The Moody Side of Autumn Beauty

 

Before the magic show of turning leaves, autumn days have a soft foreboding quality that I find beautiful. The last roses bloom pale and their petals will drop soon. Full round pumpkins have hard shells to insulate against the coming chill. Preservation. Harvest. Gathering in.

It seems like we have so many seasons when we are young but as we age I’ve come to understand that the reason seasons repeat so continuously without variation is that the lesson to be learned is hard. Things change. Bodies change. Relationships change. All that is mortal  is impermanent. If you are very, very blessed, you have stumbled upon what endures. I hope you have.

I took these shots at the Arboretum yesterday, where I laughed and felt lighthearted with my husband and daughter-in-law Hayley. Only later did it occur to me how somber the photos are that I took. Perhaps it is because I walked here so many times with my baby, with a group of small school children, with my husband when we were younger and newly in love. That’s the seasons; all that has passed. Our family, though it looks quite different, is still here. And the same gaiety I felt as a child myself at  mums and pumpkins and twilight.

                                                         

Sarah-Lambert Cook's Amazing Creative Vortex

The miniature watercolor with its impossibly rich detail and precision rendering are impressive, but what makes Sarah-Lambert Cook stand out is the quirky choice of subject matter. Monty Python, Jane Austen and Harper Lee references show up often, usually with an unusual personal twist. There are also finely drawn  animals, flowers, landscapes. Where, you might wonder, does she get all these ideas? Well, for starters, she has moved 5 times in the last year as a military spouse, so she's seen a lot of various landscapes, zoos, museums, nature preserves. But her best inspirational source is with her younger sisters. Their distinct and fearless personalities are captured below, along with Sarah-Lambert's notes. I think it shows how one creative person is often the voice for all that has touched us, especially the people who live in our hearts and minds.

This is my youngest sister who, at 16 years younger than myself, has a fantastic person style.  

She's really into red pandas right now and is wearing my Red Panda necklace (found here) while holding her own pet red panda, Charlie Brown.

Julianne is a pensive, beautiful girl who is just on the cusp of high school now. (Wearing the Le Magical Fireflies necklace) 

She spends a lot of time reading and even more time inventing stories of her own! (Wearing the Arrowhead necklace) 

Katy-Lynn is on the cusp of college and full of possibilities. Her observant nature helps in her writing which she is very good at! (Wearing the Llama locket)

Family

I rarely start out to make these insanely elaborate decorations. You would think that after 70+ hour weeks in the studio making pottery, I’d just make a pie, or stick flowers in a vase. But my mind is racing with imagery. At the market I just have to have these particular lime green mums, and…not those…not those…oh, have to have these bright red mini carnations! And then they have to be meticulously arranged. Like this:

And the funny thing is, I never feel closer to my grandmother than when I am obsessed with getting the pie crust to look just right. I can so vividly recall her lattice crust and the way she used a zigzag cutter to cut the strips.

This Thanksgiving, my daughter returned for the first time a grown woman. She went right to work in the studio, making pottery for her Etsy shop, MarciG. When she helped me cook and bake, I was amazed at how much she knew without being told. And then it occurred to me how many years she’d silently been there, just watching.

Flock of Love by MarciG

I think what makes us family is not so much our genetics, as we are all so very different. It is rather this silent language that runs through us.

We make our nests, our homes like a monk prays, or like a little bird sings.

Raised In Love from OneClayBead

Graduation 2011

When I first held my beautiful newborn girl, I thought of all the milestones in her life to come. Her eyes, so large and inquisitive, told me that her smile would be an answer to my every question, and that one day she would walk beyond my home and into a life of her own imagining and dreams. Eighteen years have passed, and I watched her walk across the stage to graduate high school, with honors. In a few short months Marci will begin college at High Point University, as an interior design major. She makes me proud!

Here are some of our friends and family who came over to celebrate Marci’s graduation.

home business on steroids

What you see here is one day’s sales from OneClayBead and MarciG on Etsy! It’s freaking awesome and out of control! This is where we eat dinner generally. You can see the menorah and the flowers left from Thanksgiving, which are lost in the jumble. I print orders as things sell, and put them, with the correct piece, on my long table. There is typically lots of room for the 3 of us to eat, but it’s getting harder to sit down to a quiet meal. We have to push the sales down in order to set the table.

My friend Natalie has been coming over in the evenings to help with the packing. Here she is with my husband, Ken, as they make PayPal labels. Today the packages wouldn’t all fit in the car and we have to make 2 runs to the post office. This is my computer room but it now looks like UPS has set up an annex with board games, books, and a drum circle.
I’ve lost my zen a few times just living in this much activity every day. What brings me back is the feedback and notes from my buyers :
Beautiful! Gorgeous! Even better in real life! I am so happy with this and will be back to buy more! Oh and insanely fast shipping too... OneClayBead is awesome!
This is truly one of the cutest things. Thanks so much! I can't wait to give this to my friend for Christmas!
These are such beautiful ornaments. My infant daughter died two weeks after Christmas nearly 4 years ago, and each Christmas her brothers and I pick out a special ornament for her. Your doves are perfect.
The emotional connections made through buying and selling my handmade pottery are truly moving. It makes the chaos of my home a worthy price to pay.
Wishing you some joyful chaos today!

Thanksgiving 2010

Me, Marci, husband Ken, Mom and Dad Wolfe
We’ve eaten, walked by the French Broad River, shopped, played Scrabble and worked. This year has been so full of blessings and rich in rewards. I am grateful for my health this year, for my daughter’s acceptance into High Point University, my husband’s career success, my in law’s wisdom. There is more, actually so much more.
I wish for you:
After you sit down at the table
After you  eat and savor those familiar dishes
After you look deeply and joyfully into the eyes of those who love you :
Take a bit of food outdoors
Walk among trees, by a river, or find,  along a country lane
 some wild critter, and share your feast.
If you can, look into wild eyes.
Then touch a place of this beautiful earth, like homage to that which feeds us.
Happy Thanksgiving.

First Snow

  

The first cold flakes fell silently in the early dawn, blanketing the leaves we’ve not yet raked into piles.
Each white glistening orb seems like an answer falling from heaven. My world is transformed from autumn’s landscape of loss into a confection made with spun sugar and pearls.
It is beautiful as we walk outside, but we scurry inside soon as do all our woodland friends. Time to share our stories and dream our dreams by the fire.
Here is my new glaze, Blue Ice Crystal. The first piece sold right away but I'll be using it more in weeks to come. Wishing you beauty, and the light of love that shines from the eyes of those who gather with you by candles and fireplaces, as we burrow inside.

3 new dresses

My daughter can now drive; she has her own Etsy store, and has done rather well. I want her to save some for college and also have the experience of being in charge of her own money. So, for the first time, Marci drove herself downtown to shop the small independent stores on Lexington Ave, and bought 3 new dresses with her own money, and without me to help her choose. I like them all! I like that she is choosing independent designers selling in small Indie shops, and I really like the hand crochet on the 3rd dress, which is her favorite. It's a new kind of moment for me, I mean, it's one thing to pass along your genes, but to see that I've helped nurture my daughter's talent, helped her start her own creative business, and really enjoy her sense of style, too- that's a lot to be thankful for! Dress #2, the one with the pockets, that's just so cute. I like that she'll still humor mom with the posed pictures, too.

15 Going on 16

My daughter and I went shopping for a prom dress yesterday, and found one at a consignment shop. It's beautiful, she's happy, my mission as a mom is accomplished as soon as we locate absolutely fabulous and affordable shoes. It amuses me to know that 1 hour after she had all the ladies and a few customers enthralled with her waiflike Cinderella drama of deciding which dress, she was center mid on a soccer field, crashing the goal like Katrina barreling down on New Orleans.

^This is Marci last summer, shopping in a vintage store with my mother-in-law. You can see that irresistible tomboy-in-a-ballgown beauty. Such a study in contrasts. And despite the sometimes maddening drama, such a joy.