A Birthday Wish ... and a Wish Granted

Why am I up at this hour? Actually I couldn't sleep - not because today is my birthday and another year (and what a FANTASTIC year I've had - thanks to ALL of you!) in my life has transpired, but because I could not sleep wondering who could have donated $750 to my Walk for the Cure. I must have been too tired last night but I realized that I could find out by logging into my Participation Center. So I did a few minutes ago and thought that it was several "who's" but it was ONE generous very GENEROUS donor. She is not anonymous to me and has a heart of GOLD. Thank you so much YOU. You know who you are. You are the woman that made me cry. Not cry because I am older on this date but cry because of your support for my Susan G. Komen walk. As tears flow freely from me due to happiness, I want to share a bit of news with you all. (You will read it from my 3-day blog entry copied below).

I am not a materialistic person even though I have been fortunate to have many things, most of which are beautiful beads in my personal stash and wonderful books in my library. Even with all these materialistic things which help make my life more complete, my most valued possessions in this life of mine, are the WONDERFUL - absolutely WONDERFUL people whom I've met through beads. These are my friends.

Like a broken record, on this birthday of mine, I have only one wish because dreams do come true and many things have been paved through my hard work - which you will see throughout this year (I must keep some of what I am doing a secret, you know.. it's that mysterious life I like to lead as the superhero flying off to shows across the nation). My friends, please do not take me out to lunch, send me birthday cards, give me gifts or anything you have in mind. I have everything I need now. My wish is that you help me show the world what we can do to support the 3 Day walk. My generous donor brought me to only $900 of being able to walk in November. If 180 people donated $5 each or 90 people donated $10 - I would reach my initial goal of raising $2200, in order to even walk. With all the beaders I talk to at every show venue, this is not beyond reach, and then some. I think we can raise $5000 or more by November!

So show a little love and open your heart. The link to donate is to the right menu. AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY to ME! Let's all celebrate (even though I am still working hard at Bead Expo Phoenix - BOY do I have photos to share with you when I come home!!)

Hugs to all. Make me cry, please make me cry again and again. Once, twice, and a hundred times over. Bead people are the BEST!! (BIG SMILE!)

Bead Creatively with your HEART
xoxo,
Lisa

*****

(entry from my Walk for the Cure, 3-Day blog)

Thank you Anonymous Generous Donor

Here it is May 4th. I am in Phoenix exhibiting at a show and I was going to post on my blog (LisaKan.blogspot.com) to ask all my friends to not send me any gifts or cards because donating to this cause on my behalf was more important.

I checked in to my Breast Cancer Participation Center and noticed that my donation goal was $750 more than a few days ago. Here I am thinking several friends must have donated but instead ONE generous donor (whom I know but will keep anonymous). I want to THANK you, as you know who you are, for your GENEROSITY. I am deeply touched with tears in my eyes of such generosity and a TRUE gift from the heart. Because of this generous donation I am just $900 from being allowed to walk.

Many of you know that I am an avid writer for bead publications. In a few short weeks, my FIRST column for Australian Beading will be published, written with Jean Yates, a great buddy from New York. Jean is the East coast and I am the West Coast perspective of what we think will be the next hottest US Trend in jewelry and beads. We write about all things creative.

In the first column, my friend Kelly Norton, the wonderful editor of this Australian publication was gracious to allow me to write about the Walk for the Cure. I did this in hopes to garner worldwide international support for the Susan G. Komen organization, so that beaders of the WORLD could show everyone what we are indeed capable of.

The column is aptly named "Our Beading World". I can't wait to see the magic and maybe cry some more tears. Beaders simply and beautifully ROCK. Let's ROCK on together.

So here's to my birthday and my challenge to walk for all of you. Thank you again secret anonymous donor. I owe you a big HUGE HUG. This is the BEST birthday gift ANYONE could have given me.

xoxo
Lisa

Lighting the Flame ...

No, no ... I'm not referring to glass bead making. "Lighting the flame", in this case, refers to inspiration. I was just playing with words in the glass bead artist vernacular.

I often get asked where I find inspiration for my work in both glass and finished jewelry mediums. Maybe I am lucky, but I see inspiration everywhere and in very ordinary things. Hey, I've gotten inspired by a tree branch! Perhaps I have a vivid imagination. My main problem is that I don't always have the time to immediately delve right in and explore these visions/ideas. Some ideas go unexplored or are forgotten temporarily to be revisited many days, months and even years before it takes fruition. I don't think one necessarily has to jump into an idea without first planning the execution. I have a few ideas that took me several years to plan in my mind and then when it finally came time to execute, the design came together naturally. Perhaps you are one to just jump right in, design as you go, and wing it. If this works for you, I'm not here to knock it. This is just how I approach my own designs as I see myself often, as a story teller.

Let me provide an example to illustrate what I am attempting to convey. Look through any magazine with plenty of photos, and stop at the first picture that catches your eye. It may be the colors, the composition, the subject, the catch phrase, company slogan, whatever that said to you "stop and look at me". Study this photo. In marketing and advertising, this is what they call "branding" but what I like to refer to as "telling a story" through words or images. "Geez Lisa, What are you getting at?". When you create something, whether it be a glass bead, a piece of jewelry, a painting, a sketch - whatever your artistic medium - what do YOU WISH to convey to your audience and what is the story you wish to tell? Perhaps you have no story to tell. That is your prerogative if you design this way. But let's approach this exercise in a different light for a moment and play with me. This separates "art" from "craft".

If I say "it does a body good" and "white mustache" (provided you haven't lived in a cave for the last century) you would probably tell me "you're talking about the milk ad". And if I say "Just do it", you'll smartly answer "Nike". That is "branding" in marketing and advertising. And that is what an artist should want to achieve and aim for in their work. That is what I want to achieve with mine. An artist desires to have a unique voice in their art medium. There will always be the natural inclination for people to compare one artist to another, this can't be avoided. The crafter is more concerned about finishing the project. The artist will wait until their art is ready to speak. What story does your work tell about you? What are you trying to tell with your work? If not, why don't you want your work to have it's own voice? I will explore these topics more in upcoming posts.

In the meantime, I would like to share the artist profile interview that Australian Beading (AB) wrote of me in their premiere issue, earlier this year. The article discusses the topics inspiration and artistic voice. Just click the article image to open a bigger window. Unfortunately, at this time, the magazine is not available in the States yet but I will keep you informed when they are made available here. I will be writing periodically for Australian Beading next year as they will be bi-monthly from 2008. Hooray! The articles for AB are written gratis but they allow me to reach a bigger audience and share my love of design with the WORLD.