I’ve started a nature journal. I’m only jotting down observations for now (and taking photos), but I plan to make more of an art project out of it. I’m inspired by your bookmaking idea, and I think that would be a fun way to chronicle the seasons this year 😄
Nature is always a deep well of inspiration. Observation the first step in truly getting to know her. Recording or documenting what you discover solidifies your connection. A nature themed journal or altered book sounds wonderful.
I am forever creating. It’s funny that it took me well into my 50’s to realize that I NEED to create beauty in this world. I love color, texture and flowers, and these things show up in everything I create. Winter is quiet time, perfect for knitting, cooking, studying herbs and their medicinal uses. While Spring, Summer, and Fall find me out in the wild more often than not, in the garden, creating in the kitchen, gathering flowers, visiting with my birds and bees, feeling the sun warm me. We are in Winter now though and the fireplace is my sunshine. The candles my comforting welcome to a quiet evening on the couch with kitties for company and a project in my lap. I just finished a beautiful Norwegian alpine blossom hat and am getting ready to restart a crewel work floral piece that I started over 30 years ago. I create primarily for myself or my loved ones. I’ve sewn for others but always struggled to price things. I want to give out of love not for profit. I create for my own pleasure because it nourishes my soul.
Hi Kristina what a perfect creative and natural rhythm you have discovered for yourself. The desire to create often waits patiently on the back burned until we finally realize that the tea kettle of creativity is whistling our name. Hand work with fibers and fabrics is such an ancient activity I truly believe that is connects us back through our human lineage, as does herb-craft, gardening and cooking. Such simple and essential activities but also so human to make those things not only functional but beautiful as well. Pricing can feel difficult....price so that materials are covered, your skill is compensated and your acquired knowledge about your work is honored.
This post was so inspiring to me, Jan. I enjoy seeing and reading about your process and am especially intrigued by your Mary journal. I have a (almost) daily practice which started out almost 3 years ago as ICAD. Index Card A Day was started by Daisy Yellow Art and she runs this for 61 consecutive days once a year (https://daisyyellowart.com/about). I never stopped after the first 61 days and have moved to using mostly mixed media and watercolor papers, though the use of index cards is freeing, as not everything has to be so precious. I didn't have any inclinations toward art as a child and am kind of delighted to feel how this practice has nourished me at this point in my life. I've embraced the wonkiness of my practice, as you've suggested, and make art just for me. I continue to hesitate calling myself an artist and may get there yet. Thank you, again, for the inspiration. 🩷
"Small art" just as you describe can bring big returns in our lives. The mere opportunity to create something, to have a container for inner exploration and self-expression is often both healing and transformative. Have you ever sat down and spread out all your index card art around you to discover if there are themes or stories from your life that are emerging?
Inspiring as always, thank you. I do art journaling, dye, knit crochet spun and make elemental goddesses for the wheel of the year. I struggle sometimes what to do out of them but they are all part of my spiritual journey and my honouring the Goddess
Wonderful! All tactile Art forms which I think are perfect for honoring the divine feminine. It always seems to me that the repetition of knitting, knotting, spinning etc mirrors the cyclical pattern of Mother Nature and that things like dying and weaving harken back to the Fates and the Norns the weavers of the tapestry of people’s lives. I’d love to see one of your elemental goddesses. Unfortunately there is no way to post an image in the comments but if you feel comfortable emailing me a pic I’d love to see! Jan.blencowe@vomcast.net
Ah the secret time of a New England winter when you can go deep into the inner landscape of creativity. So lovely to have something special that's beautiful and enjoyable, that is all your own.
Hi Sofia, thanks for sharing this part of your creative journey. The balancing act is tricky and involves sharp discernment as to where your art will go, how it will be used and who will be benefiting from it (magazine, publishing company etc.) Boundaries are the way to do that. There's also a need to decide if you make one kind of art for sales and consumption and another just for yourself, and how much time do you need for personal art vs. making a living via your art. If you choose to allow your personal art to also be your sold/public art that takes a lot of emotional fortitude and the ability to risk critique which will sting to the core because of the personal nature of the writing. This is where a really good writing coach or mentor can be very, very beneficial. One way to begin to reconcile these things is to take a good long look at what your create "just for you" and see if there are themes or portions of that which could be developed for more public/commercial use. Thus you begin to strike a balance between what is yours and what is shared, and you begin to see how making time for personal creating actually is the foundation for what you will eventually monetize. Hope those short thought help you.
I’ve started a nature journal. I’m only jotting down observations for now (and taking photos), but I plan to make more of an art project out of it. I’m inspired by your bookmaking idea, and I think that would be a fun way to chronicle the seasons this year 😄
Nature is always a deep well of inspiration. Observation the first step in truly getting to know her. Recording or documenting what you discover solidifies your connection. A nature themed journal or altered book sounds wonderful.
I am forever creating. It’s funny that it took me well into my 50’s to realize that I NEED to create beauty in this world. I love color, texture and flowers, and these things show up in everything I create. Winter is quiet time, perfect for knitting, cooking, studying herbs and their medicinal uses. While Spring, Summer, and Fall find me out in the wild more often than not, in the garden, creating in the kitchen, gathering flowers, visiting with my birds and bees, feeling the sun warm me. We are in Winter now though and the fireplace is my sunshine. The candles my comforting welcome to a quiet evening on the couch with kitties for company and a project in my lap. I just finished a beautiful Norwegian alpine blossom hat and am getting ready to restart a crewel work floral piece that I started over 30 years ago. I create primarily for myself or my loved ones. I’ve sewn for others but always struggled to price things. I want to give out of love not for profit. I create for my own pleasure because it nourishes my soul.
Hi Kristina what a perfect creative and natural rhythm you have discovered for yourself. The desire to create often waits patiently on the back burned until we finally realize that the tea kettle of creativity is whistling our name. Hand work with fibers and fabrics is such an ancient activity I truly believe that is connects us back through our human lineage, as does herb-craft, gardening and cooking. Such simple and essential activities but also so human to make those things not only functional but beautiful as well. Pricing can feel difficult....price so that materials are covered, your skill is compensated and your acquired knowledge about your work is honored.
This post was so inspiring to me, Jan. I enjoy seeing and reading about your process and am especially intrigued by your Mary journal. I have a (almost) daily practice which started out almost 3 years ago as ICAD. Index Card A Day was started by Daisy Yellow Art and she runs this for 61 consecutive days once a year (https://daisyyellowart.com/about). I never stopped after the first 61 days and have moved to using mostly mixed media and watercolor papers, though the use of index cards is freeing, as not everything has to be so precious. I didn't have any inclinations toward art as a child and am kind of delighted to feel how this practice has nourished me at this point in my life. I've embraced the wonkiness of my practice, as you've suggested, and make art just for me. I continue to hesitate calling myself an artist and may get there yet. Thank you, again, for the inspiration. 🩷
"Small art" just as you describe can bring big returns in our lives. The mere opportunity to create something, to have a container for inner exploration and self-expression is often both healing and transformative. Have you ever sat down and spread out all your index card art around you to discover if there are themes or stories from your life that are emerging?
Ooo, I've been looking for a project for February, and ICAD might be it! Thank you!
Ohhhh….beware Virginia. ICAD is a gateway drug, errr, I mean art form!
Inspiring as always, thank you. I do art journaling, dye, knit crochet spun and make elemental goddesses for the wheel of the year. I struggle sometimes what to do out of them but they are all part of my spiritual journey and my honouring the Goddess
Wonderful! All tactile Art forms which I think are perfect for honoring the divine feminine. It always seems to me that the repetition of knitting, knotting, spinning etc mirrors the cyclical pattern of Mother Nature and that things like dying and weaving harken back to the Fates and the Norns the weavers of the tapestry of people’s lives. I’d love to see one of your elemental goddesses. Unfortunately there is no way to post an image in the comments but if you feel comfortable emailing me a pic I’d love to see! Jan.blencowe@vomcast.net
Ah the secret time of a New England winter when you can go deep into the inner landscape of creativity. So lovely to have something special that's beautiful and enjoyable, that is all your own.
Hi Sofia, thanks for sharing this part of your creative journey. The balancing act is tricky and involves sharp discernment as to where your art will go, how it will be used and who will be benefiting from it (magazine, publishing company etc.) Boundaries are the way to do that. There's also a need to decide if you make one kind of art for sales and consumption and another just for yourself, and how much time do you need for personal art vs. making a living via your art. If you choose to allow your personal art to also be your sold/public art that takes a lot of emotional fortitude and the ability to risk critique which will sting to the core because of the personal nature of the writing. This is where a really good writing coach or mentor can be very, very beneficial. One way to begin to reconcile these things is to take a good long look at what your create "just for you" and see if there are themes or portions of that which could be developed for more public/commercial use. Thus you begin to strike a balance between what is yours and what is shared, and you begin to see how making time for personal creating actually is the foundation for what you will eventually monetize. Hope those short thought help you.