Transition, Transference, and Trimming it all up

Last Berg - taken this a.m.

Winter is a long haul in a mile high city, and I'm happy to say we have finally rounded the bend on that one. All that remains of a mountainous heap of snow and ice in my personal corner of paradise, is this lonely little ice berg, slowly receding into the rest of my yard. Hallelujah. With the retreat of snow and ice begins the annual and very necessary clean up of elemental damage - yesterday, I hauled off 7 top-heavy loads of spruce and fir needles along with heaps of dead pokey branches I trimmed away from underneath the canopy. And I'm not talking about those cute little wheelbarrows that come in various colors and have a shallow little bed - I'm talking about a construction job-site wheelbarrow with a big wheel in front, massive handles, and a deep folded steel bed that holds one whale of a lot. Oh, how I love hauling away the dregs of winter and letting the light of spring into my yard and into my life. As I work, I think metaphorically of all that the trimming away and letting in of light means; to me, for me, and for those involved in my life.

Where does your path lead? What are your priorities?

When I started my business, Thea's Bee Beautiful, I thought I could successfully run two completely different businesses. It has been several years now and I still find that I trudge guiltily past my sunny studio door way too often with the ticker-tape inside my head reading, "Studio Time = 0. Again".  I kept telling myself things like, "Once X happens, THEN I will have more studio time". Well, as you can guess, X would happen and then the next X would pop up and so on until weeks would slip by with no studio time. This spring, I finally made the decision to phase Thea's Bee Beautiful out of my life and work in my studio full time. I realized that if I had spent all the time developing my art business that I've put into TBB, I'd be...  well, who knows. The point is, I want and need to give it a shot. Art is what I do best and I keep shoving it to the bottom of my priority list.

I was not looking forward to talking to my daughter, Anna, about this decision. It's been a decade since she and I first started conceptualizing this business when my late husband and I were looking at small organic farms to buy in Eastern Oregon. The plan was to grow our own flowers and herbs for use in skin care products. Anna had started collecting formulaic research and we were all excited about our prospects. All these years later, many things have changed and Anna and I have kept working on the skin care line. She has a lot of vested time and energy in this business already.

Much to my surprise, when I broached the subject last week, Anna grew very excited and exclaimed that she thought she and Dustin (her fiance') might like to take it over. After a consultation with Dustin and friends, Anna declared her interest in becoming the new owner/operator of Thea's Bee Beautiful. In the words of a friend of mine, what an elegant solution.

Anna and Dustin, Scott and I, are in a time of transition with Anna and Dustin purchasing their own little organic farm and deciding to marry, and Scott taking a job in the back country that keeps him from home Monday through Friday. The transfer of my business to Anna and Dustin makes sense in this context. It's as if we've come full circle together.

Anna makes her 1st Batch

The last three days, Anna and I have gone over many aspects of the business and spent a full and long day making Fancy Face Cream and Everyday Hand and Body Cream. It was a joy to spend that time beginning the process of transferring knowledge and technique to her. I even found myself laughing out loud and told her once that I felt so simply and thoroughly happy - and that feeling of simple happiness tells me this is the right decision. It seems to be a rare thing that decisions made are met with such clarity and sureness afterwards.

Measuring Hydrosol

As we sat side by side in the "work room", putting the finishing touches on over a hundred jars of product surrounded by my distiller and all the Things that go into Thea's Bee Beautiful, I found myself wondering what this room would look like emptied of all that once we move it to Dustin and Anna's place. All those empty cabinets and empty work table...   then I had an AHA!! moment. I've been looking over my studio wondering where on earth and how on earth I was going to manage and organize all my paints, mediums, and paint table in addition to all my fabric based stuff. Wonder no more - it will all transfer nicely and neatly into the old TBB workshop! It is a perfect and wonderful solution.

I sign off here today feeling happier and lighter than I have for a long time. I'm feeling so good about all the changes in our lives and the way we are handling them. The dovetailing of my business into the life and business of Anna and Dustin, along with their upcoming marriage, makes my own life seem more complete even while I am trimming it up. I'm simply trimming it up so that it can expand in a new direction. It's so exciting.

Linen from Greece - hand embroidered and appliqued

P.S. Today is Anna's Birthday. One of the gifts I gave her is a gorgeous linen tablecloth and napkin set sent to me by her great grandmother in Athens, Greece, upon my own marriage to Anna's dad. It arrived with a few stains and I enjoyed thinking about the dinner parties that put them there. I added a few of my own and now pass it along to her so she can add hers.

Recovery Ramblings

October Crabapple

Yes, I'm afraid so.  Can you believe this is the same cheerful crabapple I photographed in my last post?  This is the early morning scene off my back porch.  Checking my journals from previous years, this is a mite early for a sticking snow even for us.  Hunters and skiers are jumping for joy.  Me... well, I'm sure this is a passing anomaly and I'm so close to real studio time...

I am one week post-op today and, though frequently tired, am doing extremely well.  My "swelly belly" is slowly diminishing and as of yesterday, I can walk upright without too much mincing.  I was feeling and looking like Yoda there for awhile, but I rapidly improve and am enjoying catching up on a few things that are couch friendly...  like FINALLY putting those 1998 pictures of my trip to visit my sister who happened to live in France at the time in a photo album.  With narration.  Of course.  Words, words, words, I love and live for words.  I think about them all the time.  Running narratives populate my mind constantly.  I was writing this blog in my shower this morning while gazing out the bathroom window which has returned to it's winter state of reflecting dappled gray and silver light.  See what I mean?

Oh Happy Day

My good recovery is aided greatly by my wonderful friends and family who have sent care packages, brought meals, and dropped by to visit.  Thank you thank you.  One such friend drove my car (and me) out to the woods on Monday where she sat me in this chair and took my picture then went off to harvest Valerian.  I was in heaven even without my book..

Cousin Jon:  If you are reading this from your fancy phone and you are still in Michigan, would you please pick up a Petosky stone for me?  I lost my brown paper sack of them when I moved from there to here years ago and it has always grieved me.  Thanks!

Nearing Nutmeg Completion

Sewing it Down

I'm getting close!  In this picture, I am sewing the identification label onto the backing of what will be...  a completed art piece.  Yes, it has taken me much longer than I projected.  But I do have a (good?) excuse.  It's summer in Valley County.  Precious, fir-scented, and fleeting the full time residents here run at full tilt for several months trying to incur most of their annual income AND prepare for winter all at the same time.  Preparing for winter includes repairing last winter's damage and cutting firewood.  We continue cutting and hauling home the enormous red fir that is providing us with our first "one tree winter". 

Summer here is also filled with wonderful moments like visiting with friends who are here but once a year.  Recently, I spent a companionable afternoon in my studio with a fiber art friend and a pitcher of iced tea swapping stories and talking about our passions - fiber art being high on the list.  Check out Utah Surface Design...  these artists have it going on!

Green Cards at the Roseberry Concert Barn

There is more to do in our little mountain resort town all the time.  A few nights ago, we drove out to the historically preserved town of Roseberry to watch The Green Cards .  Excellent fiddle, mandolin, sweet singing and great stage presence.  Even I got up and danced - I think the band was having a good time too because they came out for three encores! 

In this busy summer week, we also worked in a beautiful hike through Clouchman Saddle and up Bear Pete Trail.  The trail winds it's way through acres and acres of forest burned over in 1994 and for that reason, my husband was not a fan of this trail. In my opinion, the burn area provided us with stellar views that went all the way over to the Seven Devils - a jagged mountain range to the west - and 24 miles to the south where we could see Payette Lake, the south shore of which our little town nestles against.  So I give this hike a big thumbs up - giant horseflies with painful bites aside.

Bear Pete Trail Looking West

I've written all this in an attempt to make excuses for my lack of productivity in the studio.  It is a constant struggle for artists in every medium.  How to balance the need for solitude in the studio in order to create with other needs of the soul; companionship, recreation, and reading.

Speaking of reading, I have a good summer read recommendation that I heard reviewed recently on NPR:  South of Superior by Ellen Airgood.  As a former Michigander, I could not wait to read this book and liked it so much that I am saving it for a second read sometime this winter.  Probably around my birthday as a special winter treat.  Check out Ellen's blog - it's a lot of fun!

Coming and Going Thoughts

It has been a busy month since my last post with many entrances, exits, and another art piece completed.  In my last post, I was just about to quilt the piece pictured and entitled, "Desert Mosaic" (29" long x 35" wide).  There are so many pieces in this work and so much going on, that I chose to do the quilting with a clear monofiliment thread on most of the top using long, continuous lines of stitch to keep the eye traveling smoothly over the surface.  The whitecaps on the river called for cream colored thread, and the sky has blue thread.

In this close-up shot, you can see more detail and the color shading in this photograph is more true to the actual art work.  It is quite vibrant and I am pleased with the way these complex colors and forms come together.  The very first piece I put up on the design wall was the striated silk in the upper right hand corner with the three shaded, pointed layers of organza reaching for the top of the composition.  This was a bold fabric choice to make because of the strong lines and decisive colors and I had a few anxious moments building around and out from my original choice not yet sure that it was going to "work".  It took awhile for the vision I held to match up on the design wall.  I am very happy with the end result.  Each completed piece encourages me to move on in my artistic boldness which, in turn, encourages me to make bold moves in my life outside the studio as well.


It's been a busy month, a week of which was spent looking for jobs and resettlement in Williston, North Dakota, a modern day Boom Town based on the oil and gas industry.  My husband and I thought we had done our homework well before embarking, but found we were not quite prepared for the reality.  To begin with, we went prepared to tent camp and drove in to cyclonic weather (which is why I have no picture to post!); wind driven rain and a rising Missouri River made us decide to find a hotel room.  The closest we could get to Williston was Glendive, MT a full 100 miles away as most rooms closer in are booked out as far as two years in advance.  Our hotel in Glendive was filled with oilfield workers making that commute to Williston daily.  Undaunted, Scott had the one interview we had lined up beforehand for 4:00 p.m.  It was clear in a short amount of time that he would not be getting that particular job.  Disappointed, we headed back to our hotel room all the while making our plans for a fresh try the next day.  By the time we arrived in Glendive, we had decided to head back for home instead and make more careful plans for a future attempt, if at all.  You need to go to Williston knowing that you will not be hired unless you have a North Dakota address in the area.  You also need to know that there is no housing available.  The solution?  Take your own camper and park it in one of the myriad RV and mobile home parks springing up like mushrooms all around Williston.  If you do that, you will get a job.  Also go knowing that getting a job is not an overnight thing - we talked to several young men who had already been there two weeks with no success.    As we swung onto the ON ramp to interstate 94 outside Glendive heading West, we saw a young man standing next to the OFF ramp with a cardboard sign in his hand that read, "WILLISTON".  The whole scene reminded me of Steinbeck's, "The Grapes of Wrath", which I have read several times.  People are coming in from across the nation in an effort to find work and camping wherever they can - we saw plenty of people pitching tents in nooks and crannies around town.  Williston is a nice town made up of tidy two-story brick buildings with a lovely public library and hospital (two places I always check out).  I wish everyone the best; both in their efforts to find employment and enjoy a good life, and in Williston's efforts to maintain a nice little town in Boom time conditions.

Might Ethyl Frog Eater

Today:  dig spotted knapweed out of our field accompanied by doggie Ethyl who is recovering from her frog eating adventure.  She nearly died from ingesting not one, but many little frogs from a nearby pond.  Who knew?  When we tire of digging noxious weeds, we shall repair to the studio to start my new piece:   The Secret Life of Nutmeg.  Fun and whimsical, this art piece represents what I wish for everyone - a bit of fun and whimsy in each day!