Clothes Pins Magnets

Just finished a large order of the clothes pin magnets. I had to take a picture, because they looked so great altogether. Now I just have to put them on cards and ship them off to Montana. Good luck my little creations!

cup of tea

I finally did it. I started to paint again. It has been many years. When I opened my box of paints, the smell reminded me of college. I am not sure where this is heading, or what my "style" is... It seems everyone has something they love to paint. My dad, he loves to paint landscapes and butterflies. I could go a million directions, perhaps the graphic designer in me! But I have always been fascinated by the human face. When I was painting this work, everything came fairly easy, except the face. I froze when I had to finish that part. Practice, practice, practice.

ebb + flow

As I sit in my studio, the sky is a non-color, the trees are leafless. I know that spring is coming and soon my window will be filled with the most pungent rose bush on the planet. Soon it will be hard for me to stay indoors and work. Then it hits me. Creating is just like nature. There is a natural ebb and flow. If an artist doesn't rest, or take a break they will burn out. Nature knows best, it's okay to rest. Soon enough it will be time to bloom.

being creative

Last week was difficult. I felt that my creative spirit had left, and I certainly didn't know when it would be back. Perhaps it's the gray skies that permanently hang like a wall in January. Or maybe it was that company that decided not to carry one of my products. I was down. A friend suggested that my creative well was dry and that I needed to refill it. But how?

Beside just letting the moment pass. They eventually do. I decided that I MUST do something creative with my hands. No matter what it turned out like. I worked with the felt balls creating some funny creatures. I used beads, buttons, embroidery floss, needles and anything else that added personality to the little creatures. They turned out not too bad.

Also, I've been reading Sue Monk Kidds' book "Traveling with Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story". It has helped me through this hard time. In the book, Kidd is struggling with confidence to continue to write, "The Secret Lives of Bees". Her self doubt, the questions that all of us have. It made me feel better that even the successful, creative women, like Kidd, has her days too. We all know what happen with the "Bee" book. A movie and the sixth bestselling novel of the last decade!

Kidd also mentions in her writing a "necessary fire".  My creativeness is my "necessary fire". It makes me alive. The fire is something that is inborn in my heart. And is part of my reason for being here. I just need to remember, that some days the fire will grow big and other days, it will be a small glowing flicker. But I know this, my fire cannot be put out.