The ruminations of an artist on art & life...art quilts, beading, knitting, drawing, painting, printmaking, bookmaking are all my passions, I love to explore creating....
Gratitude has been my theme this month---since it is the month we give thanks as a nation on Thanksgiving Day. (Giving thanks is a form of gratitude.) For years I have kept a journal--more a doodling and art ideas journal than a writing journal--but most days I do write a page of my "gratitudes" in my journal. I just list everything in my life I am grateful for and even if I have had a very bad day this process restores my sense of well-being.
I also have been trying to foster a new habit--when I feel grateful toward someone else --for whatever reason--I try to express it either verbally or by writing them a thank you note.
"Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it"(---William Arthur Ward.) I have discovered the more I express my gratitude, the more grateful I feel.
I believe our mostly greedy culture here in America could benefit greatly from all of us forming the habit of exspressing our gratitudes on a daily basis. What are you grateful for?
One hand painted watercolor textile design
and one textile design created completely on the computer in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop
What can I say? I like owls.....
Yep--all my life I have been a "Doodler"---here area few---frequently my doodles grow into larger pieces of art or textile designs....doodling for me is a way of daydreaming....
I believe that doodleing is important to one's mental health....whether you do it with a pen or on a guitar...or with cooking...in fact just daydreaming is a form of doodling...and the more you doodle (or daydream)--the more your creativity will flow.
brooch, noun.
an ornamental pin having the point fastened by a catch; broach. Brooches are often made of gold, silver, or with jewels. Originally brooches were worn as a fastening for clothing.
These BROOCHES were fun to make---a nice "scrap buster"--a way to use up small left-over bits of colorful yarns...and very quick to crochet up!!!- I sewed a pinback to each one so they can be pinned onto your sweater, coat or hat to add some cheer....
I may make a few of these to sell on ETSY...I was thinking green and red ones for the holiday season would be fun...
In an effort to add some needed structure to my blog---and to spur me on to post more often, I am now going with a theme: the alphabet
so today is brought to you by the letter A
A is for ART!!!! and ARTIST and ARTISTIC and ARTFUL
Today's thought : "I don't really know why I draw (or paint); it is just what I do....."
Ever wonder where the ghosts and witches of Halloween originated?
Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. 2000 years ago, the Celts celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to Mother Earth. The Celts celebrated Samhain with bonfires, and sometimes donned animal costumes....
When the Christians conquered the Celts, they attempted to replace Samhain with All Saints Day (Nov 1st)--a day to honor Saints and Martyrs with bonfires and parades, but of course they could not totally stamp out the old religion---the ancient Celtic holiday lives on as our Halloween.
oh and--- One Quarter of all the candy sold annually in the US is for Halloween night....trick or treat anyone?
Working at home---I struggle with time management--do you?
There are those "time wasters" right here on the computer. For me, it is Facebook and my fave wordgame Bookworm...oh! and Stumble Upon.
It is just so easy to get sucked in----surfing and reading and looking at other's crafts, rather than creating my own stuff. Then, before I know it several hours have passed. What to do?
1) try using a timer? to limit my facebook and other net time?
2) allow myself to read facebook and post there as a reward for getting work done?
any suggestions--- are welcome and THANKS!
oh--and I don't count daydreaming or my mind wandering as "time wasted" because I know that is necessary for my creativity.
This design was painted in gouache and then scanned into photoshop for layout, colors and so on...(I call it: "I'm late, I'm late for a very important date...")
Gotta go--time's 'awasting!
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