Professional Glass Artist, Friend and Mother

Supporting my strong belief in the force of intelligent design driving both my choice of coffee mug and the music that comes on (supposedly randomly) the iPod each morning , today I am drinking out of a mug with a picture of Jessie at age one eating Cheerios on it and the song is "The Storm" by the Disney Orchestra and Choir from The Little Mermaid. Coincidence? I think not!

Writing here has become the anchor of my morning. And like many personal rituals (work, working out, yoga, journaling) it is at the whim of other things going on in life. This morning's quasi-schedule was reset due to a long phone conversation with a friend (and new mother) who has been thrust into a divorce process. I drank from the Cheerios mug and contemplated my luck as we talked.

And Jessie slept late this morning--would not be roused for anything--as we watched the extended version of "The Return of the King" last night. We started just after 6:00 over pizza, but it was still after 10:00 when it finished and we could not deny her the end. So my work day also begins late. I have a very comfortable rhythm with Dave: He does all the laundry and cooking, and I do the morning Sprout wrangle and off to school. Believe me, it is a fair trade. But she is up now and must be mustered so I need to finish this and get on with the day.

What are the glass artist tasks of the day? To return the work to the galleries from the photoshoot yesterday. I mentioned in yesterday's post that the firing the night before had failed, it needed five more minutes. Well that was not a failure but an opportunity! I took the piece to be photographed anyway and when it was in its stand I looked at it and realized how cool the effect of the extra texture was in the design. It was not intentional, it was serendipity!

Then I need to get two kiln loads in--one with a commission piece and some samples for the Art Institute in Chicago and the other with some slumped clear architectural work. Then I need to begin unloading all the glass on the parking pad. I will finish by thoroughly reading through the contract from the publisher. I skimmed it yesterday and my first thought was "Wow, no wonder most of their writers are first-time authors! This is seriously stacked in their favor for money and future rights!" (Not that I expect them to make a motion picture from my oeuvre.)

I did get my BMAC exposition services order in yesterday at 4:45 pm (15 minutes before the deadline for the discount price): walls = white foamcore, carpet = red, electricity = 2000 watts, and I got lots and lots of extra support poles. It was a relief to get that done. Now I just need to finish the rest of the display in my mind (and buy anything I need for it), design the annual catalog and put it together with the rest of the print materials, finish the website and reserve a hotel room. 21 days and counting....