This month of the year is a little rough for me. My Dad’s birthday was May 7 and my Mom’s birthday was May 17. They are both gone so I guess I am an orphan. Dad died in 1979 just after my high school graduation. When Mom died in 1999 I said something to my sisters about be grown up orphans, none of were thrilled to be orphans, as is anyone who has lost their parents. Every day I am grateful for my Mom. She was a very strong woman and a great role model and loved her children and grandchildren dearly.

Sorry about the Debbie Downer moment, this was supposed to be a happy post. Back to the task. I am honored to be a mother. It is a big responsibility and a very important job. I hope I did a good job taking care of my children. I was so lucky to be able to spend so much time with them. I was able to be a stay at home mom and homeschooled them for seven years. I have been able to see them grown into responsible adults that I am extremely proud of.

I want to thank all mothers and people that have raised children or helped raise someone else’s children. Thank you for taking care of the children, whether yours or someone else’s.  And a special thank you for the women who foster and adopt dogs and cats! You have a special place in my heart. Happy Mothers Day.

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Time always gets away from me! When I have lots of tasks on my to do list it seems like there is never enough time and when I am not in the studio is still seems like time gets away from me.

This morning while waiting to go to the vet with Fred after a run in with a raccoon, he is ok- just need a Rabies Booster just in case. I was trying to knock out as much as possible at the house- load of laundry, pile to attic and it goes on but I ran out of time.

How can I get more time? Or how can I budget my time better? I need to figure this out because I feel like a hamster on the wheel getting nowhere.

Now I am in the studio and I should be working on inventory for a gallery but I do not feel like working like that. Truly I feel like crawling up in a ball next to Fred on his bed and taking a nap. I am drained and it’s only 12:30! I know my sprained knee makes me feel miserable and the stress of the dog/raccoon fight this morning is still with me. So maybe I should listen to my body.  

Wishing you all lots of time and a wonderful weekend. 

I have done quite a few stained glass repairs over the years. Some have been a piece of cake, others have been a bone of contention. I enjoy the challenge of matching glass as close as possible and figuring out how to take the piece apart to do the repairs without losing the original integrity.

This past week I worked on a beautiful lamp that the family treasures. Some of the pieces at the top by the vase cap were popping out form holding the weight of the lamp.  When I started to work on it, the 'solder' was not melting like it should. It was more like cooked caulking and the fumes coming off were horrible. There was a student working in the studio and she got a headache and left early. I wore a mask to try to help with the fumes but I ended up with a headache also. After a call to the owner I powered through over the next two days. 

I did reach out to other stained glass artists to see if they knew what this substance was. It turns out there is a Chinese manufacturer that uses a polymer based material that can be made to look like solder. He suggested I stop working on it immediately. My first thought was why would they make it this way and they must know it could be hazardous. 

The job was finished with pieces back in place and wire "ribs" for support and strengthening the lamp. The owner was happy to have her treasured lamp back home.
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So moving forward I will not be accepting any of this manufacturers pieces for repair. It is not worth the chance of health issues or chasing people out of the studio. Lesson learned: know what materials you are working with.

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I am in a few book clubs and the books are mostly interesting but sometimes the book really hits home. And Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman is one of those. 

Burkeman does a wonderful job of opening your eyes to the fact that we all do have a limited time here and we should be doing what we really want to do. Don't settle and just plow through but set your site on what makes you the person you want to be. As Oliver Burkeman says " Your time is finite. Doing anything requires sacrifice. Ask yourself if the sacrifice is worth it. To make time for what matters, you need to give things up." Make sure you are not giving up the things that you hold dear.

I did the math to see how many week I have left, sort of weird but it made me realize I need to get my act together. There are so many pieces of stained glass I want to make, so many students out there that do not know I need to teach them so I can leave a legacy of more stained glass artists than there were when I started, the places I want to travel to, the people I want to be with and it goes on.

At this writing I am at 756 weeks left, not to sound fatalistic, but to be an eye opener! It is a wake up call- Kim get you bottom in gear and stop procrastinating! When I think of all the time that I lost doing things I did not want or need to do does break my heart. Now I just do what I want to do. There are some roadblocks preventing me from doing some super important things and I am working on breaking through them.

I love the Appendix: Ten Tools for Embracing Your Finitude. I highly recommend this book. There is a workbook that goes along that is helpful but not necessary in order to get the most out of the book.

If you have read this book or do read it, please let me know what you think and if it helps you with your life path.
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Today Heidi and came and we made wind spinners. They turned out pretty good for a first run! It was fun making them. We were working on our so we talked back and forth while constructing them. Some lessons learned moving forward with more designs.

What do you  think of it? Have you ever made a stained glass wind spinner? If so, please share photos.

Thank you Heidi for a fun day in the studio. Look forward to a Wind Spinner class in the future.
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Years ago a friend and business woman told me to " be seen, be heard and be remembered". I have a sticky note on my computer to remind me everyday. 

Do something to be be seen. Show people how you work, where you work and why you work.

Do something to be heard. Support a non-profit- by donation of time, money and social support. Let the world know where you stand. Share your art with the world.

Do something to be remembered. Go out of your way to help someone in need. Share your knowledge with others. Be an example for others.

It does not take much and the feelings and reward you get back is amazing.

So this weekend... be seen, be heard and be remembered!
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How do you honor your weekends? Do you have any rituals?

I love my weekends. My studio is open on Saturdays, so my weekend is Saturday night through Monday. I honor the weekend by do house chores Thursday or Friday, like cleaning, doing laundry, etc. I do not want to do any chores on the days off.

On Saturday I bake something yummy for breakfast Sunday and Monday- a treat for myself. Plus it makes the house smell good! 

I organize my home studio on Friday afternoon so I can work in the studio all day Sunday and Monday. I also clear off the work bench in my stained glass studio downtown and vacuum and clean the bathrooms so when we open on Wednesday it is all set to go.

I take time to read a little to unwind and I do journal to brain dump the past and plan for the future.

Of course Fred and I go for longer more frequent walks, good for both of us.

What are your weekend rituals? 

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I am always rearranging my desk and trying to keep it clear. Do you ever have that problem? I have stacks of papers to file, to read, to figure out what to do with them. Then one day it is clear? How? I just sit down and work through it until it is done.

There is hope. I hope that I have a clear desk every day.

Here is a photo of my desk right now, hardly any papers on it. I knew you would be jealous of my office assistants- Flora, Sean and Wesley!

Have a fabulous Friday and weekend!

It Years ago I had an idea for a workshop at Art & Soul, a rough idea but it felt like a great idea. I spoke to Judy about it and she loved it. I set out to put a design in place, and if you know me I can get easily distracted so I walked away for a while. Months passed and the project kept looking up at me from the work bench. Ok, ok I will work on you, I told the project. Originally it was called "My Story" but it has since changed to "My House.

The first attempt was not good, the paper sandwiched got wet from the flux and also the water from cleaning. When it tried to dry it ended up molding. I love experiments, they teach you to be patient and not make everything precious! I again put the project down for a prolonged time.

During this break I realized I did not really want it to be my story but how I became who I am today, like the foundation of me.

When I look at the photos below of the templates and see how clean my workbench was, wow, no burn marks not flux stains anywhere!

So back to the drawing board for me. I knew I wanted it hinged so it could open and close. And it had to look somewhat like a house. Not much to ask.

Now where to find the contents of the collages to go into the panels and to be two sided. Lots of paper snippets came and left and finally a few stayed.

Here are some more photos of the in process steps. I have to do some clean up and work on the closure.

It was a very cathartic project. Going back to my childhood and working my way forward. Reliving some not wonderful times and reliving the most amazing times.  It was an emotional rollercoaster.

When I get the finishing done I will do another blog with those photos and a video to go along with it.

Thank you for being part of the journey.

I do not know how many people have been coming in to see the progress on the Skylight Repair Job but, good news, Skylight #1 is complete! 

These skylights came out of a gazebo that met a pine tree. All three had broken glass and the frames were damaged. I have had a few hiccups along the way making this take way longer than I ever thought. I apologize to the homeowner for that. I did have to hunt down some glass to match as these were created in the early 1970's. I am lucky to have an assistant helping out, Teresa, she has been wonderful to bounce ideas off of and she did all the scraping off of silicone. I hate silicone with a passion!

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