Sandi Miot

Love, love, love encaustics. Sandi uses oils, wire, gold leaf, fibers etc. in her encaustic paintings. They are rich, colorful, heavily textured and real treat to look at. http://sandimiot.com/encausticsgallery.html

Michele Ward

http://michelleward.typepad.com/michelleward/ Michele Ward is a mixed media artist. She has been published in numerous magazines. Look what you can do with spray paint! Must run to the basement now to see if I have any down there!!

Linda and Opie O'Brien

http://www.burntofferings.com/ When I heard the name "burnt offerings", I wasn't quite sure what to expect when going into their website. Pyrography! Gourd art, metal crafting, recycling, masks, musical instruments, assemblages, jewelry, sculpture, mixed media dolls and more! Lots of great stuff to look at. They have written a book too. Great fun!

Remember to check the girls

Time for a public service announcement. When I went in for my last mammogram, a few days later I received a call that more views of my breast were needed. After the 2nd mamm round they decided they needed to do an ultrasound. Needless to say, I was scared. Fortunately, whatever is in there is benign but needs a 6 month recheck. Please take a few minutes to check the girls. Also visit http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm

Leslie Emery

Marcia, Jae and I went to a few galleries in Milwaukee's 3rd Ward district recently. I spotted a few of Leslie's "boxes" in the Katie Gingrass Gallery. There are also a few hanging in the bistro in the same building. Her paintings are very colorful and lively! http://www.leslieemery.com/

37 Days

Found the link to this blog on. Mr. Zenhabits blog. Sometimes I get pretty caught up in my own world, my own problems that I need that proverbial shock of cold snow down my back to get my attention. Reading other people's stories helps me to rethink what I'm doing. http://www.37days.typepad.com/ Please read "First Time Here" Why 37 days. I found the post "Let Go of the Monkey Bar" to be so appropriate to my current situation of being between jobs. This is a blog that will definitely be one to check in on often.

Poetry 180

As a calligrapher, unless you are very clever and write your own poetry and such, you depend on the words of others. I enjoy sipping a cup of tea and curl up reading poetry. Billy Collins is a favorite. As former poet laureate he developed a program for high schools, each morning a poem would be read to the students. This is a wonderful compilation of contemporary poetry. http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/ He also includes instructions on how to read a poem.