Inspiration

Lately I've wanted to make a wallhanging that honored old fashioned quilt designs. I've also found myself very interested in folk art motifs and thinking I would like to interpret these in a quilt. I've always been thrilled with vintage found objects. The other day a fellow artist posted information on an old checkers game board that was being auctioned on Ebay. I took one look at this board & all my wishes became an instant visualization. I'm working on it's creation today.

Thank you, Dixie

Was Your Sky Ever Green? Your Trees Ever Purple?

As I journey forth in this creative life I’m leading (and am grateful each and every day for the support that allows me this opportunity) I find my quest is always to push the creative envelope, create more abstractly, more adventurously. It is a daunting proposition.

I never pursued enrollment in art courses or workshops. My only exposure to formal classroom training was high school art classes where I found myself intimidated by all those stars who were able to draw & paint up a storm. I looked upon their work with awe, believing my artistic leanings were more a dream than a possible reality. Working with fabric was relegated to Home Ec where sewn aprons & skirts ruled the day. It was the land where precision, control & skillfully executed techniques were queen. The wish to sew outside the lines was viewed with dismay and certainly not acceptable nor encouraged. Looking back all I can say is….much like the mind, creative desire is an awful thing to waste.

This summer I have enrolled in a 4 day workshop that will explore paper and fabric collage. It’s about time.

Try to Imagine

I once knew a man who lost his hearing as an adult. One of the sounds he said he missed most, besides his children’s voices, was music.

Salt of the Earth

Simplicity is different things to different people and can cover an overwhelming range of thoughts, ideologies and philosophies.

I know someone who likes very simple humor. When he is chuckling at those Sunday comics I avoid like the plague, it makes me smile. I often roll my eyes when he is laughing out loud at cartoons but inside my heart is singing. To me his child like delight is so refreshing, so genuine & unblemished it is a pleasure to be part of that world, if even vicariously.

'Ye are the salt of the earth.Ye are the light of the world.’

A Woman & Her Symbols

Michelle of the Rougette Gallery in Maine www.rougettegallery.com features outsider artists and my art quilt postcards. She says their beauty provides a contrast to the edgier work done by some of her other artists. Besides being a gallery owner (and painter herself), Michelle is a therapist trained in Jungian theories. As such, she is very interested in the unconscious and how symbols allow a peek into what might be going on in those depths.

Soooo, of course I just had to explore this idea of symbols more. I wondered what WERE my symbols & if I found them were they filled with enough angst to be called artistic?

I messed around with purposely creating symbols with hidden meaning and then realized symbols could not be commanded to appear but were there if one looked. They are the shapes, forms or designs that call out to us and that we feel some sort of kinship with.

I am drawn to the heart shape – of course it means love, but I believe it also symbolizes my need to try and keep my heart open to allow people in and closed when self-protection is necessary. I often use a woman’s shape in my work – pure and simply, this represents my sexuality. The spiral has always appeared in my art – I love how it swirls around and around, starting at one point and ending at another, but not in a straight path and can be traveled in either direction.

Now that my eyes have been opened (a bit) I am looking forward to more unearthing. Who knows? I might learn a thing or two about myself along the way.

Drug Companies Might Not Benefit

Sometimes I wonder if people can be divided into "Those That Take Action to Achieve What They Say They Want/Need/Desire" & "Those That Talk/Wish/Dream About Their Wants/Needs Desires But Take No Action". I recently read somewhere that middle school aged children were asked what they want to be when they grow up. A large number answered "to be rich". Meaning rich to buy big houses, fancy cars & lots of parties, not rich in personal fulfillment. Not one of the children were able to define how they were going to get ‘rich’ except with suggestions about becoming highly paid athletes or rock stars. How sad.

This thought may be a bit simplistic but perhaps touches on the very foundation of many psychological and religious teachings. In our world of McMansions, spa bathrooms & designer clothes what would happen if we, as a society, understood the rewards of delayed gratification and the integrity of taking responsibility and conducting our lives accordingly? Would there would be less character disorders, depression and neuroses in the world? Less excuse making & shirking of duties? Would more people find contentment and peace? Would interpersonal relationships realize a positive benefit?

Some naive musings on this Thursday morning.

My Friend Deb & I

I have known Deb (or Debbie as I can't help calling her) for about a million years now. We believe we first became aquainted in eighth grade or some time around that era of fishnet stockings (that our parents would not let us wear) and boys with long hair (that our parents also would not let us wear).

We always circulated in the same circles, often traveling together as we found our way through the hormones of middle school and the rebellion of high school. We shared many things...among them a love of music, art, laughter and a wisdom about integrity and responsibility that bonded us together.

Some things never change....this weekend Deb & I will be hosting our second craft/art sale in her wonderful old Victorian house. Experience tells us her beaded necklaces will be very popular and SELL and my textiles will be very popular and NOT sell. But, to me, this fair is more about us as forever friends than money. And all the dollars in the world can't buy that.