bee creative

To Blog or not to Blog

“If you have built castles in the air, you’re work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them. “ Thoreau

It’s been about a month since I started my “blog project” and I want to spend some time reflecting on whether or not it’s meeting my goals. Overall, I think so. I’ve finished some projects that I’ve been working on for quite awhile and I’ve started or done some projects I’ve meant to do for a long time. I’ve experimented with some new techniques in my creations and I’m writing more. I’ve learned something about myself too. That what I want to create is often a mixture of visual image and language. That I’m always searching for connections.

I really like participating in the challenges I’ve found and I am in awe of the creativity and generosity of ideas and spirit I’ve found on other blogs and websites. It may be restricted to those who have access to the web, but it’s inspiring and motivating to be a part of a global conversation. Thanks to all who have commented on what I’ve done so far. I appreciate the feedback.

I have a lot more projects and ideas that I want to follow through on and the blog seems a really good way to document my progress, so yes, it does seem worthwhile and it does meet my goals.

inspire Me Thursday-Change of scenery

I'm one of those people who find new locations inspiring, so a change of scenery really happens pretty frequently. I take pictures wherever I go, I knit at the bus stop, my whole house and garden is my studio-not to mention my parent's house. But this prompt did get me motivated to visit a local park I've been wanting to take pictures at. And then my pictures reminded me of a favorite Wallace Stevens poem, "The Solitude of Cataracts." The more I worked on this the more I loved the irony of a river (which can take one to new places) being "fixed" by a photo, and buttons, and staples, and glue and tape. Maybe I went a little overboard? Please double click on the photo to make it larger.

And then the moon. One of my fanciful notions is that no matter where you are in the world a person might be, we're all looking at the same moon. The first night I was in Venice, Italy (talk about inspiring change of scenery) a couple of years ago, I looked out the window in the middle of the night and thought, "Yep, it's the same moon."

I did try out a few new things for this piece. I made my moon by pounding a dandelion on to scrap paper with a hammer and I printed my photo directly on to "scrap" paper-in this case some lined paper I had.

Sunday Scribblings-News

My response to the Sunday Scribblings prompt to write about news. This is something I feel really strongly about and it was hard to write as I have a lot of thoughts about it. I didn’t want it to sound didactic, not sure that I pulled that off. Here it goes:

There is a certain type of news that I feel we all have an ethical responsibility to stay current on. World affairs, the environment, our government, health issues, or issues that have an impact on how we are a part of our community-on all levels from local to global. This news makes a difference about how I live my life…the things I feel I can purchase either for environmental reasons or political reasons. I sold my car and decided to walk or bus primarily as a way to vote with my dollars- a response to environmental and political news (okay, it helps my budget a lot too). The news makes a difference in how I might vote since I’m optimistic that it counts for something-at least on a local level.

Sometimes it does get overwhelming, and sometimes it makes me cry and I feel like I have to step away for a day or so. Then I wonder what would it be like to not know what is going on anywhere except for in my own little corner of the world. This would be much like it was before news was exchanged in any way other that person to person or by letter. The price we seem to pay for all the joys of technology is that we are all more connected to the sorrows as well. When I do feel overwhelmed, I go to my garden. It’s a nurturing place.

There is another type of news in our world. And this type of news really bothers me and it’s also really hard for me to write about. I think of it as “ambulance chasing.” It’s news that dwells on personal tragedy or personal lives. Unless reporters deal with this news from the broader perspective (personal safety or how to help people), then it’s just not necessary and I’m not interested. I avoid a lot of this news by not having a television. I will admit there are some stories that a personal perspective is important to have, but those people are usually willing to talk about their experience and it’s part of a bigger story.

One last thought: “news” about celebrity’s personal lives isn’t news. It’s gossip.

Time to turn the news on and see what’s going on out in the world.

Needle felting experiment

This is my first project for my Wardrobe Refashion challenge. It is a jacket that I decided to needle felt. I made this jacket 6-7 years ago, was never happy with it, but couldn't bring myself to give up on it and cut it up for something else. I'm so glad I saved it.

In the first picture, I was just starting on the one side and had finished a fair amount on the other. I had started with wool roving but wasn't happy with the way it was coming out so I decided to felt yarn in winding patterns around where the yoke would be. Then I went back and filled in with roving. I finished by filling in gaps with a little more yarn on top.

Here's a close up of where I am now.

I'll post a picture of the whole jacket at the Wardrobe Refashion site as soon as I figure out how to turn the photo around-it's the wrong direction again.

Sunday Scribblings-Deepest, Darkest

Two posts in one day might be a bit much, but since it's as ready to go as it's going to be for awhile, here's my contribution for Sunday Scribblings. It's been forever since I've written poetry.

Fathometer

I’ve always been afraid to swim unless
I knew how deep the water was.

Sleeping in deepest sunlight.
Blinded when I return to the darkest room,
I see stars.

I am not afraid of the depth of the night sky,
But amazed and awestruck.

The deepest hole I’ve ever dug was with my brothers and some friends.
It was spring.
We were trying for China of course.

It has come around to spring again
And I am crawling out of holes and testing the water.

I see stars.

-Deborah Gorr

Inspire Me Thursday-Secrets

This was fun. The spotted leaf is pulmonaria or more commonly, lungwort. I was trying to decide whether to work that in with text somehow, but for now I think I will leave it. The skeletonized leaves are hydrangea petals. I need to remember to save some this year. Remember to double click on picture if you want to see it larger.