A Special Dedication

Percy secretly called during my little hiatus a couple weeks back and I quietly mounted up for a ride. Sometimes deadlines for other work must be put off for things of the heart. I created these as a gift for my parents, who have been tremendously supportive to my husband and I recently.

The Harpist

My mother is a wonderful pianist, runs her own piano studio, occasionally composes sweetly yearning pieces, AND owns a lovely Andean folk harp she acquired while we lived in Ecuador. She only had a few lessons on it before the rest of life took over and the harp was put to slumber prettily in our living room corner. I hope that someday she will take it up again. The harp in this silhouette is modeled - loosely - after hers.

The Harpmaker

My father tunes pianos for a little extra income. As the provider of my mother's pianos, and mechanic to them, he inspired me to create a harpmaker. This piece was quite a challenge to compose. I decided to use an ancient Egyptian harp as the basis for the composition so that I could keep everything oriented horizontally - the Egyptian harp lends itself to horizontal lines because it is visually heavier at the bottom, unlike more contemporary harp shapes. Every time I sketched in a contemporary harp on it's side the composition felt awkward and overly complicated. I also like that it is in keeping with the general theme of ancient art that inspires most of my silhouettes.

I have plans for a new take on my silhouettes when I create a piece inspired by my Grandmother. But these will have to wait until I get back to and meet my current deadlines for commissions, etc.

Thanks for peeping in again! Have a lovely week!

Naming the Muse: An Embossing Give-Away!

I would like to invite you to participate in a very important decision: a name for my muse. To honor this sacred event (a little snickering as I type that) I'm going to do my first give-away. The prize will be a 4"x4" embossing which I will create for the winner.

To participate, please make your name suggestion by commenting on this post. A little exposition on meaning or why you think it's the perfect name would be welcome.

*Gentle Facebook Readers, please go directly to the blog to comment if you would like to be entered in the drawing. (Click on the title and you should be taken directly to this post.) Facebook comments will not be entered in the drawing for the prize but the names suggested will certainly be considered for the muse.

The winner of the personalized embossing will be randomly selected from all comments that suggest a new name. So the more new and original recommendations you make, the better your chance of winning. Comments about an already suggested name will not be counted. Comments must be received by 5:00 am EST, Monday, June 15th. The contest winner will be announced later that day. Whoever wins must then contact me about your embossing within 48 hours. If I do not hear from the first winner, another name will be drawn. Instructions for contacting me will be on the post announcing the winner.

As to the name I actually choose for my muse . . . wait on. I see another give-away in my future.

Now, for your consideration - this muse's characteristics:
Willful, deeply loyal and oddly fearless but very slothful, insanely fun to ride, wiry, aloof, illusive, distracted, mercurial, original but not witty, vaguely annoying but deeply endearing

Returned and Reconciling . . .

I've actually been back in my sweet Falls Church home for a few days but was so exhausted (from trekking all over Atlanta to see old friends) that I have had to spend these few days recovering. Now I'm ready to start back to creating. My muse and I are not exactly reconciled - I suspect she's just repressing - but no matter, that's her problem. We are speaking and co-habitating again . . . the rest will come. It helped immensely that our last customer was overwhelmingly delighted with her little felt dragon. My muse is a praise-monger - to a fault.

One thing we are agreed on is that calling her "my muse" is getting tiresome. I hope to include my wee list of followers in the naming process shortly so be watching for an upcoming post on this. It will include a special treat.

In other news, inspiring me today:

Laberinto en la Guitarra by Ensamble Continuo



My mother's Ecuadorian folk harp - I am missing my family today. (OK, I think it's actually a Paraguayan folk harp. But she bought it and learned to play on it while we lived in Ecuador so it is erroneously burned in my brain as "Ecuadorian.") She rarely touches it now, being busy with her piano studio.



I am also missing my Andes Mountains today. Specifically Pichincha - though not the most beautiful of Ecuador's stunning volcanoes, it was Pichincha's craggy, gloomy slopes to which I awoke every morning for many years as a child. I remember vividly - down to temperature and smell - trooping through the wind, clouds,and/or intense sunlight that crowned its head.

The Disagreement

Kay Nielsen


So my muse and I are having a row. She's got all these wonderful ideas she wants to pursue. I, on the other hand, have some commissions to complete before I leave on vacation next week. She is being very obstinate and refusing to help me with the commissions. In fact, she is slowing my work down by assaulting me with fabulous ideas I don't have time or energy to pursue. Don't know how long it will be before we're on speaking terms again. I'm going to whine a little now: why do I always have to be the "adult" in these situations? So wish I could just indulge her.