Linda & Opie's Burnt Offerings

In Transition...

for the past month we've been going back and forth every week moving delicate things before the movers come. we had a bookcase case built and are in the process of unloading 52 cases of books.

we thought we were going to do this move slowly over time, but an innocent request asking a neighbor to please put out our recyclables for garbage day - resulted in the sale of our house!!!

so now we're stepping up our game and will be offline for the next few weeks because tonight we're unplugging and packing the computer, printer, scanner and various other electronics in preparation of the cable guy coming to hook it all up on friday. i'll have my lenovo laptop here but we've always had a love/hate relationship at best. if it gives me access to my email - i'll be a happy camper.

hopefully it will all be an easy transition. we hope to be on the road tomorrow at 7AM. this really wasn't the best day for my trip to the dentist!!! the entire left side of my face is all numb and swollen.

until next time............

 

Moving to the Berkshires...

For several years our hearts have been in the beautiful Berkshires and we knew it was just a matter of time before we bought our dream loft in a walkable artist community.  Happily that day has come!

The Eclipse Mill Artists Lofts are dedicated live/work lofts for artists only and home to a community of artists, living and working in a former textile mill in North Adams, Massachusetts. Our 4-story building houses painters, potters, textile artists, print-makers, musicians, ceramic artists, photographers, a dancer, writers, a paper maker, a book dealer specializing in art books, and two galleries.

We bought the Garden Loft which overlooks the Hoosic River - 3500 sq feet of absolute joy -  and the only loft on that level - so it's very private.  We're driving up tomorrow for the closing. For us, this is a dream come true and we're very excited to begin the next phase of our lives together.  Here's the view of our backyard garden area which is very peaceful.  I'm so blessed to always live near water!

With all of the illness and loss that has happened since last August, renovating and organizing this space is exactly what we needed to devote our full attention to.  The Universe is ALWAYS on time!

Lots of pics will follow and we hope you'll join us in our exciting new adventure as we proceed to turn a semi empty space into our new home and studio.

 

 

The Doppelganger Dada Studio

i'm one of those people who believes that we each have a doppelganger - a look-a-like or double - who looks exactly like us ... and now i believe that concept could even include places and spaces as well!

does this look familiar...

this photo is one of the many work tables in our studio where we create all of our Dada dolls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

and this is not - although it sure could be....

this is a work table from wayne leal, a very talented artist who emailed this to us about a week ago. wayne, originally from the UK (South London to be exact) now lives here in the states and we're obviously kindred spirits and part of the same global tribe.

so if there are more of you who can relate to this concept (and we know you're out there and you know who you are) - then please send us a jpeg scan of your work table in an email res - and let's expand our very artistic and creative Dada tribe.

and in the meantime, opie and i wish you all a very merry christmas and a creative new year! 

How Cool Is This?

First of all, I cannot believe it's been a month since we've posted. Where does the time go? The great news is we've finished our book and have begun to play catch-up.

We're in the process of adding new workshops and a metal collage gallery to our website and finally updating our poor neglected Etsy shop, so come take a peek at both when you have some time. It's far from over - but it's a start!

The CD listed there: Strange Tales - is our original music - written & recorded by us in our music studio.

Check this out, my latest studio find, a vintage Purse Locker - isn't it too cool for words! When I saw this, I knew my jewelry bench would fit perfectly in the open space underneath. The picture here is while it was still sitting in the antique mall with some sort of metal drafting table. It took 3 hours for Opie and two delivery guys to take it apart in order for it to fit in my studio space ... the room practically had to be stripped bare, but we'll take new pics of it again, once it's set-up with my bench, dolls re-hung and everything is back in order ... but i just had to share this now.

And if we don't post in the next few days we wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Opie's Music Studio

has just undergone a major transformation from analog to digital and while i'm not completely sure of what that actually means, miraculously a biz-illion wires have thankfully disappeared and order has once again been restored to the balance of the universe (at least in our music studio). i was really trying to upload a flash photo album into the sidebar that i just created using myslide, but somehow it only appeared as a post which i had to delete since i couldn't figure out how to move it, so this will have to suffice for now. there is so much to learn about all this, i feel as if my head will explode, but i'll plod along in my own time using the inspirational sites of some of the most talented artists we know as a guide.

BTW: we're making a list of blogs we love and read, so check them out when you have time.