the perfect job.. courtesy of Neil Gaiman

I was perusing my three blogs i have to hit every day in order to have a functional, pleasant day when i ran across a posting from 1am this morning on Neil Gaiman's blog. (it's nice to know that the inability to sleep seems to be a common trait amongst creative people- there is hope for me yet!)

He posted a blurb from an article about an aluminum smelting plant in Iceland and the troubles they had getting the plant built because they had to have someone come out and certify the land elf-free... that's right.. some one got paid to ensure that no elves homes were destroyed in the building of this facility. I could *SO* do that job too! (Neil says that the job besides writing that he could do) Given my affinity for the pointy eared creatures, i would *love* to do that. Oh my- what would i ever do if i happened to run across one!

Here's the link to his post so you can read his post and the article for yourself. The original article is all about the economic issues in Iceland and is from Vanity Fair. It's quite a long article and is rather depressing, but he has quoted the important part about elves on his blog. :)

BronzClay Botanical Bowl Class March 14th

March 14. BronzClay Botanical Bowl Workshop
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Artist Brandy Boyd will teach how to create a solid bronze footed dish from Metal Adventures new product BronzClay. Beginners or veterans welcome. Tools and materials provided, may bring own rubber stamps for texture. Due to firing time, finished items will be available for pickup the week following class. MBG members $60/non-members $75. Call 636-4128 to register by March 9.

So- that's my teaser in the pretty gold and bronze frame up top. The two bowls are the samples I sent with them to show off what we're going to be doing. (I kept my little bits with me- they were just for the photo) I actually used scrapbook paper I had in my stash and only bought markers and vellum.


Here's a close up of my leaf bowl. It's got a subdued rainbow patina that doesn't really show up too well in this picture.

In other news, I'll be on Live at 9 on Channel 3 next Tuesday (that is the 10th for the calendar impaired. :) ) talking about the PMC and BronzClay classes I teach at the Gardens. I'm going to do a firing demo of a pre-prepared leaf, I think. I'm crazy nervous about it and it doesn't help that it's *LIVE*... but it's a really great opportunity for me.

I haven't been getting into the studio much lately and the projects are really piling up in my head! Gotta remember to sketch them because it seems like the new ideas are shoving the old ones out and I'm losing stuff...

I have been playing with my microwave glass kiln at the house and I got Laura hooked on it this past weekend. Her first pieces came out absolutely perfect and that's always a hard thing to walk away from. It still boggles my mind that I can fuse glass in my microwave... seems wrong somehow. :)

Andy and I are looking forward to this month- we are going to Chatanooga to take the kids to the Aquarium for spring break. He's going to take a ton of pictures and I hope I'll be able to as well. Mine aren't instant gratification- I have 15 rolls of film that need to be developed.