poking around

"some people have told

me that i'm grumpy; 

it's not something 

that i'm aware of.

it's not like i walk around

poking children 

in the eye...

not very small ones, anyway."

- dylan moran

i've been away from creating anything (pole barns and home remodels notwithstanding) that it would appear that my general demeanor is being affected.  in an effort to move back toward a more affable nature, i began poking around in the old steamer trunks and rustic cabinets that i stored away the more the "traditional" quilting projects i had once planned oh so many years ago when i used to manage a local quilt shop.  enough proverbial water has flowed beneath that bridge that i think i can approach them once again without the negative energies the woman who owned the shop instilled my my quilting experience.  oh! what treasures i found!  some i'm not even certain what my intentions were back then, so they will have to be reworked into something new.  but this! this little packet of oriental fabrics was tied up with string and contained the book from whence came my abandoned plan!

i began first cutting strips.  then triangles. then sewing hexagrams. well, half hexagrams. the two halves will be sewn into rows and then together to avoid awkward seams.  above are a few of the fun little kaleidoscope blocks that have emerged. down in the lower left corner is a stack of 18 more.  out of the frame is a stack of enough triangles grouped together to form 3 times this many hexies.  once they have joined this bunch, it will be off to play on the design wall!

i can hardly wait to see how this turns out!  it feels good to be excited by something creative once again...

namaste'

into lighter moments

"the relationship

between reader and writer

is reciprocal in a way.

we co-create each other.

we are constantly emerging

out of the relationship

we have with others."

-ruth ozeki

while bodhi does not seem to have the same sense of relish for the gently wafting snow sachi once had, i find it immensely invigorating each morning and evening as i drag him out into the cold, crisp air for our four mile constitutional! though, i must say, he sure enjoys snuggling down at my feet afterward as I quietly needle chant.

each stitch i add to community brings me further from the dark avenues my mind has be traveling. into lighter moments. bringing with the light a sense of belonging. to something other than.  it lifts my spirits and makes it easier to take the next stitch...and the next...and the next.  sluggish ideas begin to move through velvet embrace. awaken.  whisper.

it is good.  perhaps the moss will begin to be scraped from this stone as it begins rolling once more. however slowly at first...

namaste'

a going on...

"year's end is neither

and ending nor a beginning

but a going on,

with all the wisdom that

experience can instill

in us."

-hal borland

last year was a strange one for me here in montana.  the latter half being the stranger still...  a new saint came into my life, bringing with him all the joy, and copious shedding hair, that comes with such a delightful creature!  we both promptly had surgeries...though mine incapacitated me for much longer than his.  shortly before the holidays i was finally given the go ahead to start sewing again, but have found myself stuck in a dark corner of mind...unable to bring myself to stitch...

with the turning of the year's wheel has come a renewed sense of purpose. or at least a need to dig myself out of this rut.  my wrist is still tender and won't allow me to stitch for long without screaming out in protest, so i am contenting myself with simple thread chanting. endless miles of stitching on community.  it seems an appropriate cloth to work on at the moment.  one that fosters a sense of belonging. of community.  perhaps this will be a focus cloth for a while. simple stitching...nothing too taxing for the wrist...  slowly rebuild the strength in those tendons and muscles... a good way to spend cold, snowy evenings...

namaste'

boo!

joyous all hallow's eve to you all in whatever form you choose to celebrate it! bodhi and i spent a quiet night with a few friends, breaking bread, sharing sweets with neighboring children, and then snuggling on the davenport watching hocus pocus and allowing our respective surgeries time to heal. it is our sincerest wish that you all are enjoying the evening as much as we have been!

namastě

buzz, buzz, buzz!

"when the flower blossoms,

the bee will come."

-srikumar rao

introducing bodhi, my new little st. bernard puppy! he is just 8 months old and already weighs almost 100 pounds!  oh my, but he's gonna be a BIG boy! he's a sweet little doll baby that was rescued from an abusive home where he spent his first 5 months ignored and cooped up in a tiny kennel. the a-hole who had him bought him from the breeder and then abused him this way, letting him out only to go potty and then right back in. he was being fed the cheapest, worst food and was severely malnourished until the guy's sister confiscated him and nursed him back to health.

two weeks ago, he came to live with me. he didn't respond to the name they had given him (thor) so i started calling him bodhi, which is the buddhist term for wisdom.  he immediately responded and so it stuck.

i've been away from my blog lately as i injured my hand 6 weeks ago and have been unable to stitch, no matter how many times i've tried. my hand is numb and tingly like it's fallen asleep all the time. i herniated the bursa in my wrist which had caused 2 cysts on my bones and one ganglion cyst on my wrist that is wrapped around an artery and sitting on a nerve.  i go in for surgery this coming friday.  then it'll be a couple weeks in a splint and then physical therapy, so there won't be any stitchery or music for a while, but i will find other things to share in the meantime...

namasté

personal archeology

as an artist (though, in truth, this applies to most areas of my self), i sometimes find distractions mounting on all sides leading me astray from intended purpose.i begin to feel rather like the cartoon dog spotting squirrels and darting off in unexpected directions.  perhaps this is not always a negative activity for it uncovers many surprising treasures, both in experiences and objects.

this evening, the squirrels were stuffed away in several binders and boxes. pages upon pages of ideas captured in pencil and ink and paint and cloth. dolls/ quilts. instruments. carvings. paintings. all yet to be manifested.  a walk through memories forgotten. now revisited. it is at times like having a.d.d. of a sort.  the whispers drawing me in so many directions. it is a sublime bit of confusion in the moment. though eventually not very productive.

perhaps this little foray into personal archeology will inadvertantly redirect me down a more creatively productive path.... until then, i am enjoying the journey!

namaste'

working through

an uneventful weekend. one of those periods where you feel swaddled in cotton wool. everything around you seems muffled. so you busy yourself with things close at hand. the pants, which have begun to call themselves working through, stirred and whispered. they were as close at hand as anything else. i began laying the foundation. a scrap of red to remind one of the wound upon which this new cloth will be built. stitched up a few rips that were silent.  brought what was left of the hem back into close proximity of the leg.  on my last pair, i underlayed a hem from a different pair of pants. i'm not sure yet what i want to do with this pair. though i do not wish to repeat the past.  next will come layered fragments in a boro style...to strengthen and connect. 

namaste'

salvage blues

things that people

have used 

and cherished. they

have personality,

character,

and soul.

here we have two of my favorite things: music and cloth.  both created, or to be re-created, from salvage.  in the background is my latest acquisition, the troubadour, talked about here.  in the foreground is one of my favorite pair of work jeans. carpenters, complete with the extra little side pockets and hammer loop.  blown out knee with a minor repair already chanted in. chewed to salem and back heel cuz i love to were my jeans a few inches longer than my legs can manage. one of the legs is ripped several inches up along one side where i stepped on the trailing fragments of hem and continued to try to walk.

if you've been following my blog for some time, you'll remember i've already done a pair of skull pants. now it is time for something different. new. at first blush, i'm thinking something japanese. oni masks; foo lions; noh theatre; hannya masks...that sort of vibe. so, over the next few days, i'll be sketching some ideas while needle chanting in some stabilizing scraps and preparing the jeans for what is to come!

namaste'

to re-establish a sense of belonging

a bit of needle chanting on an often re-visited cloth, mind flowers.  no real reason to have chosen this cloth over any other. just the need to stitch without much thought. this cloth has many chant sessions to go before it will be fully realized. so it is as good as any to re-establish a relationship with fibre. a sense of belonging to something other than.  a union with cloth and community through stitch.

i spend too much time alone...

namaste'