zen quote of the day:
no point in trying to plan everything out,
dive into the present moment and tap
into your wellspring of intuitive guidance.
it seems so many of us are resting in the space between right now. the space between signing up for jude hill's advanced boro workshop and waiting for it to commence. i'm enjoying reading the many varied ways we are resting in the space between. some are frantically trying to finish up projects from the previous workshop. some are digging through fabrics in search of the perfect ones to toss into the pile to use for this one. some are surfing far and wide to read the blogs of those of us participating. some are searching their minds, wondering what were they thinking when they signed up in the first place. ha!
seriously, though, we are all preparing in our own ways. i was first tempted to dig through the mountains of fabric that i have to put together the "perfect pile" of material for this workshop. indeed, i spent an hour or two rifling through boxes and suitcases and closets. but then it occurred to me that i have no idea what the illustrious jude hill has rambling about in her mind and imagination for this workshop. yeah...it's the next step in cloth to cloth creativity a la jude. yeah...it's called an advanced boro technique class. yeah...she's given us insight into what types of topics and techniques she intends to cover. but that moment has not yet arrived. so i sat and cleared my mind. breathed deeply. relaxed and let go of every half-formed preconception that had been growing over the past couple of weeks and decided to leave my fabrics and treasures where they are. their moments to shine will come soon enough.
in the meantime, i'm allowing the creative muse to lead me down whatever byway he chooses. today i pulled out another of the woven cloths from the first c2c class. it had not yet been stitched down. merely basted around the outer edges. i started listening to its soft whispering. listening and obeying. i've added some fringe from the edge of an old handwoven napkin from my early days of weaving. yes, i am even known for cannibalizing my own creations from days gone by. cloth is cloth. be it woven in a mill or on my own loom. next i added an interesting little square from my scrap bin and a triangle motif border from the same bin. then i found some hand batiked flowers on a vintage shirt from india and a couple elephants from an old 1970's sheet set that fits a bed somewhere other than in my home. finally, a bit of gold-embroidered trim was added and then i started a little stitching, after getting everything basted down.
this cloth still has a long way to go before its story has been fully realized. but the whispers have begun and i am satisfied with its beginnings. i'm thinking the elephants shall be embellished with french knots in each of the dots that illustrate them. lots of kantha stitching. perhaps some beading. who knows what else? i'm allowing it to unfold moment by moment. these all just whispers. echoes of ideas floating about in the creative pool.
but now, in this moment, i'm just enjoying being surrounded by six new cloths in various stages of manifestation!
as for the cat....he's lost in kitty dreams and twitching in contentment...
namaste'
you express what lots of us are doing. waiting, gathering, anticipating, filling the time with cloth.
ReplyDeleteSo nice that we are all considered here Joe; I keep thinking of all this meditating on the coming class as 'priming', as in the action I was taught to take with the old pump in the well on the farm. Maybe it is the 'well' we are waiting on?
ReplyDelete...Yes Gracie, the wellspring.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading this the door bell rang. I did not want to answer, I am deep in though and Joe is voicing many of them. I do hope I was not rude to the mail carrier...she after all made the effort to come up to my door, in all this snow.
Back on subject...I am rather overwhelmed. I have a neighbor who sells upholstery and curtain fabrics...he brought three large boxes of fabric over to my house a few days ago. I have not looked into the boxes yet...there is too much peculating in my mind right now.
One thing I need to do is to find a way to share some of the fabric that just fell into my lap :) Any suggestions?
yes. to paraphrase sheng-yen, be soft in your practice. think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. follow the stream, have faith in its course. it will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. it will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. just follow it. never let it out of your sight. it will take you.... such is the way of cloth and creativity. indeed, it is the way of just about anything. but applies so perfectly to the phenomena that is spirit cloth. the phenomena that we all here are following, thanks to jude. thanks to each and every one of us as we meander and trickle in our own cloth journeys. sharing the beauty and delight and wonder that we find along the way.
ReplyDeleteyou are all so amazing! we are all blessed in countless, unknown ways by having come together, wrapped in the warmth and wonder of cloth!
namaste'
ONLY six new cloths in various stages?? I don't want to count.Ha. I have a voracious appetite for knowledge so I'm waiting to learn from Jude, plus I have this obsession with boro cloth at the moment. I've always had a love for collage and anything in juxtaposition, so the boro seems natural progression. I'm like you not really collecting into any one pile the cloth will call to me when it is ready to be used. I'm anxious for the interaction of the class, any class I've taken from jude before have been a lot of fun and lots of inspiration and all around fuel for the creative juices.
ReplyDeletehelen, yes. i've been rather lazy of late. at least, that is how it might appear when it comes to clothmaking. much time has been devoted to thinking. napping. cleaning. wondering.
ReplyDeleteyour advice is so true for all of us. i will copy it and post it somewhere to remind me ... all of your words are amazing joe....where did you come from, did you drop down to the earth to be a bodisatva of cloth aka life?
ReplyDeleteha! bodhisattva of cloth? i like that idea. perhaps somewhere in the clear pure truth that resides within there is a bodhisattva of cloth... though i am looking at it through a very dirty mirror at the moment....
ReplyDeletethank you for the wonderful chuckle!
namaste'
Hello Joe I am also waiting in the space between! I was looking at all your great photos and quilts and wonderful knitting! I used to knit once (she said wistfully) but it doesn't seem to get cold enough here now (Newcastle, Australia) for anyone to wear wool sweaters and socks and the like. Ihave had fun with scarves but your work is gorgeous.
ReplyDelete