YES TO THIS: 09

YES TO THIS: 08

CONVERSATIONS: ALLOW

I spent this week intention-led with the word ALLOW exploring meanings and reflecting with some deep-digging and inner landscape soul-searching.

I'm always amazed (I don't know why it amazed me ... maybe a better word is tickled and validated) when the universe provides everything I need at just the right time ... that time when my ears and my heart are primed ready for listening and hearing. Secret hidden messages appear from a variety of sources all tied together with thin stronger-than-steel silver threads. Beliefs are confirmed and solidified. Intentions are more strongly grounded. Understanding is clarified and roots strengthened and growing. Meditative practices becoming more natural and settling into the stillness.

Some journal peeks:  ... art work and hand-lettering practice ... the language of symbols ... the courage to unfold and tell/live my truth a little more boldly ... 

... secret messages resources ...

The Art of Stillness

The Confident Creative

The Art Journaler

The Phoenix Soul

... materials used ...

composition notebook pages mounted in a Canson Mixed Medial spiral

pens: ZGrip medium black, Sharpie fine and medium

color: prisma colored pencils, Sakura Gelly Rolls - metallic and moonlight,

Tombow markers, Uni-ball Gel Impact Gold

Word Prompt for Week 12: release

YES TO THIS: 07

CONVERSATIONS: EMERGE

... a short slideshow movie documenting my thoughts, exploring, digging deep, and art in response to the word prompt for the first week in March from Teresa Robinson aka stargardener and The Art Journal community ... we will have a word prompt to guide and direct our thinking for each week throughout this month ...

YES TO THIS: 06

... reminder: embrace being still and listening ...

REFLECTIONS AND INTENTIONS: FEBRUARY

BLUE CATHEDRAL

I will never forget listening to this piece performed by the San Diego Symphony while sitting in the audience looking out across the reflecting pool that seemingly dropped off into the deep blue Pacific ... Salk Institute La Jolla CA.

... what a beautiful setting for stillness, for listening, for releasing
and emerging whole, refreshed, rejuevenated and sated ...

Here's what Jennifer has to say about her thoughts while composing this piece:

Blue ... like the sky. Where all possibilities soar. Cathedrals ... a place of thought, growth, spiritual expression ... serving as a symbolic doorway in to and out of this world. 

Blue represents all potential and the progression of journeys. Cathedrals represent a place of beginnings, endings, solitude, fellowship, contemplation, knowledge and growth. 

As I was writing this piece, I found myself imagining a journey through a glass cathedral in the sky. Because the walls would be transparent, I saw the image of clouds and blueness permeating from the outside of this church. In my mind's eye the listener would enter from the back of the sanctuary, floating along the corridor amongst giant crystal pillars, moving in a contemplative stance. The stained glass windows' figures would start moving with song, singing a heavenly music. The listener would float down the aisle, slowly moving upward at first and then progressing at a quicker pace, rising towards an immense ceiling which would open to the sky .. as this journey progressed, the speed of the traveler would increase, rushing forward and upward. I wanted to create the sensation of contemplation and quiet peace at the beginning, moving towards the feeling of celebration and ecstatic expansion of the soul, all the while singing along with that heavenly music ...

This is a story the commemorates living and passing through places of knowledge and of sharing and of that song called life.

YES TO THIS: 05

YES TO THIS: 04

YES TO THIS: 03

YES TO THIS: 02

YES TO THIS: 01

YES TO THIS

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Let's face it ... I'm a sucker for words. I love the way certain words sound; I love making up words; I love the way some words feel in my mouth. I love putting words on paper. And I love learning new words. Many times there are words that I have a general idea as to what they mean just from the context within which it is used. However, that doesn't always translate into that words becoming a part of my vocabulary. One day "said word" may sneak into my conversation and afterwards I think to my self, "Oh dear, did I use "said word" correctly or did I just embarrass myself with one of my infamous made-up definitions. Yikes!  

During the month of December I participated in a journaling challenge with Teresa Robinson aka: stargardener and The Art journal Community  using a set of 31 single word prompts to help jump-start my journaling process. There are any number of places on the internet offering journaling prompts but this one happened to resonate. I liked the format ... single words on a swatch of paint, torn paper edges, jumbled up in a small jar just waiting for me to draw one each day. I would glue it onto my journal page and start writing. 

When January rolled around, I couldn't give up the practice. It was so spontaneous. Some days the prompt really made me think and other days it was clearly a journal-spilling session with not enough room on the page. So I created my own little collection of word charms.

Yesterday the word was ubiquitous. Now this is one of those words that I know it when I read it but it would be a rare day you would ever hear me actually use it in conversation. But, after coming across it in an article I was reading, the usage was just vague enough, I had to do a double check with the dictionary and thesaurus. The topic of the article was important enough to me that I had to weigh in with my opinion in my journal and, now I OWN THE WORD! :)

The word for today ... JOURNEY ... was serendipitous. 

The Back Story: I was moaning and groaning in my journal about all the organizing and cleaning needing to be done not only in the studio but also with the electronic files. (kind of comes with the territory of setting up a new computer ... ugh) Getting systems in place ... sustainable systems can be a daunting task at best and it always seems to be more difficult to get the proverbial ball rolling once again after the holidays. My final words: It is a never-ending task searching for a system that works. WILL I EVER FIND IT???

And then I drew my word for today ... and an immediate feeling of peace settled in once more. I breathed. I stretched, I was calm, and I leaned in to the angel whisperings. 

I don't need to have all the answers today. 

It's okay to explore and try a different way. 

Relax ... and ENJOY the JOURNEY.

CONVERSATIONS

AUTOMAT 1927 Edward Hopper

I know her. 

I know her story. 

I don't know her name, 

... but ...

I FEEL her story.

She sits on my desk all through the day and the night, alone with her cup of coffee or tea  ...

thinking? waiting? dreaming? 

resting? planning?

just being still ... and ... listening ...

I have coffee with her in the morning. We talk about my day, my plans, my worries, my busyness - 

And she waits patiently through the day while I work at my computer, entering data, writing, catching up on emails, doing research ... answering the phone to help a customer with download issues. She sits and waits, a silent cheerleader sending out positive energy.

"You go Girl!" 

"Believe in yourself." 

"You can do this thing ... this task you've set before us."

At the end of the day, she is there still ... ever faithful with her cup in hand ready to hear me ... 

... ready to help me harvest my day ... 

... ready to help me sort through the struggles and triumphs ...

... and ... 

... ready to lend her thoughts as I sow the seeds for tomorrow ...

Who would ever guess I would find a  muse, a companion, a soul sister 

on a visit to the museum ... the Rockwell Museum ... the Edward Hopper exhibit. 

... the art of connecting ...

... the art resonating ...

... the viewer taking the time to absorb the vibrations ... 

THE ART OF SLOWING DOWN IN A MUSEUM

I didn't know I would meet her when I went to the museum by myself that day. Time to putter and stop and gaze for as long as I wanted. No rushing for me from other people I might be with. Time to eavesdrop on conversations swirling around me; Time to people-watch, to think  and wonder about their stories as they hurried from painting, to painting and then off to the gift store for souvenirs ... because there was only so much time at this stop and they were off to the next stop on their tour.

GRATITUDE: so thankful, so very thankful to live where there are amazing art museums to close at hand where I can easily go visit as often as I want ... to be still and listen to the art that resonates.

WHICH WAY?

... which way today ... 

... to cross or not to cross ...

... to stay or move on ...

FIRST THING I SEE ...

0915: first thing I see ... when I wake up in the morning is Miso snuggled in with her rabbit - the only toy that never leaves the bed. She snuggles in with that rabbit and nibbles just like little kids snuggle in with their favorite blankie. It calms her down and keeps her from chewing on the quilts, the pillows, or my sleeve.

But I also wanted to chat a little today about "the first thing I see ... and quilting." (It's a funny thing following the daily prompts from the Photo a Day list and making a connection to quilting. I love the mental challenge.)

The patchwork or the quilting ... like most beginning piecers when we first start out we see the fabrics and the blocks and possible secondary designs that help our eyes move across the top of the quilt. But it didn't take long after getting my longarm for my eyes to go immediately to the quilting design. Now my eyes will go back and forth noticing the interplay between the patchwork and the quilting.

My patchwork points ... do you find yourself being overly critical of your technical piecing skills? I have the worst time not shredding the fabric from using the seam ripper at times in my attempts to have PERFECT points, PERFECTly matched seam intersections, PERFECTly square blocks. It is important to do your best but it is also important to enjoy the process AND to have a finished project. LOL

Value differences with fabrics ... my eyes have gotten much better a discerning value differences - the lights, the mediums, and the darks, and all the subtle value differences across the scale. I love seeing a wide range of values used on a quilt top accentuating the patchwork pattern to it's fullest. It's kind of like finger painting when we were kids. At first we stayed within in the lines and used specific colors. Then we started mixing and found out how to make mud. After more practice and experimenting we learned how to use color and value as a tool to communicate with the viewer, to assign emotions to a piece or to help direct the viewers eyes engaging them on a deeper level while enjoying our quilting work.

Thanks for stopping by; leave a comment or thought about the first thing you see when you look at a quilt at a quilt show or when you look at your own quilting work.

HEROES & SHEROES

0911: hero ... and a quote from Mary McCarthy worth pondering today: We are the hero of our own story.

Rapunzel and her Knight, Sir Colin. Rapunzel does a very good job taking care of herself most of the time, but it's always good when someone has your back. It's good to be rescued by a white knight in shining armour, but it's also good to have those times when you rescue yourself.

The movie Tangled was a popular one at our house this summer with daily viewing included in the schedule. What a classic model for all of us to follow in becoming the he/she-roes we were meant to be.

 

Think about these characteristics of classic he/she-roes and how they interact "out in the world" as they slay dragons and demons, as they chase down the bad guys, as they vanquish the evil in the world. And then I would ask you to think about these characteristics on a more personal internal note.

1. Be courageous.
2. Be bold.
3. Believe in yourself.
4. Be loyal.
5. Be honest.
6. Be positive - refresh, reframe, renew.
7. Recognizing when to sacrifice and give help to those who need and when to ask for and being willing to receive the help being offered. Another words, being and having a buddy when the going gets rough.

I don't know about you, but I can get pretty good as ignoring my own dragons and demons because I'm so busy slaying dragons and demons for those I love. NOT GOOD!!!

And so ... I developed a plan. Recognizing this fact (my tendancy toward total disregard of all the things I do or should be doing to take care of me)

• before the beginning of summer,
• before the wonderful exhilerating (and sometimes exhausting) visitations of numerous house guests began,
• before the schedule of rehearsals and concerts took over our calendar

I made a promise to myself that I would keep up with my regular walking schedule with my buddy Jan. Having a buddy to help keep me on track was a key ingredient in being successful with this goal

 

I developed a "company menu plan" that was easy to fix and required little or no thinking on my part in terms of shopping, preparation, and serving making sure to include plenty of fresh, healthy, snack choices.

 

I enlisted the help of a neighbor-friend with household chores when guest turn-over times became tight.

 

I enrolled in a watercolor painting class at the Berkshire Botanical Gardens to give me time to breathe and renew.

 

I cleared my work schedule keeping commitments to a minimum.

 

AND, I made a promise to myself to re-instate the more involved self-care practices in September after the dust settled behind the car as the last guest left for the season.

 

Being the hero in my own story through the summer season meant that I was courageous in develooping a plan of success; I was honest with myself in keeping expectations real and seeking help when needed; I was loyal to myself in paring down but holding tight to my non-negotiable practices; and I believed in myself and was bold in putting my plan into action.

 

For more about becoming the hero of your own story take a minute to read this excellent blog post by Stephanie Wetzel written for Live Bold & Bloom.

ENOUGH ALREADY

inspired by CLOUDS 365 Project Blog

The best laid plans seem to go awry but enough already. Friends are calling. Emails come in daily. Facebook messages and notifications. Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I do believe life is beginning to slowly return to normal. Yes, the distractions are gradually beginning to dissipate. I say, ENOUGH ALREADY!

... read more ...

As I was journaling this morning I thought I might check in with the daily prompt generator and see what might be the suggested line of thought for the day.

TODAY'S PROMPT: "Know your limitations and be content with them. Too much ambition results in promotion to a job you can't do." - David Brent

This is so appropriate to what happens to me when coming up with ideas about how to quilt a quilt. I can easily come with a multitude of design possibilities that look good on paper but when it comes to the actuall execution of a given design plan, look out. Be sure to keep things in perspective before you start making suggestions to customers regarding possible custom quilting jobs. Have a good sense of the time that is going to be involved and what that means to your bottom line and their quilting budget. In another words, how much you charge for your services in quilting the quilt. Such was the topic of my conversation with Ruth yesterday.

Ruth has a quilt with flying geese units going all the way around the quilt. The size of the quilt is like a large double or queen bed sized quilt. The reason she called was to check in about how to do a p2p pattern so she could drop a motif in each one of the geese. Keep in mind, this means there are easily more than 200 geese units flying around the edges of this quilt. But not to worry, we have Creative Studio and that makes everything so much easier!

Everything we were talking about as possible quilting ideas for this goose border using p2p pattern was sounding do-able ... time consumming but do-able until I told her I would be clicking the boundaries of the geese and using the new stretch handles to tweak the motif placement. Many of our piecers are quite precise with their patchwork, but we're all human and we are working with fabric.

The only guarantees in the quilting process are: The fabric will move; our seams will be off kilter just a bit here and there; stretching will have happened as we pressed. There is nothing quite so humbling as when I quilt one of my own quilts. Yep, I'm human and even though I do my best, no matter how careful I am, and no matter how close I keep my seam ripper (and use frequently) my seams will on occassion wobble, my points might be cut off, and my borders might even flap just a tad.

This final bit of tweaking on each motif raises our level of precision in the quilting up a notch and that is what I call "quilt-show-quality" quilting and I do adjust my fees accordingly. And then there is the sky units of each goose. The question of the day ... leave it empty or put something in? But now, when you think about the added hours in finishing up the borders of the quilt, the clock is ticking and the job price is going up faster, almost, than gas prices these days.

The solution: Ruth and I both agreed (with no complaints from the customer) that doing a feather border pattern over the geese units would suit the overall quilting design just fine. The quilting could be finished in a timely manner and within budget. Having a clear sense of the possibilities is a must when choosing a design plan for a quilt, and coming up with a plan that matches ...

• how the quilt will be used
• who the quilt is for
• what kind of budget are we working with
• what is the time frame for a finish date to be met
• and, most importantly, developing a plan that reflects your style and is compatible with your skill as a quilter

All of these points are critical to keep in mind when working out a design plan whether for yourself or when working with a customer. There is a fine line we walk between the advice from Goethe and Brent as to when and how brave to be ... how much courage and risk taking are you up to on any given day, or is a "play it safe" kind of day. But once again, when all of these pieces of the patchwork puzzle are in place we have a win-win for everyone involved.

And with that said, I may be in and out a little during the next week ... Mike is flying in today for the first time since early January. It's been a long 4 months and I just might be a little distracted :)

... know your craft ... practice your craft ...

... and ... be innovative with your craft ...