Blue Tuesdays: 7 Blue Mosaic Pendants by Margaret Almon

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with a milleffiori 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

see her pendants on etsy

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with gold smalti

Pale Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with a Log Cabin quilt design

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon

Dark Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon

 

 

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with a dove designed by Wayne Stratz

Doodling to jazz, an A To Z Challenge: N is for Lewis Nash

Searched high and low through the main stash in the living room, the studio, my classroom, and then in iTunes. Found no N's. But how many of those CDs of other letters would have featured the drumming of Lewis Nash? Plenty. So it was time I owned a musical endeavor in which he led the band. The Quintet was amazing. As for Neon, Mosaic Woman is doing the atozchallenge as well but her theme, color. For N she did neon, so I played along.

The 12 Days of Christmas Shout Outs: Sharon Creech for day three

Here in our one bedroom two studio row, a tradition has come about; every year I buy Mosaic Woman a young adult novel for Christmas. I just squeaked it out this year as I bought her present during the final moments of the Scholastic Book Fair at my school.

And here we are on the third day of Christmas, and we have both finished the book. In fact Mosaic Woman had it read by the time I got home from the Christmas morning Eucharist.

I am no expert on the genre, I just wait for a book to catch my attention. And the cat did that. Sharon Creech's book does feature a rather hard to like cat and a boy who is missing his dog. But through a wise teacher, fine parents, and poetry, especially that of William Carlos Williams, the boy does come about to the understanding that not all cats are worthy of hatred.

I am also seeing uses in my classroom...

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow (electron, DNA molecule, gravity, mass, predator, root, seed ...)

 

Delighted: Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize for Literature

Back in the day, a biology professor handed me a book of short stories by Raymond Carver. It may have been the first collection of stories I ever read. I was hooked. Two years later, I met Mosaic Woman, who introduced me to many things Canadian.

There was a writer of short stories in that introduction, Alice Munro. Her stories amazed me. Someone once said that Munro did not have to write novels because she could get more into a short story than what is found in many novels.

I have at times searched through fiction settings in libraries and bookstores for stories. I find novels and novels and novels... and then at some point a collection of stories. The pressure must be intense. Forget stories. Write novels. Munro just kept writing stories and that impressed me.

So, I was delighted. An author, who tells stories in short splashes of color and who reminds me of those glorious days of falling into love with Margaret, was on the news. Good news indeed reached my spirit as I commuted this morning.

 

A shirt for many occasions ~ belief plus doubt equals sanity

Margaret spotted this when we were in the midst of this and knew it had my name all over it, even though I do not own a piece of red clothing.

I am a man of hope and uncertainty. I don't know how it will turn out, but I believe it will, some how some way. I see this as a perfect shirt for a few occasions. The red and the message make it perfect for the first two.

1. Pentecost Sunday ~ my very first thought when I read it. I believe God has transformed my life but doubt God's existence on a regular basis. Being 100% certain either way is likely a state m mind will avoid.
2. A Philadelphia Phillies game ~ even in the best years I do believe they can win, but I doubt if they will win all their games. Only sane approach to being fan.
3. And maybe I will break it out when I celebrate my birthday. I believe I will have many more to celebrate but doubt they will go on for ever and can only hope to make it to the next one.
4. Where else? Suggestions...

 

Orange Tuesday ~ celebrating 21 years

It would only have been better if I had 21 orange pencils, but hey I am sure that with all that blending Margaret got more than 21 shades. She has been doing Orange Tuesday blogs for quite a while. I dig orange, but this is my first.

 

 

 

 

Being Greeted

The best thing about the commute is the greeting that happens when it is over. On Friday I stepped out of my car to the sight of a most splendid tulip. By the time I had made it to the porch, a second tulip called out for some attention ~

Then there is Bobo, who belongs to my neighbor. Bobo has been greeting us for years. Saying "Bobo" is just plain fun. You never know how Bobo will respond. On this occasion Bobo yawned ~

Once the flowers and cat have greeted me, it is time to get the business news. Mosaic Woman has been running the business and over a cup of coffee, she gets me caught up with any news. Then I get to step inside her studio to see what progress has emerged ~

V is Voila! ~ the a to z of one word messages

Word by Wayne Stratz
background by Margaret Almon

This was originally commissioned to celebrate a house.  But considering this is our 26th anniversary of our first kiss (celebrated under the full moon of April!), all I can say is

Voila!

Being the straight man in this endeavor

My last post I celebrated being able to explore color in the letters of GARDEN, so here I was cutting out white glass today. Mosaic Woman wanted to do a new word inspired by how learning the Alexander Technique has helped her to feel less body pain in and out of the studio. I had an idea.

Rough drafts got smoothed out as we consulted and finally all that was left was color choice. I said, "White." No client wanting white, and yet after the joy of cutting out GARDEN in oranges, I wanted to do it in white.

I was seeing myself as the straight man in a comedic team. I was setting up the situation knowing what beauty can and will emerge when I walk it into her studio. And on this day when so many of my friends are hoping for a bit more equality to emerge into this country, I couldn't resist being the straight man who is hoping right along with them.

Celebrating Colorful Letters: a garden sign commission emerges

Margaret and I must be doing something right because house number and word signs commissions have been steady business for Nutmeg Designs. Today I cut out what will be our 8th house number of the year. I don't tend to complain, but hey, I am the dude who love to create things like this:




... And nearly every commission features white or off-white or black or dull pink glass for the lettering/numbering. Then Margaret gets to play with colors in the background. Well a while back we made a welcome sign with some splendid orange glass. A new client dug it. I redesigned GARDEN, and then with a pile of scraps I went to work. Placing the pattern pieces down here and there to capture all that glass had to give.

Why choose between paths when one can be infinite. Mosaics and a quote by Paulo Coehlo

first journey
Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon

Mosaic Woman created these last year.  I drew the design and we did them as different ways to view the project.  What I did in big pieces in the first path, Margaret did in her style the second way.  and vise versa.  

While there are many quotes about a good path and a bad path, I am glad I found this one when I went searching:

“In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two 

leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same 

path are alike.”  Paulo Coehlo

second journey
by Margaret Almon and Wayne Stratz

A Few of My Favorite Things Begins

I have not been blogging or reading blogs much for the last ten days.  I was in a food court.  Students roaming about finding a lunch.  Big screen TV telling some breaking news.  That night my spirit group entered into the initial silence.  I thought it would last forever.  I thought that it would be just fine.  let us sit and imagine the horror.  Let us imagine the grief.  Let us imagine the healing.  Let us hope.  Since then I have read stories of men shouting ... if I can't have you none will ... as toddlers lose their mother just feet away from their crib.  I am told that I can only be safe in my classroom if I carry a gun.

and I want to rant. 

instead I tell my pain to Mosaic Woman and imagine blogging about my favorite things over my time off from teaching.  

I am blessed to have someone to share my life and that is my favorite thing for this day.

Mosaic Giveaway Coming To an End

Margaret Almon's Rainbow of Pendants
complimentary pairings

It has been an amazing list of characters that have helped support us for the past 24 months, which was the time we decided Mosaic Woman would end her job search, quit unemployment benefits, and emerge as a full-time artist.

Kerri Farley has been one of those characters.  If her name sounds familiar it could be you are well aware of her blog of nature photographs or my mention of how one of those photographs inspired my Blue Jay mosaic.  

Kerri wrote Mosaic Woman and suggested a giveaway to help build support of our work.  The giveaway ends this Monday, December 3rd, so head over to her post, which happens to feature amazing photos of the pendant Kerri purchased and loved so much she wanted the world to know about it.  

Who just may have helped us to become a duo

A relatively new friend was over for pizza last week and was curious how a biology major and a poetry major became a couple.  She was thinking that we would live in different worlds and what the heck would we talk about.

So maybe it is time to give a shout out to a professor at East Stroudsburg University, who not only told me how to ID a Red Oak, and showed me that plants were worthy of our attention, and fueled my passion for evolution, but also thought one should be well educated in other ways.

He handed me the current stories of Raymond Carver and the WWI poetry of Wilfred Owens.  He brought music I had never heard into my life and filled my head with recent research in areas outside the realm of biology.

Reading alumni magazines fills my head with people who have climbed higher and higher in the professional careers.  I have no desire, and maybe I learned that from Dr. Raymond Milewski, who after all these years is still an Associate Professor doing what he digs best.  Teaching students about what he loves.  I hope he still diverges into other topics from time to time.  I sure hope so, and yes, I am going to  let him know I am alive and well.

updated~ Margaret just reminded that he introduced me to smoked Gouda cheese and I can add to that, blood oranges

The Fit is Doodlin

Mosaic Woman (see hers at the bottom of the post) came home several weeks ago speaking of a car she had seen.  She said, "I doubt very much you would have liked the bumper stickers, but the plate was Doodling."

After a moment or two of being covetous I thought of a plate with a much better fit for the Fit.  Pianist Horace Silver wrote a tune which has become a standard.  He first recorded Doodlin' in 1955 with the Jazz Messengers.

Here it is:




Later Jon Hendricks would add some lyrics which man a jazz singer has sung,  "I feel so lost without my doodlin"

here is one considered my some to be the best, and who is to argue with what Sarah Vaughan did ~

Cool things do happen at shows

example of light dancing
not the piece mentioned below

Last week when I spoke to a gathering of artists about connecting with people on social media, I did not say that doing shows was useless.  I may have said they were time consuming and exhausting.  But I also clearly made the point that cool things happen at shows.

Saturday we were at a very local show which meant our very local friends could travel a short distance to see us and many did.  and that is cool.

A man was in our booth and was clearly taken by how the light dances about Mosaic Woman's mosaics.  We chatted a bit but as is often the case, he moved on to see what else would amaze his eyes.  (if you can't accept the fact that not everyone who thinks your craft is a delight will buy a piece... shows may destroy your soul).  I eventually went off in search of coffee and when I returned the man was back and had brought his wife (also note if you feel both members of a married couple have to adore your work equally, stay home and away from shows).

But in this case they were both smitten and chose to buy two mosaics.  OK, so that is cool.  But by the time they left our booth we knew his story.  A story about how fragile we are when a large wave crashes upon us.  How lucky we are to have someone save us and as he said, how many people can say their son saved their life.  How amazing we are in our ability to heal and recover in rehabs that know it is possible for more of your body to function, if the staff can get you to believe it yourself.  How grateful we can be for the years after being saved to celebrate the good things we would never had known, in his case grandchildren. 

Thirty minutes later I saw a man making his way about the show with a walker and knew  he was a happy man, who was ecstatic to be breathing, to be moving.  And that is a cool thing.

Wordlessly celebrating Film Noir Mosaics by Margaret Almon

Meeting Mosaic Woman

 What mattered was the book inside the red pannier

It was 1986 and I may have been lacking direction. I had just earned my BS in Biology and chose to ride my bicycle to the Catskills. Info on 20-30 graduate programs were being examined. I was at home with my parents. I began to tutor at a community college where i had turned my life around a few years earlier. It was in a room attached to the library.

If memory serves me correct, I saw her first in the library, but I knew I would later see her in the tutoring center. I was tutoring science. Mosaic Woman was tutoring philosophy. I remember telling a friend I had seen someone special before I could say I had spoken to her.

In college many a friend had recommended that I Read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, so I read it while I camped in the Catskills. There was something in that book that reminded me of something she was tutoring, so one day I asked her if she had read it. Were we at the cafeteria?

How long was that initial conversation? Long enough, for many more would happen.

and here we are... 

at a Christopher Ries exhibit, looking reflective and blue

at a Great Lake, looking jazz festival hip

at the Oregon shore a few years after we met, looking slightly less gray

Hafiz on our 20th

on our 20th anniversary

Last night I took the photo above and a break from Mystical Mondays.

Mosaic Woman and I were out and about celebrating our 20th anniversary.

But we did not take a break from our nightly habit of reading a translation by Daniel Ladinsky and the last poem by Hafiz ended this way ...

"I am made whole by your life. Each soul,

each soul completes

me."

and here we are on the day we got married

Drawing Cards again and again

warm collection of cards
by
Wayne Stratz

My Lenten practice of drawing cards has led to new directions besides my surprise gifts at work.  Mosaic Woman has printed out the names and addresses of the 144 people, who not only gave us their e-mails but also provided things like their house number and zip code.  And there I go counting by 21's again and sending out surprise gifts  from the local post office.  Want to be on the list... sign up here (form is on the right above the floating testimonials).

At a recent craft show a friend showed up and wondered why I had shown up with none of my cards for sale.  So moving in that direction I decided to place something on etsy.  Do you know someone who could use one of my cards of hope or joy or love or peace?

... check out my listing and I will draw one especially with them in mind and spirit.