A Birth Day

 The Denver Art Museum
Hamilton Building
Designed by Daniel Libeskind
All Titanium panels.

Kelley (my daughter) and I had a perfect day of art. My choice was to go to both the Contemporary Museum and the Denver Art Museum.  I must say my Kell has inherited the aesthetic gene and couldn't wait to show me the new building.  She was spot on about it's amazing architecture, and design.
This new building is incredible.  My uncle Harry Weese tried to design buildings like this.  But in his day we didn't have the materials to support such design.  Inside the beauty continued with an amazing stairway and lighted numbers that randomly flashed on all the walls.

Claes Oldenberg's "Big Sweep

The stairway was it's own work of art. You can see the round numbers lighting up on the stairway wall.

Forgive me for not getting all the artist's names below.  The new addition had a King Tut show... which I still feel belongs at the Natural History Museum.  Most of the pieces I had seen many times at the Field Museum in Chicago.  But we did learn something new.  The workers were required to grow mustaches back in the Egypt day.  So one could tell them from the patrons.  Kell was wearing a cape buffalo mustache necklace I made just for her.  She got lots of compliments in the museum on it.

Egyptian workers were required to grow mustaches! So Kelley fit right in wearing her mustache necklace.

Sandy Skoglund "Fox Games" installation piece was so fun.

Above two paintings by Jonas Burgert from Berlin.

 I didn't get this sculptor's name. If you know it...tell me!

Shirin Neshat's "Women of Allah" photo

Kelley dressed up, as I did.  Donning her mustache with a giant cowboy hat. 

We both played dress up in the kids corner.

Lots of skull art!

Giant Bulls outside.

From DAM's website...spectacular!

 When we went to the Contemporary Art Museum, it was so contemporary...we couldn't find the door.  Finally, we walked up to a large black square and it's sensor slid the door into the wall.  We had a good laugh about that.  Sadly, the Cristo exhibit wasn't open yet.  I just walked right in to where they were curating the exhibit, as I'm a big fan.  His and Jean Claude's Arkansas River project in Colorado in the photo below.  His renderings have always drawn me in, no pun intended.

A Cristo drawing of this project.

Outside the museum was better than the inside!

When Ethan was done with school we went to a driving range.  None of the three of us will be invited on the PGA tour.  But that didn't stop us from having fun.  Ethan did his best "Happy Gilmore" and we hit our balls as far as we could.

Happy Gilmore and his Mom

Grandma and Happy Gilmore

Ernie has them well trained to put a chair by the front door so he can get a little "kitty TV."He is too wide for a windowsill. :-)

 We went out to dinner in the LODO part of Denver.  Ended up at a fancy burger joint.  Ethan is at the burger age.  When we walked by I saw someone eating grilled asparagus, and sweet potato fries.  That pretty much did it for me.  Handmade peach sorbet from "Cloud 9" down the street from Kell's for desert.  Grandma was in bed by 10:15...pooped!   Thanks Kell and Ethan for a great 55th birthday day.
Tonight we have a group coming to Kell's for dinner.  Can't wait. 
Tomorrow I will videotape Ernie fetching his toys. 

Every day is a gift...open now.  (I did!)
Thanks for reading!
xo
Suz

  

Double Nickles

Suz at 5

Yep, today is my birthday.  I have a plan to go to art museums in Denver with my daughter. She's taken off the day from work for us to spend this time together.  It's promised to be 80 and sunny in Denver.  We are planning our day.

I have just met "Ernie" my grand cat for the first time.  He's a gray and white Maine Coon they adopted from a shelter this year.  His girth is spectacular at 20 pounds.  He plays "fetch" with his fuzzy pipe cleaners. I am told he brings his toys to my grandson and daughter when he wants to play.  He opened the bathroom door to see what I was doing. In true cat manner, when I let him in and shut the door...he immediately wanted out. :-)   Right now he is spread out almost completely covering their coffee table!  In a grandmotherly fashion, I would say this cat is exceptional.  He reminds me of our cat "Columbus" that passed this year.  Ernie is always where he can see everyone.  He just brought his toy over (like a dog) and dropped it on our feet.

Ernie with his pipe cleaner toy

I'll post more later, as today looks like it will be one big photo op!  

 Thanks for all your love and wishes on my b-day!

Okay...I will. :-)

Thanks for reading!

xo

Suz

Each Day is a Gift!

Colette of Rawartletterpress made my request. 

What a week!  The garden is slowing down from it's last summer blush.  I am planting fall seeds.  Green chilis are in the freezer.  I am FedExing my annual ritual to those in other states who are green chili addicted.  We've had Bob's 2 sons and girlfriend at our house.  I am preparing to take 5 days in Denver with my daughter and grandson.  A TIA last Wednesday has left me with a slight gimpy left leg. However, life is not slowing down...I won't allow it.

I had Colette of RawArtLetterPress:  make this poster for me as a daily reminder to live in the present.
(http://www.etsy.com/shop/rawartletterpress?ga_search_query=raw&ga_search_type=seller_usernames).  I am grateful to wake up every day with a new chance to run like I always do.  This hangs in my studio.  I also had one made for a friend in Chicago who had sudden kidney failure at 40.   I'm off!

That's all...have a great week.
Thanks for reading.
xo
Suz

The Leaves are Falling

Autumn is in the air...my tomatoes are giving their last gasp. I have root veggies started and more seeds to plant.  I'm trying this fall growing season.  Leaf shapes have been an obsession of late.  I have drawn and redrawn 6 new shapes.  I listed a bracelet and a pendant in my shop.  But I really designed these for hand stamping.  A family tree of leaves: Willow, Maple, Ginko, Aspen, Ash, Fruit are here.
What I had in mind are the arts and crafts style leaves and berries I am so mad about from my Midwest roots.  Morris, Wright...
http://www.etsy.com/listing/56570248/leaf-necklace-pendant-for-fall-and

A tiny acorn was inspired by my trip to Colorado.

Any 3 leaves can be stacked. Of course they can be personalized.

Kitty cats, and a few other shapes are on their way too.  Stay turned!


Thanks for reading.
Each day is a gift: open now.
xo
Suz

I ♥♥♥ Durango

The pine cones are bigger in Durango

Durango station of the D &R GWRR

 My friend Sarah  moved to Durango a couple of years ago.  I suppose I can forgive her sister for luring her away from Albuquerque to the mountains of Colorado. I have just found out that her parents will be moving there as well.  Sarah and her parents are responsible for us finding our beautiful house.  I am not looking at their move as a loss, but as a gain.  I too have fallen for Durango Colorado.

Could there be a better coffee shop?

My first trip was with Sarah's mom Ann.  The drive is west on Route 550, then north over the border. Late spring was not the prettiest time of year.  But New Mexico's mesas and colorful rock formations entertained us for the 4 hours drive.  This weekend I drove with Charles, Sarah's Dad.  The landscape was completely different.  The road had a ribbon of gold along both sides.  Wild sunflowers, chamisa, and asters were in full bloom.  The grass was still green, AND the mesas were lit with early morning sunlight that only autumn has.  Both Ann and Charles are great company for the ride.  I truly feel blessed to be able to spend this time with both of them.

Greeting me at Sarah's is Stella, a 105 pound rottweiler.  I'm crazy about her.  She has the roundest head I have ever seen on a dog.  It looks like a fur lined bowling ball.  I run my hands over it looking for the 3 holes. :-)   Sarah invited me to join them down at the Animas River for a swimming game of fetch the tennis ball.

Sarah would throw the tennis ball in the river with the orange "chucker" that she is also scratching Stella's butt with in the bottom photo.  Stella is one happy girl. She was able to get the ball in the river and 2 sticks in her mouth at the same time.  40 throws and fetches wore me out just watching.

 Engine 481

Sarah booked our tickets for a train ride I have wanted to take for half my life. We rode in an open air car which was excellent for hanging out of and taking pictures. It's 3 1/2 hours to Silverton on a narrow gauge track. It's a 130 year old steam train fired by coal. We had to stop and get water several times.  The open car made us magnets for cinders careening toward our eyes. We were instructed to wear sunglasses.  A blanket of ash covered everything, and everyone.  But I didn't mind.

 The train snakes along the Animas river.  At times I wondered what our track was on...because one could not see flat terrain.  There were huge drops that were below us.  Everyone would take their cameras and move to the side of the train with the view.  Being an old sailor, I wondered if we needed ballast to counter balance the weight hanging out the windows on this narrow ledge.  

We arrived in Silverton for lunch.  Sarah directed us to the "Handlebars Restaurant and Saloon".

The Handlebar is filled with antiquities, taxidermy, and mustaches.  I met the owner Alice, within 30 seconds of arriving. We hit it off instantly.  I told her I made mustache necklaces.  She immediately gave me her card and can't wait to get the glow in the dark version!  My sloppy joe sandwich was pretty tasty.

I didn't realize Bigfoot was so organized as to have a central headquarters in Silverton.

Our bellies full, we slowly rocked our way back down the mountain toward Durango.  I even nodded off for a bit.  We were joined by a couple from Rockford Illinois.  The seats as well as the tracks are narrow gauge. 3 adults is a bit crowded, and so we got to know our seat mate.  We made jokes all the way home.  It's amazing how much fun you can have with a complete stranger on a train.

I leave this morning after we inspect Sarah's parents new house.  It's been a wonderful trip. Too short. But I'll be back after the snow melts.  Hopefully, bringing Bob with me. 

I <3 Durango!

Thanks for reading.

Every day is a gift. Open now!

xo

Suz

A Mustache Gathering

 G-10 Rainbow Layered Stache

We are just back from Las Vegas.  Anyone who knows me, knows Vegas is not my scene.  The only reason I went, was to see all the people from the USN Forums.  I never left Planet Hollywood for 3 days.  One doesn't have to.  I kvetched, and moaned all over Facebook before we left. But I went, and am glad I did. As usual, it all went too fast.   As our plane landed, Bob got a message that Bob Loveless had died.  Bob loveless was like Obe Wan Kanobe of knives to my Bob.

 Toni Nealy and I

I had not planned on bringing any jewelry to the show.  It's a social gathering.  I looked at it as a 2 day party.  So I wanted to bring something fun to put on the table.  I had a couple of pieces of horn on my bench that I had been pushing around for weeks while working on other things. It looked like a wavy mustache to me.  I also had this "moon glow" acrylic sheet and a rainbow sheet of G-10.  I've seen mustaches on Etsy, I wouldn't be the first or the last.  So I made a batch of mustache necklaces  out of scraps and the afore mentioned materials.  I had so much fun.  Each one I finished, I would hold under my nose to show Bob.  Who shook his head.  However, he said nothing when I put them on his table.   10 Minutes after the show opened, he was sold out.  So we needed something to fill the space!!

Val and Allen Elishewitz at their booth. His hot new knife project with Hogue behind them.

Allen felt pretty much the same way Bob did about them, so he used a banana!

Owen was all over it!

The Moon Glow mustache sold first.  Bob sold it while I was away from the table.  The night I made it, I went outside the shop door and had him take a photo with the iPhone.  It really glows green! I've had this material since last December. Lucas Burnley, a New Mexican knife maker turned me on to it.

Here's a new knife Luc made with Pat Pruitt for the show.  Pat is a master CNC jeweler. It's Pat's first knife, and Luc's first CNC project.  They made an edition and each guy used their own handle materials.  I really love this layered G-10. Luc also gave me the layered G-10 I used in the top photo.
Luc has a forum on USN: Burnley Knives...check 'em out.

On a more serious note...there was a Brazilian knife maker at the show.  Bob has been oohing and aahing over this man's work on the USN Forums.  Gustavo Thome Cecchini.  I'd like to think his half Italian genes are why his knives are exquisitely designed: and getting an A+ in form and function.

Not only are his knives beautiful...but he is too!

Ladies, he has a stunning wife.

This brings me back to the beginning.  Cecchini's knives are on par with Bob Loveless' work.  I really felt a circle complete Loveless -> Cecchini.  No one can replace Bob Loveless in the knife world. But some will carry the torch.  To see his knives: GTCKNIVES.com .

Thanks for reading!

Every day is a gift: open now.

xo

Suz

PS. Remember the knife I had dinner with  in Atlanta by Todd Begg? Best in show here. I know, I'm just the "knife wife" :-)