Fresh News and catching up

To try and help everyone keep cool in this hot season, here are some icy images to help the imagination remember what the other half of the year is all about. These are the latest new cards from my card line. Here is a brief bit of background on each image and a final announcement at the end of the post.

May these cool reminders help make your day and week more comfortable!

The Winter Holiday collection are images specially chosen to evoke the time of year when so many traditions celebrate festivals about Light. For me, these images all have the magical feelings associated with that time of year when the sun is low on the horizon and daylight is precious and golden.

This image is called Aurem Aura, meaning Aura of Gold. It was constructed out of very thin pieces of ice which had melted and re-frozen over several days. These alternating extremes left the ice with a beautiful crackled lace texture that reminded me of cathedral glass.



This piece was constructed with icicles and reminded me of a futuristic yurt. I was surprised and delighted how the light from the tea candle traveled up the vertical spires and made for a dramatic contrast with the twilight blue ice-field.







This piece was constructed especially for the Mountain Lake PBS program. I was especially pleased when the sun went down because it lit the whole structure much like a crystalline lighthouse.








This piece was a technical experiment that succeeded. I was inspired by the thought of what the Ice Faerie might have as a magic wand... this seemed it might be a close contender. The deep furrow in the foreground was actually made by some sledding activity... as you can see, I have a fabulous sliding hill in my "front yard" when the snow is deep!





This piece was created right after the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. This image is also available as fine art prints to help raise money to donate to Japan relief agencies. Since it was shot at sunrise, and since it is about hope, it felt very fitting to have in this collection.



This sculpture was made out of icicles and is perched on a black rock that just breaks the surface of the water. I made this piece right at the time of the Winter Solstice. I just love the image of a single candle in the gathering twilight.



The next and final collection of new cards are an experiment. I've had a lot of requests from fans to add some sort of "message" to my cards to make them even more inspiring to share. There are so many wonderful quotes and words of wisdom out there, so I tried to use selections that were perhaps a little less well-known... except for the Rumi quote which is one I try to live by and is well-loved by people all over the world.



One of my all-time favourites : "Be humble for you are made of the Earth. Be Noble for you are made of Stars".
The image is of a Snow Iris (eternal symbol of the earth) held up against the sun (our "star") when a gorgeous solar halo was happening. I tried to keep the text a bit pale and mysterious... you have to really look to see it all... there is a message in that as well!




I always felt that this Faerie House had the feeling of a mystical monastery tucked into an ancient cave somewhere. It seemed much like a destination for pilgrims... hence the quote : "Every journey has a secret destination of which the traveler is unaware."







The quote : " For behind all seen things lies something vaster: everything is but a path, a portal, or a window opening on something other than itself." seemed the perfect thought to go with this image. Anyone who visits my work knows that I am very fond of portals... and while some may say that this disc is not an "opening" per se, there certainly is "something vaster" behind it... the rising sun!





When I made this Faerie Tea house with the meandering bridge, it was such a delight to be in this utterly peaceful place. The very special quote: " Lose yourself in Nature and find Peace" seemed the absolute perfect way to express what I felt here.







Rumi's quote " Let the Beauty you seek be what you do." is a motto I have always lived by. Certainly, this sculpture, one of my personal favourites, seemed to be a perfect mirror for this sublime message.








It is doubtful that Frank Lloyd Wright had a Faerie House in mind when he said: "Study nature. Love nature. Stay close to nature. It will never fail you. " but I hope he would have approved of this little architectural gem!




So those are the new cards and I hope viewing them has brought a cool wave of refreshment to your day!

In other news, two final announcements... first, I've been working closely with Monica Becker at Pomegranate and they will be running a three part feature about me and my work on their blog!!! They plan to post it in the next day or two. You can find it HERE once they put it up. It was loads of fun to do and Monica has done an outstanding job of putting all the bits and pieces of our conversations together into one thoughtful presentation. I am very pleased with what she has created and I hope you will find it informative and enjoyable too. If you need the full link, here it is:
http://pomegranatecom.blogspot.com/2011/07/environmental-artist-sally-j-smith.html

go check it out!!

And finally... (in more ways than one!)... the 2012 calendars are HERE !!


The calendar release is much anticipated and as you will see, the cover image is much discussed in the blog. Last year the calendars sold out quickly and none were left by the end of October, so if you absolutely MUST have this for your gift-giving, keep that in mind. I am particularly pleased with this collection of images as I think they represented of the absolute best Faerie Houses I have had the great joy to make. I hope the calendars bring you much pleasurable viewing for the year to come!!