Lovely World

friday regroup

I bought some hand-printed fabric from Bookhou. It is a very nice quality. I am making some storage containers with it. I made one this morning based on a pattern in Bookhou's b.a.h. Magazine. I used a medium interface, and lined it with white linen. It stands up and holds its structure well. These are very easy to make. I hadn't sewn in forever, and was very happy as I cut up fabric and sewed it together.

This is the state of my inspiration bulletin board. It has looked like this for a few weeks. I think it represents the break I have been taking from the intensity of creative work. It is a deep breath, a clearing of the head, a blank slate, a regrouping, a look in other directions. It is possibility. (You can see a lovely ceramic heart my son made me hanging on the board.)

I got an ipod touch. I am just beginning to load it up with music and podcasts and all the other amusements that seem possible with this small device. Here is some music I have been listening to lately:

* The new The Decemberists CD (I started to write album - but I guess that isn't really the right word - although it appears that you can purchase this in vinyl)

* The Smiths Best of 1. I do have some old The Smiths albums. I began listening to them back in the 1980s when we didn't have CDs.

 

Happy weekend to you.

twist

I have a table at the Twist Craft Fair this Friday and Saturday. Twist is held at the Northampton Center for the Arts in downtown Northampton, MA. I enjoyed the fair when I participated last November, and look forward to seeing the other crafters who will be there this weekend. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by!

Thanks to all who left such thoughtful comments on my last post. I really appreciate them!

flamingo

I finished the flamingo over the weekend. This burst of pink is now sitting on a shelf in my work room and I am enjoying it very much. It is made from hand-dyed wool, linen, and cotton and stands about a foot tall.

The process of designing and making this bird was a pleasure. I would say that I was in my creative "zone," that place in which my creative spirit is made manifest in the piece I am creating. The experience of making something that truly expresses me - my style and vision - is powerful.

I see so many beautiful, creative, and clever things online. At times I have wondered how I could ever find my own unique style with so many images of other people's work clouding my mind. Because I am self-taught in my craft, the internet (as well as art and craft books) have become my school. I have had to learn to take from what I see: technique, use of color, thematic ideas, materials, and meld it all into an expression of my own. My craft is what emerges after and apart from the inspiration I find online and in books.

In making my soft sculpture, I have been inspired by these artists: Lemmikkiapina, Abby Glassenberg, Jennifer Muskopf, Abigail Brown, Ann Wood, Stephanie Congdon Barnes, Tamar Mogendorff, Mimi Kirchner, and many others I'm sure. I honor their work and thank them for their inspiration. But, I need to do the hard work of making my own craft.

If you have a reasonable level of skill, it is easy to copy someone else. But, is that honest? Does that ultimately feed and satisfy your creative soul? Does it make you feel joyful? Having a creative vision and manifesting it is hard work. It does not happen overnight. You have to practice, make mistakes, rethink your ideas. You have to try and try again. The work is worth the effort - as you begin to see yourself in the pieces you create.

I have been sewing and painting this year. I paint a little each day (on my calendar) and sew on and off throughout the week. I can see many connections forming between my paintings and my sewn sculpture. The way I relate to color, shape, texture. I can see hints of this cohesive style as well when I embroider or crochet or make a collage. It is through repetition and everyday practice that I learn about myself and experience the joy of being in the moment of creation.

I am thankful for the opportunity to make things. My life is so much richer for it. 

watercolor birds

I finished these new birds last week. I am very happy with the bright and cheery colors. The hand-dyed wool is so nice to work with. I especially like cutting and stitching the tail feathers.

It was 77 degrees here yesterday. The resident birds worked themselves into a frenzy of song. I can hear them out there again today. I expect we'll be seeing baby birds before too long. I also heard the frogs peeping last evening. That is a sure sign of spring. The peepers are one of my earliest childhood memories. I remember my mother holding me as we stood outside in the growing dark. She told me that the peeping sound that enveloped us was the frogs awaking to spring.

What is it that makes early memories? An experience with strong emotion surrounding it? An experience reinforced by repeated retelling? An experience of something so new that it deeply embeds in our mind and heart?

poppytalk lavender

Thursday is lavender during Poppytalk's color week!

I've pulled out some vintage patchwork squares. The ones on top and bottom are quite old, from the early part of the 20th century. The one in the middle, signed by the maker in embroidery, was probably made a little later around the 1930s or 1940s. I like the middle patch of the top one - the little spade-shaped leaf pattern - and the bark-like pattern of the bottom one.

spring colors

Everything is still gray and brown around here. Even a bit of grungy white snow on the north-facing slopes near the house. I suppose this neutral landscape is what sent me looking for color in my work room over the weekend. I pulled out a bag of hand-dyed wool and was amazed to find such luscious color within. I had somehow forgotten I had such treasure hidden away. The fabric reminded of the watercolors I have been using for painting.

I am working on a new collection of wool songbirds. I sold all of the ones in my etsy shop during the fundraiser for Save the Children earthquake relief in Japan. I want to give everyone who participated in this group fundraiser a huge THANK YOU for helping out. Because of your generosity, I raised $148.50 from sales in my shop. I know that the other crafters involved were very successful as well. I am honored to have been a part of this effort.

I'll be back with some finished birds before long. I am working out a new bird pattern for spring as well. It feels good to be doing some focused sewing after a spell of primarily painting and knitting. I am participating in the Twist Craft Fair in early May, so that has given me focus as well.

{I found some color in my daughter's room as well - her violets are blooming like crazy.}

Be well. XO

crafting for courage sale begins!

The Crafting for Courage sale begins today! I hope that you will consider making a purchase to support the Save the Children earthquake relief efforts in Japan. You can find the blog which showcases all of the items for sale with links to the shops here: Crafting for Courage

I am offering 3 hand-dyed wool songbirds and an original watercolor painting of a girl gently supporting a bird as it prepares for flight. 100% of the money made from the sale of these four items will go to the charity. I will donate 25% of all other sales from my etsy site as well. You can find my shop here: Lovely World Handmade

dear snow

Dear Snow, You took me by surprise this morning. The tree branches are hanging low from all your heavy, wet weight. You have come down in white out fashion throughout the day. I thought maybe you had lost your interest in us and were preparing to rest until next year. I guess not. I should know better. I have seen snow like this in April. Love, Me

At least the kids are on holiday break this week and did not lose another day of school to the snow. There has been a whole lot of relaxing going on around here. I have been sewing. I made some linen baby shoes, which are very satisfying to make. I hadn't made a pair in a while.

Last night I awoke in the wee morning hours and thought - I need a new rhythm in my life. I have been thinking about going back to work as a midwife in some capacity. It is so difficult to manage a family if both parents have a demanding job (which would be the case if I worked full time). But, I have worked part time in the past and know that this might be a possibility. I feel that I need to look at this seriously. Being home is wonderful in many ways, but it also makes me feel anchorless and unfocused at times. Has anyone else felt that anchorless feeling?

blue

Yes. There is more snow this morning. Heavy and sticky. Some vanilla frosting for the trees.

A knitting project almost completed.

A new doll. The figures I am painting have inspired me to translate them into cloth. I am making removable clothes for it.

An old print of forget-me-nots hanging on my daughter's bedroom wall. You can see her violet collection on the windowsill. My grandmother grew violets as a hobby. It makes me happy that Miriam enjoys keeping them too.

A niggly migraine hanging about my head for the past few days. Goodbye to it already.

It is a transformative experience to simply pause instead of immediately filling up the space. By waiting, we begin to connect with fundamental restlessness as well as fundamental spaciousness. (Pema Chodron When Things Fall Apart)

enough

Two days of snow. And it is still coming down. Another storm forecast for tomorrow night.

Inside a lot. Cabin fever? Being shut in makes me investigate my internal dialogues more closely. Wondering what is enough. Enough material comfort. Enough love. Enough success.

There is so often too much here in the United States. I am overwhelmed by excess. Just this morning my mother bemoaned her feelings of distress upon entering a K-Mart earlier this week: too much stuff, too much needless, poorly-made stuff. I would also say that Americans, amid our great material comforts, often worry excessively about security, or the sense of a lack there of. (Elizabeth posted this, which points to our conflicted culture.)

Excess and overload. Here is what the Tao Te Ching says:

Hold to these principles: Seek simplicity, grasp the essential, overcome selfishness and wasteful desires.

Great trouble comes from not knowing what is enough. Great conflict arises from wanting too much. When we know when enough is enough, there will always be enough.

Painting and sewing animals. Wondering how I might combine these two?