Hmmmm, probably the canopy tour in Costa Rica. Zipping along cables thru the treetops, along with the Monkeys. In places you could see the ground, 100 to 150 feet below.

The Batman roller coaster at 6 flags was a close second…………

1. Working in my studio and having the piece I was working on take on a life of its own.

2. Whitewater rafting in Costa Rica.

1. In my studio, a year or two ago.

2. Penas Blancas River, Costa rica. It has since been dammed and is now a lake.

1. I was about 50. I was working on something that was frustrating me. It wasn’t doing what I wanted it to do. My personal life was good, but mundane. My health was poor which was annoying me greatly.

2. about the same time as one. But this was my first tripoutside the US. It was a big step for me to go to a foreign country with just myself and my son. And I didn’t speak the language…

1. No. I was just working and everything fell into place. The piece took on a life of its own. I ended up making something Entirely different than I had planned. It was beautiful. I shouldn’t Have sold it.

2. Yes, it was planned. But when I looked at that river, and all Those rapids and rocks and I thought about how weak I was after Having been sick for so long, it scared the socks off me. I got into The raft anyway. So very glad I did.

1. I’m working. I’m frustrated. Nothing is turning out the way I want. I really want to take a hammer and beat something into a shapeless mass. Instead, I closed my eyes, took several deep breaths and just let go. When My hands started to move again I just let them go. I didn't need to think, plan, Devise nothing. It was like a flow that started somewhere on the other end of The universe and I somehow found myself in the stream. It exited through my Fingers and into my materials. Exaltation is a good word. The end Product was riveting. Wherever she is now, I hope she is happy. (It was asculpture. I had originally been working on a necklace……)

2. On the river bank, nervous, scared even. Feeling like I can’t possibly do this, and what the hell am I doing here? Then we’re on the water. I’m managing, but it’s a 4 hour trip and it’s only 20 minutes into it, and already I’m getting tired………Then wham, it just rolled over me. The glowing joy, the sheer thrill of being alive. A connection with my environment? Or the whole universe? Who knows? Who cares. Every drop of water is a sparkling gem. Every set of rapids a deep, abiding laughter of the soul.

1. Sat back and admired her. It was a pate de verre sculpture of a cat. Simple. Elegant.

2. Leaned back in the seat of the bus that took us back to the city. Smiled a lot. Ached with pleasure.

1. I had a lot of other commitments and commissions I needed to be working on.

2. My physical health.

1. They weren’t. This was between me and my muse.

2. My eldest son was with me. The trip was a gift to him for his high school graduation. Being able to share the experience with him was priceless. I could tell that he was enjoying it as much as I was. Which made it even better.

1. Nobody else was around.

2. Everyone was having a good time. There were 5 of us in the raft. One was the guide, I doubt that he was thrilled. It’s a fun job I’m sure, but he did this every day. The other couple, I don’t know. There wasn’t much time for conversation. Even tho we all had to work as a team, we each seemed to be in our own worlds for the most part.

1. Think of something you find truly beautiful. Something you have knowledge of, but not a lot of experience in the area. Then find your hands beginning to create something in that vein. The more you let go, the better it gets. Then you just stop thinking altogether, and it just happens. And you sit back and look and you’re amazed at what you’ve just done.

2. It’s whitewater rafting? How can it not be thrilling/exciting? Every now and then you have to pit yourself against the elements. It’s how we know that we’re alive, not just moving thru some unending dream.

1. Without the tools of my trade, I couldn’t have created her.

2. A raft is a definite plus when whitewater rafting.

1. Each time is like it’s the first time, because each piece is something brand new and unique unto itself. Every time it happens it generates an excitement that overcomes pain, exhaustion, inertia, whatever. It’s like shifting to another plane that is just a wee bit out of sync with the everyday one we live in.

2. The first time was the best. But then, the second time was a different river, not as challenging, but still beautiful. But somehow the charge just wasn’t the same.

Having had a couple of near death experiences, I think I find things in life more thrilling than I did before those events occurred. Sometimes I can get a rush just from seeing goldfinches in my sunflowers. Sometimes the thrill is set off by a line in a song or poem. While not all thrills are connected with joy, I think the best ones are. It’s not something easily put into words.

As an artist, my view of what constitutes a “thrill” may be a bit skewed, who knows?