30 December 2009

the flight out.

like a midnight ocean,
restless,
little pockets of lights
dancing in its belly.

our lives grow ever smaller,
unrecognizable.
clouds of foam splash against hills,
break themsleves open,
swallowing up our diamonds.

soon an indigo expanse
silently rippling as far as my eyes can take me.
frozen it waits for the first reaches of dawn
and her brilliant light.

and i pretend we really do live at the bottom of the sea.

25 December 2009

why, Merry Christmas!




sheets of metal,
solder,
tweezers,
hammers,
pickle,
patina,
saw blades,
stamps,
wire,
tongs,
bezel roller...

AND a partridge in a pear tree :)

oh, yes...that means...surely it's true...jewelry time in 2010!!!!
hold on to your britches!
check back in a few weeks to see my progress...or perhaps,
but hopefully not, my lack there of.
i have oh so many ideas i can't wait to share with you.

right now, life is beating with the very rhythm of my soul.



hope your Christmas was/is merry and bright...
snuggle up with your dear ones and watch those lights dance.
today is the most wonderful of birthdays!

oh, AND we're leaving saturday to shoot a wedding in california
 like a couple of hot shots (pssssh!)...
that means....see you in 2010!!!

PEACE,
sarah beth

17 December 2009

risen with healing in His wings.



Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King,

peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"


Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
late in time behold Him come,
offspring of a virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th' incarnate Deity,
pleased with us in flesh to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"


Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings,
risen with healing in His wings.
Mild He lays His glory by,
born that we no more may die,
born to raise us from the earth,
born to give us second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new born King!"


thinking about the words,

30 November 2009

holidaze.

and...back to normal.

last year, our thanksgiving went a little something like this:
drive
show up with nothing more than an empty belly
parade
eat
dog show
sleep
football
drive
eat
movies
sleep
pie
drive
sleep

however, this year, with thanks to paul's gracious family, we hosted our first thanksgiving.
instead of the normal rat race, there was one meal large enough to accomodate both our families.
the night before i helped whip up some pies, a mound of sweet potato casserole, dough for the bread,
and cook thee turkey.
the food was delish, but the sense of accomplishment was pretty tasty, too.



it has been wonderful converting this house into a home.
to our home.
i love the chaos.
the kids running around, completely disengaged from reality.
the conversations.
the belly laughs.
each chair we own being utilized.
the doors opening and closing and hellos and goodbyes.

of course, the calm after the storm is nice, too.
me and paul laying on the couch...
digesting food and love,
thinking about what just happened
 and how good it feels not
to have spent the entire day driving and dividing time.
but how much better it feels to quite literally be surrounded by people you love.
happy sleep is so very deep.



friday was early rising followed by focused shopping.
...successful shopping
((minus the shop vac that sold out immediately)),
followed by male bonding time.



meets office space...
 

saturday morning marked my third year participating in the
boekell family tree harvest.
now, i have always been a let's put the tree together girl.
my mom and i would lay out the branches according to their color code,
sometimes guessing at the faded dots,
and snap 'em in place.
it was a fun tradition, mostly just being with my mom.
but that tree has since passed.
and i am thoroughly enjoying the process of picking out a live tree:
packing into one large car, the nippy air, the searching and surveying, the smells,
the sweet sap, the feel of the branches, the families walking around just a few rows over,
the excitement, the tradition, the small labor of love, the Christmas music on the drive,
imagining and pretending and visualizing and making memories.
& taking silly photos.



 


tree hug-n-kisser.







sweaters with the sister-in-love

AND i love decorating for Christmas.
my soul shines and melts when the living room twinkles.
sharing my home, my heart, and my tree with the love of my life...
everything feels right. simple. pure. happy.
our ornaments are starting to have stories.
we laugh as we unwrap and remember.
my favorite being the snurtle ornament from our honyemoon.
((snurtle: when one is too excited to say snorkeling with sea turtles so instead blurts out snurtling))






we've ate, loved, talked, entertained, hosted,
danced, cried, and slept very little.
now, back to "everyday" life.
but i am not motivated.
there is too much turkey in my veins.
:)

21 November 2009

pittsburgh photo contest winner.

it's unbelievably rare to capture an arabian princess
 in her natural habitat.



:)

20 November 2009

just another day 'round here.

the daily grind.





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<< disclaimer: why, yes, i am aware that my fluffy dog is actually a small pig. i am also aware that barnabas slightly resembles a dinosaur, especially if you pay close attention to the giant ski slope of a bump between his ears >>

<< and, ps, i had to google dinosaur to make sure i spelled it right...it's been a deceivingly long time since i used it in a sentence >>

16 November 2009

i'm not dead.

just breathing shallow and laying low.

a few minutes ago i stepped out to get the mail in my shorts. i'm enjoying the unpredictable fade of our indian summer. it's mid-november, and the sky is warm white. the trees have been stripped, but stand tall in grey resilience. except for the row of trees climbing up our driveway - they are still grasping their fiery coats. i'm cheering them on: "hold tighter" i said as i watched a few of their leaves float away on my way to the empty mailbox. i should have know the mail would be slow on monday, but i was itching to feel the sun (and see if my stones arrived)...

on my way back up the hill, i caught a glimpse of the mail truck winding down the road a few houses up. so, i plopped down in the grass to wait. it always feels so good to stretch out in the grass (even when it's brittle and feels more like spiky turf than a shag rug). i tried breathing in the sun to make my throat feel better (yep, i'm sick, but hold that thought). i let the slow breeze that hugs the earth
move over me.

whilst i lay there, undoubtedly concerning my neighbors that i really am dead, i watched my dogs smell, taste, prance about, and, inevitably, have a run on with the beckett's lab. he likes to walk in our yard. my little ones, however, do not like this so much. by the time the mail arrived, the rogue was sniffing out a spot to pee on our mailbox. so, when mrs. mailman dropped off the goods, she also dropped him a treat. by the time my pups got to it, the treat had been gobbled up...armi did manage to lick up a few crumbs, as always. on the way back to the house (stones in hand!), i heard one of the golden retrievers up the road whining that he wasn't involved
 in the going ons.

i'm not sure if my little life is blessed or perhaps a little sad that i can become so enthralled with neighborhood dog drama.

in other news...
we just got back from a brisk weekend in pittsburgh. while i did get to make a new acquaintance, eat some great BBQ, spend time with people i love, and visit the museum of contemporary craft, i was stricken with a head cold and spend saturday night cooped up with my husband in our hotel room. we stayed in and ate food from sheetz...and i had tissues dangling out of my nose in a very nostril meets walrus type fashion. which is extremely attractive by the way.
but it was wonderful all the same.

a quick update then i'm off to take a very warm shower:
i am on my way to having all my silversmithing supplies, AND i have a snazzy studio space set up (in the garage, but, hey...better than nothing!). so, i'm on track to getting where i want to be very soon. please be patient.

ok, i'm off to get ready to check out a possible new studio space for boekell photography and to head to ohio for chili night with some great friends.

FLY.

12 November 2009

04 November 2009

weeping willow.

There was once a wispy girl named Willow who lived in the not so distant now. Everyone in Willow's town knew her name, but they no longer cried out to her when they passed her in the streets on her way to piano lessons. They had learned not to look upon her face. She had grown to prefer the distance for it was much better than the heckles that would ring in her ears long after the moon was hung.

Little Willow's complexion was dewy and fair, and sweeping her shoulders was a black river of hair. Of all of her features, the most striking was unquestionably her dim blue eyes, the very color of sunlight piercing water's veil.

And Willow cried so very easily.
Look upon her with a furrowed brow and her heart would break right open. A mere glimpse of a gaping sunset and she would drown the wind with her joy.

The thing about Willow is that she had feathers for tears: fine, stout, lighter than air. Everytime she cried, her tears would fly to Heaven, sailing on the deep blue sky.

With each blurry eye, she shed her soul and was set free.





02 November 2009

so it is.

at the beginning of july i took a risk.
the only things at stake:
a few bucks
a pinch of my time
and a slice of my heart.

my little etsy shop has been open for nearly 4 months...
with zero sales.

i'd be lying if i said i wasn't discouraged.
i'd also be lying if i said i had invested myself into all of my work 100%...
which has only been some of my photographs.
the truth is i've been in a stalling pattern, waiting,
for more time, more ideas, more money for supplies to create the work
that is spilling out of my soul.

the other bit of the truth is that i'm cheating myself.
i'm not pouring myself out.
as much as i want to be able to survive as an artist by making sales
and having people respond to what i'm doing,
this is also for me...
my spirit
and my mind that keeps turning
and the sketchbooks with all the ideas
and even those little slivers of paper i write on
 to get my ideas down
so i can sleep soundly knowing they are safely cemented
and not dissolving as i dream.

i love photography.
but there is so much more inside of me.
my illustrations are dormant.
my transfers are still unborn.
and my silver has yet to know an audience
(i guess that's because i haven't made anything except what i learned in class).

BUT
everything is coming into fruition.
i am just a few more weeks hopefully from having all of the silversmithing supplies i need.
however, until everything is ready,
my store is closing.
partly because i'm embarassed,
but mostly because i want a new chance at unveiling.
i hope to reopen in january with more pieces of me.
if there are still no sales...
well, that's ok.
the shop is a platform to ensure my creativity
doesn't shrivel up
under the weight of the real world.
that it doesn't disppear in the crowd of
housework, obligation, and one day "mommy."
as long as there is possibility,
i will try
and have fun making things.

i hope to always create.
i hope to always take photographs for me.
it would just be nice to be reimbursed.
it would be even nicer
to inaudibly speak to someone through an image
or a sleek silver morsel.

this isn't a poor me
or a shame on you.
it's a thank you for encouraging
and inspiring.

i'm still going to journal...errrr, blog...
because i have to unload my heart.
but the shop will close tonight.
and it i will come back alive in the new year
and, until then,
i will be pushing myself.


fly,
sarah

{{ i've used the word hope a lot, that's probably a good thing }}

27 October 2009

adventures of david(ette) the gnome.

sometimes we get paid to take pictures in beautiful parks.
and then they pay for us to stay the night in a cottage.
and then we take pictures for fun.













i guess this really doesn't have anything to do with
but it was a pretty awesome show.