Saturday, May 21, 2011

Happy Spring!

Happy Springtime, Everyone!

Yes, I had a long hiatus here. My apologies to regular readers. A combination of too many deadlines and not enough hours in the day coupled with a relentlessly wet spring meant that something had to be set aside temporarily, and so the blog-writing took a back-burner position for a while. Unfortunately it was longer than I had planned, but now things are slowly getting more manageable and I will be back to more regular postings. I may be able to manage only once per week here in the busy months of spring and summer, but I'll do my best.

Shortly I will share with you 24 new greeting card designs including a new line of images that have inspirational quotes on them. I had received quite a few inquiries asking for images coupled with thoughtful messages/saying so I've been on a collecting spree of sorts to find some copyright-free messages that paired nicely with some of my images. I will share all with you soon. The first set of proofs for these cards is being done as I write so as soon as I see them and they pass the grade, I'll be posting about the collections and making them available thru my website.

Also on my plate is working on my book project. That has been going very well but it is painfully slow work at this stage. I'll be posting a more in-depth update on that project shortly as well.

Additionally, I have good news that Pomegranate and I have just buttoned up the calendar selections for 2013 !! We've got a great grouping selected but of course, the public won't see this calendar for quite some time yet! Calendar publishers work so far in advance! They've asked me to write a spot for their blog and I need to get busy on that now that the calendar process is finished.

And then there is working with the rushing season that is spring. It has been incredibly challenging this year because it has rained nearly every day. This has brought on tremendous growth but also blossom time is unusually short-lived as they don't last long at all when they are soaking wet most of the time. So it has been a mad dash to try and make pieces that look pleasing but, frankly, it has been extremely challenging because even if one can get the flowers to co-operate, by the time the scene is set up, the rains come again and wash it apart, so it has been a very frustrating spring. But, the moss is loving it so that is where I hope to make some progress this coming week.

Also I did some guest teaching last month and I'd like to make a quick report about that but I'm waiting for the kids to finish their project so I can get some photos. More on that later, hopefully.


Meanwhile, two pieces to share with you now. We had a sunny day a few weeks ago and the Coltsfoot flowers were at their peak. A few Fiddleheads were up (before the river rose and put everything underwater once more) so it was spring spiral time here in my moss garden. It was fun to work with colour again and while many flowers have already gone past before I could work with them, there are still many getting ready to bloom. Hopefully the rains will subside long enough to let me make a few more sculptures.

Thanks to everyone who has been patiently waiting for the blog to return, I hope to be able to keep up better now. I hope everyone is able to enjoy the pleasures of spring where ever you are!

Blessed Be and Faerie Blessings to you all

1 comment:

Bonnie K said...

Welcome back, Sally! I have missed your postings, but can appreciate busy schedules and back burners. I'm dealing with that myself.

Welcome to the enchanted world of Environmental art and Faerie Houses sculptures created by Sally J Smith. Here you will find photos of the artist's unique art-forms and hear some of the stories from behind the scenes as she shares with you her creative process.