Lanterns, Pots and Planters

For the holidays you can have fun forcing a few paper whites, amaryllis bulbs, or buy red bromiliads instead of poinsettias. Put them in one of my new pots or planters, to make a one of a kind gift.

Or light up someones life with a LED candle lantern. I have two that are made from rice bags saved for me by Masami. So if you want one, show up at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, NC this Friday, Nov. 18 through Sunday, Nov. 20 from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 pm. I will be demonstating how I make these.

Soaking In It/Soaking it in

I am immersed in a vat of copper, gold foil, and persimmon and raking papery leaves gingerly over emerald patches, trying to get back home. It takes more than the moving of leaves from one place to another to settle into my nest. Two weeks is not enough to let my travel motions and memories simmer. This is going to be a long process and just like The Turtle, slow. So I wait while planting poets daffodils and wood hyacinths. I wait while cleaning out my pond where my purple elephant ear has taken a dive. I visit fellow artists at the Southern Highlands Guild Fall Fair,drive to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned and to the hairdresser to cut the locks I let grow on my trip. I shared some of my journey in person instead of on this blog. But somehow it isn't the same. I perhaps can't go home again unless I am blogging! For that is the home I created while away from home. But, I am fortunate to have many homes. The mountains draped in dappled dreams in front of me are very compelling and comforting. They have dyed me my favorite shade, Carolina Blue. "Twenty thousand roads I've been on and they all lead me right home to you"..Gram Parsons