We are makers of things
September 24, 2013 at 6:52 pm | Posted in art, blogging, country life, faith, family, flowers, gardening, gifts, inspiration, knitting, Life, love, photography, shopping, women | 4 CommentsTags: agriculture, art, culture, Cyber Monday, faith, family, friends, friendship, gardening, home, inspiration, photography, women
Hello.
I have been away … at home. Enjoying life, working out of doors on flowers and vegetables; working in doors on many new things including books (writing, as well as making actual physical books), making pendant necklaces using prints from my photography and paintings, clearing out and rearranging various rooms in our home in search of a new studio space to create for my creative endeavors, cooking, baking, organizing and participating in our annual Art Trail Festival, resting, reading, studying, … living.
I received an email a while back from Martha Stewart with this as the subject line, “Are you a Maker?”
You know, there is a huge explosion of creativity going on across the globe and Makers of Things are finding themselves, finding each other, and finding a vast assortment of materials, techniques, and inspiration in their quests to make, create, design, build, and grow.
Sometimes I struggle with my intense desire to create because I can tend to over collect materials for so many different types of creativity that I become too over burdened with materials things that are difficult to keep organized. Over the past year I have been going through a process of choosing which avenues of creativity I will hold onto and build on and which I will let go of.
I am at heart, at the root of all things, a writer … a teller of tales and a creator of universes.
I am a painter of fine things, using oils, watercolors, colored pencils and oil pastels.
I am a photographer of life and experiences.
I am a fiber artist, with knitting being at the top of my list of fiber arts I am passionate about but needle felting is also included in there along with a bit of sewing and some crochet.
My fiber love extends also to the fibers used in making paper and books, and making paper and books ties back in with that which is at my core … writing.
This is my circle of creativity.
Simplifying down to this point has been an adventure all in itself but it has made it possible for me to simplify my materials and my studio space needs so that I can define and establish a new creative space to work in without our home that doesn't fill up too many spaces that I really need to share with others.
Well Martha … yes, I am a Maker.
I come from a long line of Makers, and a big family of Makers and I am happy to be living in a world where making things is growing and expanding and exploding in new and even more beautiful ways.
And, speaking of making things … for the Art Festival I made some fine art photography print resin pendants/charms featuring tiny photographic prints of some of my fine art paintings as well as my fine art photography. They were quite popular, so I decided to add them to my Etsy shop. This one uses a portion of the photograph I shot back in 2006 when I was knitting on the Lavender Hat & Scarf, back when I was fairly new to blogging. It is the photograph I use as the header here (see top of page), and I think it makes a lovely pendant for a knitter.
I hope you had a beautiful summer, and that you have been having fun making many things of your own. With fall beginning and the holidays not so very far away we all move into that happiest, busiest time of creativity in the making of holiday gifts, decorations, and foods.
What fun.
~firefly
Knitting with an old friend
November 9, 2012 at 5:26 pm | Posted in art, blogging, family, knitting, Life, love, women | 1 CommentTags: country living, culture, farm life, home, inspiration, knitting
I just posted at the new blog, sharing news about my latest knitting project, some photography, and a new recipe I created for a Pumpkin Bisque. I hope you enjoy the new entry.
Remember, my new blog posts will be found at Live From The Oak from now on.
Knitting, and painting, and writing …
June 30, 2012 at 5:16 pm | Posted in art, country life, faith, family, gardening, gifts, health, inspiration, knitting, Life, love, marriage, photography, relationships, summer, travel, women | 9 CommentsTags: art, country living, faith, family, home, inspiration, knitting, Life, love, photography, relationships, spirituality, travel, women, writing
Good morning … I hope you are having an enjoyable summer so far.
I give mine mixed reviews.
I spent the first part of June in Denver visiting with my parents, which was wonderful of course but not without some bittersweet feelings as well. I love living here on the farm in New York, an I would not trade my life here with my dear husband for anything. We enjoyed our sixth wedding anniversary this past April and continue to feel amazed and blessed that our 3-month online courtship and subsequent marriage worked out so very, very well.
It is, however, not fun at all to be 1,500 miles away from my parents. They have always been two of my very best, dearest friends as well as parents who I cherish, respect, and love. I wish circumstances were such that we could all live close together so that I could help them more. Dad continues to give prostate cancer a run for its money, and Mom does an incredible job taking care of him through that battle. When we all lived in California, very close to each other, my kids and I were on hand to help them if needed … and of course during all of the years when I was raising my kids my parents were very nearby and always on hand to lend a hand, a hug, or a listen whenever it was needed by us.
We have a dream that by some miracle the universe aligns and Dad and Mom are able to come and live here with us. Miracles can happen, and we will continue to pose that dream to the universe and see what we along with the universe can make happen.
Meanwhile, there is love and there is a wealth of technology for staying in touch at least.
I came back from Denver with bronchitis and then had the fun of that segueing to a sinus infection back in New York. I am much better now, but much of June was devoted to the trip and the recovery.
I did manage to take a brief little vacation, right in our own backyard, with my husband last weekend. I shot a number of photos during the vacation using the Instagram app on my Android phone and shared those on Facebook and Twitter. That little app is so amazing, and quite fun to use. I am planning on creating an Instagram chronicle over the course of this summer as a photo journal of a summer living in vacation.
Every year I am stunned all over again at the complete, innocent and rustic beauty of this place and the environment around it.
Creatively, I am enjoying a very productive time these days. I created two small oil paintings while on the mini-vacation, am almost complete with my watercolor of the swans, and have started writing my first novel. I am determined to write at least 500 words each day for the next several months until my first novel is complete. I realize 500 words per day is a tiny little writing target, but making sure I do at least that much work on the novel will ensure I do produce a full-length book over the next year. I have also been knitting: I completed a Biscuit Blanket as a mystery gift to someone I have not met as of yet, am making another attempt at a summertime blanket for myself, and am working on a new design for something I am calling a Friendship Square … more on that later.
Oh, yes … I also managed to make a triple batch of strawberry-rhubarb-cranberry preserves that resulted in a 26 jars of some very delicious jam. The strawberries and rhubarb were locally grown, and the cranberries were from a stock of frozen cranberries I always have on hand. Oops, I just remembered another thing … my husband and I got this year’s Sincere Pumpkin patch going.
I also have been creating some new art prints for knitters … I posted two of my new designs this morning in my Etsy store. They are philosophical, and slightly humorous. I hope you will enjoy at least taking a look at them and enjoying the sentiment as well as the pretty colors I am using.
That is about it for me for now. I want to work on some more paintings today, because I have the August Art Trail to prepare for and a beautiful day to thoroughly enjoy.
Warmest wishes to you and yours.
~firefly
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