) provided on the Rare Disease Day website.  Simple - took about 4 minutes.  I'm asking each of you to do the same thing - find out what your Governor has or hasn't done, write to thank him or her if it has been proclaimed in your state, and if it hasn't, please take that few minutes necessary to write asking that it be done.  Dercum's is one of hundreds of diseases considered to be "rare."  That means thousands - millions! of people in this country suffering because of lack of research and proper treatment for their conditions. 

    If this day only causes one or two people in each rare disease sufferer's life to be more aware, more understanding, more supportive, we've succeeded beyond our wildest dreams!  If more happens - like one more condition has enough funding for research and development of treatment, whoohee!   

    Thank you!

    me<><

    PS To find out how to contact your governor, just do a websearch for "state of ..... governor."  They all have websites with contact information. 

February 21, 2010

  • Ok, now I've done it. {Edited to show details.}

    I decided which piece to enter.  :)

    Actually, I entered it.  I didn't just decide, I did it!

      

    As I said yesterday, this is a piece I did a few years ago, and I gave it to Tiana's mother.  I don't know if she kept it or tossed it or re-gifted it.    (I'm trusting, Alaine, that you kept it!.)  This is a 5x7 artist canvas, btw, with the clay impressed into the canvas, and then baked in.  There's a wash of white acrylic paint on after baking. 

    Remember, you can see all of the entries as of March 1, here.  Until then you can look at all the lovely prizes on offer for non-member voters.  Lois won last time - let's see how many of my friends and family can win prizes in this thing! :)

    And I'm tossing out a challenge/request.  Please, if you have a blog, blog about our challenge, our Guild, and our work sometime - once a month if you'd care to.    We're trying to get the word out about who we are, what we do, and where you can purchase our work.  Most of the "usual" places for us to advertise only reach other clayers - not exactly our target audience.  Clayers don't tend to buy other clayers' work very often. 

    Thanks in advance, LOIS, ANNE, ELEANOR, HEIDI...who else?  MARGARET!  KELLY!  But, I don't mean to put any of you on the spot.  Nosireebob!  Not my style.     And just because I didn't list your name here, if you have a blog, please consider spreading the word.  Facebook will do, too.  Amy did that a while back and I'd be happy if she did it again.

    me<><

February 20, 2010