A Reminder

When I feel out of sorts, riding puts me back on top of my world, it diminishes those things that are transient and focuses for me the things that are eternal. Plus I love to jump off shit!

Another Blog!

What, am I crazy or something! In the best interest of my business, I've created another blog for myself, except this one is for Alina Arts and my Etsy retail shop. I thought it would be a fine idea to separate this blog which is for my riding and non-art activities, though I'm sure some of that will show up here as it is a part of who I am after all. The new blog which is called Alina Arts will be dedicated to my art, my process, shows, sales, events and the day to day artist life and all the goo that runs through my mind and out my hands, the art experience as it were.
When you have a chance, come by and check out the new blog!

Winter Weather

This weekend marked the return of winter to our neck of the woods, snow and colder temperatures descended upon us which is fine by me, we need some winter around here. I've been feeling tired lately and there's a part of me that wants to just rest and read. I just finished an excellent book entitled, Learning to Breathe: One Woman's Journey of Spirit and Survival by Allsion Wright, I think I finished it in 4 days, so inspiring to me and the idea of never giving up, keep going forward.
At any rate, I'm feeling like I'd like to go snowshoeing instead of riding my bike so much, I know it's hard to believe even for me. So on Saturday and Sunday we went for hikes, good off the beaten track kinda hikes in the snow. Saturday we hiked up by Craig's brother Randy's place near Rollinsville and then on Sunday we did a hike on the backside of our mountain. Lotsa post holing but a great workout, adventure and route finding. Besides that I've been working more in the studio and getting projects around the house taken care of. So the return of winter is welcome by me for now, it'll change again soon enough.

My New Retail Shop

Finally after much work and preparation, I have opened my new ETSY retail shop, Alina Arts. ETSY is a wonderful website featuring all things hand-made including artwork. I'm excited to showcase my ceramic sculptures here, there is minimal overhead which allows me to reduce my pricing on some work and it affords me the luxury of not having to travel so much but run some of my retail business from home. I'll still do a few art shows a year, mostly local or regional but my hope is my retail shop will pick up a good deal of the business for me.
So if you get a chance please stop by and look around, I'll be adding new work every week or so, say hi and if you have any suggestions please let me know!

Visit me at Alina Arts

Josephine, Mom..

My Memories of Love Will Be of You.This is a picture of my Mom, Josephine Helinski, senior year. She is so young and beautiful.

Mom, Karen and myself in my Grandfather's garage.

It's been exactly one year since my Mom left us so suddenly. She was a lovely, sensitive, kind, funny, compassionate and generous Mom and friend too me and I miss her terribly. I think of her each day and I miss her even more, that deepest ache is still there. Time does make things more managable and life is to be led fully, she would agree with that, though I am thankful for my dreams as she visits me on occasion and we once again are together, sharing dream time. You are in my thoughts each day Mom, you live on in my heart and in my mind, my strength is yours and I am so grateful to have you as my Mother. Na Strovna!

Warm Winter Weather Means Lots of Riding..

It's been really warm here lately, too warm, freakishly warm. It's also been a long weekend with my birthday on Friday and today is MLK Jr. Day, so with those two things I've managed to do a lot more riding than normal lately and on trails that are usually questionable to ride this time of year. I haven't taken any pictures because, well, it's just Hall and PR, nothing new or different to see really.
Friday I rode Picture Rock in Lyons by myself, it was a good 15 mile ride. Then on Sunday I rode Hall Ranch with Emma, rode up the front side which feels easier each time I do it, though certain sections get harder as they erode and lose dirt, we did two loops up top and then down. Rocked the DH with some tunes on the new IPOD, I love ridin' DH with some music helping to create a flow. Needless to say, it was so much fun, just the two us.
Today, Monday I headed to Picture Rock again with Craig, Jimijames and Craig's brother Ron who is visiting us from Olympia, WA. We did the same ride I did on Friday, PR to Wild Turkey loop and back down. The trail was ultra tacky from the last bit of moisture we got and it was easy to rail the corners in places on the way down. I focused on my flow today as well.
This warm weather is supposed to continue for a few more days, so I think the riding will continue until I'm exhausted, worn out or the weather changes back to winter.
My bike feels good though I need a new set of cranks really bad and soon, yikes! It's always something!

40 Years and going Strong.

My 4th Birthday Party at our (my Mom, sister and I) apartment on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, 1973. Looks like I got a new jewelry box and some cool cake figures on top my cake too..yum! I look so happy. (The girl to the right was a childhood friend, I think her name was Mary Mallery Boyd.)

Today is my 40th birthday. I'm officially at middle age, that's bizarre, but I don't feel old or half done, I feel no different than I ever have as I begin this new decade of my life. I've been blessed over these years with many adventures, good memories, love from my family and friends and good health. My hope is that the goodness in my life will continue to unfold, that I will continue to grow and explore my world and find my truth and connect with others. Life feels very precious to me, I know there's only a finite amount of time each of us has and perhaps the difference between me before and me at 40 is that I realize this truth.
Thank you to all my friends and family, my Mom and my sister Karen and especially Craig, who have been there for me in one way or another over the course of my life, I am who I am today because of you! Oh and Uncle Dan, thank you, thank you for the cookies you sent from New Ken, they are amazing and very special, they taste exactly as they did 30 years ago and bring back some very fond memories with each bite.

This picture was taken by my Dad in 1975, I am 6 years old it was taken outside of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. I love this picture of myself, my firm, set gaze, hand on hip chugging my Coke. That's my sister sitting in the background. I love the confidence and true sense of self that I'm projecting and I can only hope and try to continue to be this tough, strong girl ready to meet things head on.

Fast forward a few years to Me in Sedona..Never Give Up, Keep on Livin'