• Pin It

This fortune came with my Chinese lunch(at the tasty Chong’s Dumpling House in Lansdale, PA).  Rarely does my fortune cookie resonate with anything in my life, so this was a surprise.  This is indeed what I want to do:  use my creativity in making mosaics as my vocation and a way to prosper.  Prosper is from Old French roots, and has connotations of “cause to succeed and render happy” as well as hope and flourishing.

2010 has been quite a year.  The biggest leap came when the library I worked at was closed without warning in July.  I was shocked and disoriented and sad, and librarian jobs scarce, but my art was always there for me, and I am very grateful for that source of joy, and for the opportunity to imagine a life where I am a full time mosaic artist.  2010 also brought:

• The premiere of my mosaic pendants.  I had people asking if I made jewelry and at first I couldn’t imagine myself as a jeweler, but then I found square pendant trays, and it was like making trivets on a tiny scale and I loved the challenge.
• Film Noir Mosaic Collection.  My friend Joanne Leva created Poetry for her Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program, culminating in a showing of Sunset Boulevard at the Ambler Theater, along with a reading of poems inspired by the film, and my Film Noir mosaics in black and silver in the theater lobby.
•  For those who enjoy Etsy, thank you!  Nutmeg Designs reached a hundred sales in 2010.
• I taught a Glass Mosaic Basics class at the Goggleworks in Reading, PA and enjoyed talking and making mosaics all weekend with enthusiastic students.
• Taking the plunge and buying a tent and doing outdoor summer shows for the first time this year.  This helped increase Nutmeg Designs total shows to 17 for 2010.  Both Wayne and I are very grateful to our friends and fans who come by our booth and for all the cool people and crafters we’ve met.
• The encouraging commission of 25 patchwork photo frames my job.  I had trouble sleeping the night I said yes to the commission but I am so glad I did.
• The opportunity to see a retrospective exhibit of Hildreth Meiere‘s work, my first mosaic inspiration.

When I was first laid off, I wanted to know right away how everything would work out.  It was a challenge to let things unfold when the sense of urgency is overwhelming, but the irony is that the more we  push to know the future, the more we erode the present moment which is the only truly functional moment we have.

For 2011 I wish all my readers the vision to see what is emerging in your lives, and the courage to stay in th present moment.  I would love to hear your stories of what has unfolded for you in 2010, and how your creativity in whatever form contributed to your prosperity.

Related:

25 Random Art Things About Me