In The Studio

Ever buy a new phone?  Or I should ask, have you ever gotten talked into buying a new phone?  I have kids for that! Yes, “Mother, you really need a new phone.  The Apple store is only a 15 minute walk from here. I will help you with everything…” This went on over a period of years (really?) before I finally caved. But that was only the beginning of my stepping into a major/life changing transformation.

We are a change-averse species. Change fills us with fear – we fear the unknown, we fear being out of control, we fear the loss of comfortable routines. Why else would we say, “better the devil you know than the devil you don’t?”  Some of us are more reluctant to alter our lives than others, and I am definitely in that group. But this part of my psyche was recently tested to the max when I not only got a new phone one week, but a new waterjet the next!
 

 1-Original saw room                                                              2-Demo-ing the saw room

3-Drilling hole through concrete walls                           4-Saw room ready for Wazer
 

Enter “Early Adopters” – people who actually love to try new products before most others.  Younger people make up most of this group and I have a few of those in my family.  They are always keeping their eye out for the latest high tech equipment.  The rest of us move into new technologies slowly …but surely… While I would not say I’m a Laggard – the very last people to purchase new technology – I probably come into most technology rather late in the game. And thankfully I am not a Luddite –  people who ultimately never adopt technology, also known as technophobes / dinosaurs – because I would have missed out on a remarkable piece of equipment that is moving my business fast forward. But I’m getting ahead of myself…

About 8 years ago another family early adopter alerted me to the first desktop water jet cutter on the market.  It was very enticing and not extremely expensive and so I sent off samples to test its abilities.  Unfortunately, it was not powerful enough to cut my harder or thicker rock slabs.  So I put it out of my mind and carried on with my practice of having my stones cut by a contract water jet company. 

But then about 5 months ago we revisited the discussion at a family get-together and my son found out that they had developed a new machine that was considerably more powerful than their first model.  Again my ears perked up and we sent off another batch of samples only to be thrilled with the results. Since then we have made a trip to the company’s facility in Yonkers, NY, have cleaned out and remodeled part of the studio ;-)) and are in the process of installing the new Wazer Pro water jet.  Since we live in the country we have well water which is considerably harder than city water.  Removing the total dissolved solids has given us a run for our money, but soon, very soon, we will be saying “Bring on the devils…”  We may prefer to avoid change, but it ultimately helps us grow.
 

5-Unpacking Wazer crate                                                   6-Forklifting Wazer water jet

7-Maneuvering around the corner                                  8-Wazer water jet in place!
 

In The Field

Stu and I always try to celebrate his birthday in the Utah desert.  This year we met some friends and it turned into kind of a Dinopalooza.  First we visited the Mill Canyon Dino Track site which has excellent interpretative signage.  Then there was the nearby Mill Canyon Dino Bone Trail which was the perfect jumping off point to hike up to Determination Towers.  Later we went again on the Mega Steps (Dino) trail which has no less than, count ‘em, 2300 tracks (!) and finally we made it to the Copper Ridge Dinosaur Trackways.  Now that I have visited so many real dinosaurs, I don’t feel like one myself – HA!

Hiking with friends near Moab, UT                                Dino print in the wild
 

In The Gallery

I have an abstract piece of work in an exhibition, The Avian Kingdom, at The Acorn Gallery in Lakewood, CO. It runs from April 4th – 26th.  If you are in that part of town, please stop by!  

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