handstories

Friendly Ghosts

    "Floating into Being"

    A happy accident led to a lovely reunion. A couple of weeks ago, I sent a text by speaking rather than typing and hit send before realizing it was going to someone whose name sounded very similar. This someone was a classmate in those painting classes at the local college years ago.  One text led to another, until the two of us, along with a third friend from the classes, were sitting down for lunch this weekend.

    Not having seen either of them for more than five years, it was fascinating to me that my usual social anxieties didn’t kick in (for the most part). I rarely go back in time to meet up with people. It’s usually not about the person from the past, rather more of a fear of running into old, unwelcomed ghosts of myself.

    But this time, there was calm. Near the end of our time together, I told them so, realizing that being with them took me back to those calm, peaceful hours of painting in that classroom. I had forgotten how much I loved being there. 

    "Spells for Well-Being"

    In the Studio...  These two, they are like an old married couple, how they check in with, keep track of, and bicker with each other. And then there are moments like this, when he brought his drawing to show her, and she gave him sincere admiration.  It’s such a gift to be there.

    The Studio has moved to a new location (much further away, challenging my driving anxiety).  A new big room that is all their own, with no need to take down tables, pack everything away, etc. at the end of the day so that another class can come in afterwards. Happily, the artists all seem at peace with this shift.  

    "Into the Unknown"

    Working in the bigness of this (13 1/2 inches square), felt very good.  (With thanks to Jude, Deb, and Tina for their generous sharing in this piece and/or those above.)

    There is also a new book to share.  I will try to put it here in a couple of days.  Typepad was a struggle today. 

golden

    Still playing with Deb's yellows, combined here with a few of this summer's indigos and a scrap of that beloved old dress (story here).  This bit still held the hem stitching holes in it.  They've been honored with a few of Jude's thread beads running alongside of them.

    My new first thing in the morning exercise (while the oatmeal cooks).  Sitting at the table with eyes closed, pencil marks are made inside of a taped off space while listening and feeling.  Afterwards there is painting and redrawing the pencil lines with a pen.

    This morning the smoke had cleared enough to open the windows, but I think the birds were still staying sheltered and safe.  It's only been four days, but I'm really loving this.

    There's also been a little work at color mixing- creating the secondary colors from the primaries.  Purple is the hardest for me.  Color wheels are great- for looking at and for using.  It's also swell to be able to make my own tools.

    Other than moons, yellow doesn't have a big spot in my world, but this cloth is singing stories.

moons & moves

    It's been a weekend of stitching.  I was going to say there are no stories to share, but here they are...  Stories of storms.

    And moons.  One of them over a sea of scraps...

    There has been talk and plans of my claiming a bedroom for a studio for years now, once one of the boys moved out.  

    A couple of weeks ago, I said I didn't want to wait, and maybe it could happen in the fall, when Blue goes off for his senior year of college?

    Last night, I cracked, and announced that it couldn't wait, I need a space of my own now.  It's going to inconvenience everyone, but there is hope it will bring some calm, too, at least for me.

    We have spent the afternoon shuffling beds and such.  It's like one of those hand held plastic puzzles, with squares that slide into a picture.  It takes three moves to get the piece you want into the corner.  There are mattresses and bed frames in the kitchen, dining, and front rooms.  (What's harder than putting together a piece of Ikea furniture?  Taking one apart.)  

    Right now, I'm waiting for the mopped half of the room to dry before the next maneuver.

light

    There has been a lot of silence and stillness here.  Sometimes our stories are not ours alone.  In the big picture things are ok enough, there are some challenges that have taken most of my attention and energy.  Things are still being worked through, but there is some ease after last week's big gulps of sea air.

    Remembering how poorly Moon slept until he was four... how there might be six hours of sleep in four pieces.  The first time there were four hours in a row someone at work commented that I looked/seemed better... and saying to her, "I feel like I've come up from the bottom of the ocean."

 

    Having been much away from here and making, I'm feeling overwhelmed about finding my way back, so I’ll just start...

    

    Today I stitched.  Almost the whole day.  Until the moon came up.  And I'm looking forward to more tomorrow.

covering & clearing heads

    Two more hats for the donation bag, the only stitching that's happened this week.

    There is nothing very interesting to report.  After a kind of rough end to the school year for a couple of us, it felt like things came to a screeching halt.  

    In an effort to get a grip, the shelves are being attacked.  There are three and a half of these that  are  were stuffed full of boxes, baskets or piles of things- cloth, wool, yarn, beads, papers, popsicle sticks, wire, bottle caps...you get the idea.

    This shelf is almost empty, just some straggling bits to deal with.

    Organizing is hard for me.  Letting go of perfectly good, "I mean to do that project someday" stuff makes it even harder.  There has been guilt, self sanity questioning, yelling ("Not another box of yarn!?!"), plenty of wallowing in feeling overwhelmed (there may have been some crying in there, too.), and some talking down and through by my sister (who has none of these organizing issues).

   These boxes are empty!  

    There are bagged up piles to take to school or donate.  The rest has been sorted and condensed. 

    Back to work...

back from the middle of swell

 

    Only a bit of stitching happened, but it was a wonderful week...

    Full of blue skies,

    And sea.

    My sister's backyard, on the edge of a pond, is full of wildlife.  Those who wandered through during my stay... house sparrows, titmice, red winged blackbirds, mourning doves, cardinals,  oriole, chickadees, blue jays, nuthatches, goldfinch, grackle, red-breasted nuthatch, song sparrow, house finch, robins, catbirds, mockingbirds, hawk,...

    ...and a wild turkey!  Not to mention the chipmunks, squirrels, and the swans that flew by.  And the scent of the honeysuckle surrounding it all.

    A great egret was by the bay.

    We visited gardens and parks...

    There were gorgeous flowers galore (and a couple of wild bunnies).

    A moon gate.  (Part of the beautiful gardens we happened upon at the Blithewold estate.)

    Such a good time, with lovely wanderings and delicious meals.  Nothing that had to be done.  A week without driving, appointments, commitments or responsibilities, and other than some texts home, and two emails to friends, there was very little communication with the outside world.

    And now back to things- time with the guys, a couple of more weeks of school, and some boats to finish.

sights & sounds & silence

    In the middle of my time on the island, I realized that this was the first time I have ever been away alone overnight.  It was very deeply swell.  

    No internet, housework, appointments, to-do lists, etc...  Just the wind in the tall tall trees, eagles, hawks, a heron, birds calling at dusk, and later frogs in the darkness.  

    There was stitching, successful fire building, and a delicious second breakfast.

    Painting happened for the first time in weeks, bad painting, but still, it was good to move a brush.  The guys thought I was crazy for bringing that little Christmas cactus along, but after two years of waiting for blooms, and having them finally show up last week, I wasn't going to miss a minute of them.

    And there was time in a fairy tale with a couple of friends for company... one of Jude's strays marked the spot, while Velma's bear weighted the pages of Snow & Rose by Emily Martin.  ("Snow and Rose didn't know they were living in a fairy tale...people never do.")

    And more stitching and some writing, too...lots of beginnings.  

    During a nice long beach walk with the guys once they came, there was some wondering about how to stitch barnacles? 

        It was all really really good.

places within spaces

    Spring Break!  Time and space.

        Staying up, sleeping in, going out, staying put.

    Spent some time this morning thinking about all there is that could and should be done in this place called home, and then spent time imagining other spaces in space.

sisters

    A companion piece.  They didn't start out that way, but there they went.  This one is about space, not outer, probably inner, making and holding it.

    And looking at them here, side by side . . . how they are related, but still different.  Like family.

"Space" and "Story"- layers of oil paints mixed with cold wax medium on wooden boards, 12x12

less thinking, more stitching

    This little one inch square was unexpected.  At the beginning there was a thought about mirroring the pink fabric on the left, but I didn't think I could manage it.  So I decided to just do the inner white triangle and see what came.  Well, the the pink diagonal stripe followed, and the rest just went along from there, one thread at a time.  The focus was on each line of stitching, so it was a happy surprise when I leaned back and saw that the abandoned big picture had actually come into being.  

    Speaking of trying to find the big picture, we have a small room at the top of the stairs, a triangle room at the point of the house, only tall enough to stand in at the center.  Over the years it has become a dumping ground for old toys, books, games, etc.  I am determined to empty it out and make it a useable space.  Yesterday we began emptying it out, bringing everything down to the front room to be sorted.  A new dumping ground.  I can see that it's going to get ugly before we see the light at the end of this tunnel.