One for the Record Books

This has been a week of change and I am so glad of it. Firstly, I must tell you all that I left my job at the bindery.  It's been a mere 5 or 6 weeks and I just could not do this work anymore. Believe it or not, I found a NEW job already...I am now an official part time employee at Crestar, which is a picture framing manufacturer in East Greenwich. Folks there are fun and down to earth...it's a much more comfortable fit for me. I was a framer for about 4 years and the place I was employed at had to close due to the economic downturn in our country. Well, I'm back at it and I couldn't be happier!

Next BIG NEWS is I have been nominated to serve as a Peace Corps volunteer in Eastern Europe next March.  I will be teaching secondary school kids how to speak English. I have been looking into the Peace Corps for about a year now and can't believe I didn't apply years ago.  It's perfect for me.  I love volunteering, people, different cultures, teaching and travel...everything the PC is!
Everything at this point is very preliminary. I still have to be invited but this can take many many months...first I need to pass all the health screenings.  This can take a long time because I need to gather records and make appointments, etc. Also, if someone else has been nominated for the same place/position, they will take the person with the most experience. This means I need to get a lot of ESL teaching experience, which will not begin until July. I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I am really excited about the prospect of teaching new immigrants our language. I am even looking into taking an on-line TEFL course
to see exactly what needs to be taught. If anyone out there can recommend one (there are TONS of these sites on the Internet) I would greatly appreciate it!

All and done...over and out.

Collective Thread

I was juried into a new show this week.  Collective Thread is an exhibition showcasing contemporary fiber work. I had two pieces juried in...one is the Tea Diary, as shown in an earlier blog, and the other is one of my tea quilts. The show is at the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg and will run  from May 15-June 25.

Loss of Comfort with detail. 52x72" Used Tea Bags, thread, tulle, fiber-fil

Rainy Friday

Today is the first day this week I have been able to spend any quality time in the studio. Working at the bindery has really cut into my time here! I also have other obligations that need to be seen to, so this also limits my time...it's frustrating! I have lots of work to do on the books and need to keep that momentum going. It can be very time consuming...each page needs to be unique and special and with 24 books in circulation, that is a lot of art! I seem to keep running out of inspiration...which is very bad. I have even let other things pile up in the studio...These are little mountains of tea bags that need to be processed.

Springtime in New England

The weather is nuts...yesterday started out at 50 degrees and by 4 pm it was 92 degrees. Crazy! Usually there are April showers this time of year with plenty of cold and raw to go with it. Who would have guessed it wasn't August? Today is not as warm, but still crazy warm for this time of year. Everyone is so much happier...imagine, strangers looking each other in the eye and saying hello? It's unheard of! This afternoon I was walking to the studio from work and some man in a suit saw me and smiled and said "Beautiful day, isn't it?" My jaw just about hit the pavement.