Japanese art lesson

shunyata : a Sanskrit noun usually translated as emptiness

when I was young there was so much I wanted,
and all I thought I had to offer was the empty place between my legs

now I remember that negative space is partnered to what we notice,
and only when they both are in harmony is it possible to make great art

notan : a Japanese design concept involving the play and placement of light and dark

equilateral cogitation

The fear of making a mistake or of getting it wrong stops many people from even trying and it's through the process of trying, experimenting, seeing what happens, getting it wrong, correcting, improving, and ultimately growing our skills that we learn. Allowing fear to intrude holds us back from some amazing creative journeys. Put one step forward.

~Myrna Geisbrecht

Our plucky heroine reads an assortment of blogs regularly, many but not all of which give a glimpse into the lives of artists and artisans near and far. Myrna Geisbrecht writes regularly about her sewing process and thoughts, and always starts my day with something to think about, but her comment today about not being stopped by fear seemed so resonant to me, not just about the way that fear holds us back from creativity, but in so many other parts of our lives as well. While there are times when caution is vital and lifesaving, there are other times when the only danger is our own fear. I hope to improve my ability to know the difference, and to let my heart and hands free...

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came home Monday from another excellent visit to my Seattle pals over the weekend... now am almost but not quite caught up on sleep. As always, there are all sorts of thoughts running round my brain that in time will be gathered in and given a thorough examination as to potential usefulness/increased resiliency. (am beginning to wonder how many prior life-actions were based on inaccurate assumptions) This seems to be shaping into a year of doing things differently, in an assortment of ways...

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Another tenday has been added to the 2013 Sewing With A Plan deadline, which will have the contest ending on 10 May 1013 instead of at the end of April. This is a good thing, since our plucky but absent-minded heroine left her project bag up in Seattle on the dining table. In my family-of-origin, leaving something behind was said to mean that you were asking to return soon...

The other reason that the contest has been extended is that one of the Global Moderators over on Stitchers Guild, Ann Rowley, has been a participant in the Great British Sewing Bee, a BBC 4 part television show intended to find Britain's best home sew-er. I have been really enjoying watching it as the various episodes have been reposted on YouTube; unlike what I have heard about US network "reality" shows, this has been quite focused on skill, with a fascinatingly varied cast of characters, and the drama is about how well they can sew under some astonishingly tight deadlines.

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4
For those that enjoy this sort of thing, these are a treat to watch...

Thursday thoughts and tidbits

The aphorism of the day is "if you always do what you always did, you always get what you always got"... why, because our plucky heroine started building a new habit into her morning routine. For the last several years, taking a little thyroid pill has disrupted my former everyday mornings, since it needs must be taken on an empty stomach, then nothing else eaten for at least an hour, which has resulted in what feels a lot like wasted hours.

Today, instead of turning on the computer, I went into the workroom... Amazingly, instead of almost forgetting breakfast in an online daze, I almost forgot breakfast because I made substantial progress on a current studio commission. This is a new habit I want to will make a part of my daily routine

Pearl borders: they're not just for Byzantines any more... I don't just make SCA regalia in the workroom, but am occasionally contacted to make jewelry for folks active in various other organizations, or containing imagery that is personally significant. I have made heraldic jewelery for folks who have it by right of inheritance, and totemic images for folks who found them in dreams; making things that would otherwise not exist anywhere is what I delight in, whether in metal and glass, or in textiles...

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Last weekend my pals Beth and Karen came down to visit, for a weekend that ended up including a short session of "craft camp"; a hands on demo of freezer paper stenciling. I love how whatever the technique I teach, the designs and style of each student always shine through. There has been a lot of Alabama Chanin style handstitching and applique happening here at Acorn Cottage, and there is some of that happening up at their place as well, as they are both working on some special handmade clothing for their wedding this summer. It was fun to show them another skill for their "toolbox" of fabric embellishment, I look forward to seeing in August what they end up creating, and I am considering if there might be interest in a teaching workshop on handstitchery and embellishment...  (their small samples will probably end up as potholders)

Beth's stencil, and the cut away leftovers

Karen painting her sample; 
using a clothespin to hold the painting sponge
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went to Fabric Depot with my pal Sharon Rose, and though I have promised self not to buy any fabric this year, I had to break my vow... seriously, how could any medieval reenactor pass up a chance to take home some handwoven twill fabric woven with nettle fibers! I think this is a birdseye twill rather than diamond twill, but it is certainly a rare bird indeed, and enough came home to make some useful bags of carrying...

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Last week the feet were doing well enough that some very small walking was possible, and after acupuncture, a few blocks of the Hawthorne neighborhood proved to be irresistible. There were still some cherry trees full of blossoms...

and the branch scars on these tree trunks peered out amidst a garden full of springtime foliage and flowers