New experiences, new work, new adventure!

(Above: Taking photos of contestants in the Miss Teen SC and Miss South Carolina pageant during the Friday night gala at the Columbia Convention Center. Click on image to enlarge.)

As a girl ... well ... let's just say I was an "ugly duckling". Beauty pageants weren't part of my youth. Steve and I had two boys. Scholarship pageants (as they are now called) were never a blimp on our radar screen. This isn't the case for our neighbor Jerry Finney, a prominent lawyer here in Columbia. His law firm is beside Mouse House, our home/business. Jerry's fourteen year old daughter Felicia is very active in the pageant world. That's one of the reasons why I selected her as my model for last April's Runaway Runway fashion show of recycled materials. (Click here to see a blog post from that evening!)


(Above: Elaine, Felicia, and Jerry Finney at the South Carolina Pageant Gala.)

Jerry provided Steve and me with two tickets to the Friday night gala at the Columbia Convention Center. It was an eye opening experience, an evening of beautiful girls celebrating their public service awards, a magic show, and plenty of photo-ops. Steve and I decided to attend the actual "event" the next night in Columbia's Township Auditorium.


(Above: Mrs. Finney, Retired Chief Justice Ernest Finney, and Jerry Finney.)

Unfortunately photography wasn't permitted during the competition. Steve and I were honestly surprised at how entertaining the entire evening was. Sure, all the girls are beyond beautiful but it was the quality of the programing that made it great. The emcee was wonderful and the staging was great. Before leaving, I did snap this photo of Felicia's grandparents, including her famous Grandpa ... who didn't plan to wear the same suit as Jerry! (They are a total blast!) I didn't get a photo with Nikky Finney, Jerry's sister. She attended some of the preliminary pageant evenings. We met her earlier in the week. (Nikky's fourth book of poetry, Head Off and Split, won the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry.) The entire weekend felt like we were rubbing elbows with "the elite".


(Above: To Laugh Often, in progress ... laid out on a piece of recycled black acrylic felt and basted. Click on image to enlarge.)

Yet, I wasn't just "rubbing elbows" over the past two weekends. I was also sweating buckets. A hair-brained idea took me to the local cemetery in nearly 100 degree temperatures ... armed with a big piece of silk, a black crayon, and the following Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation:

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.


(Above: To Laugh Often, in progress. Click on image to enlarge.)

The lone grave rubbing I made while in Edinburgh, Scotland somehow sustained "damage" during my return trip. I never discovered what happened. Nothing was leaking or broken but an oil spot marred the silk. I spent several days further distressing it with silk paints and sewing machine oil. During the process, I had the idea to combine the fabric with another piece of silk and letters spelling out the quotation about success in life ... one grave rubbing letter at a time ... running around from tombstone to tombstone ... as if creating a clipped letter ransom note. It took nearly four hours but I LOVE THE RESULTS.


(Above: To Laugh Often, in progress. Click on image to enlarge.)

All the letters and the Scottish grave rubbing are now outlined with charcoal thread ... free motion embroidery. Pearl cotton straight stitches around the Scottish grave rubbing give it a "patch-like" look which I really like. For me, it resembles a "roughness" that ancient grave markers naturally have ... like all the grave sites in Edinburgh. French knots were added to the upper grave rubbing ... and now all I have to do is stitch about two or three million seeding stitches over the rest of the surface.

(PLEASE NOTE: I rarely ask that my images NOT be copied and reposted elsewhere. This piece, however, is likely going to be submitted to Quilt National. They have very strict rules about images appearing anywhere other than on the artist's own site. Please don't repost these until I get the "rejection letter". Personally ... I think this rule is silly but it is a rule. It is a really, really big juried show, considered by most in the art quilt world as the highest achievement one can hope to gain. Odds are very, very long at being accepted. This will be my second attempt at this biennial.)


(Above: The Processing Room ... ready for Mathias to use as a make-shift bedroom.)

So ... This blog post is titled "New Experiences, New Work, New Adventure". I've covered the first two. Now for "New Adventure". I'm about to leave for a month-long artist residency at The Galesburg Civic Arts Center in Illinois. I'm excited. This is an opportunity to create a very, very large fiber installation ... larger than my studio would allow. I'll be creating a giant canopy (approximately 10' x 16') from vintage and antique crochet, lace, and household linens. I've had this nagging idea for over a year ... and been collecting for longer than the idea! I collect things for found art objects and store them in "the processing room". (I call it "the processing room"; Steve calls it "the junk room"!) This room must double as a make-shift bedroom when Mathias, our elder son, visits from England. He's coming this Saturday! We are really proud of him; he's recently been promoted to "Senior Soloist" at Birmingham Royal Ballet. He'll be driving me to Illinois, flying on to visit my parents in Pennsylvania, flying back for more time with Steve before returning for the next season of ballet. So ... I cleaned up the processing room! (I will NEVER show photos of it when it isn't straighten up! What a disaster!)


(Above: Bags of vintage crochet, lace, and household linens ready to be packed for my artist residency.)

During the cleaning, I sorted the linens ... creating several bags of vintage crochet and lace for the canopy. Now ... I've got to buy the PVC pipes and other materials for the canopy construction. This is going to be a challenge. An opening reception for the piece is already scheduled! Yikes!

Almost Ready!

(Above: Key West Ocean. Unframed: 53" x 34 1/2". Painted canvas shapes stitched to turquoise painted canvas. Click on image to enlarge.)

Although I still have two pieces on which I'm stitching (the ones for the epoxy pour experiment!), I am finished with the work for my upcoming August show, Sun and Sand, at Frame of Mind on Columbia's Main Street. Yippee! The opening will be during "First Thursday" on August 2nd. I will be in Galesburg, Illinois at the beginning of an art residency. Steve will be "standing in for me" along with our elder son Mathias who will be visiting from England.


(Above: Key West Ocean, detail. Click on image to enlarge.)

What's left to do? I've got to write a press release and an article for a regional on-line arts publication, make labels, and create an inventory sheet. Shows during "First Thursday" here in Columbia are mostly publicizing using Facebook invitations but our arts community is rather strong because of on-line social media. Every month more and more people seem to show up and the exhibits, street performances, music, and vendors get better and better. I'm excited and proud to be part of it.


(Above: Key West Ocean, detail. Click on image to enlarge.)

The largest piece for this opportunity is Key West Ocean. I posted a photo taken outside with the framed work leaning up against the side of our house. It is cooler today than it has been ... a mere 90 degrees with 60% humidity! Sometimes I like to post larger pieces this way. There's a good sense of scale and obviously the colors are perfect in such natural, bright sunlight!


(Above: Key West I. Unframed: 16" x 16". Framed 24 3/4" x 24 3/4". Click on image to enlarge.)

The last three pieces, Key West I - III, were made using the same brightly painted shapes of canvas stitched on to squares of the same brightly painted canvas (instead of turquoise painted canvas). Also, I stitches lines of metallic thread across the background canvas before adding the shapes. I guess this is just a variation on the theme. They are also presented differently ... matted and in frames. The frames were made from more of the Decision Portrait Series frames that we are taking apart. I love recycling!


(Above: Steve closing up Key West I - III in our back assemblage room at Mouse House, our business.)

For scale, here's my husband Steve finishing up these last three pieces. I'm almost ready for the show!




(Above: Key West II. Below Key West III. Click on either image to enlarge.)

Twelve "Drops in the Ocean" and Mathias' and LJ get promoted

(Above: A Drop in the Ocean I - XII. Framed: 8 3/4" x 8 3/4". Unframed 8" x 8". Painted canvas pieces stitched onto a square of painted canvas. Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm nearly finished with the work for my August solo show at Frame of Mind, an alternative art space in a popular, contemporary eyeglass shop on Main Street. There are niches for small work ... so, naturally, I created some small work! I've got three larger pieces and one very large piece to complete but plan to work through the weekend and blog them on Monday.

Working will be such a pleasure! Why? Well, my husband Steve and I received wonderful news today. Both our son Mathias and his girlfriend Laura-Jane got promoted! He's now a "senior soloist" and she's a "first artist" with Birmingham Royal Ballet. We couldn't be happier or prouder!

Sand, Sea, and Narrative Threads' reception

(Above: Sea V. 17" x 17". Painted canvas pieces stitched onto a square of turquoise painted canvas. Click on image to enlarge.)

The past few days have been busy ... and HOT! The outside air temperature gauge on my car wavered between 109 and 111 degrees last Friday afternoon while I drove to Cary, NC for the opening reception of Narratives Threads. This exhibit was produced by PAQA-South (Professional Art Quilter's Alliance-South) in association with Sharon Elizabeth Wood, a creative writing coach. Writers and poets were paired for collaborative works of art ... a textile art quilt response to words. I joined PAQA-South in order to participate in this show. I was paired with Stephanie Levin and created a piece illustrating her poem "The Teachings". (For a blog post of the work in progress, click HERE.) Since I've never been an active member of a quilt guild ... much less an art quilt group, I was excited to attend and meet fellow fiber enthusiasts.


(Above: Visitors looking at The Teachings, my art quilt based on Stephanie Levin's poem by the same name. Click on image to enlarge.)

The reception was held at the Page-Walker Gallery and attended by approximately 450 people! It was fun trying to find the art quilters, the poets/writers, and to watch people look at the work on display on both levels of the building.



(Above: A lady carefully reading Stephanie's poem on my art quilt. Below: A general view of the downstairs exhibition space. Click on either image to enlarge.)



It was fun meeting people, sharing stories of the collaborative process, and enjoying the very good food at the reception. It was also wonderful to see happy poets and artists posing with their creations ... below is Nanette Struckinski Zeller with poet Anne Barnhill.



From Cary, NC I drove north, spent the night near the Virginia border, and woke to 80 degree temperatures at 7:30 AM despite an evening full of storms. By the time I arrived in Fredericksburg, it was 97 in the shade and the Fredericksburg Center for Creative Arts had no power. Fearlessly (an drenched in sweat), I took down my solo show and drove back to South Carolina. Sunday, however, was a wonderful day ... in my studio from early morning until past 9:30 at night. Storms hit the area bringing hail and lower temperatures. I managed to finish quite a few pieces for my upcoming August show at Frame of Mind, an alternative art space inside a fashionable eyeglass shop on Columbia's Main Street.

Six of the finished works are called Sea I - VI. These are all made from a piece of primed canvas I painted in Key West, cut into water-like pieces, and stitched to 17" x 17" squares of canvas painted bright turquoise. Each one has recycled felt behind the square of canvas and has a zigzag stitched edge. The piece was then stitched to acid free mat board which was glued to a strainer with a hanging wire. (There are four more at the end of this blog post ... just scroll down!)


(Above: Sea III. 17" x 17". Click on image to enlarge.)

The upcoming show is called Sun and Sand. It is a reflection of my art residency at The Studios of Key West this past March. The colors in southern Florida are unparallelled with vibrancy. This is due to the sun's rays bouncing off the white sandy shallows along the coast. Thus, my work is about the texture of the sand and the brilliant colors of the water.


(Above: Sand IV. 14" x 14". Strips of silk with dense seeding stitches on recycled painter's drop cloth. Click on image to enlarge.)

I thought I was finished with my "sand" pieces ... but I found strips of silk densely stitched with seeding stitches. These had been trimmed from the edges of a grave rubbing quilt. I just couldn't throw away that much hand embroidery. (Click here to see the quilt I trimmed!) I decided to use them with another square of a recycled painter's drop cloth to make another "sand" inspired work. I'm really pleased with it. It reminds me of the ripples left in the sand as the tides ebb.


(Above: Sand III. 14" x 14". Decorative and handmade paper, shell bead, scrap of embellished wool and paper fibers on quilted square of recycled painter's drop cloth. Click on image to enlarge.)

While playing around with the strips of silk, I dragged out some decorative and handmade paper. I thought I'd combine them but that just didn't work. Yet, the "stuff" I dragged out really did look pretty good on the painter's drop cloth. This piece just came together in about an hour or less. I'm pleased with it too! Now ... the rest of this post shows the other four "sea" pieces. I'm already working on smaller ones ... a little different!


(Above: Sea VI. 17" x 17". Click on image to enlarge.)


(Above: Sea II. 17" x 17". Click on image to enlarge.)


(Above: Sea I. 17" x 17". Stitching-wise, this is the worst in the group ... but I was still figuring out exactly how I wanted to create these pieces, what tension to use, which threads worked, and exactly how to best approach painted canvas as a "material" for machine embroidery!)


(Above: Sea IV. 17" x 17". Click on image to enlarge.)

78 RPM

(Above: 78 RPM, 3D found art assemblage. 45" x 20" x 20". Click on any image to enlarge.)

While my husband Steve is in England watching our elder son dance, I'm stuck here at Mouse House, running the shop but also working in my "home studio". I carved out this space last October for exactly times like this (but I didn't really start making anything until December!) There's no sense in piddling around or playing on the computer when not otherwise busy but unable to go to my normal studio ... a mile away at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. So ... I have a "home studio". Also, this is the perfect place for work that requires all the hand tools needed for 3D found art assemblages. Mouse House already owns everything I need.


(78 RPM, detail. Click on any image to enlarge.)

Almost everything I use was purchased at Bill Mishoe's auction. Most of it needs a little TLC, a few screws, a tab of glue, and plenty of imagination. The little red table, the root beer box, and the doll chair were all rather dull but had the potential for great patina. I lightly sanded them and then applied thick orange shellac to the table and chair. For a contrast, the box was only treated to a thin coat of cherry stain.


(Above: 78 RPM, detail.)

Attaching the tonearm to the chair took a lot of work. The tone arm support isn't flat on the bottom. I drilled holes and sanded until it could be screwed in place. I also took apart "the sound box" ... which is the circular enclosure at the end of the tone arm. I wanted it to look like my skein of ecru pearl cotton thread was curled up inside and running out where the needle should be. There was a problem though! The hole for the needle doesn't go through to the inside ... but I was able to make it look as if it did.



(Above: 78 RPM, detail.)

The #3 skein of ecru peal cotton thread runs down the front of the piece and into an old red tea tin. I can also place this tin on the ledge of the table instead of the floor. The tiny quilt square under the chair is a scrap donated by a friend. It was made from strips of vintage men's silk ties. I put a piece of recycled black felt underneath and added the blanket stitching.


(Above and below: 78 RPM, details.)

Attached to the back of the chair is an interesting device. The front side (showing below) converts "inches to miles" and "centimeters to kilometers" using the tiny rolling wheel at the bottom. I don't know how this device actually works or what it is for ... but it seems totally operational. The back is a compass. It does not work. I'm very happy with this creation. There's something magical about combining fiber with parts and pieces from the past.

Squares of Sand and good news!

(Above: Squares of Sand, set of nine fiber pieces. Each is 11" x 11". Hand and free-motion machine embroidery on recycled painter's drop cloth. The photos were taken using the floor at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios as a background. I generally shoot my artwork while it is hung on the gallery's white walls ... but there wouldn't be enough contrast. Thus, I attached my tripod horizontally to the top of a ladder and shot against the floor! Click on image to enlarge.)

Over the weekend I finished a set of nine pieces based on abstractions of sand on Key West beaches. They are headed to an August solo show at Frame of Mind, a fancy eyeglass shop on Columbia's Main Street that is also a popular alternative art space. The show is called Sun and Sand. My intention was to pour clear epoxy over the surface ... but I got scared!


(Above: Squares of Sand IX. Click on image to enlarge.)

I need this work! There are walls to fill! I can't risk ruining it with a hair-brained idea! So I've started two other, similar pieces and hope to experiment with them next weekend. If it works, I can always pour epoxy over these nine later!


(Above: Squares of Sand V. Click on image to enlarge. There are two more examples at the end of this blog post.)

Each piece is stitched to a piece of acid-free mat board which is glued to a "strainer". There's a wire for hanging attached to the strainer. (A strainer is simply a wooden frame that doesn't really function as a frame. It is very similar to a "stretcher bar" for oil or acrylic paintings ... except that "stretcher bars" are cut and joined for small wooden slats/"tightening keys" to fit into the inner corners and thereby expand the outer dimensions while increasing the canvas' tautness. A strainer doesn't have this feature; it is in a fixed, permanent position. I built my strainers from the frames that used to house my Decision Portrait Series. Forty portraits are going to Quilt, Inc.'s big international quilt festival this November. The others are going into storage. The frames are now being "recycled".


(Above: Dolls, a series of photos from Edinburgh's Children Museum. Click on image to enlarge.)

The Decision Portrait frames were also recycled for these 35 images of dolls. I took them in Edinburgh's Children Museum. It will be the first time I've ever displayed my photographs as "straight photographs" ... as "art"! They will surround the giant canopy made from vintage and antique doilies and household linens that I'll be creating in my upcoming August art residency at the Galesburg Civic Arts Center, Galesburg, Illinois. (Yes ... this means I'll miss my own show opening at Frame of Mind. My husband Steve gets to "be me" for the evening!) Steve is currently in England watching our elder son dance. I'm stuck at Mouse House ... but at least some of the work has been framing my own photography!


(Above: Held Together By a Thread. Antique quilt fragments, recycled felt batting, vintage tablecloth backing, hand stitching. 24" x 24". Click on image to enlarge.)

I also got some very good news this weekend. Held Together By a Thread was accepted into the SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) juried exhibition I'm Not Crazy. Juror Sue Reno (whose work I very much admire) selected only twenty art quilts from a field of 128 created by 86 different artists. The show is being curated by Kathy Nida who blogged about the acceptances with a full list of the artists and quilts HERE. The traveling exhibit will be shown from August 2012 until May 2012 at Mancuso Quilt shows. I'm honored to be part of this.


(Above: Squares of Sand II. Below Squares of Sand I. Click on either image to enlarge.)

Acceptances!

(Above: At Rest in Arkansas. Grave Rubbing Art Quilt Series. 16" x 17". Crayon rubbing on silk collaged with vintage household linens. Hand and free motion machine embroidery. Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm thrilled that At Rest in Arkansas is going to Material Voices: An Exhibition of Small Quilts at the Ayer Lofts Gallery, Lowell, MA. This is a juried exhibit and a partner with the Lowell Quilt Festival. The show runs from August 8 through August 26, 2012 with a reception on the 11th from 1 - 3 PM.


(Above: Held Together by a Thread, art quilt. Antique quilt fragments, recycled felt batting, vintage tablecloth backing, hand stitching. 24" x 24". Click on image to enlarge.)

I'm also honored by have a piece in the upcoming SAQA traveling exhibition I'm Not Crazy. Juror Sue Reno selected just 20 pieces from a field of 128 created by 86 artists! The exhibit will be shown at Mancuso quilt shows from August 16, 2012 through May 5, 2013.

Sun and Sand ... and why I both LOVE and HATE email!

(Above: Sea I. Collage of painted canvas appliques on a painted canvas substrata stitched to recycled acrylic felt. Click on image to enlarge.)

On the 2nd of January I blogged about my single-word New Year's Resolution:
Change.

I wrote about joining new groups and experimenting with new, hair-brained ideas outside the normalcy of my comfortable (though generally messy) studio. I planned to carve out a "home studio" for 3D assemblage artwork. I also committed to a solo show at a local, alternative art space on Main Street ... an exhibit of "new" work, the results of some of this "change".


(Above: Sand I. Free motion machine embroidery on recycled painter's drop cloth and recycled white acrylic felt. Click on image to enlarge.)

Well, the show is this August. It is called Sun and Sand. It opens on "First Thursday", August 2nd, at Frame of Mind, a specialty eyeglass shop. The work is currently in progress and is a reflection of my art residency last March at the Studios of Key West. Also, I spent lots of time in Key West just looking at the vivid, tropical colors ... wondering why the water was so brilliantly rich in super-saturated shades of turquoise, mint green, teal, cerulean, cyan and even shadows of deep lavender.


(Above: Sand I, detail. Click on image to enlarge.)

It's the sun! It's the sand! Light reflects and bounces off the shallow, white ocean bottoms. The prism of colors is intense. I wanted to capture this sensations in new ways ... with new materials ... with my promise for change. I was also working on a very large grave rubbing art quilt called Circular Churchyard. I brought a used (but carefully washed and ironed!) painter's drop cloth for the reverse. It looked just like the sandy beaches. It triggered a "hair brained idea" ... THIS IS MY SAND!


(Above: Detail of the reverse of Circular Churchyard, a grave rubbing art quilt. The material once was a painter's drop cloth. Click on image to enlarge.)


(Above: Sand II. Free motion machine embroidery on recycled painter's drop cloth and recycled white acrylic felt. Click on image to enlarge.)

The drop cloth was much larger than the 86" x 53" piece needed for the art quilt. I ripped it into smaller pieces: two 24" x 24" squares and nine 11" x 11" squares. (There's still more drop cloth left!) My idea: enhance this "sandy" looking material with texture that emulates the beaches of Key West. So far ... the nine small works are completely stitched with free motion embroidery. I'm half way through adding thousands of seeding stitches, French knots and straight stitches by hand. With luck, I'm going to pour clear epoxy over each one for the impression of "water".


(Above: Sand II, detail. Click on image to enlarge.)

As shown here, the two larger pieces are now completely enhanced with free motion machine embroidery and touches of watered down silk paint sprayed from a mister. The shrinkage was an entire inch! Each one measures 23" x 23" now. I mounted them on acid free mat board cut slightly smaller than 23" x 23". (Mounting via running stitches straight through the mat board). I glued the mat board onto a wooden strainer and then installed them into "floater" frames.


(Above: Sand II, view to wooden strainer support.)

While I'm not sure that these are "great" pieces, they are interesting studies in texture, a departure into the realm of abstractions, and really do fill my desire to CHANGE my normal approach to art making. I promise photos of the nine 11" x 11" squares as they are completed. The hair-brained idea for epoxy will certainly be a departure for my studio practice ... and likely a fun, sticky mess!


(Above: My studio with six 17" x 17" squares of primed and painted linen canvas drying on the floor. Click on image to enlarge.)

So ... on to the other work for the exhibit. Although the show is called Sun and Sand, I'm not going to make work about "the sun". The idea is to make work showing the sun's reaction on the sea ... all those intense colors. Together there's a juxtaposition of the monochromatic and the ultra-chromatic ... exactly what makes Key West vivid!


(Above: Roll of primed and painted canvas made during my March artist residency at The Studios of Key West ... waiting to be cut into wave-like shapes ... also showing is part of Sand I leaning up against the wall! Click on image to enlarge.)

Well in Key West, I painted a partial roll of primed linen canvas ... with all the colors I saw in nature. I didn't worry about "proper painting" or elements of design, balance, focal points, or principles of art. I just smeared paint happily across the width and then added circles by using whatever round objects I could find as "stamps".


(Above: Wave-like shapes cut from painted canvas.)

I knew I was going to cut up this "raw material" for "quilting" ... but not just any quilting! This is yet another hair-brained idea. Why invent ways to apply paint to cloth? Isn't linen canvas also cloth? Hasn't "painting on canvas" already been discovered, refined, and done for years? Can't I just stitch using this material? Well, the test sample seemed to indicate this could work ... so I cut six pieces of canvas from a new roll ... all 17" x 17" and painted them turquoise. I'm still struggling with tension for various threads but stitching the shapes onto the background is great fun. Oh ... there's a piece of recycled white acrylic felt behind each background canvas ... so I guess these are unique art quilts. I'm sure that by the time I finish the six squares I'll have figured out how I best enjoy doing this ... and I've got plenty more canvas! Who knows? I could have even more!


(Above: Farewell dinner with Steve in our backyard. He's now in England watching our elder son dance with Birmingham Royal Ballet.)

I called this post "Sun and Sand" but I also added "Why I both LOVE and HATE email". This post was supposed to be up yesterday. Obviously, it didn't happen. Why? Our email account was hacked. This unfortunate occurrence was followed by widespread outages for AT&T clients using Yahoo email accounts. (Ours is a "prodigy" listing ... but prodigy was sold to Yahoo several years ago.) Of course, AT&T representatives aren't told to admit to widespread outages. They simply "help" clients change their password and then, when email access is still not possible, say "wait an hour and then try again". Yesterday was a vicious loop, calling, changing passwords for both "prodigy" and "att" listings, waiting an hour and starting over again. I spent seven hours and forty-five minutes speaking with seven agents, two tier-one level on-line chat agents, and finally a tier-two level on-line agent who admitted to the outage and the fact that there was no estimate on the time needed for repairs. Each agent was required to follow a specific protocol which included changing my password a total of TWENTY-ONE TIMES. Email was restore just past midnight. Moral of story: CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD before this happens to you. Use a password that is very, very strong (a long combination of upper and lower case letters with numbers) and don't open a forwarded message (even from a close personal friend) that doesn't have some personal line in the message!

I love email. The older I get, the worse my hearing becomes. I know I'll depend more and more on Internet communication. I love this blog and my website. I have found friends on Facebook and shared photos on Flickr! I even like Pinterest (though I'm not a member). I love technology ... but after yesterday, I can easily say I HATE IT TOO! Thankfully, I don't have to work a job that requires me to use a name I can't properly pronounce, say knowingly useless things (like, "Let's change your password again"), and end conversations insincerely with "I'm sorry for your inconvenience. Thank you for choosing AT&T."