Deer Mountain Wood Art

So, you ask, "What can I do?" Poverty is a simple word that takes on many connotations - this is the entry in Wikipedia for the description of "poverty";

Poverty (also called penury) is deprivation of common necessities that determine the quality of life, including food, clothing, shelter and safe drinking water, and may also include the deprivation of opportunities to learn, to obtain better employment to escape poverty, and/or to enjoy the respect of fellow citizens. According to Mollie Orshansky who developed the poverty measurements used by the U.S. government, "to be poor is to be deprived of those goods and services and pleasures which others around us take for granted."^[1] Ongoing debates over causes, effects and best ways to measure poverty, directly influence the design and implementation of poverty-reduction programs and are therefore relevant to the fields of public administration and international development.

Although poverty is generally considered to be undesirable due to the pain and suffering it may cause, in certain spiritual contexts "voluntary poverty," involving the renunciation of material goods, is seen by some as virtuous.

Poverty may affect individuals or groups, and is not confined to the developing nations. Poverty in developed countries is manifest in a set of social problems including homelessness and the persistence of "ghetto" housing clusters.^[2]

For myself, poverty means a lot of things but I'm a little confused by this description. There are a lot of different levels of poverty, and this context says, "to be poor is to be deprived of those goods and services and pleasures which others around us take for granted." there are so many pleasures and goods and services that a lot of Americans won't ever get to take part in! So does that mean that we're all impoverished? In some ways, compared to others, yes.
It's what we do with our poverty that makes it a bad thing, or a good thing.

My sons are always broke. The oldest is in college and tells me that he cannot afford to buy water, special foods, or clothes, and that he is the only one in school that wears this severe of worn clothing. So to his peers, those around him, he is poor. But I look at his situation and tell him, "You've got a secure roof over your head, your education is paid for, and your basic staples are taken care of - you have it better than most!" But in his world this is not how he sees it.
My middle son, just turned 18, is poor in every sense of the word to his peers, but still works hard to improve, not only himself and his situation, but that of those around him. He works hard to promote learning and growing. To "put away his childish things" and teach others that it's time to get on with the business of Life. He has donated his time, his hair, what little money he's had, even his computer(which works, while he sleeps, for others) and is still trying to find more ways to help!
I'm very proud of all of my boys, but they have very different outlooks on poverty. My youngest, who is 9, thinks he's poor because he doesn't have the latest and greatest games and equipment, but to the less fortunate kids in our neighborhood, he's sickeningly rich! It's all how you look at it...
In the Global aspect of poverty, there are poor countries, poor people, and poor living standards. The ones I deem as truly impoverished are the ones that have their children dying in staggering numbers from starvation and illness, have no clean water to drink, cook with, or bathe in. Fight daily to stay alive in the hopes that help will come the next day. We should be sharing our wealth with these ones - we're all of the same place and the best society is the one that lifts the other, and gives without hesitation that which was so generously bestowed upon them.
There are many countries that have this epidemic. There are also countries that appear to be in bad shape, but their people think of it differently. To us, they seem destitute, but for them it's the only way of life they've ever known and they live happily, content in the lack of material things. They don't need our help, they need us to quit judging them!
As artists, we believe that not making decent money for our work makes us "starving artists". It's almost laughable to hear this phrase.
I witnessed an entire community that had no electric, proper tools, running water or bathing facilities, create some of the most astounding carvings and furnishings that I'd ever laid eyes on and they felt it was normal to work in these conditions and put out this amazing art for mere pennies. They would work on an item for weeks and sell it for $50 US and be the kings of their
communities - I thought them poor, but they knew their life was better than mine because they appreciate what they receive from their labors more than I ever could! And by being in such a state, they enjoy more contentment, joy, satisfaction, and pride, then I'll ever be able to...
I think as artists we should give more - we take more - and receive more than our peers - maybe not monetarily, but in currency that has far more value! We work from the soul, to inspire the soul. We feel more and see more than our richer neighbors and create art from our encounters. We receive praise and gratitude from the heart, far more valuable than the paycheck an accountant receives. And, we are free to express ourselves and live a life more full for living how we want to live...
We should be doing more to lift our neighbors, to bring them to the place that they don't have to fear for what the day may bring! By not helping we are hurting ourselves and the world at large. We could live our lives as we have for decades and never feel anything about the peoples of these poorer countries, but who knows what we lose by this behaviour?
With starvation and worry, there is no creativity. We could, by doing nothing, be stifling the next Rembrandt or Monet! Merely by doing nothing!! Everyone should have the opportunity to live a life without fear and hunger and we hold in our tools the means in which to help!
What can we do? Think about the question - there's so many answers!
To put my words into action I will personally give all of the profits from December 2008, online and off, to the aid of those less fortunate. Maybe in doing so I will learn to live with less and therefore be able to continue on through the remainder of the next year as well!? In the eyes of those around me I may be poor, but my talents are rich in what they can give back! :)
What will you do?

I know this is probably the oldest saying in the world, but it's true!! Even my almost grown sons are finding it out - there's just not enough time in a day, week, month, year.... It has me frustrated to no end!

I just joined Entrecard and need desperately to find out how to use it, and what it's for exactly - I join these sites and then I'm lost! It's not like I have a mountain of time to spare learning either!! I think I've been dumbed down by senility(yes, I'm still on that kick!!) and it's starting to affect everything around me - aghhh!

Friday I shaved Tyler's head for his charity fund raising and was so surprised that he didn't look like a terrible monster!lol He just might be one of those guys that can pull off a bald head!! =D He managed to go over his $200 goal and I'm very, very proud of him!

To all that donated and sent kind notes, thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping to make this a memorable event in Tyler's life - I'll never forget it! =) and I know he won't either!

Friday afternoon we farmed Austin out to his friend's house, dropped Tyler at his buddy's house, loaded up Ryan's girlfriend and headed to Adams State College in Alamosa for Ryan's first college concert (well, there were some other kids in it too!). It's really kind of silly as the college is only 2.5 hours from here, but for me and my back it was an epic journey! I'm terribly sore but we made it there and back and I'm glad we got to go :)

Last night, around 11 or 12 I sold a custom puzzle so I need to get to work on that and finish up on several other orders and misc projects I have going.

Greg received his Dragon Box and enclosed
this picture and kind words,

"Freida,
Received the box today!
All I can say is "WOW"!
It will be cherished for many years..
Thank you soooo much!
Greg




humm, what else... oh, we had no power for most of the day which helped me get a few things done and get off of this silly machine! Always glad when it comes back on though!!! =]

Our bottle baby calf died today after being mauled by a bear about 5 days ago - we took him to the vet but couldn't afford any real tests so he gave us antibiotics and we just had to take him home and hope for the best. He gave up today and after examining him I'm sorry that we didn't know how bad he was suffering, I would've rather had put him down so he could rest. This is the second calf we've lost to this bear and the first one was a baby of mine, bottle fed too. You just can't imagine what a bear can do to an animal without it ever showing! Makes me worry when I go out to the shop and such. He killed my other one while I was sanding in the shop not 100 feet away and I never heard or saw anything!
We lost a baby earlier this summer to a bear, but the bear was inevitably destroyed for being an 'abuser' and tagged for previous bad behavior. On that day he killed our brand new baby pygmy goats and a 4 day old calf. When he came back later that day he was not interested in the food left for him but instead tried to get into the calf pen and kill another!? It was so horrible watching him stalk the babies!
ANYWAY, enough sadness - too much in the world already!
I guess I better 'get back at it'... my day never really ends and as I lay on my arm at 3:30 this morning, apparently typing "k"s and "l"s across the screen while trying to write a note to a customer, I realized, there's just not enough time in the day!!!
Thanks as always for "stopping by the shop!"
Freida

On October 15th with the help of the "Blog Action Day" team, we're all going to be discussing Poverty - I will be posting about Poverty and how we all can help through our art!

Join me and thousands of others on Oct 15th -

ARE YOU IN!?!

Seems like it took forever to get to the 2 week coupon sale for the EFA Birthday Bash, but it's here! Finally!! I'm hoping that everyone has their code(hint: "DEER" w/o quotes!) and will get some shopping in =] I guess I better get with it and get my tags changed over! Always behind =D
I've been working on some new projects and am pretty happy about the Halloween Challenge on EFA Team blog, "Halloween Cats"! I just had finished my "Cats" puzzle and am going to paint one of them with appropriate colors and expressions for Halloween =D So fun! and so puurrrr-fect! lol
I joined a new site called Handmade Fuzion and hope that it will be fun - I was supposed to start selling there also, but I don't know if I'm going to yet. Will put in a link if/when I do =D
I also just finished some little Christmas ornaments - they're done in natural wood(Intarsia) and the only problem I'm having now is if I want to put a cord in them or make them magnets? Decisions, decisions! They are so cute though and makes me really want to get into my Christmas projects!
I just got a new setup for taking pictures but I'm still having trouble with the lighting setup - I thought I took great pictures, even at 12am! But now that I see them online I'm seeing a shadow across the right faces of the pieces and it still doesn't look great :-( My son just bought a Nikon film SLR and I'm hoping he gets good at taking photos and will photograph my pieces - I don't know about waiting for film developing though! lol I've become jaded with all of the instant gratification we have now in everything; want to know an answer to a question? Just "Google It!" want to see what your pictures look like? Just "upload them!" Want to empty your garage? no more yard sale BS! Just "List it on Craig's List or eBay!" It's all just too darn easy! lol
Anyway, will try using my new setup today while the sun is shining and see if I can get it right...
I have an order that has to be ready today so I'm not going to be spending too much time online today - I should've already had this done, but it's been hard getting some of the info I needed from her to finish the project. I still haven't heard back on her color choice so I'm just going to use the standard brown on it.
I definitely want to get more items done so folks will have lots of choices to use the coupon on - I'm really glad I get to do this. Not only does it help the animals, but my clients as well! Always a "Good Thing"!
That's it for now =D
Stay awesome and "Thanks for stopping by the shop!"
Freida

Everyone's coupon codes are out and I wanted to make sure all my peeps have theirs! When you shop be sure to use coupon code "DEER" (without the quotes!) in the checkout to be sure you receive 20% off of EVERYTHING you buy from September 15th thru the 30th of September!! It's an awesome celebration and I have already started receiving plenty of inquiries - hence this blog post! =] If you have any questions, please see this post for more information... If you have ANY questions after reading that, feel free to write me at deermountainwoodart [at!] earthlink.net.

EFA's turning one - and believe it or not, I'm feeling older! lol Just like when the kids' birthdays come around!! It's been a great year and a lot has been donated to the animals - what better way than to support them by SHOPPING! Best of both worlds =D Be sure to check and make sure that the store you're shopping at is a member of EFA(Etsy For Animals) so that your shopping dollars go to the support of animals! You can also go to the EFA Store and buy items that 100% of your purchase goes directly to the animal charities!

That's it for now - thanks for "stopping by the shop!"
Freida

Etsy For Animals: C is for Calming by DeerMountainWoodArt


My entry for the Etsy for Animals August Challenge, "C is for..."!

The "Zen-to-Go" Portable Desktop Zen Garden is a great item, if I do say so myself! Especially for the children that seem to have such stress these days - even my 9 year old son had to have one =D
Please go check out the entry - the writeup was wonderful! Thanks Lynn, for all you do for the animals, EFA, and all of us team members!! =]

While you're in the mood to look at cool stuff, check out Lynn's shop and EFA's shop - always working to help the animals by promoting and giving - can't ask for more!

Thanks, as always, for stopping by the shop!
Freida

So much has been going on and I've been quite remiss in not keeping my poor blog up-to-date! But I'll give it a try to update ya'll on what's up here at Deer Mountain the best I can :0)

First of all, I've been working on this huge Elk (designed by Kathy Wise) for the Elk Foundation Dinner and Auction the 16th and that's kept me pretty busy! I'm really excited to get to donate such an item to the Elk Foundation as they are a great organization that helps preserve health and habitat for the elk and other wildlife. The elk are so beautiful and I feel the impact that we have on them with our ever increasing encroachment on their feeding and breeding grounds! If you're in the area contact

Mid-Arkansas Valley Big Game Banquet Erik Brekke 719-275-9401

08/16/08

for details and tickets!

I've also been trying out new items on Etsy to see if I can get business to pick up - doesn't seem to be happening which has me in the doldrums a bit since this is the only income I can provide for my boys.
My oldest told me a few days ago, "Mom, you make beautiful things. I really love what you do, but you're going to have to give it up and call it a 'hobby' because you'll never make anything doing this!" That was a real downer!
Maybe he's right, but it's hard to just "give it up" to a hobby status because being totally disabled doesn't give you much options and I love what I do soooo much! But, love and passion do not pay bills!! :0(
Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing, and then I get an email like this one; "Don't think Ron or I ever gave you feedback on the intarsia birthday/ Christmas gift - Diane was moved to tears. Seeing her favorite Schnauzer so beautifully re-created was moving for her and we were so thrilled that we were able to give her something she does not have - always a challenge...." and I think 'yeah, I'm doing the right thing for my life'.
It just feels strange to try to be in a place like Etsy where it's predominately college-aged people who create an entirely different style of 'art' than I. It's always been very clear that I don't quite fit in and that my work isn't totally valued there as it is in person. I'm in a quandary as to what to do with the online storefront...

Anyway, on a happier note - my DH and I just celebrated our 10th anniversary and will be attending a concert with Sammy Kershaw in Cripple Creek on the 17th - I've never been to any concert(I had a ticket to see Journey in Contra Costa when I was 20, but didn't get to go) and this is going to be so much fun! I'm really looking forward to spending some quality time with Roger - he's been trying so hard to make up for what I'm not taking in and it's really telling on him that this has been a difficult year to say the least! He deserves so much, but he gets me - yay! lol

So I will close for now - consider yourself truly updated; at least until tomorrow!! :0)

Thanks for "stopping by the shop!"
Freida