Tag Archives: Creative living

October 8, 2014 · 4:11 pm

Back On The Trail (Again!)

I’m getting ready to attend one of my favorite writing conferences–the Southern Breeze SCBWI Writing and Illustrating for Kids (WIK) conference, close to Birmingham, AL. It will be great to visit with writers and illustrators– meet agents, editors and art directors. I always learn SO much from these conferences and come away inspired and with plans for creative projects. Plus, I get to visit with long-time friends who are creative spirits, too. We share news, tips and talk about our individual creative “path.”

So I put on my hiking boots today to take a walk in the backwoods. It’s so DIFFICULT to pack for these conferences. There’s so much to think about!! I can’t decide what to take along with me, and you know I want to do a lot and all at the same time!

By the time I got deeper into the woods, I could hear the sound of the water in the creek. No cars. No phones. Nothing to create a distraction. Just the sound of my own footsteps as I crunched through the leaves.

I went as far as the tree house before I stopped to rest. The sun provided a nice canopy over the bend in the creek. I took out my sketchbook, fully intending to spend some time writing or drawing while I was there.

But I stopped. I just stood still and listened. To my breath and the beating of my own heart.
I hope to include that in my writing and illustrating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Happy creating to you, too!

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Filed under Creative Living, Inspiration, Outdoor living, Writing

Tagged as conferences, Creative living, Writing

August 1, 2014 · 11:45 am

Pstuff

I love to learn a great many things.

I especially enjoy research, too!

Dr. Howard Gardner gives at least eight–maybe more–different areas in the theory of Multiple Intelligences: Visual/Spatial, Bodily/Kinesthetic, Musical, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Linguistic, Logical/Mathematical and Naturalistic Intelligences. (Admittedly, my stronger areas are in Naturalistic, Visual and Musical.)

I’m delighted to be able to attend a music class very soon at the John C. Campbell Folk School and learn more about how to play the bowed psaltery!

The bowed psaltery is a musical instrument which is at least 2000 years old and is mentioned in the Bible. (The instrument pictured here is only five or six years old.) It is played by holding the wide end in the crook of one arm with the pointed end resting in the same hand. The bow is held in the other hand and passes across each string; one string equals one note. Yes, it psounds different too. When the bow glides across the silver strings, it gives me an emotional feeling that is both haunting and inspirational at the same time.

The garden will be growing and I will be, too.

Happy Creating!

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Tagged as Creative living, Life On The Farm, making music, psaltery

July 15, 2014 · 10:37 am

The Forager

Are you ready for an adventure?

There are so many places to go in my Big Backyard!

We have Big Garden, Little Garden, Experimental Garden. Big Pond, Little River and The Tree House. The Wooded Path. The Cabin. The Flat Spot. The Waterfall. Windy Ridge. River Path.

Friends with young children come for a visit; I provide maps and walkie-talkies when the older children want to go exploring on their own.

Summer snack!

The first stop in today’s backyard adventure will find me looking for a snack, which will be just past these zinnias in the experimental garden. Look for those small, orange tomatoes through the green leaves. Do you see them? They are oh-so-juicy and fun to eat, straight from the vine. I rinse one off and pop it in my mouth. Yum! I’ll have a couple more before I go. (I call this my “experimental garden” because I tried starting a few new plants from seed. Oh, but that’s another story.)

Behind the Red Barn is the Big Garden, and beside that is a wild and wonderful JUNGLE of blackberries. I LOVE blackberries!

Blackberry jungle!

I cut the top out of a gallon milk jug and leave the handle on the jug. When I enter the world of blackberries, I’ll carry the plastic container in one hand and have a long-handled shovel in the other.

Why?

Well, the thicket in this blackberry jungle is so thick, I just want to have something with me to help me push my way through. I also need a way to insure that I can make enough NOISE while I’m in the thicket to encourage any other creatures living in there to move away from where I am to make room for me, too. Thump, thump, thump on the ground with the pointed part of the shovel before I put my foot down into a new spot. Then I listen. No sounds of other movement? Then I thump the shovel once again and move forward.

Oh, so juicy, these berries!

Mid-July heat; I’m wearing a long sleeved shirt, long pants and SOCKS. Dodged a few bees today, but look what I found! I’ll fill my container and feast on the wonderful treats of summertime.

Ahh….happy creating to you today, too!

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Tagged as Creative living, Gardens, Life On The Farm

June 27, 2014 · 10:33 am

New Fiber Friends

I LOVE to be creative with fiber, and would like to welcome these new friends to the virtual farm.

Here’s a little bee,
a colorful chicken,

peep, peep!
bwak, bwak!

and two alpaca finger puppets.

Hum?

Mmm…hum….!

I made these little finger puppets to take to our local Farmer’s Market. They’re crocheted from handspun alpaca fiber and some wool blends. I go to the Farmer’s Market to visit with local farmers, shop, and demonstrate handspinning.

These finger puppets are a result of creative inspiration from living out on our farm. They ARE a lot of fun to play with, and I must remember I am WORKing, I am creatively WORKing….!!!

Happy Creating!

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Tagged as alpaca fiber, Creative living, Farmers Market, finger puppets

May 30, 2014 · 9:00 am

Practical Application(s)

“It is good to love many things, for therein lies strength. Whoever loves much can accomplish much, and what is done with love is well done.” (Vincent Van Gogh)

All right, I’ll admit it….I love to do a great many things. Every once in a while, creative distractions lead to something else. Which leads to something else. And then to something else. If I’m not careful, I get scattered in SO many directions, I face the possibility that nothing could get accomplished!

I’ve been like this for as long as I remember. Yes, I’ve done research over the years into why this happens and when I discovered it was one of the natural characteristics of Creative People, I breathed a sigh of relief. Ah, that explains it, I thought. There are others who do that, too.

Straight Backed Chair

The practical applications for all this is that I can do a lot of useful things. In my quest to learn about Homesteading and Appalachian homecrafts, I’ve taught myself how to repair chairs. I have a fondness for straight backed chairs. (I have no idea why this is so.) On junkets to flea markets or antique shops, I’m drawn to them like a magnet. My latest project has been to repair the bottoms of a variety of chairs using a paper rush as well as an older handmade footstool using seagrass for the seat. When I got the footstool twenty-something years ago, it was woven with cornhusks which had been twisted and woven for the seat. I talked with the craftsman about his work and he shared a few tips.

Footstool with seagrass seat

It’s the end of May now and garden is mostly planted, except for a few things I wanted to start by seed. I’ll transplant those when they get a bit larger, too.
I classify all of this as “research” and move on. I know it will give authenticity to my characters as I work on (a variety of) writing projects.

Yes, I do. Thanks!

Happy Creating!

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Filed under DIY, Handmade, Life on the Farm, Uncategorized

Tagged as Creative living, homesteading crafts, Life On The Farm

April 28, 2014 · 1:19 pm

Making Music

I’ve heard it said that creativity is not a hobby–it is a Way Of Life.

So I suppose it is no surprise that this new addition to the collection of restoration projects has found me. Here’s a Hawaiian ukelele, passed along from some of my husband’s cousins. Wooden tuning pegs. The only remaining string, IS string. Our best guess puts it at more than forty plus years old, and the maker’s label inside is giving me a few clues. Remember–I DO love a good mystery and research. (Smile)

I’ll keep you posted on my progress. When I replace the strings, I’ll most likely want to learn how to play the thing.

Flea Market Finds

Look!
A treasure!

I spend a lot of time at flea markets and estate sales. My acquisitions lean toward the functional, yet somewhat quirky. I need to be able to justify that piece to myself before I’ll bring it home. And of course I have to negotiate about the price.

This little table is made from sticks. I am drawn to the designs painted on the surface and, after a good cleaning and a few other things, will put it to good use. I have another one similar to this that’s been passed down from a grandmother and I think they’ll work well together.

Hand painted designs on handmade furniture will make me smile.

Every time.

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Tagged as Creative living, flea market finds, handmade furniture

August 11, 2013 · 1:38 pm

(New) Beginnings

When I say, “I want to be a writer and/or illustrator,”

the advice I often hear is to:

A. “Write/draw what you know about.” B. “Write/draw what you’re passionate about.” C. “Write/draw what you want to learn about.” D. “Write/draw to please yourself first.” E. “Follow the Markets”/”Don’t follow the markets.”

What to do?

Attending writer’s conferences and taking classes in the craft of writing and illustrating have played a large part in my creative development. Having a strong group of creatives around me who critique my work and can give constructive suggestions for improvement has been priceless. I will remain forever grateful for lessons I have learned, even the ones which were difficult to accept. Thank you especially for those.

Here are a few thoughts I’ll pass along if you might be on your road to creative discovery:

Be Still. Listen. Ask questions. Try. Stop. Try again. Don’t Stop. Believe in and be honest with yourself. Take chances. Repeat as often as necessary. Make choices. Surround yourself with like-minded creative individuals. Somewhere during all that time you might discover what you really want to do as well as what you’re good at doing. You could also discover things that you don’t do as well as you thought, and that’s important to learn, too.

The illustration pictured above is called “Flower For A Friend,” and over the spread of many years has been published in two different magazine/newsletters. This drawing was originally done in colored pencil, then in b/w line art, then as a pencil sketch. It’s a simple little drawing, really, and what I see in it tells me something different about my work than it did when I first made the illustration.

It’s good to take a look at where you are in your journey every once in a while. You can see where you’ve been and where you might want to go.

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Tagged as Creative living, drawing, Writing

July 30, 2013 · 8:44 pm

Something Old, Something New

My husband looked over from the section of the newspaper he was reading one morning and said, “There’s an estate sale on Friday and Saturday at (place.) Take a look at the items when you get a chance.” The newspaper ad listed farm tools, primitive furniture, home furnishings, a loom, and a spinning wheel. Rain or shine, I knew exactly where I wanted to be and I could hardly wait!

I LOVE going to flea markets, auctions or estate sales. Each one of them has a special personality: One is like a treasure hunt, another is the thrill of the pricing game, and still another might be discovering a piece of history. I might get to talk to someone there who had specific knowledge of the item(s) that I want to buy. Maybe they had even used the item, which would be even better.

I’d like to think this old barn loom was waiting for me to come and claim it. It was leaning against the wall of the storage shed in which many other items were being sold. I took a quick look. Barn loom, circa mid-nineteenth century flashed through my head. Most of the pieces were attached.

“What can you tell me about this?” I asked the woman standing there.

“Well, all’s I know is I remember my grandmama using it when I was little, and it was old then,” she said.

I smiled and nodded. The loom came home with me.

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Tagged as antiques, Creative living, weaving, Writing