Still Felting...

I want to write more soon about the process of making felt, but I do have a few quick photos to share of an order I'm just finishing up.  I've been working on some felt pockets for a dear lady who loves gardening.  Her friend saw some earlier versions of these designs and thought they'd make a nice Christmas gift.  I agree!

I really enjoy using Impressionist paintings as inspiration for my felt.  No matter how many times I work from a particular painting I see something new about the original when I begin to lay out my design.  Yesterday I concentrated on the details of the field and tree line in Monet's Wild Poppies. 

Laying out the wool roving is my favorite part of the process and this is what I really wanted to share with you. Here is the wool pictured above before I wet felted it.

The smaller piles of red, yellow and green roving on the counter became the flowers.  I prefelted those pieces and applied them to the background once the entire piece was wet and beginning to hold together.

The reason I love the early stages of wet felting so much is that I am forced to let go of my tendency to get caught up in details.  In fact, the process of wetting and fulling the felt changes the piece so much that there are always suprises.  There is just no way to control it completely...sounds a little like life, yes? 

Here is my latest interpretaton of Van Gogh's Sunflowers.  In the finished piece the individual colors are more defined than I expected, but I love the way it all turned out and I love that the "spirit" of Van Gogh's original piece really shines through.  I think it's great I could never create the exact same image.  If you saw the photos of the pockets I posted a few weeks ago, you know how very different these are, even though I was inspired by the same paintings.  LOVE that!

It's time to get these packed up and send them on their way.  I hope you are inspired to do something creative today.  Go where you go and do what you do with all your heart and enjoy the process!

A Prayer for Japan and for Us All

I spent some time at the Dallas Arboretum today. The spring beds are unbelievably gorgeous and this weekend there's an added bonus...Artscape, a fine art fair, is taking place in the pecan grove. 

As I walked through the gardens and admired the artists' works I was so grateful to be surrounded by such beauty and again and again I found myself thinking of the people of Japan.  How many lovely gardens and beautiful works of art were destroyed in last week's earthquake and subsequent tsunami?  As I watched families enjoying the beautiful day together I thought about the thousands of families that are mourning the loss of loved ones or living in fear of a nuclear disaster.  I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around this. 

The only thing I know to do is pray. 

So I pray that each individual in Japan today would see something that brings them hope.

And I pray that each finds strength and help in the days ahead.

And I pray that each of us will take time today to count our blessings, to honor the people in our lives, and to reach out to someone in need.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.  
Philippians 4:8



Secret Gardens

After spending a few days visiting family last week I arrived home yesterday just in time to put together my favorite bouquet of the season. Spring at our place begins with the blooms of narcissus and grape hyacynth bulbs.  Happily, for just a few days their blooming season overlaps that of our azaleas and I gather the blossoms into small bouquets of riotous, glorious color..

Most of the bulbs I grow were harvested from flower beds planted by my grandmother over fifty years ago.  I found them in this old garden, hidden in the woods just a few hundred yards from my back doorstep.  Grandmother lived in a house that used to be nestled in these woods.  The house is gone, but the bulbs and plants she cultivated there have continued to grow and multiply.

Entering this place I feel like Mary in Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, stepping softly as if she were afraid of waking someone.  This is a sacred space for me...a place where I dreamed childhood dreams and shared happy times with people I loved.  It is a place that captured my imagination even when I was very young.  I dreamed of living on this property when I grew up, of carving out my own nitch in the woods and planting gardens of my own.

Sometimes I forget that I am actually living my dream.  Sometimes I think I might like to live someone else's dream.  Really, though, this one is best for me.  Here I have room to breathe and stretch and grow, just like the buds Mary unearthed in Burnett's garden.

So this week I am going to spend time cultivating the garden around my own home and in the process I know I will be renewed.  Warm spring days have arrived and I am eager to feel connected to the earth with the sun on my back and the rich, damp soil in my hands.   My spirit yawns and stretches as it wakes to this new season.

I hope this week you will do some maintenance in your own secret garden...that quiet place, whatever it is for you, where seeds of promise and hope were planted long ago.  Pull a few weeds.  Clear a little space.  Give your dreams room to grow.

Something Pretty

No deep thoughts or great insights to share today...just a pretty idea for a vase.  Our local coffee house uses vintage light fixture globes to hold simple floral arrangements.  They are just so much fun.

I found out today that the owner found several of these globes in the building before it was restored, although the structure was not previously fitted for electricity.  Interesting...  (click here to read more about MT SYLVAN COFFEE HOUSE AND MERCANTILE). 

Anyhoo, I wanted to show you my version.   I found this globe at a resale shop for just 49 cents.  There is nothing better than a great find at a great price!

I would love to hear about ways you repurpose things in your home.  Maybe you know of new uses for old linens or other items no longer in service.  I'd be especially interested to hear any creative ideas you have for storage...I am currently on a slightly manic mission to rid my environment of plastic storage containers.  Right now my favorite substitutes are vintage glass jars and picnic baskets.  What are the current trends at your house?

It's Good to be Back

Well, I definitely checked out of blogland for a while as I got ready for last weekend's street fair at our local coffee house.  The weather cooperated quite nicely and it was a lot of fun to be out and about with neighbors and friends.  I am so happy to live in a community that has so much creative energy flowing through it!

Building up my inventory for the event helped me get focused and prepared for the holiday season.  I have a lot of Taproot crosses in stock right now and will be listing these on etsy for the first time in the next few days!  Here's a small sampling of what I'll be listing:

With each necklace that includes a cross pendant, I like to include this message about the process of creating a Taproot cross:

Taproot crosses bear on their surface a patchwork pattern, symbolizing unity within the diversity of the Christian church. This pattern employs the process of caning, based on an Italian glass working technique called "millefiori" (meaning "a thousand flowers").  Polymer clay caning produces cylinders or logs of clay with designs running through the middle of each “cane”. Although the effect can often appear to be painted, each color in the design is actually a separate color of clay.

For the creation of Taproot crosses, several flower canes are combined to form what I call a “mega-cane”. As this mega-cane is stretched and reduced in diameter, the flower forms bend and change slightly to accommodate each other. This creates a dynamic and cohesive pattern to be applied to the surface of each individually formed cross.

Here are a few of the canes I am currently working with:

and some earrings made from individual canes:

Well, there's lots to do in the studio today, so I'd better get back to it.  I am glad to be back to my blogging and will share more soon.  Thanks for stopping by!

Nesting

My son brought this butterfly to me yesterday.  It's wings were a little tattered and it moved very little as he held it on his hand.  I'm sure we were witnessing this marvelous creature's last few moments of existence.  What a privilege.

A little later he brought this flower to me...It was the last spider lily left blooming.  I'm glad he brought it in.  A big rainstorm moved through last night and this exquisite bloom would have been pummeled.

I sense a theme emerging.  The fading butterfly...The last lily...The world around me is in transition.  Fall is settling in and nature is preparing for winter.  I notice my own thoughts are turning toward my nest, wanting to create a warm and inviting environment where my family will take refuge from the chill of winter.  Time to pull out some soft blankets and make soup!

What do you like to do when the weather turns cool?

Love the Moment

Flowers grow out of dark moments. Therefore, each moment is vital. It affects the whole. Life is a succession of such moments and to live each, is to succeed. - Corita Kent
An unusual amount of rainfall in the last few weeks has made the flowering plants around my place happy, happy, happy. Their beautiful blooms inspired me to pull out some flower canes left over from recent projects and make a pretty little collection of flower beads.

When I work with these beads I will try to think about the quote by Corita Kent. I will remember that flowers begin in darkness...a tiny seed planted in the right environment becomes a thing of great beauty. Even the ugly stuff...the hard stuff becomes a lovely gift when we allow it to shape us into stronger, more patient, more compassionate human beings.
Today, if a worry, a hurt, or even an irritation crosses my mind I will do my best to love that yucky moment. I'm not sure how successful I'll be, but I'll give it a shot. If I give that seed the environment it needs (a trusting, hopeful heart) just maybe it will become a thing of beauty in my life...