Once Uopn a Time

Once upon a time in Gurney, Wisconsin, we'd slide down the hill (Wis. State Highway 169) on the glare ice, at night. Low temperatures were not an issue - cars were. Before the four streetlights were installed we'd watch for the power-line wires to reflect headlights. "CAR!," somebody would yell. "Hit the ditch!!" There was no ditch, there was only deeper snow. None of us died. We loved our metal-runnered sleds, we didn't love the long hike back up Gurney Hill. Oh well. The price of the ride. The stars are closer to the ground Up North. I miss the sky of my sledding days. I took The Big Dipper personally. We won't talk about the Northern Lights.....

Anyway - back to reality. Eckels Pottery sold our first mag-ment - two magnets back to back with a metallic Holiday ribbon sandwiched in-between. This way one lovely ornament can become two useful magnets.

And last night I finally finished the Valley Press interview. May it as be entertaining to read as it was to write. It's scheduled to be printed in the first issue of the New Year. I hinted at new characters coming out of the pen. Not bears!

Now on to last-minute Holiday doings.
And then The New Year. Good Luck to Everybody!

-Sue

Waltzing Bears

Wow. Today I put a few last touches on the dancing bears that were started as a pastel demo at the Minnesota State Fair. That was in early September, and it's now the first of December. "Making product" has been given priority over "creating art." but this pair of waltzing bears is as done as they're getting. Changed their footing from beach sand to grass. Seemed like the right thing to do. Lighting and shadow is always a fanciful thing - my bears and atmosphere tend to ignore laws of reflection and light source. That's a lovely part of being the artist. Susie-World Rules - ha!

I also finished and packed some tooled and painted leather bear ornaments for the Eckels Pottery ornament show in Bayfield, WI. They turned out surprisingly nifty - I'd forgotten how much fun it is to work with leather. If they don't sell, they will be welcomed additions to our motley ornament collection! To think that once upon a time I was going to be a "serious" ornament collector. Oh well.

The end of this week holds the Landmark Center Holiday Show in St. Paul, Mn. Always such a beautiful show - now to see how sales go. It's also my last show of a pretty good season. I do appreciate all of our customers - whether they buy a $4.00 magnet or a $400.00 original. THANK YOU CUSTOMERS!!

Back to the list of things to do....
-Sue