What is color scouting?
A sweater from 1969
I read a blog post today from Knitish that shared with readers the reasons why this one sweater has become a most prize possession. It reminded me of how textiles can hold such strong memories for us. The feel of the fibers, the smells that are stored there as time keepers, the comfort that is felt. It is stories like these that make me love knitting so much. Hand knit items are not just things that we use or are pretty to look at. Knitting absorbs life like no other medium, and holds the memories there in it’s fibers to be cherished for years to come.
Warp & Weft = Life
My dear friend and mentor, is currently working to complete her master’s degree in social work. It has been her joy to find ways to use the fiber arts in her work.
How setting up the loom parallels to life
By Kim Hanes
Good evening…I was thinking throughout the week, as I was in and out of families lives how our lives are like a weaving. The warp is the “strength” of each weaving. It is the foundation. Just like our families and our community is our foundation. If the foundation is strong, then the weaving is sturdy. It is the same for us. If we have a strong foundation, then we are able to be more resilient.
In contrast, if our ” warp” in weaving is not strong, our weaving will have holes, and is weakened. In life, if our foundation is weak, it easily breaks, and we have gap. Sometimes I experience individuals that break easy.
The weft is like the lives we live. The more colors and texture we have, the more variety we we have in life, the more beautiful the overall weaving becomes. However, if we do not have enough fiber, the weaving is never finish. In this circumstance, it is hard to even visualize a final project. I have found that within families it is quite similar. Without enough resources, such as friends, money, food, etc, it is hard to visualize a goal. Working as a social worker in people’s lives, I can walk with them to seek more resources, teach them how to develop positive friendships, and find mentors. I then see them start to set some goals. The weaving develops into a beautiful piece of fiber art. As we unravel life together, there are many lessons that lie in a ball of yarn.
Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival
I was invited to attend the 40th Anniversary Sheep & Wool Festival in Maryland! I am very excited about the opportunity to go and promote The Rocking Yak.
I’ll be spending the week packing my bags and getting everything ready for the festival. If you’re in the area, stop by! We’ll be in the Farm & Garden building booth #2.
A conversation I had . . .
My mind has been racing with projects. I’ve been waking up early, eager to start. My days have been spent trying to make my hands keep up with my ideas. I love these times in my life when my inspiration seems to be a bottomless well to draw from. Everything else is abandoned as my mind is distracted with art. I can’t help it.
I had the following conversation with my husband:
ME: You know, if I didn’t have to eat, or sleep, I think I could work on these projects for DAYS without stopping.
HIM: (stopping to look at me in my eyes) Is this like crack to you?
ME: YES! Yes it is, and I am addicted
note: The yarn above is one that I made by unraveling a woven fabric that I had from Tibet. I plied 3 strands together to give it strength. It has been a long time since I sat behind my spinning wheel. It felt so good – like having tea with an old friend.
Beach Stones, Driftwood, Blue Skies
In my studio recently, I have found myself being drawn to raw, natural fibers that are sturdy, strong, and coarse. My hands have been reaching for hemp, silk, and fibrous handmade papers. Inspiration has been drawing from my beach stones, drift wood, and bright blue skies.
It’s April, my children are on Spring Break, and the weather has been warming.
In response to these early stirrings of spring, we packed up for the day and drove to my most favorite place on this Earth – the Lake!
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I love coming to this place anytime of year. The summer, of coarse, is fantastic with the soft, sandy beaches, and cool water. The cooler weather of fall makes hiking the sand dunes MUCH more enjoyable, and in the winter, there are amazing ice flows. Springtime, however, has come to surprise me. In recent years, I have found myself spending more and more time here in the spring. The beaches are,for the most part, empty of human beings. There is sand EVERYWHERE. Every year, I am amazed at the amount of sand that the winter winds bring. If you come early enough in the year, the park is almost unrecognizable and half buried in sand. It is this phenomenon that I can’t get enough of, because along with the sand comes all sorts of treasures. I could spend days combing the beach for colorful stones, driftwood, beach glass, and bones.
As I walk the shores, my mind just swims with ideas of things to make. “This could be an awesome necklace”, “These should be tied into a dream catcher”, “This is so straight, it could be added to a weaving”. I collected quite a pile of colorful goodies before my kids were done.
Their hungry bellies were grumbling, and they informed me, the beach just isn’t fun if you can not go swimming. So after 4 hrs of beach combing, we went to go hike the dunes. I guess 4 hrs is long enough. Although, I am secretly plotting another trip someday soon while these guys are in school. shhh! 4 hrs is not really enough for this momma.
Snowy Days
We received a large amount of snow this week, & yesterday, the schools were closed. The kids & I took advantage of the day to go out & play. The sledding hills were perfect & the weather was great, but there were also hints of spring!
As I looked around, I noticed that our trees are beginning to bud, & the birds have been returning to the area. I can hear their songs throughout the day bringing cheer to these last days of winter.
This weekend the temperature is suppose to be 20 degrees warmer, so I know the snow won’t stay for long. I am ok with that. We got our last romp in the snow, so now Spring may come
I found freedom in worship
I have always considered myself an artist.
Every child thinks of themself as an artist.
I was 13 when I realized that I really could actually draw when I applied myself.
Then, in high school, drawing became my demise academically.
I have had no other ambition in life other than to create.
Art has been one of my greatest joys. Images move me deep down inside & my expressions most often come as colors and lines. Art has also caused me great frustration & longing as my hands long to create, but the inspiration isn’t there.
I have experienced fear that my artwork won’t be enough. That when I am finished, it won’t reveal the message I want it to express. I have feared that others will find my work dumb, and my ability lacking. I have feared imperfection. So, over the years, I have learned to silence my inner cravings to create art.
Recently however, I have been walking through a season of renewal. A fire has been lit inside of me, a passion to explore art as a form of worship. I have given myself permission to create as an outpouring of myself before God, & in doing so, I have experienced freedom. In this place of worship, I am safe to just be me. There is room for imperfection, because I am not perfect. I am no longer searching for others to approve of my artwork because my art is not meant for them. It is meant for Abba, & I have faith, like a child that He will find my artwork to be perfect just the way it is.
You are my dream come true . . .
The past 16 months have been a struggle in our home, & even though our relationships with each other have remained strong, it hasn’t always been easy to appreciate each other. It is hard to express your love to others when you are unhappy & it’s easy to take your family for granted.
As I thought about what I wanted to give to my valentines this year, I thought about how fortunate I am to have a loving, supportive husband. I thought about how lucky we are to have 2 beautiful, healthy children who challenge us & cause us to grow, becoming better people in the end. I thought about when I was younger, how I would dream about my future family & wonder what it would be like to have a husband & children of my own. Now that I am here, I find myself extremely grateful for the ones in my life that I call my family, and even though our life together is by no means perfect, they are my dream come true.
I wanted to find a creative way to express this to my family, so I made each one a dream catcher. This is the one that I made for my husband. It is for both of us really. I made it with our wedding & our life together in mind.
The hoop is made from Wisteria vines. Our Wisteria is one of the first trees we planted in our yard after purchasing our home.
I tied the webbing with hemp & added some “Indian beads” that I found on the beach of Lake Michigan. I also added a piece of drift wood and some sea gull feathers that I had gathered from up there. The lake has always been a significant place to us. We had some of our first dates up on the lake & we had our wedding ceremony there on the beach as well.
I had a few pieces of broken stalks from the bouquet of orchids that I carried down the isle. Those were tied together & added to the dream catcher.
The strips of fabric are a sheer white fabric that I cut from my wedding dress & a smokey silk from a bridesmaid dress.
The orchids too, were taken off of my wedding dress. These things were just getting dusty hanging in my closet for years. I find this to be a much better way to honor these sacred textiles.
Hawks are one of my husband’s favorite birds. It is symbolic to him. A close friend to him noticed that our family collects feathers, & gave us some hawk feathers that he had found. This was a meaningful gift to my husband so I added one of these feathers to the dream catcher as well.
All said & done, it took me 2 days to create this dream catcher. I loved the hours I spent making it, the quiet time I spent reflecting on our marriage & the memories that came to mind. I love all the symbols with their significance only known by my love & I.
I’m not usually one to get hyped up over Valentine’s Day, but this year it was a meaningful day. I was excited to give everyone their gifts & they all seemed to enjoy the dream catchers.
Show Me You; a series
I was little when I asked Jesus into my heart – young enough that I still thought of Jesus physically being in my heart. My salvation was real, I knew Jesus, and grew up active in our church. I have never known life without Jesus in it. However, as a teenager, I would wonder about my relationship with God. I didn’t feel like I had passion in my relationship with Him. I felt His fire at youth retreats and conventions, but I knew that was different than having passion. So, I prayed for passion. Fast forward 15 years. God has given me passion. It often consumes me. I feel like a cup that is overflowing, and I’m scrambling around in a frenzy of excitement trying to find out what to do with all of “it”. “It” is a number things, like sharing God’s love & HOPE with Tibetans through knitting. Another, is my artwork. In the past I’ve simply let “it” spill out all over the place. I don’t know what to do with “it”, so I start talking about “it” looking for direction as I wait to see what God is going to make out of the mess.
Mandy of Messy Canvas shared this statement on Facebook a while back.
“Quite frankly Christians, I’m ready to see you, not your Jesus. Show me you.”
This status update & the conversation that follows has gripped me in such a way that months later, it still pulls at me. It has started me down an internal path of wrestling. I don’t know where the path will lead me, or even what direction it takes me. When I’ve written my thoughts into a journal I seem to be all over the place in a kind of swirling ball of passion. I know that I have found something that is important, but I am unable to define it. This single sentence has sparked a flame in me. It is creating a passion for divine inspiration. I’m searching for what to do about it as it is still very messy, swirling around in my heart & my head without any definition.
I have started the “Show Me You” series to give myself a place to work through the swirling ball inside me. I hope, dear reader, that you will jump in the conversation and offer your own thoughts & ideas to help me in my search for direction.
artbycarriejoy.com 