I’ve completed a new piece in my toys series – a funny little futuristic car.  My brother Bob and I played cars often as children.  We had a variety of cars from Matchboxes to the big, hardy Tonka dumptruck.  We built big and small cities of roads and hills and bridges in the dirt and drove our cars around, talking the whole time – “… and then this guy drives up and dumps off a load of special rocks brought back from the moon … and these guys are using the moon rocks to build a bomb proof shelter for the President … ”

This car has one wheel in front and two in back, and a seat and steering wheel inside. 

Although rather lumpy and somewhat square-ish, the wheels on this little car turn, so you can drive it around and make up your own stories.  The little car is available in my miniatures auction. 

In October I will participate in a juried group exhibition at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, CA.  The exhibition is juried by JoAnne Northrup, Chief Curator at San Jose Museum of Art. 

Along with works from artists throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, my piece “Homage to Castaneda” will be on display.  This was one of my earliest pieces in my Imaginary Botanica series.  It was inspired by my encounters with author and anthropologist Carlos Castaneda.  Castaneda rigorously studied with Don Juan, a Yaqui Indian sorcerer.  One aspect of the Yaqui beliefs was that there are alternate realities we can access through rigorous spiritual and physical discipline.  This series of artworks has been my imagining botanical life in alternate realities. 

The exhibition opens with a reception on Friday, October 30, 7-9pm, and runs through December 5.  Ms. Northrup will give a talk on Saturday, October 31st at 11am. 

http://www.sanchezartcenter.org/

In the new issue of Glass Line magazine (October/November 2009, Volume 23, Number 3), I have written an article, “Starting Out as a Glass Artist”.  My article is about my experiences and advice to newer artists starting out.  I outline the steps I took as a new artist, and still take today, to gain acceptance into art galleries. 

In this same issue, artist Paul Stankard wrote about “Developing a Personal Voice in Glass”, with his recommendations for developing beyond interesting glass techniques.  Paul Stankard is one of my idols.  He is the premier glass paperweight maker in the world today.  His works integrate mysticism with botanical realism, with strikingly beautiful botanical sculptures encased in clear glass. 

To subscribe to Glass Line or purchase single issues, visit their website:  www.hotglass.com

To see Paul Stankard’s work, visit his website:  www.PaulStankard.com

The first two pieces in my expecting theme are complete.

I started with a botanical cyclone, my symbol of growth and becoming.  It has a peach gestating inside, like a new idea formulating, a new direction being considered, a new commitment on the verge of being declared, connected to the cyclone vine with a long umbilical stem.

Second is a full-bellied vessel vine, pregnant with a nearly ripe, ready-for-the-world lemon.  The vines of this piece are made of an interesting color called English Ivy, reminiscent of the glass I used for the acorn trunk piece.  It appears opaque until light shines behind it, and then it is actually a transparent ivy green with blue and butterscotch streaks.

I plan to attempt pushing my idea of expectant plants even further, with the idea of enclosing the fruit fetuses in glass amniotic sacs within the plant.  That will be a tremendous technical challenge, but certainly interesting!

In the other realm of my recent expectations, our puppy is arriving this Saturday.  After nearly 2 months of our family unsuccessfully attempting to agree on her name, Brent finally coaxed the kids into letting me name her.  I named her Piper.  When I was pregnant with our youngest son, Reilly, and before we knew he was a boy, we had chosen Piper for the baby’s name if it was a girl.  So now our puppy will be Piper.

Here’s to expectations!