The Storm

There's a song that goes;

"When you walk through the storm hold your head up high and don't be afraid of the dark..."

I have a craft show in two days. I'm not ready. I've heard so many folks say things like, "I was up all night putting final touches

on things and making last minute adjustments!

I really, really, really want to do well at this show!

Have I made enough? Is it packaged professionally enough?

Will people take what I do seriously?

EEEEeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!

OK, Judy, nice deep breaths!

I live in Coastal New Jersey. So you'd think I would do seaside arts

and crafts. Oh no! I have to strike out on my own and do decidedly

non-seaside arts!But since the show I'm doing is in the town of Barnegat Light, NJ, and it's in the shadow of that famous landmark, "Old Barney", the light house, I would do up a couple of "Old Barney growth charts.

I hope I hit it this time!

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I've also just finished my first Christmas item for this year. An Advent Calendar that hangs on the wall. I had a lot of fun designing and putting it together. I think it's rustic and homey. I remember when I was a little girl, my Aunt Shirley would give me paper Advent Calendars each year. This is so much nicer! And it can be used year after year.

I've come a long way in my 15 months on Etsy. I hope I'm learning enough to keep me moving forward.

I feel like, "Any day now, Judy! You'll get it right any day now!

www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

www.finishthis.etsy.com

www.JudyGoddard.Homestead.com

Ceramic Tiles

I went to my very first networking meet and greet a couple of weeks ago. I signed in and got my name tag, with the red line around the outside. That told everyone that I was looking for work rather than looking for workers. Most of the people that were there were corporate types in clean white button down shirts and dress slacks. My job at this event was to go up to total strangers and announce myself, "Hi! I'm Judy Goddard and I'm an Artist and Musician. What do you do?" It's a good thing I don't mind calling attention to myself!

Two guys that were there had just started a kitchen and bathroom remodeling business. They asked me if I could paint on tiles, doing custom work for kitchen back splashes and decorative tiles for bathrooms. And of course, I said, "Yes! I can do that!" Then they

wanted to know if I could paint murals. And again my answer was, "Yes! I can do that too!"

And, although I had never painted on tiles or painted a mural, it was not a lie. Because I know that I can!

So I went to Home Depot and bought a few white glossy tiles.

I have glass and ceramic enamels that I had bought years ago, so I fished

them out and started painting.

These paints are designed specifically for painting on ceramics and glass. Once they have dried for 24 hours they are placed in an oven

and baked. That sets the paint on the surface of the tile or glass

and makes them hard and durable.

www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

www.finishthis.etsy.com

www.JudyGoddard.Homestead.com

(Home Depot Photo courtesy of HomeDepot.com)

Inside the mysterious Oom

Last week I told you all about my office building.  This week I'm taking you into the realm of Oom.

As you can see, there's a lot of artistic thought that goes on in this particular Oom.  ( You know the old cliche, "Creative Minds Live Cluttered Lives.)  I prove that rule!

The TV is my radio.  

With Direct TV I get XM satalite radio. 

I get to listen to my folk music all day long!

                                                                      

This is my Victoria Recording Machine.

With it I'll record about 400 LPs and

cassettes on to disk.

This was the first cabinet installed.

It was first hung to hold the baking 

supplies for the baking business 

that never took off.

This is my fiber cabinet. Felt, Yarn, Rayon, Buckrum, Cotton Jersey,  and Clock Parts. (?)

And tell me, what would a Spair Oom be without a War Drobe?

This is where I store my Custom Canvas Growth Chart supplies and finished pieces.

Is this the door to Narnia?  "Further up and further in!"

This my studio!  This where I can escape the bills, the kids, the troubles of this world.

Here I can immerse myself in my own world of color and clarity. (At least for a couple of hours.)

www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

www.finishthis.etsy.com

www.Measureformeasuregrowthcharts.com

www.JudyGoddard.Homestead.com

Baskets or Patterns

Hi everyone.

Here are some examples of Hand Knit Felted Baskets I have designed and made.

Do you think people would more readily buy the patterns for these?

They didn't sell too well just as a product to purchase.

What do you think?

www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

Welcome to my office building!  This is the entrance. 

No, I’m not a librarian!  and I

 don’t work for 

the library.

Here's a picture of my personal parking space.  (That's my personal rotating parking space.) And here's where I pay for my personal rotating parking space.

This is my secretary.  Let’s call her Mary. (I’m changing her name because I don’t know  her real name.  I hope it 

isn’t Mary!)

This is my research department.  They’re a cracker jack operation and well worth the salary I pay them.  (My tax dollars at work!)

Here is the entrance to my office.  Sometimes I have to share it, but as you can see, it’s large and airy with lots of light.  ( And plenty of room to spare!)

             

 Here’s my “desk”.  There’s a plug right behind my chair so it’s very convenient.

I come to my office 4 or 5 days a week and work very hard for 2 or 3 hours, checking my email, writing on my wall and posting photos of my artwork on Facebook,  busily adding items to my 2 Etsy shops and taking care of transactions, and, of course, tweeting!

Having spent an industrious morning at the office, I pack up my lap top, hop in my car and head home to spend a delightful afternoon in my Oom. ( That’s what I call my studio room.)

Tune in next week, for a peek at the Oom.

(Photos with people in them, courtesy of the Ocan County Library System.)

http//:www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

http//:www.finishthis.etsy.com

http//:www.JudyGoddard.Homestead.com

http//:www.Measureformeasuregrowthcharts.com

My other incarnation

This is me and little Hannah, up at 

the old Homestead.  That was 15 years

ago.  Now she's an avid listener....

to what I call "Screaming 

music."  But that's OK, she'll come around.

MUSIC!

I saw this PBS ahow last week about the effects of music on different kinds of people.  They said some folks have to have music every day.  Even if they can't hear it being played, either live or recorded they will make music in their heads, or sing.

Other people don't care anything for music.  They can go

 on and on for days and never even think about music.

I am the former.  My husband if the latter!

I have so many acoustic instruments stored away in corners and cubbies all over the house.

He keeps his truck radio tuned to AM Talk Radio.  EEEuuuwwww!!!!!

This slightly scewed veiw is

of me, sitting on the banks

of the Navesink River.  

Do I mind that the

photo is a little off kilter?

Why should I?

I'm a little off kilter!

My weakness is traditional folk music.

I can listen to it all day everyday.  I guess it's because I love a good story.

And the ballads make me so emotional. It's so important to feel!

How about you? What's your favorite music? 

http://www.JudyGoddard.Homestead.com  

http://www.JudyAGoddard.Etsy.com

http://www.finishthis.etsy.com

http://www.Measureformeasuregrowthcharts.com