I have to apologize again for my lack of updates. Our life has been one big blur for the past several weeks (months?? it\'s a very big blur). I\'m not sure if I mentioned that I would be homeschooling my older daughter this year... Well, that adventure went so well that we went ahead and pulled my younger daughter out of public school and I am homeschooling two now. It\'s been a bit of a roller coaster, with working on curriculum, schedules, etc., but it\'s also been quite rewarding. It suits our family well, and we\'re all much happier. I am still working out a lot of the kinks, but have found so many resources that it is pretty exciting. I love to learn, and love to see my kids learn!
Work in the studio has pretty much come to a screeching halt for the moment. Of course this big family change has required a lot of adjustment. I didn\'t realize how much free time I actually had before! Having several hours daily of uninterrupted time seems like a far off dream now, especially since at the moment my husband is working a LOT. I can\'t even sneak off into my little building in the evenings. I\'m not sure if it\'s all the changes in our life, or the changes in the weather, but my chronic pain has also been raging against me and creating even more challenges. (Imagine the worst headache or backache -or any severe pain- that you\'ve ever had - now multiply it by at least ten, and all over your body. Then try to think straight. It\'s not easy, and people really do not get that this pain NEVER STOPS. It is exhausting.)
So...what\'s up, if anything, in the studio? Right now, though I\'m pretty happy with my enameling abilities, I am definitely not where I want to be with my metalsmithing skills. Having the enamels without the framework I envision them in is seriously frustrating me. Though the enamels themselves are lovely, and I never get tired of them, I want to do more with them. But I need to practice my metalsmithing. To practice I need time. Also, when dealing with fire and hammers I need to be able to focus. Right now I don\'t have the time, and with my pain flaring, I can\'t focus. Again, frustrating.
So that\'s pretty much where I stand right now. It\'s more like running in place! The main creative outlet I have right now (other than creating curriculum) is making soaps and lip balms, because the girls and I can do that together. We\'ve been making soaps for quite a while now, (a year maybe?) so it\'s not something I have to think too hard about in order to accomplish. (Unlike metalsmithing, which is still quite the learning curve.) Since I have a serious soap and lip balm addiction, it works out well! Anything that makes kids want to bathe is always a plus. I\'m finding my creative energies are becoming neatly arranged into two categories: Short term, fun projects = soaps & balms. Long term, more serious projects = jewelry. Hey, what\'s the point in looking good if you don\'t smell good too?
My apologies for extended silence, then this long-winded and probably grammatically frightening update. If you\'ve read this far, thank you! Do keep an eye out for more enameled projects coming down the pike in the future - hopefully not *too* far into the future.
Happy November!
Re-opened shop with the few items that were listed already...will update with more information later. I\'m totally swamped.
http://GreywillowStudios.etsy.com
There are more changes blowing in the breeze \'round these parts. Not sure exactly how they are going to manifest yet - the changes may change yet some more. At some point I will fill in the gaps here...when the changes stop changing long enough for me to catch up! (Savvy? - that was a bit Captain Jack Sparrow, eh?)
