Okay, I'm in!

I'm checking my nose . . . hope there's nothing hanging. I didn't drown at least, didn't hit my head or scrape a knee. Now that the first post is over and I'm in just kind of adjusting to the water and bouncing around and balancing on my toes and moving with the waves . . . it may be awhile before you see me attempt a handstand or backward underwater somersault but I'm in.

Should you be someone that is actually in the pool with me or watching from the side, I'm thinking maybe I should just tell you a bit about me. I tend to write too much, way too much. I'm a better speaker than writer. I'm quicker at giving the facts with my voice and than through my finger tips. So, today, I thought I'd really, really try to nutshell in very quick short phrases who I am and what end of the pool I hope to swim to.

just moved to Eagle Rock from Thousand Oaks
lived there 15 years
was an elementary librarian, art teacher, and art program director for the last 10 years
am 42 yrs old
married 20 years, husband Kent
2 kids - Shawn, 16, Lauren, 15
graduated with a BFA in graphic design from the University of South Dakota (just before computers!)
worked as a scenic artist in the movie industry for a short time
worked as a freelance graphic designer
worked as a florist and plantscape designer for LAX, Carnation, Glendale Federal, and several celebrity homes
quit working for a few years when kids came
woke up and found myself in elementary world
now find myself in a position for the first time ever that I can finally make art or attempt to make art full time
have lots of house restoration to do before I won't feel guilty about spending time following my own dream (feel like I have to have the house done for the rest of the family)
am a huge nester, researcher, collector
want to study, study, study to find what I really, really, really want to do or I end up all over the place and can't focus
love, love, love: vintage things, surprises, humor, fortune telling games, cards, magic, curiosity shops, the circus, romance, halloween and Christmas, toys, papers, pictures (especially old ones), good stories, whimsy,

I'll stop for now . . . in fact, I'm pretty much done with introductions. You get the idea - maybe not the idea I want you to have but that will come. Now I think I can just post in the moment whatever that moment is saying to me.

So, I'll end today's very scary journey into the pool of blogging with one more little push of my limits. I'll post a couple of pics of some work I haven't yet shared with the world . . . I've found myself working on little bird houses. Not sure why - kind of scared of birds too and they don't have anything to do with the fish in my studio name. But, I make them and have ideas cramming my head for many more. So, here world, I'm throwing my birdhouses in for a swim too.