My sabbatical of 15 months has at long last ended and it was worth every moment that I stepped back. I have pittered and pattered the past few months. But all summer long I have felt as if I was preparing for "something" and then, in late July, the deluge began. And it wasn't rain from Tucson's monsoon season.
The thought had occurred to me that I should prepare a traveling exhibit of sorts to include all of the French Beaded florals that I have been creating for the past few years. (The Asiatic Lily pictured in my last blog post finally got planted!) I offered the Exhibit and it was accepted by the Cactus Wren Art Gallery & Nest in Tubac to begin in early August. While I finished the pricing of my annual delivery of wearable art jewelry to the Tubac Center of the Arts, I was also mapping out the Exhibit for the Cactus Wren space with hope of delivering to those two locations on the same day. As it happened, just as I have for past three summers - I delivered a collection including some new, original designed beauties, to the Tubac Center of the Arts.
In the midst of those adventures, I was invited, along with three other artists, to demonstrate my artistic process at CATALYST SAACA Creative Collective in Tucson. They were hosting a special evening of cultural exchange with a delegation of visiting artists from Kazakhstan, in partnership with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, the Southern Arizona Arts & Cultural Alliance, and Chevron. Seriously? How does one say "no" to that? So I dropped all preparations for Tubac and prepared a demo to display and explain my work with raw stones including wire wrapped pendants and, of course, my story necklace "Desert Transition".
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Several visiting artists from Kazakhstan |
My reward was a wonderful evening communicating through interpreters as well as experiencing up close the awesomely unique artistry of these international ambassadors. We came together one on one with heart warming smiles and handshakes that honestly stirred emotions of unity and connectedness. The kind eyes said it all!
Lastly (well maybe), the icing on the cake from that evening included another invitation, one to apply for a juried gallery exhibit that will begin in September and last four months. I'm awaiting a decision on my entries submitted. There are still 11 days left in August. What more can happen?
