Fall Projects

Sunset on the Washington coast

 Fall is in the air!  The first couple of rainy, cool days here has me slowing down after a seemingly never ending year.

Spring and summer were full of remodeling projects and work, a nice end to summer with a visit from some of my family and a wrap up to yard work.

I am so grateful to have this life.  Have I thanked you yet?  My readers and followers?  I have met some truly wonderful people through this blog over the years.  I consider you friends and colleagues.

In the Fall as I slow down, I also find a need to simplify.  This is good for the soul.  I often take on too many projects and spread myself too thin, ever do that?  Well this year I have a better plan.

One website, one blog, one Facebook page.  I have one Instagram account and one Pinterest account as well.  

This will make my life so much easier and less stressed as I head into next year.  I already have a business and household to run, but love my side business in the creative arts.  

Although I did close my Etsy shops this year, I am still pursuing online sales for my photography and publications.  The time has come to simplify it all and have it make more sense.

As I catch my breath I am thinking about some fun but low key projects for Fall.  Since self publishing three small books last year, I now need to promote them.  I have posted them on the "Publications" page with links to purchasing, but I haven't actually taken the time to properly promote them here on the blog.  So I'll introduce them each in their own post, this way I can describe them in a little more detail.  

I know it's hard to shop online, you want to be able to pick an item up and look at it and touch it before you buy it, try it on or just see it in real life.  These posts will give you a better idea what my books are all about. And the best news is that all the prices have been lowered!  So they will make great gifts as well. 

I hope this finds you enjoying your life, till next time!

J

2016 - It's A Wrap!

Huckleberry hollow underwent some major improvements this year.
To recap, here's an overview, follow the links to read the full posts.

Back in April of 2016 I decided to redo the bathroom - again - and it really turned out nice.  New paint, trim and floor paint.  You can read the full post here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/04/bathroom-make-over-again.html .

All Spring and Summer a friend helped me install a new 6 foot cedar fence along my property line.  This was labor intensive!  Together we cut the labor costs and although it took us several months of part time work, we were able to finish it in time for some outdoor deck sitting - with privacy.
You can view the complete post here: https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/fence-me-in.html .

In the middle of the summer I started working on new ways to skirt the mobile.  I love Pinterest and get a lot of my ideas there.  I found some great ideas on alternative skirting concepts and used two of them for around my place.
One was a row of concrete blocks placed just under my addition, leaving about an inch of air flow space.  Another was to use cedar fence boards like pickets, around other sections of the home.
Two posts covered this subject and they are here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/skirting-issue.html .  And here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/skirting-issue-part-ii.html .

By the time summer was winding down and had a little more free time from work, I decided it was time to tackle the mud room and front deck issues.  There was dry rot and leveling that needed addressing.  Again my friend helped me with the leveling and I replaced the top deck boards last.
That post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/10/restructuring.html .
 You'll notice some additional upgrades to the paint around the place too.

After that we transplanted 2 of my very large bamboo into 4 bigger pots, as well as dividing them.  They are 12 feet tall now and have occupied those pots for about 10 years.
They add the perfect privacy screen above the new fence!
That post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/10/bamboo-transplanting.html .

By then the weather was changing and it was time to focus indoors.
I needed to finish working on a back bedroom that needed some odd repairs, not pictured, but not interesting in photos anyway.  The goal here is always about insulation and sealing, while still trying to maintain aesthetics.  It's not a pretty place, but it is very functional.
I also worked on the other two little bedrooms, carrying on the same theme with new paint.

I also revamped my first poetry book, Poetic Zen, with new color photographs.  The post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-book.html , with a link to ordering it.

After the fallout of 11/9 so many of us were devastated by the news of a new leader that when I finally regained some optimism, I decided to pull together some artists and writers and publish a book about hope.  It's called Messages of Hope and the post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/12/messages-of-hope.html .  You can order from the links there.

I wrapped up the year by reopening my Etsy shop and diving back into metalsmithing.  I purchased a new domain name for it as well, you can visit it here: www.jgray-design.com .
My goals this year are to increase my work-from-home income with finished jewelry pieces as well as supplies for other artists in similar mediums which lead to a second shop just for supplies at www.jgdsupplies.com

So the smallest bedroom has been converted into half storage and half art studio.  Upcoming posts on that as I try to squeeze another work space into an already tiny space!

Thank you all for following along with me on my journey to remodel my life.  :)
Farewell 2016, and hello 2017!  May we all prosper and find joy. 

Photo Books

(imported from my former photo blog)
For the past couple of weeks I have been working on some publications, my images in a book form.  I found MagCloud to be the best and most affordable for this.  They offer an easy to use platform for uploading and printing publications.

I now have four books that categorize my many years in photography.  They will be available to the public soon!  I ordered a copy of each of them so that I can see the hard copy before I go public.

Their titles are the same as the collections;  2012 Series, The New World, Looking Glass and the collection of black and white images is called Through My Lens.

The first three collections are limited editions as prints, so only available through me, but greeting cards can be purchased at my site on Fine Art America here.

The black and whites are not limited and cards and prints of any size are also available there.

As is usually the way of the artist, I initially intended these "books" just for myself, a way to see my work at a glance.  I can also take them with me to prospective galleries or other outlets as a sort of portfolio.

Of course my relatives now know what they're getting for gifts this year too!

The second publication I did after the Backyard Bird Tracking template, was a collection of poems and images which I wrote about on my other blog.  This gave me a lot of practice at the online process.

I really want to encourage anyone who has thought about putting their art, poetry, essays, or novel to print, to check out MagCloud.   Finally the age has come where we can be a powerful force to not only promote our own work, but to create it without refinancing our homes!

Self Publishing

With the affordable availability to create publications online, I have been inspired to create my second book of poems.  I'm using MagCloud and am amazed at how easy it is to use!

Just like my Backyard Bird Sighting template I created in Publisher, I converted it to a PDF and then uploaded it to their site.  I can review it before saving and ordering.

OK, enough about them.  This second collection of poems were written over the last six years, except two of them are from the first book (Poetic Zen);  Return to the Sea, which I think I wrote over twenty years ago, and Outta This World which I wrote in the early 2000's.  It took best of show in literary works at the local fair.

I have also included some of my favorite photographs.

It's a small book, 8.5 x 5.5, great for the coffee table, perfect bound, with full color images, 28 pages.

I have been wanting to put out a second collection for years, since my first book came out in 2004, but time and events and life seem to get in the way.

Eventually things worked out and I see the perfection in it all.  I needed this time to not only write more, but to find a theme.  Well, middle age has brought some interesting insights, so I thought I would call it The Afternoon of Life, which I actually got from watching Wayne Dyer's movie The Shift.  He talks about some of the spiritual changes we go through at this time.

If you're not a fan of poetry then this might not interest you - but for those of us who often stare at trees, mystified by their beauty and try to put that into words - this is for you.

Very affordable as a hard copy at $9.95 at MagCloud (plus shipping), but also available as a digital download for only $6.

I give you The Afternoon of Life, Verse and Visuals by J Gray.

The Afternoon of Life

The Afternoon of Life is a collection of poems and images by J Gray.

I invite you to comment about poetry and how it has affected your life, or who your favorite authors are.  If you too are a poet, check out MagCloud and get your work out there!