Wrote in my journal before dawn while flames danced in the stove. Dark night gave way to dawn. The world changed overnight.
Wonder.
just waiting for the final coat to dry...
Soooooo many layers of stain = rich beauty BUT they create super long drying times...! I must be patient but I am itching to stand this bugger up! Each sculpture hatches ideas...more sculptures are waiting to be born...
meet my neighbors
full of surprises (and smiles)
I am not sure where Jeffery found his dancing shoes – but boy does he have some moves…! Pretty fun and amazing discovery in someone who insisted that he didn’t dance when I met him. He continues to surprise me with his willingness not only to try new things but to jump in with both feet and a grin on his face. I almost broke my fiancé a few weeks ago while introducing him to the sport of mountain biking. Jeffery was stopped by a tree after a rather terrifying round of tumbling down a STEEP slope with his bike but he leapt up smiling. He was covered in brush, a bit of blood, lumps, bumps and missing a shoe. I thought for sure he would want to sell his new bike. But a few days later we enjoyed a pleasant mellow morning bike ride between weddings on the buff trails up Cache Canyon in Jackson. He spun me around the dance floors of a few weddings that weekend – I'm not sure who smiled more.
golden days
Crisp crunchy leaves, late afternoon and evening dramatic thunderstorms, cool bright starry nights and the light…! Ah…the autumn light tickles my thoughts and fuels my love of the mountains. I feel such a pull to be outdoors taking in all the adventure I can as the days grow shorter, but my studio work is equally captivating. Gold leaf is adding a new dimension of feeling, playful light and interesting surface. The soft glowing gold niche magically opens the insides even further – as if glimpsing the soul within.
art and adventure - splendid perfect weekend away
Heels to cowboy boots (and plenty of wardrobe changes between) – the long weekend adventure retreat in Jackson Hole was jam packed with giggles, guts and grace.
Thursday morning I edited and published the latest eNewsletter before 6 am yoga, worked in my studio and office until noon, then packed, ran errands and got on the road early evening. Packing for Jackson involves an array of “prepare for anything” as you’ll see...
The evening drive to Jackson was beyond beautiful. Every time I see those peaks I'm reminded of vivid patches in a quilt of adventures stitched together with good friends. I stopped for a homemade ice-cream cone at the creamery in Driggs to eat while I drove the pass and dropped into Teton Valley just in time to change into white clothes in a Teton Village parking lot and meet girlfriends for a “white party.” The evening was beautiful, we wore our glow-bracelets to the after-party in downtown Jackson and danced ‘til 1 am.
Friday morning I delivered Ben Roth’s sculpture to him at his studio. I just love Ben's creative art, his kind soul and energetic spirit! I could have stayed in his studio all afternoon to "talk shop" but took off to meet artist Kathryn Mapes Turner at a historic ranch owned by Birdie. Kathryn had spent the morning plein-air painting on the ranch as part of the “painting Jackson Hole Open Spaces” collaborative project with the Jackson Hole Land Trust. What a treat!! I love artists who care and give back!
My girlfriend Leslie zipped home after work Friday night to pack, we arrived at the Teton Ranger Station 3 minutes ‘til closing for our backcountry permits and were a bit surprised at the cumbersome bear barrel we were given since neither one of us have camped below 10,000 feet before in the Tetons. Somehow I managed to stuff the barrel into my pack with the gear and we took off at 8 pm for a lovely sunset and moonlit hike up Death Canyon. We filled up with water at the stream, then scrambled up the scree slope with our heavy packs to the cave below “The Snaz” (a classic Teton climb). We cooked yummy freeze-dried lasagna and ate a decadent bakery desert before turning in around midnight. We enjoyed the perfect cool weather, the splendid night-time view of the lake below and just the pure joy of a comfy bivy in a beautiful place.
The 7-pitch climb, “The Snaz” on Saturday deserves its own lengthy blog post. I panted and clawed my way up the cliff – certainly out of shape from the last few summers of hardly climbing but it was grand, golden, humbling and so worth it!! Despite my rather klutzy slow ascent, we got down before the sun cooked us on the cliff. The bear barrel beat my backside a bit on the hot sunny trail out that afternoon. We arrived at Leslie’s after 5, grabbed showers, gussied up and zipped off to the finale of the summer symphony series.
Sushi after symphony, then we crashed a wedding (bride and groom friends of Leslie’s and the lead singer in the band the beautiful talented Jeni Flemming – a friend of mine). So half a dozen of us girls danced with grins and ate bits of pie until the band called it a night.
Sunday morning I packed Leslie’s bike, made her breakfast and coaxed her out of bed to meet another girlfriend for a stellar mountain bike ride on the Ridge Trail near the Teton Pass. Gorgeous sweet buff trail – such a blast of beauty sweetened by good company. We did a loop, I hitched a ride back to the truck, then we once again had less than an hour to shower and put together “polo” outfits. Good thing I threw in a pair of cowboy boots…! Polo is a whole other subculture – new to me but stunning setting with the green grass, stout margaritas and Teton range backdrop…! A grocery, a quick bit of end-of-season shopping at gear store and it was time to pluck and clean greens for our dinner party. Art, life and adventure – the topic of conversation while drinking bubbly wine and eating scrumptious made-with-love food shared with two dear friends.
Monday I woke before dawn to journal and read until the sun peaked its head over the horizon. I drove the mountain pass in its full morning sunshine glory, then continued home on the leisurely scenic drive.
I found a super book for my mom at the Book Peddler in West Yellowstone (and a scone for me). Joy beamed through my bones after a long weekend packed with memory making, endurance testing, relationship building adventure and fun in the Tetons.
plenty o' bear (or bear poop anyway)
Big o'l pile of bear poop in my driveway - I took the photo on my daily "commute" from my cabin to the studio. Since then I have stumbled onto a "bear poop photo series" since it has been a bear-poop-filled-week. Multiple piles on an early morning run along the Yellowstone River and then yesterday a few more piles while I busted out a quick hike behind my cabin up the mountain before gussy-ing up and bouncing down the mountain in my truck to the Livingston Art Walk. A few more photos elicited plenty of comments on my Facebook page.
I just LOVE bears and find myself grinning at the thought of one taking a squat in my driveway.
sometimes ya have to take it off...
My judgment was off. I had a certain color in mind. I thought it would be best to blend and match the frame of the niche to the 100-year-old barbwire cage. But after a few layers of stain followed by a rather brave dark layer it became apparent that I was wrong. I knew the layer of stain was too dark while I was applying it Sunday afternoon but I continued because I planned more layers of lighter opaque color to mimic the patina on the old barbwire.
I was certainly sleep deprived after a long bout of insomnia. I was also distracted. Maybe I was just getting a little too eager to see the sculpture complete. Regardless. The simple fact is the “oops” factor became apparent. The “oops” didn’t go away after I left the studio. When I returned the following morning the mistake was even more apparent.
Here’s the deal; one has to be willing to fail in order to create. Period. One time while talking about being an artist with grade school children in Florida, I was asked, “What do you do when you make a mistake?” I explained that a good deal of art making was about making mistakes – that pretty much everything I do might not be the right thing but the most important part is to simply do it. Am I ever scared? OFTEN. Do I do it anyway? Yup.
Just think of explorers. They didn’t have a map. Backtracking was part of moving forward in the big picture of things. Mountaineering? Ditto. How about this quote which describes my life and a good deal of my process,
“Optimist: someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's a cha-cha.” Robert Brault
May the cha-cha continue…
east rosebud hike - wild raspberries, gushing stream and good company
featured in Big Sky Journal
Fresh off the press! The latest mention of me (and my work of course!) in a glossy magazine.
The article features painter Wendy Marquis as well as author Christopher Paolini - "Three Different Montana Artists Draw Inspiration from the Natural Environment" Great company with two accomplished peeps!
Big Sky Journal is a fine publication and this is an exceptional issue focused on the arts.
Big Sky Journal, "Arts" Issue 2013"
Well now - this is my 4th feature in a magazine this year...
two happy gals
let the layering begin...!
spitting bugs and grinning in the gumbo
Saturday morning the sun beamed brightness into my studio and the latest sculpture just begged for attention (and another layer of stain). I almost canceled the plans I had made to mountain bike with a friend. BUT – outdoor adventures fuel my soul, push my boundaries and tickle my lust for life just as creating in the studio does.
The ride was GRAND.
Not only was it a wonderful super-buff bit of mountain single track through the last bold wildflowers clinging to their color as the grass begins to dry; but it was also a coveted opportunity to catch up with a good friend. We shared fresh Flathead cherries while hunkered beneath a tree to wait out a storm. The dusty trail turned to gumbo but nothing could keep me from the thrill of feeling blessed. I spit two bugs out of my mouth simply because I couldn't quit grinning on the pre-storm zippy downhill.
Life is good when WORK is just as compelling as PLAY.
FB calls it a "life event" - I call it "life changing"
Who would have known?
The temps were above 100 degrees in Texas. A large commissioned sculpture had just been delivered and I flew to that great state to make sure “all was well” with the delivery. Jeffery was five hours from his Texan home with a batch of buddies to compete with 52 other BBQ teams from all over Texas. A combination of his charm, his cooking, the Salty Dog toddies and a Cinco De Mayo FULL moon made it impossible not to kiss him beneath a big o’l mesquite tree while the whippoorwills were “whippoorwill’n” and an electrical storm burst upon the sky like fireworks.
I fell into one playful magical night of kissing in the moonlight. I had no idea it would lead to this –
I’m engaged…!
sparks are flying
got goats?
my youngest official "collector"
Uma had ridden the studio zip line, asked 676 questions (or so – I lost count) and beamed with that enthusiastic bright-eyed enthusiasm of a twelve year old girl enchanted with her first visit to Montana. Too cool. She carried “Wee Bunny” around carefully in the palm of her hand and petted the sweet little sculpture as if it were a real little creature. Uma had fallen in love with the bronze while her mother was busy picking out a series of original “Works on Paper” for their home in Nashville, TN.
I told her I had a payment plan and she hopped like a bunny herself, all grins while she scrambled to dig her purse out of their traveling mobile. Uma proudly gave me a $20.00 bill. I promised to add her to my eNewsletter list and we had a deal. She hopes to pay off her own “Wee Bunny” in time to nab edition number 40/100 because she LOVES the idea that #40 will go toward educating a girl in Pakistan (see the blog post below). I hear Uma is scheming ways to save money to finish her sculpture purchase – she is crocheting headbands while the family drives through the Rocky Mountains.
A number of youngsters have received original Amber Jean art as gifts (i.e. “Wee Bunny” #21 was just purchased from a gallery owner as a baby shower gift for her little niece – what a great idea!) But Uma gets the status of being my “youngest official collector.” I was like her at that age - willing to make payments and work toward something I really loved.
I don’t know who is more excited – me or her?
"The Spirit Within" - my TEDx talk is online for viewing...
Want to see my first TED speaking experience? I say "first" because I plan to do more (and do better!)
If you feel compelled to "like" and "share" the talk - please do. My hope is that the TEDx Bozeman talk featuring my latest sculpture series will help launch the artworks out into the world...
Click HERE to view my talk, "The Spirit Within."
on camera
Photographer Chris Autio took this portrait of me recently for his upcoming exhibit featuring artists at work.
off the grid...
What happened to May and June?
The 1st week of May I was in Texas…caught a bug on the flight home which nailed me with bronchitis and acute sinusitis for 3 full weeks before catching another plane to Denver for some training after which a whirlwind 5 days of catching up included my computer crashing, a 40 person film crew in my studio (low-budget dinosaurs vrs cowboys movie), a studio visit from the WHOLE Montana Arts council and a dinner party at my house the night before flying to New Orleans where I departed for a cruise (um – yes – unexpected and last minute adventure).
Mayan ruins and swimming with dolphins were trip highlights. Another dip into New Orleans and then a day to unpack the sundresses and put together a previously promised backpacking trip for my nieces (visiting from Minnesota). I have been off the grid for most of the last few weeks but overflowing with stories and adventures to share…
