china flowers & crazy food

i am soooo tired, a LONG day at the factory, but i wanted to check in real quick and say “hi” and share a few pics.

love the stamen on this pretty. it is “stamen”, correct?

these colors are making me very happy!

this is actually a pretty decent round up.
tofu & green beans, corn, bread things that you fill with some sort of root/vegetable mixture, spicy fish (in the center there) and pork.

and this… i’m not a big seafood buff. is there such thing as mini lobsters?
if so, this might be them.

well, i’m off to sleep.
thanks for peeking in on me!

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hello China!

yes, i’m here in China again.
at least twice a year.
i can’t believe this is my 10th year of coming here. am i really getting that old?!

i’m working on lots of new designs. pretty darned excited about them!
after 10 yrs., i still get completely blissed out in the development process.

seeing two dimensional art become three dimensional is just downright fun.

table setting: plastic wrapped dishes (that you still end up rinsing in boiling hot water), ashtray (ugh, so many smokers here in China!), toothpicks, tissues (instead of napkins. always) and peanuts (quite common appetizer).

fish soup.

i love the farmland here. small areas with lots of different crops, sustaining the areas nearby.

something new to me on this trip- riding a high speed train. 200 MPH!!!
a little nerve-wracking. glad i’m still here to write about it.

more china travels tomorrow. xoxo-m

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gathering of creatives

invited at the last minute.
i immediately said yes! a short bit later, had to fight myself from texting back with a big fat NO WAY.
i was utterly intimidated by this list of amazing women that would be in attendance.

intimidated not only by their individual successes, but also by their ability to communicate so well through words.

from the left: kelly rae, leigh, myself, lacy, hannah, flora, mati, andrea, jessica and vivienne

seriously. SEE what i mean?

i had already committed, and there was a deep part of me that really wanted to go.
and be part.

to experience this community of women.

this lovely lady is the master orchestrator “connectress” of this special gathering.

photo by andrea scher
the setting was a small beach town on the oregon coast.
as you can see, the weather just happened to be PERFECT!

here’s the scene when we arrived.

arm photo by andrea scher
our time together consisted of all things lovely. sharing stories, making art, taking pictures, walking the beach,
giggling, eating delicious healthy food….  and mostly- encouraging & loving one another.

simple. but GOOD.
really good.

the word i chose to write on my arm was “vulnerable”.
i’ve spent too many years building walls.
brick by brick. hurt by hurt.
protecting myself from judgement, disappointment, failure, embarrassment- and the list goes on.
i want to be okay with who i am
and not worry so much about offending someone, having bad grammar or sounding stupid!

i have a voice and i don’t want to be afraid to use it!

this time has impacted and inspired me in ways i wouldn’t have imagined.
such, that i’m considering, with kelly rae’s encouragement, to do a small gathering of my own.
here’s a post she wrote up on how to go about it, in case this is something you might want to do.
you won’t regret it.
step out.
take a chance.
it will be amazing!

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china- hiking, sculpting, eating and art-ing

hiking in china is a new experience for me!

i absolutely LOVE doing things i haven’t done before.

on occasion, pushing through that edge of fear that tempts you to hold back and play it safe.
those are the times i feel so completely alive.

this hiking was a little different than i’m used to.
it involved a concrete & rock path for miles and miles.
climbing well over a 1000 stairs to the summit.
i can’t imagine how long it took them to hand build these trails!
no one can call the chinese a lazy group of people, that’s for sure!

the “hello” finished.

a new clock design in the making.

oh yes. lunch is served!
hungry???

exciting new project i’m working on.

art journal pages in progress.

i’m currently sitting in the HK airport waiting for my flight home.
a good cup of coffee warms my belly.
i’m a happy girl.

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china & product development

my days here in china have been quickly passing by.
i had thought i’d have more time for blogging but i guess i was wrong.
or should i say, i’ve spent that time doing other things…
i’ll try to do some catch up here over the next few days.

a new allen designs piece in the works.
currently LOVING these colors.
i feel like i’ve spent a lot of time drinking tea.
which then in turn means many times to the beloved hard-to-pee-in-ceramic-hole-in-the-ground! oy!

remember this beautiful girl?
my, how she’s grown.

little resin foxes- will eventually be made in to pins.
they’d be cute as magnets…hmmm.
with all the stainless does anyone still buy magnets?

the hello sketch now a sculpt.

i have spent a little time in my art journal.
trying to get my painting groove back.
funny how it’s like running- you take time off and you lose fitness.
when you decide to start back up again it seems to require:

patience that you will probably have some bad runs
confidence that you will once again achieve fitness
perseverance/will power that will push you past the discomfort & frustration. 

 don’t you agree?
…or maybe it’s just me.

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hello from china

i made it here to shenzhen, china safe & sound.
i’m looking forward to a productive week in the factory developing our 2013 allen designs winter line.

as usual the travel time was long and tedious.
about 16 hours total flight time + a little over an hour by bus.

penguin heads for soap spitters

coming here a few times a year gives me the opportunity-
not only to be hands on in the sculpting & painting process of the newest lines-
as well as the chance to check quality & go over any issues that may have come up.
i also think it’s been really important for the factory to know that they will be seeing me face to face a few times a year.

my first meal here included this delicious dish made up of beans, eggplant… and bitter melon.
did you know bitter melon is actually a fruit and is highly nutritious?
unfortunately i haven’t developed much of a taste for it yet.

my second meal was probably not the healthiest but oh-so-yummers.
these sticky rice dumplings with sweet sesame seed filling are one of my favorite treats here.
i just found this recipe and can’t wait to attempt making them for my family.
or probably… just save myself a lot of frustration and work and buy them from a local asian market.
ya, that sounds like the better plan.

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