Repurposing

I have been thinking a lot about sustainability and the ideas of reducing, reusing, and recycling, lately. Recently, I came across this website: Greennovate. While it focuses on China, it has a number of interesting an informative videos. Watching "The Secret Lives of Our Clothes" made quite an impression on me. I knew that there were environmental and health concerns surrounding clothing manufacture, but the video made at least some of those concerns more vivid.

One of the things that I have been struggling with as I move along this journey to creating my art is how to use materials in a sustainably responsible way. I was reminded of the path that artist Maya Donenfeld has taken by a reference to her work that led me to her blog http://mayamade.blogspot.com/. She uses repurposed materials in her pieces. I first encountered a reference to Maya in Where Women Create's Summer 2010 issue. Seeing her work and reading her blog seems to have come at a good time.

I recently began sorting through denim scraps cut from old jeans. Since I have three grown children and an active husband, I have lots of them collected over about twenty years. While my original intent in collecting them was to make comforters for my boys' beds, I have been considering other options to use them since the boys have grown up. Since watching the video on Greenovate, I have also been contemplating alternatives to jeans and/or ways to find sustainable choices.

As Maya points out on her blog, it is possible to repurpose a lot of different materials. Do you have a favorite material to repurpose or reuse? How do you decide on the best use for something? What types of techniques do you use?

Purpose

I finally caved in and bought a floor frame for hand quilting larger quilts. What sold me on this one is that it is, apparently, the type that Helen Kelley used. Since I have admired her and her work for many years, it was the push I needed.

I had tried, several times, to get used frames that were more traditional. Each of them presented their own problems, usually that some of the pieces were missing. At any rate, it is my hope that my handwork on the larger pieces will be done more easily.

In preparing to write this entry today, I was looking at Mary Fisher's website. She has been devoted to making a difference in the treatment of people who are HIV-positive. What struck me was a reiteration of something I believe in my core: each of us has a purpose in life. Our task is to live our life the best way we can, accepting each challenge as the possible reason for our being. If, along the way, we discover a mission we can embrace and foster that may give us a sense of our purpose. However, not knowing that purpose does not mean it is not there or that it won't be accomplished within our lifetime.

Years ago, my mother had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. Since she had told some of my siblings she wanted no extraordinary measures taken to keep her alive, she complained to me about "someone" having called the paramedics. I had to break the news to her that she had called for help herself. She, then, wondered aloud why she hadn't simply died from the attack. I suggested to her that she still had work to do and a purpose to fulfill. She lived for about two more years. In that time, she did several things that she had never before attempted, and met a lot of people she had not known. I may never know, in this lifetime, exactly what it was that she still had to accomplish, but I firmly believe that she did have something to do.

All of this, of course, is my way of saying that I believe I have something I am supposed to accomplish in my lifetime. I am still exploring a variety of possibilities and trying to enjoy the experiences that come my way. I hope that, wherever you are in your life journey, you are doing the same.

Until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

Something I'd like to share

Another quilter who donates to AAQI as well as other causes has posted this on her blog.  Praying for a Miracle

I hope you will read it and share it, too.

AAQI Quilt

The quilt I donated to AAQI is now for sale! It is number 9583 - Scattered Violets.

The quilt was made with cotton fabrics, organza butterflies, an embroidered handkerchief, free motion quilting, pieced and raw-edge appliqué

Read more: http://www.alzquilts.org/9583.html#ixzz1tqeDWUhS

You can also see all the quilts for sale at: Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative - Quilts for Sale.

The Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative® (www.AlzQuilts.org) is a national, grassroots charity whose mission is to raise awareness and fund research. The AAQI auctions and sells donated quilts, and sponsors a nationally touring exhibit of quilts about Alzheimer's. The AAQI has raised more than $713,000 since January 2006.

Read more: http://www.alzquilts.org/aboutus.html#ixzz1tqcKKJjW

Sustainability

I had been thinking about writing this post and the direction my thoughts have been taking lately when I came across this blog entry: Susie McMahon Dolls: Anti-profligacy. You may remember my blog entry about sustainability: "Goals." Susie's concern about "endlessly unlimited growth on a finite planet " speaks to my focus here. The fact that I now know I am not the only one thinking about how to address those concerns right now is one of those serendipitous moments. While I don't expect to become self-sufficient, I am striving toward living a simpler existence.

I have been busy contemplating my next project, but I've also been trying to weed out the clutter that accumulated since I started working the day job. In the process, I came across an article about a quilt made by Valli Schiller called Common Threads. On it she put a saying that was popular either in the Great Depression or WWII: "Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without." She could remember her grandmother saying it all the time. I remember mine doing the same. One thing that Valli said about the materials in the quilt was that her grandmother "repurposed, and I wanted to as well." This was important to me because I have been thinking of recycled, upcycled, and organic materials as the only "legitimate" sustainable materials. It finally hit me that using up material I had previously purchased was also okay.

I have taken another step forward in my quest to decide exactly what I want to do with my art and my life, which feels good. Simultaneously, I know I am not quite there yet, and hope you will bear with me.

Until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

Possibilities

This spring has been quite unusual, but that has helped to provide some inspiration. For example, there has been quite a lot of this

and this

and a little bit of these

Altogether, they are enough to send my brain running after possibilities to draw, paint, stitch, and shape. At the same time, I am feeling really grateful for posts like Claudine Hellmuth's Finding Your Artistic Style, because I am in need of a lot of patience with myself. Sorting out a new career and artistic voice take time.

When I returned to college (what seems like eons ago), I didn't expect to have a degree within six months or a year. I am finding I need to cut myself some slack on learning about what has changed in technique and business since I last was a full-time artist (before I went back to college). Simultaneously, I also need to be open to a variety of possibilities. All this is to say that, while I would love to be ready to open shop sooner rather than later, the reality is that I may have to spend more time exploring first and give myself permission to do that.

In this season of new things and possibilities, I wish you time and permission to explore your talents and interests. Enjoy!

Moving Forward

As I mentioned in my post on Hopes vs. Goals, I wanted to develop some prototypes for products. In thinking about things I could put in an Etsy shop, one possibility that occurred to me was specialty pincushions. In February, I mentioned I was working on a pattern. It is finally finished. Given my fascination with butterflies, it seemed only logical to make this first one a butterfly. The pincushion is about 5" square.

I would really value some input from the community. Would you please leave me a comment letting me know what you think?