Dreamland

Thinking back/Thinking ahead.

 
Thinking back:

I sewed a bathmat for my dollhouse when I was five.

I made a stunning (or stunningly awful) green terrycloth shirt in fifth grade.

My sewing teacher in junior high didn't like me (or my sister).

In high school I colored my skin red with a marker after I ripped the knee of my red pants.

I took art class when all my friends were taking pre-calc.

I didn't think art was a viable career, so I studied something practical in college because I didn't know what else to do.

I ended up doing art anyway. 

Thinking ahead:

Creating is my passion.  I love sewing, baking, writing, painting; to read about sewing, baking, writing, painting; to see what others are sewing, baking, writing, and painting.

My natural need for order keeps me grounded (in a good way).  And I do need to make a living.

I still wish I'd gone to art school.

I've joined a mentorship program at the Textile Center.  I'm working with Susan Stein, an experienced textile artist and author, for 18 months...I'm exploring new ideas, new techniques, new media, but also reigning myself in by starting small and working within a series.  It's like art school for grown-ups.

 
from Truth & Beauty by Ann Patchett

Thank you all for reading my quotation series this month, and I'm sorry I couldn't include all the wonderful quotations you suggested.  I do have a few new titles for my book list (or "Reading Bucket List" as Christine called it)...next up is The Jane Austen Book Club, waiting patiently on my dresser until I finish my reread of Walk Two Moons (even better the second time).

Thanks also for your encouragement yesterday.  Life is good.  My daughter and I have been having some thoughtful conversations about creativity and the creative life lately.  She's so bright, I've always been a little afraid she will deny that side of herself in favor of the creative world that is so present in our home.  (A world so satisfying, yet so unpredictable.)  At 12, I can see that her passion is in the arts, and continuing high test scores won't redirect that.  (And I'm not saying I'd want her to be someone else, just that I've always wanted both of my children to be open to all the possibilities...including the choices I made, and the ones I didn't.)  I could easily write a week's worth of blog posts on this topic.  Time to embrace what is, and enjoy the ride.

 
from The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin

I need to hang this one front and center over the next few weeks.  It's getting to that part of the holiday retail season when I definitely need the reminder that I do this work because I enjoy it.  At this point, it is one foot in front of the other, and a countdown to the two weeks I will be closed over the holidays.  How sad!  How un-zen-like of me!  But there it is, and now you know it happens to me too.

I may just have to take a mini-break and order some of the books on my wish list.  I'll share some new titles I'm excited about during the first part of December, and then wrap up with a few favorite fall & holiday projects.  Here's hoping your days are more inspiring than mine right now!

 
from Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

(Thanks Amanda!)

 
from Love in the Driest Season by Neely Tucker

 
from Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver

 
from The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming

(Thanks Amelia!)

 
from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

 
from  Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer

(Thanks, Marion!)

 
from Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver

There are a few writers whom I cannot read without a pen in hand -- Barbara Kingsolver, Adriana Trigiani, Jim Harrison, Wallace Stegner.  Whether it is a little description or a big truth, they use their craft to speak to me personally.