... I'm working my way through Stephanie Lee's Semiprecious Salvage and having SUCH fun. Really. I am learning so much. And while jewelry isn't my thing, I know that I'll use these techniques over and over again in assemblage.



I've been posting each project on http://jenworden.com if you're interested. Word of note, my camera is making teh Big Suck at all these teeny tiny pieces. I may have to talk Tom into a new camera that has a macro lens. heh. right!

The training continues ... I'm in an "intensive" recovery week as my first race is this weekend. Can you say "GULP?!?"?? Yah. Me too! I really don't feel ready. Couple that with the fact that my freakin' hamstring is bugging me from last week's run intervals and I'm just praying I get through it without further ado.

Oh. And just to PROVE I truly am a freak of nature? I came across some body measurements taken in '05 when I was at my lowest weight/fittest in years. "Hmmm, thinks I, "Wonder what they are now?" Turns out? SAME measurements. TWENTY POUNDS HEAVIER. W. T. F. ?!? Anyone have any ideas? Bueller? Anyone? Yah. me either!

1. Mondays (or fill in YOUR day off) should be more than 24 hours.
2. Having waaay too much fun working through Stephanie's book.
3. Using wire that is the wrong gauge is an exercise in frustration.
4. I love working with copper wire but don't like the look of it.
5. I fired up the BIG propane torch. By myself. I. Rock.
6. #1 son visiting over the weekend. I like that boy.
7. Last week I had to do 5 hill repeats. They were fun. I think I need my head examining.
8. Tomorrow I have to do 5x800s. I know they won't be any fun at all.
9. My brain still gets weird on build weeks. *sigh*
10. Two weeks and counting to my first race in 3 years. Gulp.

Guess what?!? Summer arrived yesterday! It is currently 33C and people are already starting to complain about the heat. I say, Bring it on! I've waited through a long cold winter and spring for this. I KNOW it'll be gone by tomorrow or the next day. So I'm revelling in the turpid air today.

I also played with acid today. On www.jenworden.com I'm going through Stephanie Lee's Semiprecious Salvage, project by project and she does metal etching. I gathered my supplies last week but was put off by a weird stomach (I THINK it was food poisoning but it lasted for 4 days and I don't think fp is supposed to stay round that long. whatever.) I was feeling better today, it's warm'n'sunny outside AND it's my day off so ... play time!



I am in LOVE and cannot believe how easy it is - once you get over that whole acid in the face visual from second rate horror movies ad nauseum. I'm particularly thrilled with the sheet metal. The acid/peroxide bath creates this amazing nubby texture on the metal and is much easier to patina than the brass I find. Having said that I absolutely ADORE how Gretchen's (http://madratrubber.com) fish stamp turned out. Just scrumptious.

Another crazy build week starts tomorrow with bike hill repeats, first open water swim of the season AND my first brick. But today? It's all play! :D

... I am in SUCH denial. How in hell could it be June already?!? Oh wait. The CUES that it is almost summer are completely missing. Gee. That just might be it.



In other news ... I am sorely behind on my own challenges. (for those that might not know, I've been posting challenges on jenworden.com for a bunch of weeks - 14 actually - in an effort to both challenge myself AND those that like to follow along) And then I feel SO guilty for not being together enough to do them. *sheesh* The above is a still-in-progress triptych using some (insanely expensive) metal tiles I bought off ebay. I've all but stopped bidding on stuff because shipping charges are just crazy expensive from the States. Oh how I envy y'all your one-price boxes! The piece will be a "hear no evil-see no evil-speak no evil" kinda thang. And in a bit of serendipity I discovered today that these tiles (they're rather large - maybe 15" long?) will fit perfectly in an old window frame I've had kicking around forever. So that's nice. Using shit up. Whee!

Recovery week is done with a caRAZY not-so-restful day yesterday: a 4:15am wake up call to make a 7:00am start in Dartmouth. Then a wait of 2.5 hours for Tom to go. Needless to say we were beat and all crashed upon arrival at 4:00pm yesterday afternoon. So. Yah. Not so good on the ...

Actively focus on recovery today: 1) stay off of legs all you can, 2) watch nutrition closely (healthy carbs, lean protein, and good fats), 3) stretch, and 4) drink plenty of fluids. Other common recovery aids include massage, napping, elevating legs, floating in water, and listening to music.

... description for my day off. Oops.

Another build session starts tomorrow. I'm truly hoping to see some big changes bodywise in this next build. Everything so far has been happening under the layers of fat and I wanna see a bunch of those layers LEAVE. Plus. I'd really REALLY like to start moving into new territory strengthwise. I hope I'm not being completely delusional but seriously, wouldn't YOU expect to see forward movement after doing 12:40 hours of pretty grueling workouts per week? Ya. Me too!

Oh. And if you're up for a challenge, I posted #14 today. Grab a How-to book and do each and every project from start to finish. Me? I'm using Stephanie Lee's Semiprecious Salvage. Wheee!

... *PHEW* I made it. ;)
Funny how a mere 8 hours and change per week of training seems like a cake walk, huh? Perspective. It's all about perspective. Still haven't figured out exactly what the emotional brain twist was all about but it seems to be part and parcel of pushing oneself hard. As Coach Colin opined, "...the majority of highly successful athletes aren't exactly descendants of Nietzsche or Newton!" Keeping one's brain in check seems to be as needed a skill as good nutrition or proper sleep habits. There's always something!

Because it's an "easy week" I've been able to devote some time to the studio. I finished up a piece for HGDT (you can see it here or there) as well as a "thank you" (below) to Sue for being instrumental in getting my work in The Flying Pig. I can't believe it has taken me so long. urg.



And as if I don't have anything better to do, I started rearranging, adding more storage to Ye Ol' Studio ... which of course is now completely ripped apart. *geez*

Recovery day and I finished up a bunch of new pieces which generally perks me up but I guess I'm still recovering! This piece above is one that I've had in the works forever and finally decided it was done today.



I also finished my "Home Series" using the teeth from an old field mower. Love how these turned out, in particular "Welcome Home" (upper right). It took me forever to figure out how to make the door open - which it does - and the face was one of those serendipitous finds that just works.

You can see more, and more detailed photos of each on flickr.

Enjoy.

For those that aren't interested, here's a pretty picture for ya!



Using stuff from Hannah Grey.

For those that are...

( Read more... )

... leaving in an hour. STILL haven't packed and here I sit typing away. Talk about "in DE Nile" - I'm all the way to the Euphrates(sp?). yowza!

So I'll see you all on my return with stories and pictures to share.

ciao baybee!

... that is too cool to pass up. Courtesy of mantofev)

Ask me to take photos of anything in my life ... the most mundane detail ... my front doorknob, my refrigerator, favourite room or my fingernails ... it's all fair game.

OPTIONAL: Post this in your journal so I can do the same to you!

Note to self: do paper casting when it's WARM (and dry) outside. This week we've had lots of cooler temps and damp damp damp as a result it took the better part of FOUR DAYS for my first paper casting to dry. In some kind of misguided inspiration I combined some cotton linters with some red dryer lint to get? PINK. I really hate pink. WHAT was I thinking?!? Who knows but I struggled with the colour choice, glued my favourite cast to a 6"x6" canvas and used Quin Burnt Orange as a background wash. Oh! I added some Absorbent ground AND some plaster gauze first. Because the little fish skeleton needed a bit more grounding. I'm pretty pleased with the result - this photo is a bit TOO sharpened so it comes across as harsh - which it isn't at all.



The next challenge might interest some of you ... it's about finishing projects. Come on over!

And my week of training round up...

( Read more... )

Oh. And it's currently 14C outside. God we live in the weirdest climate EVER!!

Nothing like being able to scratch out items on your To Do list that have been causing underlying stress. Yes! Finished packing up the pieces that are heading to The Flying Pig Gallery in Wisconsin. This is my first "out of country" selling in a gallery experience so I'm pretty stoked.

I've also been playing with these mini assemblages using rusty ol' harrow teeth. The series is called "Home" and this is the first one:



They measure under 5" in height and about 3" wide. So teeny tiny. Until I found the photo of 'the guys' this one just would NOT come together. As so often happens, you find the right element and *pfft* things come together in no time.

I'm also playing around with paper pulp for Challenge #9 and am remembering how much I LOVE it. Wanna join in??

... for the next 40 hours give or take. Feet up. Surf. Eat. Nap. Rinse. Repeat.
Ahhhh... I made it through another week!

( More training yadayada... )

In the meantime... art related posting were few and far between this week as I try and balance "life" around these training sessions.

A new challenge has been posted on jenworden.com with guest challenger Carla Trujillo showing us how to make paper castings. I. Am. Stoked.

Today's run, in cartoon form.

We didn't get the snow called for (yes!) but we did get rain and mild temperatures which in turn, changes the base pack of our dirt road into a fun park of Guess Where the Ice Is? Because there is a thin coat of dust/dirt over everything, the ice hides just under the surface. And guess what my workout was today? Intervals! Yay! (fyi - intervals are where you run at a prescribed level/zone and then a cool down period. rinse. repeat.)

So there I was after my 15minute warmup, picking my way along the road wondering when each footstrike was going to slide out from under me and choosing the spots to do my 30second @ zone 4/90second recovery. Oh! So much fun! I can so understand why anyone training seriously for ANYTHING move away. RiDICKulous!

Anyway. Thoroughly enjoyed the intervals even if I likely wasn't quite in zone 4 for all of each 30second rep. Resting up for swim training tonight. Are you bored to death of this yet?!?

For Challenge#8 on http://jenworden.com

Also if you have a flickr account I created a group for these Stretch challenges: http://flickr.com/groups/stretch/

I love it when Good Things happen. :)

1. LOVED doing the above piece for Challenge #7 (Challenge #8 is now online) which will be winging its way to shebaduhkitty next week.
2. A US gallery and I are close to finalizing my work being shown there. *woot*
3. A pending collaboration is going to be awesome.
4. I have no less than 4 assemblages going right now.
5. A commission landed in my lap out of the blue. When it rains it pours.
6. First week of training is under my belt.
7. Today's run was a blast from the past. It felt good. No. It felt REAL good.
8. I feel tired but not dead.
9. Nothing beats grilled feta cheese, olives and oregano on a pita for lunch.
10. Son #1 will be home for a visit over Easter weekend. I miss him. (and I need him to set up Malcolm. heh.)

It feels like I'm about to lose sight of the eighteen bazillion balls that're up in the air and they'll all fall from the sky, smacking me upside the head. I have a metric buttload of "in progress" art things in the studio. None of which seem even CLOSE to completion and while generally that doesn't bother me, I'm aware of a backlog coming down the pike and could use some closure on at least ONE piece. The muse is in overdrive and she is a bitch of a taskmaster.

Couple that with the training thing.

( Training stuff behind here )

So. I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed right now. And crappy weather is in the forecast. Of course.

... I'm tuckered out from my run this morning [9k under not so adverse conditions this time thank god!) so I'm bein' a couch potato this afternoon. Sue me! heh.

Here are two more "raven heads" in progress. The first photo is the third in this series using a glass top from an old canning jar as the body, tentatively titled "Clear Heart". Still haven't settled on what, if any, the wings will end up being. If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears.



Given how popular the original "Open Heart" seemed to be, I decided to make a smaller version using some brass curtain rings I bought last fall. The rings are about 2" across. Obviously I have yet to age the wings or attach anything together. But I do like how it's moving along though.



Challenge #7 has been posted on jenworden.com if you're interested. Off to read my friends/feeds. xoxo

So I got up to go out for my run this morning.

Aside: This week's schedule is 7/7/3/9 (that's kilometres not miles ;) and Monday, my run was thwarted because the road hadn't been plowed and I don't know about YOU but I do not like running with snow up to my knees.

So. Like I said, I got up to go out for my second 7k before the weather was supposed to get ugly later today. About 2k into the run, it started to snow. With feeling. By 3k it had turned to pingy-snow coating my jacket and shoulders and head and face and glasses. I can't see without by glasses - all that white just blennnndddddssss y'know? - but I couldn't see WITH my glasses because they were alternating between being completely fogged up or covered in sticky-pingy-icey "snow".

If you've ever suffered from snow blindness you know that it isn't fun. So I ran, careening from one side of the road to the other. The only saving grace is that the weather sucked so badly no one was out.

And because the paved roads would be unsafe to run on - no shoulders, more cars - I had to run UP the road - a steady, heart-pounding, incline for 3kilometres. Yes! I get to run back DOWN but read above. I couldn't SEE. Trust me it's harder to run DOWNhill when you can't see.

And just so you get the idea how MUCH it was snowing? My footsteps had completely filled in on my way back. By the time I got home I was completely covered in ice, frozen, feet were soaked and I am so NOT impressed with the Universe throwing adversity in my path. grrrrr.

Anyone below the 35th parallel (read: anywhere WITHOUT snow) wanna adopt me?
I'm supposed to be doing a 7k run today. Guess THAT won't be happening. *grrrrr*



If you haven't already seen, Challenge #6M is up. I think it's gonna be a good one.

... so I just got an invite to ZNE [http://www.ZNEart.com] and wondering if any of y'all are members and if so, does it help sales? make a difference? $25. down the toilet?

I'm also curious about books and publishing. Do you think it makes a difference having a book "out there"? Does it matter what it's like? Is it enough to just have it published?

And what kind of book draws you in, makes you *buy*? Do you like to see Step-by-step instruction? Plain ol' eye candy? or do you like to learn more about the artist, their process, their inspirations?

Yep. A lot goin' on in the ol' brain today. It's my Day Off. And I'm couch-bound. heh.