Life Shrinks...

I'm off enjoying a work-free August with the fam. Details here!

♥M

Wisdom

♥M

Reader Question: What Inspires Me?

There's a question. Probably the single most popular question readers ask me.

Where do I find inspiration?

The question actually frightens me. It makes me want to tear at my hair and run out of the room screaming. I'm only half-kidding. See the problem is this: I do not know what inspires me. I haven't looked into it. I'm lazy that way. And also. I'm kinda scared to go there because I'm afraid to mess with it! I mainly just DO. I don't consider the what, the where, the why of it all.

Is that strange? Should I be analyzing my actions and examining my motivations?

Hrm.

Okay well here goes... Here's where I believe my ideas come from... I guess I believe in the power of doing. I think that, for me, ideas emerge when I keep my hands busy with making and my mind focussed on the material in front of me. I think that the textures and the fabric of the things I'm using, the colours and the shapes that surround me, all conspire to inspire me.

Is that the silliest answer ever?...  Probably...

Just let me add. I believe in something greater than myself. You know? That energy that envelops us all... You know the one I mean, right? I believe in it. I'm almost certain it is involved in my creating somehow. It is the culprit. It's gotta be... Somehow.

So, thank you elusive Force with a capital F that allows me to create and make stuff. Whatever you are and wherever you come from. Thanks for being there. Because if I weren't creating, I would know little of happiness. And I would surely be a bitter thing.

This post is dedicated to Pam, and to the forces of creative inspiration. The above photos feature Brigid's Cross (named for Brigid the goddess of inspiration, fire and fertility), a little challenge Pam issued to me a while back when she wrote: "I have been wracking my brain for two years trying to think of a material other than wheat to make a Brigid's Cross. If anyone can come up with a solution, it's you!"  Since then, I too have been wracking my brain. I came up with two possibilities for the crosses Pam: 1) stiffened yarn, and 2) cereal boxes. What do you think?

♥M

What's in a Boy's Mind?

I was working away on some project the other day, can't remember which one exactly, and my six-year old comes over and hands me these little cards.

"Can you make these?" he asks seriously.

I look at them. "Hmmm, these are quilt designs, aren't they?" I inquire.

"Yes." he says.

So I say: "Okay. I will make them, but not right away because I have alot on my plate at the moment."

"Okay." he responds happily. And off he goes.

Observation: Everything has a Texture.

While I was in Halifax, I became momentarily and acutely obsessed with the texture of the things around me. Has this ever happened to you? You know, like you just see things differently for a little while. Like, asphalt is beautiful and so is really-up-close tree bark... I spent many hours snapping pictures like a mad fiend, and of the most special things too. Like stained concrete and broken chain-link fences. My boys were patient with me, thank goodness. I think taking a look at things through these alternate eyes makes for an interesting exercise. You notice stuff you wouldn't otherwise see. A new perspective is often inspirational and surprising, leading you to creative places you've never experienced before...

So, what is texture anyway? Well, it's a multifaceted thing, I think. It is the play of light and shadow on a thing. It is its topography, its highs and lows, its character. It is the way your eye moves across it discovering a maze of crags and creases. It is what your hand touches as it travels across it. And everything has one. A texture, that is. And a unique one at that. Even me. Even you...