greetings all!

i am in that kind of lull-space between thanksgiving and christmas... just after the start of the holiday season. we had a nice thanksgiving here... very quiet. we cooked a big to-do meal, but for a very small gathering, so it was pretty stress-free and quiet. then on saturday, some friends from california stopped over for a night, in between their family visit and their fly-fishing destinations. we had a wonderful visit... hopefully they did as well.

this is a nice time of year for me... not because of the obscenely over-commercialized holiday... but because the rhythm of things changes due to the distractions of the season. and, there is something about realizing that another year is coming to an end that makes me ease up a bit... kind of relax into the end of the year. yes... it is another end-of-the-year, isn't it?

i have been very busy finishing up my latest floating planes piece from my above and below series, which i have titled la piazza. this piece was very challenging for me. i went from 5 planes on gold rising to 21 planes. this piece uses 6 different shades or orsoni gold, and planes at 3 levels.

overall, i am very happy with the result. about midway through mosaicing the planes, i realized what i needed to do to get the planes mosaiced more accurately on the grid. i ended up having to go back and redo some of the previous planes to make them more accurate. i still could have done better, i think, and on the next one, i should get even closer. i hope that you like it.

the gold is really quite irregular... quite noticeable when you are trying to grid it like for a project like this. i had to trim just about every piece... and they vary so much in size... so that is part of the challenge. i tend to be a bit too obsessed with precision, and i have to remind myself that mosaics are hand-made, and should not look machine-made.

also, i have been upgrading my laptop to the new apple operating system, new photoshop, new pages... new everything, it seems. the weekend has been kind of crazy. a little problem with photoshop... but i trust my brilliant son will get it figured out in no time!

i have vowed not to buy any more mosaic materials until after january. this is a big deal! this is in part to make an effort at self-discipline, and in part to help save money to pay for my new imac...

i am having the mirror framed, and when it is ready, i will get a new photo... should be quite nice!

all for now...

my apologies... i just realized today that my journal links to some of my artcraft mirror photos were linking to the wrong photos. this happened when i moved the mirror from my current work portfolio to my mirrors portfolio a few days ago. this has been corrected, and i am sorry for any inconvenience.

this rule is one to live by: tell the truth - there's less to remember.

lately, i have been pondering the meanings of the terms art, fine art, and craft. apparently, i have found something here worth exploring, but i cannot yet put it into words in a satisfactory way.