Breaking the Silence

With Christmas over, and gifts distributed, I can share a little of what I have been up to during this quiet time. I had been so focused on getting ready for the holiday that I'm afraid I was neglecting the blog.

One thing I did was to get out my knitting needles to make this for my granddaughter. It is something she will have to grow into, since the pattern size is apparently larger than the sizes available in the store. The pattern is a Bernat Chevron Jumper from their Hooray for Stripes book.

Another thing that I have been able to do recently is get some splendid photos of birds that I'd like to share with you. We've had several visits from this bird of prey, which we are speculating may be a Northern Harrier, though it looks more like a Prairie Falcon.

Since we added a suet feeder, we have also had several Downy Woodpeckers visit. Here are a couple of shots of one of them.

I apologize for the fuzziness on the pictures. One thing I haven't gotten to is washing my windows.

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas holiday and that 2012 proves to be a wonderful year for everyone.

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

Susie McMahon Dolls

Check out this incredible doll artist. Her work is beautiful! Susie McMahon Dolls - Celebrate with me.

Busy Times

It has been fairly busy around here the last month. I have been gradually getting involved, again, in social justice work, in addition to working on Christmas gifts and continuing my involvement with the Friends of the GSU Library. I have reconnected with an outreach group that helps to provide food, clothing, and household necessities to poor people in my area. I, also, had the opportunity to reconnect with the Peace and Social Justice group at Pax Joliet.

Something I don't believe I have mentioned before is that I am also a Secular Franciscan. I can hear you asking, "What in the world is a Secular Franciscan?" In the early years of the 13th century, St. Francis of Assisi established three Orders. They were the Friars Minor, Poor Clares, and the Third Order. The Third Order was originally known as the Brothers and Sisters of Penance. Over the intervening centuries, there have been many changes, of course. One of those changes is that there are now what are called "regular" and "secular" Third Orders. The "regular" are priests and nuns. The "secular" are lay people. Therefore, as a Secular Franciscan, I am a lay person attempting to follow Christ in the manner of St. Francis. You can find out more about the U.S. Secular Franciscans at NAFRA. We are, also, part of the international Order. You can find more information about that at CIOFS. These Franciscans are Catholic. However, there are also Franciscans who are affiliated with other churches. You can find out more about that here: Order of Ecumenical Franciscans.

One of the things I did recently was go to several craft/artisan fairs. They generally serve to inspire me, and I occasionally come across some wonderful artists. Unfortunately, some of the artists whose work I would like to share with you are not on the Internet. There are a few I can share, though. The Posh Kid Boutique does not have very much on her Etsy site, but has wonderful satin flowers along the lines of the one shown. Moon Cookie Gallery has delightfully whimsical watercolors, and Amy Simpson makes beautiful fused glass pieces.

Another thing I have been doing is research for a book I am writing. It is an historical fiction piece, set in the 20th century. Since it follows the life of a woman who was born in the early decades of the century and died near the close of it, my research has to cover a lot of information.

I am truly grateful for the opportunities I have been given, and happy to be able to share some of what I have found with you.

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

Visits & Visitors

We had quite a few avian visitors to our yard in late August and early September. The hummingbirds found our feeder and raspberry bushes good sources of food on their migration through our area. While I've taken many photos, most are blurred due to the speed of their wings. However, I was fortunate to catch one at rest, briefly, in our lilac bush.

On another occasion, a hawk that had been following a group of crows was chased into that same lilac bush, giving me another opportunity for a photo. While you can't tell from this picture, it appears to be an immature red-shouldered hawk, rather than one of our more common red-tailed hawks.

I have been working on a priority quilt that I intend to offer to The Altzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative. It is made of materials I inherited from my dear mother-in-law and others purchased at the quilt shop in her home town at the time of her death. While she was not officially diagnosed with altzheimer's, she did have some form of dementia, as I've mentioned before. I am happy that I can do something to help advance the research to end this cruel disease.

I have also begun working on Christmas gifts. Before you groan that it is too early, let me explain that I come from a family of seven, and we still come together at Christmas to celebrate. Since I am the youngest and a grandmother, you can imagine how many people that entails. Even though I only concern myself with giving gifts to my siblings and the children in high school or younger that is a lot of gifts. Of course, you have to add to that my own children and their spouses/significant others/children, four of whom are now on the other side of the country, necessitating shipment of gifts in time for Christmas. Scarily enough, I'm already behind.

We did take time out recently to visit one of my sisters in Wisconsin. We were about a week early on the peak colors for fall, but did get some good pictures on the trip. Here are a few with which I was quite pleased.

I hope that you, too, are enjoying the changes in season, wherever you are, and until next time, I wish you peace and all good.

Inspiration

I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last month about what I hope to accomplish. The question about my artwork (see August 5 post) got me thinking about how I translate that into what I actually work on. It also helped me to recognize that I was obsessing about the business part of my art business, which, in turn, was blocking me from creating anything. I finally realized that I need to allow myself to do what feels right and not worry about how it affects the business side of things. If people like what I create, maybe they will want to own one of my pieces. If not, I will have expressed myself anyway, and hopefully, made some people think about the issues my work represents. All of this is a rather long-winded way of admitting that I have no creative work to show from the time I have spent over the last month, but I have made progress toward accomplishing my goals.

On another note, the impact of decisions made by the government (I assume), and possibly, insurance companies was brought home to me this last week. I have been on a medication for allergies that I had been taking every day. It is no longer going to be available through the pharmacy, but will be available over the counter. The problem is that the cost of the over the counter medication is so high that I can no longer take it every day. This would have been the case even it I were still working. I am faced with having to wean myself off of it, since I can't afford it, which has already caused me some problems. It makes it very clear to me what a struggle it is for people who must decide whether to pay their medications for serious conditions or some other necessary expense (like housing, utilities or food).

I have also been trying to watch the series that ABC News has been doing on poverty. You can find it here: Hunger at home. The number of people in poverty in the U.S. is stunning, especially when you consider that we are one of the richest countries in the world. A comparison to other countries is available through the World Bank at Poverty. The data from the World Bank does not include U.S. figures, possibly because the gross national income (or the average income) per person in the U.S. is almost $50,000 a year, while the poverty headcounts they are looking at include incomes of $1.25 - $2.00 per day in what is called "purchasing power parity" or the amount the person would be able to purchase for that amount in dollars. A more technical explanation of the term can be found here: Purchasing Power Parity. When I talk about global equity, these are the types of things I have in mind. I am concerned about people who are impoverished around the world and believe there has to be some way to make things better for everyone who does not have their basic needs met.

Finally, I read an article yesterday, in the September 2011 issue of St. Anthony Messenger" magazine, that made it more clear to me how my actions affect people living in the areas where resources are obtained. It was about a young woman who lives in a Catholic Worker community in the Appalachian mountains, and discussed the impact of the coal mining practice of mountaintop removal. The coal company blasts to remove the top of a mountain in order to get at the coal underneath. The earth that is removed ends up filling streams, covering land, and reducing mountain terrain. In the process, families living in the area experience damage to their water supply, homes, and heritage. Home values are also diminished. Since most of us in the U.S. use electricity that is powered by coal, our use impacts those communities.

I apologize if this is a "heavier" post than you expected, and hope that you will bear with me. It is my greater hope, however, that you will be intrigued enough to check out a few of the links to see for yourself what the situation truly is, and perhaps, decide if there is something you can or want to do.

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

To the Studio

Once again, I am sitting at the library, as our computer is down. Since the problem has yet to be diagnosed, I do not know how long I will be unable to use it. That, of course, affects my ability to post to the blog. However, I intend to make good use of the time by spending it in the studio instead.

Someone recently asked me to tell them about my art. The best way I can describe it is that I create mixed-media pieces, art dolls and practical items, using recycled/repurposed materials where possible, and expressing the concepts of global equity and sustainability.


Until I can return, I wish you peace and all good.

Goals

I've been thinking a lot about goals, recently. One of the things that has been helping me get focused is a series of expert interviews that Lesley Riley has been conducting. It is called SEEK. You can find out more here: Artist Success. Lesley's questions are designed to help artists get the most information possible, and the experts have been forthcoming with lots of thought-provoking material.

I've realized, again, that all of my experiences and training work together to create the place I am currently at, and that they will all help me to launch myself into the rest of my life. While I am an artist and work in mixed-media with a concentration in fiber, I am also a social scientist, with an MA in Political & Justice Studies. My focus, as mentioned in my profile, is on global equity and sustainability. In addition, I am a gardener and am beginning to realize I am also a photographer. It remains to be seen how I will meld all of this into future creations. That is why I am working on identifying my goals.

During the heat bubble of this last week, my husband suggested I take my camera out to take some pictures of the Tiger Lilies blooming in a side yard. It is fascinating to see how they grow and perpetuate themselves. Of course, they are lovely flowers, too.

I am inspired by things like this to consider how to incorporate the concepts of simplicity, functionality, and beauty into my own work. In a lot of ways, however, it is a return to previous work in other media, since my Master's Thesis was on sustainability with a focus on Voluntary Simplicity. (If you are interested in more information about that, I suggest reading Duane Elgin's book Voluntary Simplicity, What is voluntary simplicity? by Samuel Alexander, and/or checking out  Center for a New American Dream, Financial Integrity, and/or Northwest Earth Institute websites.)

I'm off to think more about my goals, try to get something defined more clearly, and create. Until next time, I wish you peace and all good.