Hope, Gratitude and Clay

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul- and sings the tunes without the words- and never stops at all. - Emily Dickinson

The older I get the more friends I have that seem to need comforting- health problems, deaths, divorces, broken hearts. For a while I sent my little "Mending a Broken Heart" hearts. Now I have feathers which I have been sending. Just small reminders to let people know that there is hope and I am thinking of them. My youngest son insists (daily lately) that I need to sell them so I am now in the process of setting up an Etsy shop. This is more of an undertaking than I realized but I hate to disappoint him. He is such a great cheerleader and he loves what I am doing. I know that I will get asked so here's the scoop and maybe you can share your thoughts with me. I am thinking about selling the larger feathers for $10.00 each or 3 for $25.00 plus shipping. The feathers are individually made and approx. 7 inches long so no two are alike as you can see. They are light enough to ship first class which will keep the shipping cost down. I have also considered including a small card with the Emily Dickinson quote on it. Thoughts?

Wednesday was a tough day. It was one of those days that started out full of promise and quickly turned into a day where nothing seemed to go right. That is until I arrived at Clay Space and found a bowl from Ken on my shelf. I didn't think he was serious when he said that he was going to give me the bowl. Ken is a new friend. He and I are totally honest with each other which is so refreshing. We can critique each others work. We both love the positiveness from the people from Clay Space but we both want constructive and honest feedback not just cheer leading.

When I finally ran into ken to thank him, he said that I could throw it in the dumpster. I have to say that at first I thought the bowl was a hot mess but on closer examination I found the shape of a tree. The bowl went from ugly to interesting. Ken was thrilled that I have seen the tree and happy when I called it a "hot mess." I am keeping the bowl as a reminder to not be afraid to try new things (Ken was playing with wax on this piece), friendship, kindness, and gratitude. Do you have something that reminds you to focus on good things?

I am making this my Off the Wall Fridays post.

The Winner Is....

I had my son draw the name. When I asked him to please select someone who would appreciate it and has a good heart, he said, "Thanks for the extra pressure." Then I felt really guilty and said, "I am sure everyone with a name in this hat is deserving and has a good heart." Michele Bilyeu is the winner! She is deserving and while I have never met Michele, I know that she has a huge and caring heart. Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your new treasures and I really hope you use them! I am sorry that I did not own enough silk to share it with everyone. Don't despair. Next Blog Hop Giveaway, I'll share a little of my Georgian (country not state) silk. And I am thrilled that once again a follower of my blog won.


I thought I would also share with you that there was a woman sitting in the back of the booth where I bought the silk. Her image still haunts me. She was the saddest looking person I have ever seen. I always wished I had tried to find out more about her. While I was in Osh, I met a lot of women artists. Many practiced their art in secret because their husbands disapproved. I met women who divorced their husbands because they didn't want them to create art and then I met wonderful couples who created art together. It was truly an eye opener for me. I am so thankful that I can create anything I choose even if my husband doesn't get most of what I do. Make it a creative and caring day. It's my plan.

Winged Messengers

Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A word of optimism and hop. A "you can do it" when things are tough. - Richard M. DeVos

On Friday, Scott, the dairy guy at my local Dominick's, was sharing how often he is yelled at for things outside his control.  It distresses him.  It distressed me when he shared I was one of the few people who are always kind to him. On Saturday, I stopped on the way home to pick up a Sunday paper. At the check out, a guy was screaming at the clerk who was trying her best not to cry. His accusation was the scale was wrong. He marched off with his cherries, making us all wait. He returned with a smaller bag and seemed satisfied that the scale had been fixed. The pain remained on the clerk's face even after the rest of us did our best to make her feel better. It's so hard to remember that so often it's just not about us.

For years, I have traveled with chalk in my pocket. I leave positive comments on sidewalks. I especially like leaving messages at the neighborhood school bus stop. I decided this just isn't enough. There needs to be more kindness in the world.  I remember years ago reading about Susanna Gordon's "winged messengers." She does letters so I decided to do hearts. I want them to be quickly made and put out into the world so I am trying to let go and not stress too much about how they look. I started using cardstock as Susanna suggested but have decided to move to watercolor paper. I think they will hold up better especially since I will be leaving them outside sometimes. I'm having fun. I love watching people react to them.  How are you putting kindness into the world?

Radka Donnell Rest in Peace

Yesterday I learned that Radka Donnell died about two weeks ago. I have not seen this mentioned anywhere which made me sad. She was born on November 24, 1928 in Bulgaria. She lived though the war years in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1951. She was a graduate of Stanford University and earned her MFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder while raising two daughters. After moving to Kansas in 1965, she began making contemporary quilts. She also earned a Certificate of Art Theraphy from the Metropolitan Collage in Boston. Her book Quilts As Women's Art: A Quilt Poetics was published in 1990 and has been quoted from often in publications. As you can see mine is well loved.  She was living in Switzerland when she died. I tried to interview her for Quilters' S.O.S. -Save Our Stories and regret that we could never seem to make it happen. The quilt world has lost not only a great artist and poet, but someone who fought for the recognition of quilts as women's art beginning in the 1970s.

She wrote, "I stepped out of the 'art scene' when I began doing my quilts. I have stayed with quiltmaking because it helped me to find wholeness and be open to enjoy, advise, and validate the creativity of other women. I believe we are all equally creative, and my happiest moment regarding art was when one of my students said about my course, 'It helped me realize that I am more creative than I thought before.' This is my [current] objective, and if it does not make me an 'artist,' that's OK with me."

Happy St. Patrick's Day

My father loved being Irish. I don't have the heart to tell him that the Musgraves came from England via Germany. I have been able to trace them back to the 1600s. When they came to the U.S., they were Quakers and farming seems to be their profession of choice. They took the southern migration ending up in Southern Illinois. My great-great-grandfather served in the Civil War for the North. My grandfather moved north probably for a better life. He died when my dad was 4 years old. My dad taught me to believe in leprechauns and magic. Hopefully someday soon I'll be able to prove the Irish heritage he so strongly believes is true. None of that really matters because as the saying goes, "Everyone is Irish on St. Patty's day." So today I'll celebrate my dad and good St. Patrick's Day memories. Wishing you good health, good luck and happiness today and always.

Day of the Dead Mask

I continue to play with clay and maskmaking. Last night I finished my Day of the Dead mask. I have always loved the historically rich Mexican culture and especially their view of death. This one is smaller than most of the masks I have been creating. It's 6" x 7.5". I am giving myself the freedom to use anything that will help me create the piece as I have imagined it. I was surprised, although I probably should not have been, that some people at Clay Space asked me if what I was doing was "allowed." Just as my thinking in the beginning was that I needed to use glazes, there are those who stay within those perimeters. Not everyone gets what I am doing and that is okay. It has been the story of my life. I am finding that most clay people seem to be more open to those who think outside the box and for that I am thankful. Right now I am having too much fun! What have you done lately that feels you with glee?

UFO Done and Perfectionism

My applique leaf UFO quilt is done! Thanks to everyone for their suggestions and kind words. I tried to find something to use as a sashing and could not find anything in my stash that worked. I have vowed not to spend money on fabric to finish my UFOs. I realized that I was beginning to over-think. When the over-thinking mode happens, I start to spin, feel tense and nothing happens. I can be my own worst enemy. The realization that over thinking may be a form of perfectionism also occurred to me.

Perfectionism is a killer to creativity. I have watched it happen with friends and students. I have experienced myself. Just Monday night I was talking to the intern in my pottery class. She never finishes any of her painting because she is worried that she won't get it "right." Yesterday I talked to a former student who shared that she could not create "serious" art until she had the "perfect" studio. It did not seem to matter to her when I shared that for years I created on a small rickety card table set up between my washer and dryer. Or that I always travel with handwork of some kind.  I wish I could have made her believe a little more in her abilities and less the need for the "perfect" place to create. Hopefully she will realize this sooner than later. Thanks to everyone who shared that perfectionism has been a problem too. It is good not to be alone and have support.

Julia Cameron in her book Finding Water: The Art of Perseverance said it best. “Perfectionism doesn't believe in practice shots. It doesn't believe in improvement. Perfectionism has never heard that anything worth doing is worth doing badly--and that if we allow ourselves to do something badly we might in time become quite good at it. Perfectionism measures our beginner's work against the finished work of masters. Perfectionism thrives on comparison and competition. It doesn't know how to say, 'Good try,' or 'Job well done.' The critic does not believe in creative glee--or any glee at all, for that matter. No, perfectionism is a serious matter.”

Here is to gleeful creating with no need for being perfect!

And once again I'm participating in Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays.