a Valentines Day tail...

a Valentines Day tail 

(yes I am spelling it that way on purpose)

 for you...

Once upon the time there was a statue

who was very lonely.

She had lots of sparklies strewn around her neck

that her owner seldom wore.

So most days she spent being stoic 

and resigned to her uneventful life.

 But one fine spring day

her owner threw open the windows 

to let the lovely spring day make its way 

into the winter home.

And at that very same time a crow saw the open window 

and spotted the sparklies...

 and she called her mate to check it out

as it was nest building time.

So they asked the lonely bust

if they could use some of her treasures

for their nest

and they promised to visit often to tell her

of their 'tails' to far away places.

And of course she answered 'evermore'.

the end

 I just couldn't resist...

"But the raven, sitting lonely on that placid bust spoke only that one word,

as if his soul in that one word he did outpour...

then the bird said, "Nevermore".

 This project was an assignment from Misty Mawn's on-line class. 

I started with a magazine page and it just went from there.

I loved working on the texture of the bust

juxtaposed with the jewelry.

(used lots of stamps including a crackle stamp -

a technique I learned from one of Misty's classes at ArtFest)

Here is the first step

with the magazine picture from House Beautiful.

Just sent this piece to Misty.  

When it returns I will mount it to a wood base 

and probably add real beads and cross necklaces to it.

if you give art club students pencils...

If you give art club students pencils,

they'll doodle awhile, then they'll want to use color.

So we'll get out the colored pencils...

but then they'll want to do wax resist

so we'll play with crayons and oil pastels...

when finished they'll want paint, 

so out will come the watercolors and acrylics

and fingers to apply the paint...

but one student will think we need tissue

and another stencils and stamps...

and another student will want buttons 

and glitter and laminate and

finally they'll ask their teacher to stitch the whole thing

into a book...

and then they'll want pencils for signing their names

and there will finally be smiles.

I am finally smiling as I pack this beautiful book 

made by my art clubbers.

It's going to Somerset Studio in response to their invitation 

for art related to "the Classics.

This is a take off of

"If you give a Moose a Muffin"

by Laura Numeroff.

Aren't they the best artists?

drumroll please...the famous mustache belongs to Tom Selleck

here is Tom Selleck

and his famous mustache...

and here is Tom Selleck too

with his famous whiskers.

the first is my second or third cousin

and no I've never met him.

and the second was my kitty who was a huge stray tom cat 

when he came to live with us during the Magnum PI era -

hence the name.

so we have four winners of the contest from the last blog

thanks to Malia for the first accurate guess,

then Erin, Patsy and Dinnard for tagging along.

Your cards will be sent your way soon -

wish I could get Tom Selleck to deliver them.
and I almost forgot, my name is Pamela Selleck Holderman
and my son's is Nicholas Selleck Holderman.

lattes with my youngest...and a giveaway related to a mustache

well he would look good with a mustache wouldn't he?

 we met for lattes (this is Seattle and that is what we do).

he was stylin' with his new goorin hat...

and fit right in at the oddfellows cafe...

one of my new favorite spots.

 and we shared a crusty sandwich with mozzarella, basil and tomato

 and the prerequisite lattes...

and driving home I happened to spot the quintessential geese while I waited at the red light.

if you are ever on a quiz show and they ask

"what is Pam Holderman's favorite thing about living the pacific northwest?"

just answer canada geese and you might win a million dollars.

and now for something totally random -

and if you happen to find yourself on another quiz show 

and are poised to win yet another million dollars,

and the question is 

"who is Pam Holderman related to 

that is very famous 

and has a famous mustache?" 

well I can help you with that answer too...

leave a guess here under comments 

and just maybe you could win something from me too -

sorry not a million dollars sadly,

but the first 4 to get the correct answer will get some of my cards.

hint - 

if you are friends with me on facebook then take a gander 

(hee hee a goose word to go with our pacific northwest theme)

at my middle name and that might give you a hint.

more hints to follow if no one gets it...

and family members may not answer - 

as you obviously know already

sorry...

and I will close this random post with Nick's wonderful tree photo that I tweaked a little.

true love

Matteo has fallen hard...

for Misty Mawn,

well that would be the way she quickly paints

and adds collage 

and swirls her brush just so...

keeps him occupied for hours.

she suggested I get him a brush.

well I would but he has a bad habit of chewing on them.

news flash - he just stole my gum eraser and is stealthily slinking across the floor 

with it perched neatly in his mouth...

bird by bird

To take a small gift of ourselves and hand it to the world

takes passion and courage

and hard work and dedication...

and is no easy feat.

I adore Anne Lamott.

She tells it like it is

and does so beautifully

in her book Bird by Bird.

The title comes from a time her father helped her brother work on a report on birds.

His advice was to just tackle it one step at a time or bird by bird.

I now find myself talking to myself when a project or painting seems daunting -

"just do it bird by bird" I will say to myself in an encouraging voice.

This book has so many ideas for writers that work beautifully for artists too.

Here are some favorite parts:

(just insert artist when she says writer)

People tend to look at successful writers, writers who are getting their books published and maybe even doing well financially and think that they sit down at their desks every morning feeling like a million dollars, feeling great about who they are and how much talent they have and what a great story they have to tell; that they take in a few deep breaths, push back their sleeves, roll their necks a few times to get all the cricks out, and dive in, typing fully formed passages as fast as a court reporter (or throw paint here and there on the canvas and voila it's gorgeous).  But this is just the fantasy of the uninitiated.  I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident.  Not one of them writes elegant first drafts.

Very few writers really know what they are doing until they've done it (doesn't that sound familiar?).  Nor do they go about their business feeling dewy and thrilled.  They do not type a few stiff warm-up sentences and then find themselves bounding along like huskies across the snow (love that image) ...The right words and sentences just do not come pouring out like ticker tape most of the time.

Annie Dillard has said that day by day you have to give the work before you all the best stuff you have, not saving up for later projects.  If you give freely, there will always be more.  This is a radical proposition that runs so contrary to human nature, or at least to my nature, that I personally keep trying to find loopholes in it.  But it is only when I go ahead and decide to shoot my literary, creative wad on a daily basis that I get any sense of full presence, of being Zorba the Greek at the keyboard (love this) ... 

You are going to have to give and give and give, or there's no reason for you to be writing.  You have to give from the deepest part of yourself, and you are going to have to go on giving, and the giving is going to have to be its own reward.  There is no cosmic importance to your getting something published, but there is in learning to be a giver (woah this blows me away really!!!).

You simply keep putting down one damn word after the other, as you hear them, as they come to you.  You can either set brick as a laborer or as an artist.  You can make the work a chore, or you can have a good time.  You can do it the way you used to clear the dinner dishes when you were thirteen, or you can do it as a Japanese person would perform a tea ceremony, with a level of concentration and care in which you can lose yourself, as so in which you can find yourself (If only I could remember this).

Sometimes, no matter how how screwed up things seem, I feel like we're all at a wedding.  But you can't just come out and say, We're at a wedding!  Have some cake!  You need to create a world into which we can enter, a world where we can see this...  To participate requires self-discipline and trust and courage, because this business of becoming concsious, of being a writer, is ultimately about asking yourself, How alive am I willing to be?  (that deserves shouting!!!)

"So why does our writing matter, again?"  they ask.

Because of the spirit, I say.  Because of the heart. Writing and reading decrease our sense of isolation.  They deepen and widen and expand our sense of life:  they feed the soul.  When writers make us shake our heads with the exactness of their prose and their truths, and even make us laugh about ourself or life, our buoyancy is restored.  We are given a shot at dancing with, or at least clapping long with, the absurdity of life, instead of being squashed by it over and over again.  It's like singing on a boat during a terrible storm at sea.  You can't stop the raging storm, but singing can change the hearts and spirits of the people who are together on that ship.  

And to that I say amen and thank you Anne.

So go ahead and be Zorba the Greek of the canvas or whatever floats your boat
and change our hearts and spirits.
I am also reading Steven King's book On Writing for our book club too and he has great ideas I will share later...  
never knew he had such a sense of humor.

hold me fast

I decided it was time to get back in here...

 and to quit procrastinating

and simply create something,

anything will do really...

it was so easy to slip away from creating when 

I cut my finger way last june,

but come on - enough is enough - it is what it is...

it's been way too long creating for just me -

lots of paintings half done wait my attention to be brought to life.

I am constantly creating for my students

 and getting lots of paint time in that way,

but it's not the same.

 so I cleaned up the space -

we'll see how long that lasts...

 love this old mailbox which holds lots of my stash.

 do pencils and brushes and paint and art supplies

just make you weak in the knees?

 if so then you can understand my stash

and no place to store it all!

 I decided to tackle this collage/painting today.

It is cardboard with spackle and papers and stickers

done about 9 months ago - 

maybe it is time for birth...

voila,

 it ended up looking like this.

I call it  hold me fast

from Psalm 139.

it reminds me that God is holding me tightly

every day during this grief thing

(and I keep crying because 1/3 of my mom's ashes are arriving in the mail today -

hey she's coming for a visit - that makes me laugh at least)

 these buttons are from her button stash...

 and this pot looks like one she would have made...

and I just adore texture and could get lost in it.

maybe that's a good place for me to be right now.