Warning:  Most of the time I stay out of political discussions. I’m not a fan of the current government of this country; actually I’m not a fan of a whole lot of government involvement in society at all.  Yet I’ve been following the current presidential election with more interest than in any past election, and I don’t like most of what I see out there.

I’ve been particularly dismayed recently at the recent postings on one fellow lampworker’s blog, which shall remain nameless here.  I don’t know this individual personally and the chances are slim that we will ever meet face to face (which may well be a Very Good Thing).

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Seven years ago to the moment, I was sitting on the floor in a crowded TV lounge in the GPC Student Center with dozens of fellow faculty and students, watching in horror as the news replayed video of the World Trade Center towers burning and collapsing, of the gaping and burning hole in the Pentagon, over and over and over, searing itself into our memories.

I have not forgotten.  I will not forget.

Thanks to the holiday weekend, I forgot to post this last night. After all, TODAY is what felt like Sunday!

• Laura Sparling lets go of her control freak tendencies over at Watch Me Create.
• Also at Watch Me Create, Kerry Bogert shows off her studio re-do.
• I find out the hard way about letting flammable crud accumulate under my workbench. Eeek!!
• Rachel looks for inspiration in art, nature, and color, and shares her tips for having a successful show. Her fourth tip is especially worth paying attention to!
• Lori Greenberg desperately hunts for one more bead and finds everything but.
• Jelveh shares some eye candy along with her thoughts on copying.
• When Nina Bagley can’t find the lampwork beads she needs for one of her pieces, she calls on her sister Ellen to save the day.

The fall issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry was on the stands at Borders Saturday afternoon.  When I picked it up, the first thing I turned to was the Letters to the Editor section.  It contained four very brief, nothing-but-praise entries — not even a breath about the negative responses to the Carter Seibels feature in the last issue.  I know that they received critical feedback from several people, including me, but you would never guess from the letters, nor from the Editor’s Comments, nor any indication of any response anywhere from the table of contents.

At first I was a little perturbed, but then I remembered that this IS a Stampington magazine.  In all the years I’ve read their various magazines off and on, I have rarely if ever seen a negative comment.  That seems to be in keeping with their whole editorial philosophy — much of their published artwork has a definite sameness about it; rarely do you see anything outside very narrow boundaries in there.  (There’s a reason I don’t buy many of their magazines any more — in truth they get boring quickly.)

Since they chose not to publish my comments, at the risk of being repetitive I’ll post them here:

Dear Editor,

My delight in seeing a lampwork artist featured in the Summer 08 issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry rapidly turned to dismay as I read Rice Freeman-Zachary’s article on Carter Seibels, for two reasons.  Apparently neither Ms. Seibels nor Ms. Freeman-Zachary fully understands the use of presses in making lampworked beads.  Pressed beads are indeed hand-crafted, formed one at a time at the torch, unlike furnace glass beads which are mass-produced using molds and then cut into individual beads.  In the hands of a lampworker, the press is simply another tool in their arsenal, allowing creation of forms that would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, without their use.  Let us not forget that “hand-formed” beads are actually shaped with tools, not actual hands, as well!  The quality of the resulting bead depends on the skill and vision of the artist, regardless of what tools are used to form the bead — whether pressed or hand-formed, a bead can be exquisite or merely ordinary.

Far more disturbing, though, was the paragraph where Ms. Seibels equates “middle-aged” beadmakers with traditional work, and younger artists with experimental and thus more creative work.  Such generalizations are dangerous! To many people, “traditional” implies boring, stodgy, and ordinary — words which no one wants applied to themself or their work. Had this ageist remark referred to differences in race or gender, I hope it would never have seen the light of print.  As a “middle-aged” artist myself, I hope that the editorial staff, Ms. Freeman-Zachary, and Ms. Seibels will consider their words far more carefully in the future.  Furthermore, I suggest that you take note of such creative lampworking visionaries such as Andrea Guarino-Slemmons and Lydia Muell, both decidedly older than Ms. Seibels herself and both of whom have abandoned eBay for other, more artist-friendly, sales venues.

Sincerely,

Sara at On Simplicity wrote:

what three non-essential things would you save in an emergency? Your family, friends, pets, and any medical needs are considered essential for this question, so we’ll assume you’ve already got those.

As I think about my own answer to this, it really brings home how little I really need in terms of material possessions!  It also makes me realize that I don’t have a current backup of my data on my computer, because an external hard drive or flash drive containing that would probably be at the top of my list.  Perhaps I should do something about this???

Let’s say that number 1 is my hypothetical external data backup.  Number 2 might well be my rolling case containing my bead inventory.  A couple of thousand dollars of inventory would do quite a bit to help me restock my studio, or give me an opportunity to recognize the generosity of anyone helping me out in that emergency.  Number 3?  Hmmm.  I think I might have to quickly grab my little metal lunchbox containing my journal and journaling supplies.  I would probably need to work through a lot of angst as we rebuilt our life, and I’ve always found journaling a good tool for that.

So I would say that’s my final answer:

1. A backup copy of my computer data on external/flash drive
2. My bead inventory case
3. My journal box

How about you?  What three things would YOU save?