safety

I am wearing a safety pin everywhere I go.

I keep a dish of them by the front door.

You can follow this link for the origins and how wearing a safety pin has become a symbol of peace in troubled times (or read on for my simplistic version):

https://www.good.is/articles/safety-pin-america-trump-brexit

The wearing of a safety pin signifies that you are a safe person and will stand with and welcome anyone no matter what they look like, who they love, where the originate, or how they worship. It has the potential to secretly encourage the discouraged or be a beacon of friendship to one who is in a threatening situation. It can also serve as a constant reminder to the wearer that love and kindness truly matters.

kindness

kindnesses in my life this week:

a kind etsy conversation with someone in Massachusetts 

a kind email from Hillary Rodham Awesome

a kind text from a friend in Calif who is sick at heart

a kind poem written by my daughter for her Dad

a kind game of scrabble on my bed to distract me from my tears

a kind laugh and smile from Kris when I keep forgetting her name and call her Lisa

a kind conversation on a park bench about the honeybees

*

Just reeling myself in ....

finished projects

The stitching projects I worked on last month are completed now. These are the mini art quilt squares I've done in the past using vintage linens from my stash.

I like to incorporate these random and anonymous photos from the past. In a way, these people become adopted family to me.

2 others that are similar to these will be featured in a December publication that is due out soon. But until then, I have to keep mum.

*

I also made a Cloutie for my friend who passed in September. It will hang from my white lilac until it blooms in the spring. It has thoughts and prayers stitched into it and is now left under God's great sky and winter rain in peace and gentle quietude.

moving right along

fall color at about 40 miles per hour

... enjoy!

processing

I turn to the gentler of handworks when I'm really processing some things and need to think and feel and just be. 

This time, I started with very old lace and linen given to me by friends and family.

 I add bits and pieces of things.

Scraps from the past - like words from a storybook and an old anonymous photo.

 Pieces of the present - like last summer's carnival ticket and yesterday's tea bag paper.

I begin to build a story separate from myself, yet somehow it still feels connected.

Some times creating art is just another form of story telling.

It can be a quiet and peaceful way to bring forth a story.

Someone I once knew died last week. 

We haven't spoken in years which was painful. 

But that's how it ended. 

That's how that particular story was written. 

In the end the words were brought forth silently.

modern naturalist

We are in a new epoch (like the dinosaurs)

- Anthropocene -

it refers to the impact of humans on our natural world.

I realized that my art reflects that.

I have gathered a still life of found objects.

Some of it is natural.

Some of it is human detritus.

Pictured above:

chair spindles; birch bark; clam shell; dried seed pods; thread spool; beach stone; flash card; brass tray; bottle cap 

All of these things will be used in my art at some point. They're things I have picked up in my natural world. Walking the dog, combing the beach,  parking the car, rescued from the trash, gifted from a friend.

A modern nature walk.

A modern naturalist. 

spelling

I've become a terrible speller

"tomorrow" is with 1 M, not 2

but even if my spelling is getting worse

I make up for it with a little OCD

I decided to completely re-do that part before popping it in the mail to someone - and they were probably oblivious

It was on Etsy like this:

No biggie 

- but seriously -

good spelling is a lost art!