Category Archives: infatuated

My current obsessions

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1.  Oh.My.Gosh. SERIOUSLY SUN – WHERE ARE YOU?? My #1 obsession right now is that great, big, golden ball in the sky. *sigh*

warm

1. sun & ring & hand, 2. Warm feeling, 3. I want to be where the Sun warms the sky, 4. Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces; Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here; Here comes the sun, here comes the sun; and I say it’s all right (14/52), 5. Fairytales 2- Warm, 6. two seconds in the sun, 7. Today shined liked Spring. #ssevolve #shuttersisters #thecameramen, 8. Sunshine!, 9. a warm glo

2.  This video on the Art of Asking, is in two words – brave and beautiful! Asking. For me it’s a tough, tough thing to do. It involves leaping over my shame, and fear of being seen as inadequate and needy. But I think what Amanda Palmer shares so beautifully is the flip side of asking – connection and trust and seeing and being seen.

3.  Just about every project from this architecture firm.

4.  Jun Kaneko’s  everything!

5.  Lots of the recipes on this website. I just now had a left over slow cooker pork burrito for lunch. yum.

6.  Brene Brown & Oprah – Super Soul Sunday.

7.   I continue to be confused about the use of quotes in artwork and merchandise on Etsy, etc. For example the use of song lyrics or sayings on artwork. My interpretation is that unless you have permission from the author or estate you should not use them for anything you are selling. Judging by the number of items for sale I’m doubting many have done the leg work to gain the proper permission. Occasionally I consider adding quotes to my work, but don’t because of the possible legalities. Anyone have any info about this, or a legitimate reference source?

8.  Books, books and more books…what else are you gonna do when the wind chill is in the teens, and there is nothing but claustrophobic grayness. And all of your motivation for being productive has leaked out of you, phhhhhfffffffzzzeeeeeeefffftttt, like air out of a balloon, and just walking the dog makes your eyes water, and your nose run, leaking snot out of both nostrils, because of the cold, brittle wind. My mother would say, “Now honey, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” But you are so POed at winter you can’t keep the whining, grating, complaining tone out of your voice. Not unless you want to explode in a giant fire ball of angry anyway. Sorry Mom.

A Fine Balance/Rohinton Mistry, Little Bee/Chris Cleave, Wild/Cheryl Strayed, The Great Dance/C. Baxter Kruger, Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore/Robin Sloan, Help Thanks Wow/Anne Lamott.  Some I’ve finished, some I’m in the middle of.

p.s. I have edited this post 13 times. Egad Reginald, the poor girl’s gone mad. If that sun ever shines she will be baying at it like a hound dog.

the importance of artists & craftsmen

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Inspiring me November continued:

Part of our summer vacation included time in Chicago.  One of my favorite cities!  During our visit we spent time at the Field Museum.  The anthropological collections there are phenomenal.  I have been to lots of museums, and have seen plenty of historical displays of various cultures, etc.  But something clicked in my head during this visit.  I know, I can be a bit slow… but I fully realized for the first time how important artists are.  Of course, among the displays there were objects made for royalty or for important ceremonial purposes, but there were several displays of items used in the everyday.  Vessels for cooking that had patterns, and clothing that had intricate embroidery or beading, and even a life-sized home that incorporated weaving designs in the walls.

In the ages represented in these displays,  there did not exist thousands of computer images, or Target/Walmart/Malls, or mass-produced designs.  So imagine being a person of artistic skill in that time.  It seems like it was a highly valued skill to be able to pull designs from the mind’s eye and then to create from clay or straw or wood or precious metal an object of use or ceremony.  Honestly, as I walked through the museum I felt a huge shift blossoming in my chest.

1. Oba’s memorial head 9-2-2012, 2. The Field Museum-41, 3. Basket from Alaska. (Field Museum, Chicago), 4. you have the wrong bear, 5. head ornament, India, 19th century, 6. The Sun God Opal, carved opal set in gold (35-carat opal), 7. Myriad of Shoes, 8. Field Museum – Africa, 9. masks, 10. Ancient Americas exhibit, Field Museum, 11. canopic jars, limestone, Third Intermediate Period, 12. Tuareg Amulet Pouch Algeria, 13. Rings, 14. Field Museum, 15. Mata Ortiz Pottery, 16. Chicago Field Museum

Maybe this resonated for me because not too long before our trip I had been reading about the building of the Temple in the Old Testament.  And that God saw fit to have artisans and skilled craftspeople working on the Temple.  So on our vacation all of it combined to create in me a sense of value for my artistic leanings.  If you’ve ever listened to Steve Jobs’ commencement speech you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say that dots started to become connected.  I don’t think I’m adequately explaining the impact this had on me.  Or how I can connect it to my post about Junior.  And I can connect it to this TED talk by Mike Row. (who by the way I have a secret crush on.)  The mistake we make when we put things in a hierarchy of value.  The mistake we make when we devalue creativity, or someone’s contribution to the world – no matter how seemingly small or insignificant, or the good old-fashioned value of manual/physical labor, or the people behind the scenes making life work or creating designs that make our lives easier and/or add an element of aesthetics.

And now a short lis of current artists/craftspeople who are inspiring me.

  • Jennifer Steen Booher, and her beachcombing series of photographs.
  • Olivia Jeffries organic and understated drawings.
  • Ian Ruhter’s incredible large scale photography. And how he came to determine the value of what he is doing.
  • William Hays’ linocut prints, especially this & this.
  • The papercuttings of Karen Bit Vejle

Inspiring Me November

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  • These tree seedlings that Everett is nurturing along with attentive care.  The boys have grown tree seeds from the Tree In a Box company.  And it has been a real labor of love, and even at my kids age, there was a real sense of delight when the little trees broke the surface of the soil.

For the rest of my November inspiration I’m going to present them one at a time.  Frankly I’m tired of giving 10 seconds of attention to a hundred things.  So,  instead I will give more attention to each item, and maybe open things up to big questions and more in-depth conversation.

  • Last month I linked to an inspiring young man who built his own house on wheels.  Kids these days, right?  Well here’s another one:  A boy and his chickens and bees and some thoughts on failure.  I barely know where to start with the things this 15-year-old boy, Orren Fox, is saying.  Talk about wisdom – he has figured out some things that most people take a lifetime to figure out, if they ever figure them out at all!  Here are the things that really jump out at me:
  1. “but there is no room for, ‘I don’t want to go.’ “  I’ve spoke of this before.  The need to do the hard thing.  The need to do the things you don’t want to do, but that must be done.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  Put your nose to the grindstone.  The side effects are a good healthy dose of earned self-esteem and inner strength.  It seems in this day and age those are quaint and nostalgic ideas.  But when these ideas are put into practice, character is built and things get done!!
  2. “I hope I never become an expert because being a beginner means you can make tons of mistakes and you can ask a ton of questions.”  How do you feel about making mistakes?  I know a few years ago, mistakes were a really big deal to me.  This is what the equation looked like:  mistakes = bad.  And I’ve watched my kids sort through this too.  There have been times when they’ve tried something new, and became frustrated cause they couldn’t figure it out right off the bat.  They would think they were no good at it, and abandon the thing.  I think our family has become better about this as we have intentionally become a mistake making place.
  3. “I trust them and they trust me.”  Considering that we are coming off the presidential election, and the election evidence that we are truly a divided country… well, I’m thinking that trust could go a long way towards healing what divides us.   The power of community and consensus building, are things, in my humble opinion, that we need.  If we could build trust that when we ALL thrive, not just a few, it’s a good thing.
  4. “And failing is just as important and interesting as succeeding.”  Can you live in that space?  Where failing is more important and interesting as succeeding…Have you ever looked at it from that point of view?  Is there as much or more value in the process and the learning and exploring, no matter the outcome?  I’m certainly coming to believe so.  More and more I’m loosening my expectations, control, and need for certain success.  It is incredibly freeing and truly opens up all kinds of interesting and exciting possibilities.

I hope you will read through Orren’s post, and watch his video.  I’d welcome any and all conversation related to these ideas!

Inspiring me now…

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I’ve decided to start each month off with a list of the things that are inspiring me.  Here is October’s list.

  • the odd and simple still life on my kitchen counter – solo cups, party straws (thank you Super Jen), grocery store flower bouquets in a lovely handmade vase.
  • this braided cuff bracelet.
  • THE BEST advice column. ever.
  • kids these days. (hint. they are awesome!)
  • how to have an amazeballs life!
  • cleaning out and getting rid of.  objects must pass the 3 criterion list in order to stick around. Is it useful? Is it beautiful? Does it add value to my life or have good energy?
  • blogging under the influence.  I am the most magnanimous wine drinker.  A couple of glasses of wine and I am sentimental and loving of the whole damn world, and will confess that I want you to love me, but I am not cool at all.  at all.  but still, please love me in my desperate desire for coolness. or better yet just love me as you shake your head at my silliness and raw vulnerability drunkenness.
  • chocolate chip ice cream.
  • my God journey, paradigm shifting. ( more about this later.)
  • more dot connecting with one of my favorite philosophers and life lovers:  ”Let me admonish you…to go alone; to refuse the good models, even those which are sacred in the imagination of men, and dare to love God without mediator or veil…” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • sleep!
  • college boy’s first presidential vote. He is coming home tonight and plans to fill out his early ballet tomorrow.
  • The writings of John Muir.
  • The Hare with Amber Eyes.  (Thanks Melinda) This book was rough going at first including having to keep my dictionary by my side as I read it, but then…it was a really lovely book.  Netsuke – I find the smallness and tactile nature of these objects akin to my love of smooth pebbles.  Something that you can slip into a pocket, or roll around in the palm of your hand, that has just the right bit of weight to it.

the best medicine

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Pinned Image

Pinned Image

Both photos from Pinterest.  I tried to find the original source for these photos but couldn’t.  Anyone?

Are you giving yourself regular doses of THE best medicine?  The other day Nate was doing an impression of Stephen Hawking that was so funny I couldn’t stop laughing.  And recently Mr. Smoothpebble and I were jogging and getting into one of our usual ridiculous spats, and a car drove by and he waved all friendly like, so I called him Old Mr. Fish & Chips, and we both busted out laughing.  For the next 2 miles paroxysms of giggles bubbled up and threatened to overtake me.  His nickname for me is Old Mrs. Kick-Your-Ass.  And that makes me laugh too.

Sometimes I realize it’s just been too long since I’ve had a good gut-busting cases of the giggles.  My wish for you this weekend – tears running down your cheeks, legs crossed so as not to wet yourself, snorting through your nose LAUGHTER! Cheers!

brain dump

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Too, too many bees buzzing in my head.  Today this is the depository:

1.  The top photo is the second hive cutting I did mounted on navy paper.

2.  I just viewed the Cindy Sherman exhibit on-line.  I won’t argue that she is insanely talented, but I have to say I find her work disturbing and grotesque.  Clowns-ugh, they really tap into my clown phobia.  And that’s just for starters.  Many of her photos I find repulsive, but I’m guessing that is one of the reactions she is anticipating with her work.

3.  I loved listening to the Fresh Air interview with author, Jonah Lehrer, about his new book Imagine.

4.  This etsy video of Natalie Chanin, has renewed my infatuation with her craftsmanship and her business philosophy.

5.  Some new to me favorite musicians:  Jono McCleery, Bedouin Soundclash, Dr. Dog, Junip, Justin Townes Earle, Tristen, Yukon Blonde, The Orbans, Luisa Maita (I don’t understand a single word of this last one, but it makes me feel like a world traveler!)  All of these found on a promotional CD from Teva.

6.  I’m currently reading Eat Love Pray.  I was predisposed to hate this book, and in fact I had vowed to never read it.  Thinking to myself what a self-indulgent, whiny, and annoying book.  However, having just finished the Pray section I must eat crow or admit that I myself am self-indulgent, whiny and annoying because so much of the book is resonating with me.  Here’s the thing, some of us take longer to come to our own truth then others.  For whatever reasons, and because we have so de-selfed ourselves that the path to wholeness is a very long journey indeed.  Now, would I love to have a year in which to travel and “find myself”?  Absolutely.  Is that going to happen?  No way.  But I think I can continue to find my heart in the context of where I’m at right now.

7.  A fellow papercutter’s amazing cut of her father’s beloved dog.

8.  Just for kicks and grins I had the boys take The Five Love Languages Test for Teenagers.  (Thanks Melinda)  M.’s is Quality Time.  E.’s is Quality Time with Acts of Service a close second.  N.’s is Affirmation and Acts of Service.  This is the way they most experience love and get there tanks refueled.

9.  Mailing off this papercut to a delightful person who asked me to create a papercut inspired by Otomi textiles.  She also told me this, ”Love these. I think others would love it too. You should list it!!. Thanks sooooo much. People like you are why I love etsy. ”  It very nearly made me cry.  Which is something else too, lately I get so happy weepy over things…  Is this normal?  Is it hormonal?  Have I evolved?  Or is my weirdness just leaking out in a new way?

9.  Part 1 of an interesting dialogue about being a crafty (as in maker of things) consumer.

10.  Revisiting this video.  Why?  Because it contains such an important message.  Don’t quit!  Keep making, writing, photographing, cooking, whatever it is that got you into the game!

I know this is a long post with lots and lots of links…definitely a brain dump.  But I’ll be away for a bit.  The days are so gorgeous, and I’ve got lots of projects I’m working on.