A Studio of Her Own

Lisbeth and Jamie Silvestri of Artvan

Lisbeth and her helper, Sarah Montegut (in the doorway), and her house manager, Holly Spence.

Jamie explaining some of the materials that need tending...

A couple of weeks ago Lisbeth started volunteering for Artvan, a travelling arts thearpy program here in midcoast Maine, spearheaded and run by the highly creative, big hearted, energetic Jamie Silvestri. Jamie showed Lisbeth around the supply building - Lis and her helper will be coming in weekly to help keep the space clean and organized. In exchange for this, Jamie has offered a workspace for Lisbeth in the building. So now Lis is in the process of creating her own studio, a place to go and make her beautiful cut paper mandalas, masks, and other whimsical creations. So good.

Blue Goddesses and Bright Zinnias

A new listing! Come take a look! And there are still many items in the shop on sale!

Mixed Up Mandalas

New crazy quilt patchwork potholders in Lisbeth's Etsy shop.

C'mon over to the shop and browse around! We have a Big End of Summer SALE going on!! All sorts of unique gift ideas! Get a jump on your holiday shopping with these sweet deals!!!

Sun, Grass, and Sea

Just added to the shop: Sun, Grass, and Sea Mandala Tablecloth!

Lisbeth's Got a Brand New Bag

Lisbeth recently received this pretty handmade bag in the mail from my on-line friend Karen of KaHolly: Portraits of Our Natural World. Karen saw that Lis has been loving all things green lately and decided to surprise her with this sweet gift. Lisbeth loves to get mail and was thrilled to find this package in her mailbox. Thankyou for being so thoughtful, Karen! Lisbeth loves her brand new bag!!

Stability

Lisbeth is feeling quite a bit better with this last decrease in Keppra. Less rage episodes, happier disposition. And amazing seizure control. It's always a challenge to find stability.

Check it out - one of Lis's mandala tees is featured in this blog!

Rage

Lisbeth is having rage episodes again. We are going to reduce her Keppra once more with the hope that we can find a healthy balance. The Keppra is doing an amazing job as far as her seizure control, but we are still seeing frequent episodes like the one filmed here. Be advised upon viewing that this video contains loud profanity. Lisbeth and her helper, Caitlin Geary, came over this afternoon to take a swim in our pool, but Lisbeth didn't swim. Her behavior started to escalate (it can turn on a dime). Lisbeth has no control over her behavior during a rage attack, just like she has no control over a seizure. Typically she swears and hits and/or throws things. We have to administer her PRN lorazepam in these instances. When Lis was younger and had rages, her worst words were, YOU'RE FAT! YOU'RE FAT AS A CAT!! Then when she got older, around high school age, she had a rage one day and stunned us all with some brand new vocabulary words - she'd learned how to swear! To this day, these are the only two swear words that she knows, and she directs them towards men and women alike. Her high school special ed teacher used to joke with us that she was going to teach Lisbeth some gender specific swear words. No thanks. This is quite enough...

About 20 minutes after the lorazepam...

Thank God for medication.