bee creative

putting the pieces together

Some people go on vacation.

I seem to take staycations and classes.

I am taking a collage class from Donna Watson, hosted by Fibre Arts Take Two.  It's a bit ironic to be taking a class from an artist who lives close enough to me to be called "local" on a site hosted in Australia. 

Working with all the paper I've accumulated over the years is a goal of mine for this year and the class seemed like a good way to commit to it.  The title of the class, "The Way of Wabi Sabi Collage" (which also references Boro) was a huge draw for me. 

 

I've also been visiting local beaches and one of the lakes.  Today I discovered another beach access and walked out on a pier that just opened.

It's definitely going to be a regular destination.

 

tranquil

 

Yesterday's morning walk along the water. 

It settles everything in me. 

How humankind has touched and is a part of the natural world is evident but so is the realization that it is a world we share.

Pieces of brick that I picked up to make pigment with, 3 different shades of orange. 

Three parrot tulips that I planted a few years ago survived a visit from a doe in the garden.  I found her napping in the back garden. 

I am sure she felt it was a quiet and safe place.

I've made a little shelter for the tulips to grow in, just in case she comes back. 

 

 

 

 

it's spring...joy

I am out collecting things in my hair.

Yesterday it was a branch that I pulled out at the farmer's market.

Today it was a plum blossom...

Who knows what it will be tomorrow?

This arrived in my inbox this morning as part of the weekly Marginalian newsletter:

 

Joy.

still here

Oops... a little more time has passed than I intended. 

I think mostly because time is just flowing past for me right now...

Last night I had dinner with Hazel and we talked about how 15 minutes is a manageable time for making.

This is my latest stitch book page (blue fabric from Jude, yellow is marigold dyed). 

Something like this is easy to work on a little bit at a time.

Strangely enough, so is this (still in progress).

I have been taking a class from Christina Romeo (Carla Sonheim Presents). It is a process that lends itself easily to 15 minutes or so and is lots of fun. 

Both of these projects are also great for larger periods of time when everything settles into place and it's easy to be in the moment making.

This all has me thinking about making/art as a process of healing and mending our own frayed edges. 

There are signs of spring in the garden, this also brings joy.

As of this month I have been blogging for 19 years.  I am pretty sure that I have it in me to keep going. 

Writing and sharing with others is different than writing for yourself in a journal.

Keep noticing the joy in the world.

 

light and bright

Flowers from the farmer's market, greenhouse grown.  I bought them from the farmer that I used to buy ginger from, also greenhouse grown here. He hasn't grown any ginger for the last few years.  I asked him if he was this year and he said, "maybe."

A gift from my mother, solar powered.

The power of stored energy.

at the end of December

Widget this morning.

She was my Christmas kitten who arrived a few days before the end of the year four years ago. 

She is a bit mythic to my friends and family who come to visit as she hides and won't come out. 

And...

I heard a bird sing

In the dark of December

A magical thing

And sweet to remember.

 

"We are nearer to spring

Than we were in September,"

I heard a bird sing

In the Dark of December.

-Oliver Herford

And...

I will be setting my alarm not to wake up so that I can "ring the New Year in," but rather in hopes of seeing the Aurora Borealis... Wouldn't that be amazing?

Happy New Year! 

joy and silliness

One of my coworkers decided the cats needed a costume...

Gibson thought it was worth considering.

 

space, sun and stars

The space we occupy, the space we move in, space as in outside of Earth's atmosphere.

This weekend I found an interview with Ada Limón which was wonderful and that I need to go back and listen to again. 

She has written a poem called, "In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa" that has been engraved on a spacecraft heading for the moon Europa.  I was going to wait to post about this (so that I could stitch some stars) but then checking the news, realized that the Europa Clipper was launched today.

It couldn't wait to be shared.

From the poem: "We are creatures of constant awe,  curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom, at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow."

Since I didn't get to stitching, I gathered a few star shaped blossoms to share.

And the sun, there shining through, a star...

Thinking about constant awe. 

j...just

Just a moment, just a quick note, just a thought, just now, just beautiful,  just....joy.

blue

So many words that begin with "b" that I love. 

Be for being present.

Bees for so more reasons that I can list right now. 

Baskets and bowls, the magic of holding.

Boats, for going as well as holding.

Books, they hold too...stories and thoughts. 

And blue. 

I would never be able to choose a favorite color but there is something special about the color blue.

Yesterday I took some of my indigo plants to work with me and did some dyeing with the preschool class.  The children picked the leaves off the stems, used the hand blender to chop the leaves, and then after I strained out the leaves, took turns squeezing the silk as it went from white to green to blue. 

I brought the dye bath home so I could add a skein of yarn to it. On the way to my car the toddlers stopped me, wanting to know what I had.  We talked about the color blue.  Many of them wanted to put their hands in the water and so they took turns squeezing the silk as well.  One of the children was fascinated by the wool and kept sliding her fingers around it. 

I will be making something for the class with the wool and silk.  We discussed a cape, balls, and a doll blanket.

Yesterday was also a super blue (seasonal, 4th full moon of a quarter) moon.

  I saw it outside the kitchen window at about 3 AM.

It was a very good day.