Tea for Tuesday...coffee au lait... and chicken noodle soup....

The ice storm has hit and soon the snowstorm is arriving and will fall on top of the glazed streets...oh so treacherous. The noon news reported that there were already over 100 intense falls on the ice and in our emergency rooms...we have stayed inside and Ken has gotten a little ahead on his gifted online course. It was a quiet day with gray overtones...the ominous sounds of sleet hitting the window screens foretells what tomorrow morning may be like for drivers. There are only 56 days until Spring arrives...the poor groundhog will never see her shadow tomorrow. I always get confused on the what ifs ...she sees her shadow??? What will really happen? May we all be safe and warm as this too shall pass...there is beauty in this sparse white landscape wrapped and encased in mysterious ice. The silent passage is poetic in its own voice...the shivers remind us that the sparkle of crystals falling to the ground will cloak the earth in a blanket of shimmering snows.

Today I was drinking almost anything hot...my body was abruptly refusing to adapt to the cold temperatures. I watched mindless TV and finally went upstairs to work on a silky...really polyester ...scarf to embellish with different photo transfers and felted flowers and hearts...and the design will come together as I attempt to work with this beautiful but extremely slippery fabrics. I enjoy working on something I can wear for the Saturday fund raiser Cocktails by the Fire at The Works. This annual evening raises funds for the supplies and upkeep of the glass studio. Yesterday our guest artist arrived and I will post her name in the future....I have forgotten her name...sorry. This evening is one of Jazz, glass demonstrations, good friends gathering to support our jewel in downtown Newark. We are so fortunate to have this educational and artistic facility for our community to enjoy and learn from. Our new glass studio director is Larry Tuber and has an energy that is very evident when I watch him involved in his creative process of blowing glass art.

The children in our community have had another snow day...so little Domino has had a lot of tender loving care today. My daughter told me he had a sudden burst of energy last night at midnight! Maya had been ill on Monday so another day of rest and relaxation will do her good. Tina went in to work and her husband had his day off so they had a family day at the Packard Household.

I am working on my prospective entry into the 2011 Best of Ohio Exhibition and trying to select the best images for the juror to see examples of my next Australian creation..."Merinda at Sunrise". This is always a stressful event and a risk...there are so many incredible artists in the Ohio Designer Craftsmen nonprofit arts organization. The juror is Paula Owen from the Southwest School of Art in San Antonio, Texas since 1996. She is a print maker and painter so I will be happy to have some new to my work see and critic my processes and journey as an artist.

I need to go upstairs and work now. I will post some images tomorrow of my Valentine scarf. Stay safe and warm. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

p.s. Thank you Kathy for the second sewing machine for the studio...I have been working on the tension and will get a new needle and finish cleaning the inside of the bobbin department! YAHOO!!!