The Gusher

"Pieces of My Art" is born

Jeffz — Sat, 10 May 2008 02:38:39 GMT

So, I give up finding the perfect name for my fledging business of selling pieces of myself and decided to go with "Pieces of my Art" for now and see how that works to get myself out there. After MUCH gently prodding by the incredible Caroleena I have made a tribe to promote my creativity. Will see where it goes! I am open to commissions, trades, whathaveyou! Nothing really for sale at the moment but working on 2 new pieces! I would love for my friends to join my tribe, http://tribes.tribe.net/piecesofmyart . I am sure I will put pictures up here too but nice to have a gallery of just my stuff so please join! Also, wish me luck. I donated 2 pieces to a very worthy cause, the Des Moines Social Club ( check it http://www.desmoinessocialclub.org ) who is doing a benefit tomorrow. I hope they make lots of money because it is like a dream that this place is working and has so much potential to be a real center of the arts for "normal" people in Des Moines.

Outta here

Jeffz — Thu, 01 May 2008 03:32:33 GMT

the boys wanna have a slumber party before Interfuse so we can leave early and harass the parking wranglers and greeters before they wake up too much, so signing off! See some there, dream some of you not there, wish some of you were there! XOXO

Geek Art : Adenosine triphosphate aka ATP

Jeffz — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:35:46 GMT

This project was a colloborative with my brother kevin who is studying for his doctorate in Marine Biology. I asked him what was the coolest molecule and he said there were lots of cool ones. He choose ATP (for REAL geek info check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adenosine_triphosphate ) . I liked it too because basically ATP is the nucleoid in charge of energy transfer, I can relate to that. It is pretty neat and tried to transform some of it's energy to show here.

Interfuse TV Schedule up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jeffz — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:16:15 GMT

I am so excited to be part of Interfuse's effort to have a "center stage" to entertain participants and provide participation opportunities!! The schedule is UP on the website (see below) to see some prime-time scheduled programming. I would also like to make a personal request for a couple shows I am doing. One is a Poetry Jam, please please come participate with some spoken word, poetry, or some other creative oral piece. All levels very welcome! THat is 4-5 on Friday! Also, I am doing a talk show and need people to assist me to make people feel like STARS! We are all stars and just need to show it, pm me on how you can help! ---- From Zay.. The Stage Managers have taken all of your TV offering and created killer TV Programming! Prime Time Burnervision will include live performance in hi-def 3D that jumps right out of the screen at you, burner-created video and documentaries, movies, puppet news, talk shows, educational shows, and possibly some commercials and PSAs thrown in around it all! Prime Time Burnervision hours are: Thursday 6PM-Friday 5AM Friday Noon-Saturday 6AM Saturday Noon-4PM The rest of the time the TV will be an open stage but without lights, sound, and video. You can view the Prime Time schedule online at: http://www.midwestburners.com/interfuse/eventsandperformers.html This schedule will also come in the form of a TV Guide with the Gate Handout at InterFuse. Notice that there are STILL some open spots on the schedule where YOU can provide content. I know there are still some of you out there with ideas and projects in the works! Just contact a Stage Manager at the TV at InterFuse. ALSO, we desperately need night owl Stage Managers from 2AM-5AM Friday morning and 12:45AM-5AM Saturday morning! That's a 3 hour and a 4 hour 15 minute period! I KNOW there are two of you out there who can help out for 3-4 hours! These shifts are during Bribe-Per-View, so you'll be getting bribed to play movies. No live performance coordinating is needed! It will be very EASY and FUN!! Plus, Trish will give you bacon! If you're interested, please contact Zay@midwestburners.com

back to the bay tomorrow - chill space for a few anyone Wednesday?

Jeffz — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 11:20:01 GMT

Work is sending me out to the bay area for a diversity council meeting Thursday and Friday. Of course , I am taking advantage of the free trip by adding a couple days to it! I will be coming in late Wednesday and going to Il Pirate to get my trance on but my hotel room for Thursday does not open up until the morning so wanting to see if anyone can spare a place to crash for a few hours afterward so I don't wander the streets of SF :) Thursday and Friday will be full of meetings learning how to get people involved in diversity events and spread that stuff, but will be around Saturday and Sunday too. Most likely attending a mosaic workshop in Oakland so prolly find a hotel out there but should have nights free if anything is happenin' Thanks for any assistance !!

Stepping back on the path

Jeffz — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:04:32 GMT

I have turned off my seeker instincts for the last few years mainly by choice to focus on corporeal things but feel like I am ready to step in again. The world, as always, has been given me the sign to step forward again. Lots of work to do for myself and others. The main sign has been Deer coming into my life. There has been a deer that has come up to my window many times the last week and has been sleeping in my backyard. We stopped and stared at each other the other day with the neighborhood cats looking on. I thought this was nice (taken from http://www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/deer.htm ) for a description of what Deer means in your life: Gentleness and Innocence Deer teaches us to use the power of gentleness to touch the hearts and minds of wounded beings who are in our lives. Don't push towards change in others, rather gently nudge them in right direction with the love that comes from a Deer totem. When a Deer totem shows up in your life, a new innocence and freshness in about to be awakened. There is going to be a gentle lure of new adventures. There will be an opportunity to express the gentle love that will open new doors for you. It fits well on where I should go and I thank the world for showing me the way and "gently nudging me in the right direction". We'll see what comes of it, I am hopeful.. XO

May 10th Subjective Circus Event Des Moines

Jeffz — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 18:24:49 GMT

I know I have talked to many people individually but still have room for more hoopers, firedancers, and other performers as well as artists/others to help with items for silent auction. This event is a benefit for the Des Moines Social Club. A new place that will be community orientated for the arts, theatre, and a restaurant to boot. Lots of amazing things in the vision for this. You can read about it here: http://www.subjectivetheatre.org/SC-BusinessPlanF.pdf . This is going to be space for the arts community to get together and do amazing things together and have not been this excited about a project for quite sometime! If anyone wants to participate let me know but at least come out to support May 10th! This is an incredible opportunity to have something real special in Des Moines. Here is the info for the event: The Subjective Circus Saturday May 10th Doors open at 7, performances from 8pm to 2AM 1408 Locust Street, Des Moines $15 Featuring: Live music and art Theatrical Performances Film & Spoken Word Silent Auction Food & Drink Sideshows Galore Musical Performances: Ticklish, Cruciful, The Honey Bees & Dark Mirror Theatrical Performances: Theatre...for a Change & Stagewest Live Painting: Brent Houzenga & Van Holmgren Spoken Word: Johnny the Red-Nosed Poet All proceeds to benefit the construction of the Des Moines Social Club!

Participation Invitation for Interfuse '08!!!

Jeffz — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 02:08:38 GMT

I am honored as part of my Interfuse participation to be one of the stage managers with an awesome team of people to make the first performance "center stage" happen at Interfuse!! The effigy this year will be a giant TV with all kinds of goodies around it. One of the ways we are following the tradition of community items in the burn is to have the effigy open for performances, shows, whatever of every kind! If anyone needs any help fleshing out an idea feel free to ask me here or in PM and I will be happy to mentor you to make this happen. Trish put it much better than I: )*( Have a camp event/theme/or idea you would like to make a "commercial" for? Come present it in between shows! Or how about your camp presenting an original piece at the center of IF! Making a commercial for your theme camp is a great way to get more folks to visit your camp! If you're doing a performance during InterFuse, consider doing a teaser pre-view show at the TV to advertise for the main performance. )*( What about a game show? A Talk show? A drama, a play, a comedy sketch, spoken word, a cooking show! How about interviewing people to get the juicy details of their "celebrity life stories"- Anything and everything! (and yes, i do mean everything. this is an 18 and over event for a reason ;) ) We will be able to do live creative content and video projection(after dark of course). Of course there is going to be "prime time" viewing, which we would like to fill with as much creative content as possible. (This means YOU!) Programming hours (approximately of course) - are running: Thursday 6p-5a Friday 12p- 5a Saturday 12p-4p The rest of the time, the TV is an open, unscheduled stage. Lets completely FILL the programming time! I believe with the numbers of participants we are talking about selling tickets to, filling our effigy with life and entertainment of our own making is TOTALLY doable! (If we don't don't accomplish this, we are a lame bunch of stupid hippies with nothing to offer the world and we are doomed, DOOMED!) For your participation you will get to win an authentic, very honored award in the likeness of the Man. (so you can stand in your home mirror thanking all the little people who helped you rise to stardom.- it might be made of wood- so you might be able to burn it if that's your thang.) We would like to prepare for the programming outline as early as possible so once you have : * Your rough idea for what you are going to do * An approximate amount of time you want to take with that idea, * A preferred time slot (time and date) if necessary, Send the info to the Event Planners here: http://www.midwestburners.com/interfuse/mainevent.html The Stage Managers will give live and creative content preferential time slots of course and will do our best accommodating time preferences. (Of course flexibility, I once read, is the hallmark of a healthy mind :) ) I'm really excited to see all of your ideas watch them come to life on the "big screen"! If you have any questions also please feel free to relay them to the event planners and we Stage Managers can get them answered for you!

CALLING ALL FREAKS!!!

Jeffz — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:29:53 GMT

I had an amazing meeting with a kindred soul last night that is starting a dinner theatre / community center / arts cohab / many other amazing things in Des Moines!! http://www.subjectivetheatre.org/SC-BusinessPlanF.pdf Very excited for this project and will be helping as much as they let me to make it happen. It is just what we need in Des Moines but will need help to make it happen! One way to help is a benefit being done to get it going on May 10th. It is going to be arranged like a giant circus - spoken word going on next to theatre next to freakshows next to performances. So anyone that wants to help out with performances or anything you'd like to do that would be great and let me know! Having this in Des Moines would be a dream come true for me and really looking forward to help make it happen and hope others will assist too! As this is a benefit there is no compensation there but know I have a lot of friends that does not matter for and this will definately lead to greater things - the model is it will be self-sustaining for artists participating at it basically and with the people and companies involved there will be some great networking opportunities.. There will be many more announcements about this and there will be some additional things that are very exciting with this that I cannot announce quite yet. I am super excited to have something I can get behind with such a beautiful vision.

Green Team

Jeffz — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:05:20 GMT

So my manipulative ways have been getting the office greener and couldn't be happier. It is trendy to be green now and work is no different but I think every little bit helps. The items below were actually on our company webpage and thought they were great. I am positioning myself to be the green "czar" at work here so any other ideas will be helpful! Maybe I can get my work to send me to the Wilderness Awareness camp hehe. (btw all these practices are already implemented in our SF HQ) Lights out + Team members can reduce our impact on the environment by turning off lights. +During the day, about half of the groups’ electricity-powered florescent lights are turned off. Artificial lights are replaced by natural light let in through windows with blinds pulled all the way up to allow for maximum sunshine. +Lights are off in unoccupied spaces, including the unmanned reception area, vacant conference rooms and offices. +Computer monitors are turned off at night. Using two-sides +Doubled-sided printing is the rule, not the exception. Copy machine are set to copy on both sides of a sheet of paper by default. All but one of the areas printers are duplex enabled. +Instructions on how to duplex print are available by each printer Recycle +In 2004, less than half of the more than 100 billion aluminum beverage containers sold in the U.S. were recycled. It takes about 30 times more energy to make new aluminum cans out virgin ore, or bauxite, rather than recycled aluminum. +Recycling receptacles are clearly marked and in accessible locations, including battery, cardboard, paper, cans, bottles, plastic and compost receptacles. +Trash audits showed that most team members properly dispose of items, by putting trash in trashcans, bottles in recycling bins, and cardboard with cardboard. Kitchen +Reusable flatware, china, mugs, party trays and other food containers are readily available. +Dish soap is environmentally friendly; eco-friendly dish soap is now available through Staples. +The refrigerator is set to energy saving temperatures—that’s 40° F for the fridge and 5° F for the freezer. +For special circumstances, disposable flatware and cups made from biodegradable materials rather than plastic or Styrofoam are purchased. +The group carefully manages its office supply purchases, ordering only what is needed. Preference is given to non-toxic items containing recycled materials, for example, low volatile organic compounds (VOC) markers, recycled paper and remanufactured toner cartridges. I know I have a long way to go to shift myself fully green, but I think just stepping in that direction is critical for our planet's future if we are going to stay here. So every little bit helps whether that is not throwing trash on the ground or using a washable cup - rather than disposable. The more discussion we have about it the more it helps. I encourage everyone to green your office (and your home!). Bosses love that kind of initiative and it makes people feel like they are making a difference. A bunch of small differences can make a big difference.. XO

Farewell Gary Gygax

Jeffz — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:03:12 GMT

I must say goodbye to a man whose creation, Dungeons & Dragons, shaped a lot of my early life ('81 and beyond). Some may not understand this but gaming got me through some real tough times in my younger life with dealing with people. It opened me up to worlds unimagined and dreams to capture. Sure, it led me down some deep ends but those were of my own making and I came out stronger because of the learning. I wrote this letter as goodbye to him: Gary, You touched my life in so many ways. I doubt I would be alive if not for the worlds you allowed me to explore in a childhood where I was beat up daily by the "cool kids". Allowing me to find my people, "gamers". Growing up I learned many valuable skills through D&D: Problem Solving, Imagination, Creation, Magic. Yes, I even got a spiritual leading from the worlds introduced (guess all those tabloid articles about D&D were right when i played around 81). Going into adulthood I shaped worlds around me and just enjoyed travelling and being different characters in real life for 10 years until I settled down in a job and used roleplaying skills many times there. It has been a pleasure to reinvent myself and roleplaying allows my joys in finding my true self. Thanks for spreading your genius upon the world.... Many Blessings and happiness, Jeffz

If not me, then who?

Jeffz — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 17:46:16 GMT

Looks like I am being thrust into leadership roles again after a nice “vacation” of a few years in the background. During the regional summit they told me I was a leader and now I am the only elected diversity council member in Des Moines for work. Which means I will be out in San Francisco for a council meeting in March, yay! I have to act on my own words rather than tell them to others. I have often said over the years that the only way to truly change something was from within. So, putting the money where my mouth is by being a diversity champion at work for a year of organizing events and putting it forward. Coincidentally, I am doing the same with Burning Man events in Iowa (more on those later!!). So, seems a common thread this year to be back in the saddle. I could let the challenge beat me down and shift back into the shadows but decided to take the reigns and grow my profile again. Another favorite saying of mine I have borrowed (unsure of originator) is, “If not me, then who? If not now, then when?” So, the answer is, “Me. Now.” When I looked to begin reinventing myself 2 years ago into an artist I never thought it would lead here but left my metagoal open to take what the universe sends me but I believe with confidence and belief in yourself, which I have gotten lots of lately, people will look to you to lead and teach. I am happy to be of service in this way – to create others as leaders and teachers. How cool will it be when we are all like that? With everyone having confidence in their true selves and working together to make great things happen. I believe we are heading there, I believe in all my friends and people I meet to make it happen because I see it continually. We are reaching critical mass, it is happening all over the Midwest to beyond and it is beautiful.

Embracing Winter

Jeffz — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 21:57:08 GMT

I made the choice last year that I am going to embrace every season and work to see the awesomeness they entail and just totally take advantage of the blessings it offers to us. Winter of course, is a tough one! But I can really say I have been loving it. It has really been great to slow down and reflect, work on projects inspired by the colors of Autumn, and strengthen bonds of friendship. One of the cool thoughts I had recently was how nature is continually creating art by shaping the environment through rain, sleet, and snow. Especially snow in this season. I think about how each snowflake is unique and when it shows if only I had a microscope it would show a beautiful mosaic. It is only temporary though , for when the warmth of spring comes it will slowly melt away to show the same land yet subtly different then the same time last season. Another one of the things going through my brain has been doing some artistic stuff with Ice. I wish I had started earlier as it is pretty fun! Once I was working I didn't even notice the cold. I put up a couple of my first attempts, mainly to play with the materials and use different "mediums" - jello, tang, kool-aid and "adhesives" (water). I definately have a better idea on how to use my mediums to make something more and ideas are churning - just has to stay cold enough (below freezing)! Here are links : http://people.tribe.net/jeffz/photos/f3b41f39-4826-42cb-8536-c5b2c1cc8d41 http://people.tribe.net/jeffz/photos/fb91bece-4035-4a2a-a798-4c0bb512ee80 (picture shows preparing my medium :) Oh, I set the completed pieces in front of my window so I can watch them melt too :D

What's in a name?

Jeffz — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 04:18:28 GMT

I have the hardest time with the simplest things sometimes. I have been struggling to figure a name for things I create as a business. I did make a goal timeline though. It has been a real long time since I had goals! here is a tentative timeline to advance myself artistically: 1-2 years Continue developing artistic intuition and skills, do commission for objects friends want wrapped, mainly focus on just creating, not worrying too much if anything sells just let it flow basically with a special eye out to installation work in mosaics. Get tools and supplies , such as kiln and learn how to make more of own supplies. 2-3 Develop "bread and butter" niche for self. Possibly move into live/work loft. More active search for installations such as pools, signs, flooring 3-5 Work on being self sufficient in the arts. Interspersed with this I really want to coordinate some large scale community art projects, I do have a few ins for that so will actually nurture relationships and further network with local community leaders and established artists to see how I can help and spread my passion of the arts to others. SO yeah, about that name...looking for something that embodies my very eclectic nature and deepness of my work. I thought Ecliptic Designs but that was taken by some graphics arts company. Drawing blanks for some reason, maybe cause ultimately it is more about what I do than who I am...but open to any help / suggestions!

heading out to San Francisco Feb 14-18th

Jeffz — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 19:19:20 GMT

My weekend will be pretty full with a summit I am attending but Thursday and possibly Sunday night I will be free. My plane gets in around noon Thursday and free until noon the next day pretty much. Anyone want to get together? Anything cool going on Thursday night? Otherwise I will wander my old haunts aimlessly but that works too :D

Iowa Burner Winter Update

Jeffz — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:44:48 GMT

Hello Iowa Burning Man Aficionados! Hope everyone is keeping their toes warm - Nothing like a good ole Iowa winter to appreciate the spring. It is a good time to cozy up with a space heater and do some crafts or work on projects for the regional or big burn! Speaking of which planning for Interfuse is going full swing. For those just joining or missing the other emails Interfuse is the Midwest Regional Burn located near Boonville, Mo. The land is beautiful and people are amazing. A good way to kickstart the summer. It is happening May 1-4 and details are at www.midwestburners.com/Interfuse. Check out the theme at http://www.midwestburners.com/events/themearchive/#TechnophiliaTechnophobia , good stuff with tons of room for interpretation and inspiration! Discussion is underway for a joint theme camp with some other Iowa burners on the Iowa Massive forum, don’t be scared of the ravers…they don’t bite…much. Going to be big this year! Will have the normal music and karaoke but kicking it up a notch to get more art and whatever else we come up with before then, in the beginning planning stages at http://www.iowa-massive.com/viewtopic.php?t=400&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 This spring will have a meet and greet in March/April somewhere in Des Moines also to be able to get info for Burning Man! More info forthcoming.. I would like to have a stitch n bitch / art day sometime early spring also to start work on costumers for Interfuse/Burning Man. Any suggestions on places in Des Moines to do this or dates you may like to come let me know! In the Burning Man world: tickets will be going on sale soon, you MUST have tickets prior to going – there will be NONE at the gate this year. Should be quite the change and interesting how it plays out. I sure know it is a lot of people’s American Dream! Here is how the tickets will run down this year (with thanks to Liz C for sending this out!) Here's the ticket tier run-down: $210 - only 10,000 - only 2 per person - online sales ONLY (in the past these have sold out fairly quick) $225 - only 10,000 - only 2 per person - online and mail order (these take a little longer to sell out) $250 - only 10,000 - online and mail order (these tend to take even longer to sell out) $295 - while supplies last - online, mail order, and walk-in outlets NO GATE SALES More info, including info on purchasing, scholarship tickets, low income tickets, etc.: http://tickets.burningman.com/ This weekend if anyone is around town we will be having a birthday party for Alyssa at The Lift (http://www.dmlift.com/) . Of course , we can’t just have any old normal party this will be themed with an 80s flavor. Goes from 9-2AM this Saturday. If anyone comes let me know! As always, would love to meet with any other fellow Iowa Burners! Always up for questions and such. I have lots of resources about BM info as I am a bit of an obsessive researcher! Much love to the Iowa Family and beyond. 2008 is going to be AMAZING! Can’t wait and am sure you can’t either! For discussions please check: http://tribes.tribe.net/burniowa or join the fledgling chat list at: iowa-burners@googlegroups.com Of course make sure you are on the Iowa Burning Man Regional Announce list. Sign up by sending a blank e-mail to iowa-announce-subscribe@burningman.com . Much Love! Jeffz Iowa Burning Man Regional Contact

This quote is amazing

Jeffz — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:43:41 GMT

"I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.." --Og Mandino Really touches me. I found it in a hobby lobby coupon mailing no less too, lol. As many may know (by observing my profile under "Quotegasm") I love quotes and I continually collect them. This has just moved to my top 5. I wanna make somethin with it. It's beautiful. Oh, I need to find out who Og Mandino is :D

First stained glass

Jeffz — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 22:07:55 GMT

Got er done!! LOVE STAINED GLASS! lol. I designed this in GlassEye which is a stained glass program that is part Illustrator, part CAD...definately something I will buy soon using the free trial right now. Fun program! I orginally traced this from another design but just did not feel right so I learned how to draw it and felt much righter. I could feel my synapses realign as I learned about what each of the circles means in gnosticism. Real fascinating stuff, can read about it at http://www.mendhak.com/paranormal/parascience/show.php?id=40 . It put more meaning and intention into it for sure! It is appropriate I think that my first is this as it is the beginning, the seed a flower grows on. I feel compelled to do stained glass in sacred geometry so expect that to express myself in that way. Geometrics have always pulled me, especially when tied to elementals. I definately learned alot from doing this on what to do right and wrong for other pieces - in no way where I want to be precisely. But I am pretty happy with my first effort, it was wierd using the grinder and cutting class to pattern for the first time. It actually felt like I had done it for years to me. I instinctively knew how to cut the curves and such before I ever did them. I lost all track of time and did not want to stop for anything such as food or smokes. Definately gave me tingles up and down my spine for sure! Anyways, hope someone out there likes it :) I am going to make a tribe for my work so people can see what I can do and what I have on hand to sell or commission possibilities as soon as I can figure out what I want to name my dern self!

1 out of 465

Jeffz — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:48:34 GMT

So, I went to my first caucus. I broke my vow of not being involved in politics and just went. I even signed up as a democrat. It was very interesting. I am going for Obama for many reasons but mostly following my heart. From the first time I saw him speak I felt that was the one for me. Obama did very well in Iowa getting 209 out of 465 people at my caucus. I thought there would be more debates and convincing people but everyone was super nice and even helped some canditates that were not viable become viable. I met a lot of neighbours too, I guess that is why everyone is nice because we will see each other in our neighbourhoods hehe. It is strange how most people going for a canditate had similiar energy, guess it makes sense but struck me as odd. I came home to a big box of stained glass that someone left for me to make mosaics out of, cool!

Souls' Journey

Jeffz — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 04:34:25 GMT

This is a 33" x 15" piece with stained glass that I just got done. This one is very personal to me. I went back and forth if I should say what it means or just let it there open for interpretation. Figured that no one else but me would know what it means so thought I would explain it - will leave a lot of white space if you would rather see what you come up with.. This piece depicts my core beliefs that I came to for the ole "meaning of life" question. I came to it from years of study in various things and putting myself through the wringer during my free spirit days of travel and houselessness and communes and such. I came to the conclusion that the root of consciousness is anchored in our souls. The jouney of a soul (in my interpretation) begins from chaos, think a wild mass of energy such as our sun. Occasionally, a flare (soular flare get it haha) will break off from this mass and make it's way to Earth to inhabit a vessel of some sort of life form. Upon obtaining consciousness and awareness the soul decides on a path for it to achieve the eventual goal of being pure and refined energy to shoot off wherever pure and refined energy goes. Each of the spirals in this piece is a soul flying through space contained within balanced energy. Each chunk inside is a life. Each touching is a joining of a soulmate or shared purpose. I tossed in some color magic too for which colors are near , touching, etc. I couldn't resist the 9 stars in there, and yes they do glow in the dark ;) Numerologically 9 is the number of completion, there is a lot of numerology stuff in there actually :) I believe those that come before us leave or share a light to follow and watch over us to help us. A bit more meaning, pretty much everything in this piece has some kinda metaphor or purpose. I tend to make stories about every piece I work on for awhile and have little stories about each spiral lol. Now you know how crazy I truly am! :D

New Medium, New Life

Jeffz — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 03:57:43 GMT

I completed my first mosaics tonight. Let me tell ya it has been a long time since I felt this way. It is like meeting your soulmate...all you can think of is them, what you can do with them, how you complete each other, etc etc. You get the idea. I REALLY love this. It allows me to express levels of myself I could not get out otherwise. It is like learning new words that are more precise to what you really want to say. Hard to explain but yeah. The one pictured is my first done with tile that I smashed up to make it. I now understand the whole found object thing. Although , I went to a show and commented to a ceramics artists how good his plates would look smashed up hehe. My true love is with stained glass though. It is like not thinking when I work with it. hopefully next year after I get out of my current bad money situation I will be able to afford the items to make pure stained glass rather than using the in mosaics but mosaics are awesome too! I can get great deals on glass at the stained glass studio down the street because I use their scraps. My first stained glass mosaic is posted in my pictures. Like any artist, I live off feedback so would love thoughts about them! Oh and if you break anything, keep it for me to grout up! :D

Need a lil light..

Jeffz — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 17:42:18 GMT

I sustained my first injury last night. I was walking off the bus and where there was ground there was actually a hole so landing on my face in incredible pain with a twisted ankle. I have not seen a doctor but think it is just a bad sprain so used google to find treatment as I really don't like seeing doctors. I have never had a broken bone, cavitey, serious sprain, ever really. I should have too! I have fallen off 40' cliffs, buildings, serious wipe outs on bikes, etc but always been blessed enough to not sustain injury. It makes me feel mortal. It makes me feel old. So send a little love my way that it heals up fast. I really can't take any time off work to heal this and it is a bitch to travel without a car sometimes. just a big bummer to me and has me a bit shaken up...

All hail Seitan!

Jeffz — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 04:01:06 GMT

I just made some of the best Seitan ever. It is soo good I had to share my success. I have made it once before but was not so great. Still good but not great. I used a lot of braggs and soy because i didn't quite understand that 1 cup of liquid of a long list of items did not mean each - but to make a choice..lol. Anyway, much older and wiser now (2 burns later) I decided I had a mighty itch for some bbq seitan and had the stuff to make it still (stuff lasts forever!) so gave it another go and here is what I did: Ingrediants 3 cups Vital Wheat Gluten (make big , it lasts forever!) 3 cups water big dash of soy Mix that all up for a bit in a bowl then make a rough lump of it. Cover and leave for an hour. In the meantime prepare a big pot of water. I put 3 veggie bouillians and some onion soup mix in it. Start it boiling when there are around 10m left in your lump. After the mix has set for an hour take out on a plate and slice around 1 inch wide strips then dump into the boiling water. Let that rumble around for about 30m then pour into a colander and press out the water. That's it, how easy! The cool thing is it will last about a week in the fridge and months in the Freezer. I am gonna make my bbq but made a triple batch cause I can use it for other things such as chilli, stir fry, taters, whatever. Oh, it's real good for you and tasty :D anyways, my stomach is rumbling, remember that seitan loves you and doesn't mind you love seitan back..

Gaia's Breath got an honorary mention in a juried contest!!

Jeffz — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 19:27:24 GMT

I entered Gaia's Breath into a Jewelry Contest on Deviant Art that is based around the 4 seasons. She was my entry for the Autumn section of it. I think there were over 100 entries in total and the way they did it was there are top 4 selected by the juried panel then 4 honorary mentions. After which people vote on the top 4 for their favorite. I don't think I actually won anything but to have validation by peers is worth more than prizes to me. I am so shy about my art and insecure about it. To have strangers say, "hey that is cool" really means a lot to me - especially when those strangers are artisans whose work blows me away. I expect my friends to like what I do mostly (although appreciate honesty always of course!) so really is cool to have people I don't know like it too. I am soo new to this art stuff, really only been a little over a year now since I got "serious" about it and still so far away. In all of my pieces I am so critical of myself but that's how it goes I guess :) If curious for other entries you can see spring / summer here (and the top 4): http://jewelryclub.deviantart.com/journal/10928344/ Autumn / Winter here: http://jewelryclub.deviantart.com/journal/10928341/ Really some amazing entries there! I <3 Deviant Art so inspiring.

The backup plan

Jeffz — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 15:11:04 GMT

I am with many people who think that Myspace and Facebook just suck but really don't want to lose connection with the many people here. So, thanks to Ms. Strawberry for letting me know about this site and hope that others will make a presence there just in case our favorite place on the net goes away. http://triberefugees.ning.com As they say, expect the best but prepare for the worst. I am starting to copy things in here I don't wanna lose like blogs and such.