And, it is ALL about me, isn't it?
I've always loved "art." To me, art is loosely defined - it's everything from Van Gogh to my mother making Christmas crèches out of milk cartons (remember when milk came in cartons?!) and spray paint and glitter. I helped with those Christmas decorations, and made mud pies with lovely leaf decorations, and did the TERRIBLE paint-by-numbers that many family members gave to me, the "artistic" one. I was very lucky that my mom always made sure there was plenty of glue, glitter, paint, crayons, etc. etc. around. Even though money was short, there was always enough for a new BIG box of brand new Crayolas when I "needed" them. When I hit puberty, I spent hours drawing "hot rods" for all the local neighborhood boys (love cars to this day...). I can't even estimate how many gallons of paint, cartons of crayons, and reams of paper I've used up over the years.
Like many kids, as I grew up, I grew away from creating art. Researchers have speculated that children often give up drawing and art-related activities because of the possibility of criticism. And, for me, this was probably true. When I was older (a lot older), I took it back up again in the form of oils, watercolors, and pastels. These are all wonderful mediums, which I enjoy to this day - but, come on, how many paintings can you put on the wall? And, selling was great, but it's a tough, tough market. Not to mention the storage problem!
I've also always loved jewelry and glass. Plastic "pop" beads, my mother's "jewels" (I wonder if she ever got tired of getting jewelry for EVERY holiday?), it really didn't matter as long as there was an element of glitz and glam. And, yes, I made the long fringe beaded earrings in the 80s.Then, in 1995 - EMBELLISHMENT! The first Embellishment show was held here in Austin, and I really appreciated beads for the first time. The best? I discovered that beads could transition art and jewelry and glass. Before long, I was working in an Austin-area bead store, and soon developing my own beadwork classes. In 1999, one of my loomed seed bead works, a neckpiece entitled Sweet Dreams, Bobby Jean, was a finalist in the Bead and Button Show juried competition. Bobby Jean was yet another love in my live - an amazing border collie who lived more than 17 years, and contributed to my life in ways I can't even begin to go into here.
Then I decided to go to graduate school. I'd already had a successful career in banking, which I loved and was good at, but it wasn't fulfilling in a fundamental way, ya know? I continued to bead and teach beadwork classes when I could, but grad school is pretty much a full time pursuit in and of itself. Towards the end of grad school, I saw Molly of Heritage Glass making beads at a bead show. WOW! But, I knew that I really really REALLY needed to get the grad school thing off my plate before pursuing anything else. (My dissertation, by the way, was about artists!) Anyway, I got my Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Texas, Austin, in May 2002, and took my first class from Molly in June, 2002. And fell in love once again.
That's pretty much it. I've been married to Tony for more than 30 years. Tony owns a bread route (yes, as strange as that sounds), and, after doing beads full time for a couple of years I was offered a job at the University of Texas Learning Center that I just couldn't turn down (and, there WAS that Ph.D. hanging over my head!). I supervise the appointment tutoring program - about 150 undergraduate and graduate tutors in mostly math, physics, and chemistry - all of whom are much smarter than me, as well as the Graduate Student Writing program and the Developmental Reading and Writing programs. A very fun job. If you have a kid heading off to college, contact me any time to talk about what they'll face academically, especially if they're heading someplace like UT.
And, of course, read about my "girls" in Pack Life.
Wanna know what
classes I've taken?
How do I spend my money? Classes! (Well, and glass, and beads, and other stuff I can't live without.) Seriously, classes are a big expense, but well worth the price. I guess most (maybe even all) the stuff I've learned I could have learned on my own - if I lived to be 195! Also, many artists support themselves by teaching, so I like to do my part (haha).
February, 2007. Michael Mangiafico www.figstudios.com
November, 2006. Andrea Guarino www.andreaguarino.com
October, 2006. Dustin Tabor www.dustintabor.com
July, 2006. Michelle Waldren
April, 2006. Jennifer Geldard
www.glassgirl.com
April, 2006. Stephanie Sersich www.sssbeads.com
March, 2006. Kimberly Affleck www.kimberlyaffleck.com
March, 2006. Cindy Jenkins
February, 2006. Sage & Tom Holland
January, 2006. Victoria Gail
January, 2006. Bronwen Heilman www.ghostcow.com
December, 2005. Michael Barley www.barleybeads.com
October, 2005. Kate Fowle www.katefowle.com
October, 2005. Larry Scott www.larryscott.net
September, 2005. Brad Pearson
http://home.att.net/
~jwpearson/bpgindex.html
May, 2005. Andrea Guarino www.andreaguarino.com
March, 2005. Dave Butts
www.davebutts.com
February, 2005. Kim Fields www.northfiredesigns.com
March, 2004. Dave Butts
www.davebutts.com
January, 2004. Donna Mehnert www.blackberrybeads.com
October, 2003. Kristen Orr www.kristenfrantzenorr.com
April, 2003. Leah Fairbanks www.leahfairbanks.com
All about
me, me me!