Healing Handcrafting


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Summoning Creativity #10: Creating While Stressed

So… how’re you doing?

Really… how are you? Like, really-really?

Most of what I’m reading about these days is news to stay current on all that is going down everywhere, and articles about stress. On repeat. I also read a lot about the kinds of things people experience no matter what’s going on in the political sense. Issues like grief, trauma, racism, chronic illness & pain, depression, anxiety, poverty… these themes are all part of our greater human story. And they all cause stress.

Stress is distracting at the very least. Stress can also lead to total shutdown of the nervous system when it pushes past a person’s management threshold. Stress impacts health physically and mentally, as well as relationships and productivity.

Often, the first things to go when stress climbs are those very pursuits that help us the most: exercise, rest, eating well, and creative efforts.

In this month’s Summoning Creativity post, I want to share some thinking I’ve been doing about creating while stressed. Why? Because I’ve been wrestling with this myself. And, I truly believe creativity is one of those things that nudges us humans along in the evolutionary story. If we let go of our creativity, we let go of the spark in us that can imagine something different, better, more generative…

My thinking has taken me to these places…

Let’s start with some facts. Creativity is good for us. Here’s some research supporting this:

  • 45 minutes of creative activity significantly lowers cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone (Kaimal et al. 2016).
  • regular participation in a creative practice boosts mood and reduces likelihood of depression (Fancourt & Steptoe, 2020).
  • engaging in creativite pursuits can build connection and significantly reduce loneliness. “Art engages, inspires, empowers, and connects us. As Dr. Nobel stated, ‘it provides a kind of intimacy with life in a way that sometimes cognition or rational analysis simply does not.'” (from interview with Dr. Jeremy Noble in Creativity, Connection, Happiness, and Health, online article, 2024).

What I’ve noticed in myself…

  • I feel freed up when my creative practice is fluid; I have several projects going that each call to me at different times depending on time, mood, how my hands feel (I have arthritis that holds me back sometimes).

  • Sometimes I like creating with other people. Sometimes I need alone time and take it when I have the chance. Both are important to me.
  • Keeping my art “ingredients” visible helps me to stay connected to my ideas. Having a space where I can keep works-in-process out helps a lot. Yes, sometimes my family has to walk around my projects. It’s ok.
  • I let my art flow from feeling- and let it help me see where I’m at. For example, I just pulled a piece off my loom that hadn’t worked the way I wanted it to. But I didn’t want to discard it. I just sat with it on the floor and “followed it’s directions”. The warps needed tying off or it would all fall apart, so I did that, and then as I did that, it took on a shape that I was into, so I moved more in that direction, and then I put it on the wall to look at it and had an idea for how I want it hung, and then I saw that it is reflecting how I feel and what I am trying to keep together- and – there it was… a totally unplanned expression of feeling at this moment in time…

  • I look at art- if possible in person, but also in books and magazines and online.
  • I face down the internal pressure I feel at times to make all things useful or “worth it”.
  • I don’t judge my mistakes (or i try not to). Sometimes (like above) I end up liking them!

Creativity may very well be a strongest bridge we have to cross to better health and more dynamic social connection. Creative expression brings people together and brings us closer to our own hearts. It’s a total win-win. It’s not a waste of time. And it’s not selfish.

Tell me about your creative process! I love hearing about how people nurture their own sparkly ideas.

Until next time,

bradie


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Summoning Creativity #9 ~ How Did You Do That?

I am on a plane right now, heading back to the Northeast US from Mexico. I was invited to go on the trip by the director of the Shelburne Craft School, Heather Moore, and was able to bring my daughter. Heather had her family with her, too.

The purpose of our trip was to scout for artisans and opportunities in order to build a travel program for a group next year. We visited the Espadas family who are carrying forward ancient Maya pottery methods in Uayma, an embroider named Perla who is studying and practicing traditional stitching methods (she can be reached via Murem in Valladolid), a basket weaver named Mariano Chi in Ebtún, and a weaver, Dominga Cen, in Tixhualactún (she can also be reached via Murem). I’d also hoped to meet with Silvia of Bolsas Yaax Kiw who makes gorgeous bags out of henequen fibers, but due to my overshooting my relationship with habanero peppers and the consequences of that, plans shifted and time ran out. I really regret that, as her work is gorgeous. Silvia can be found here.

I was often overcome with emotion, in the presence of those sharing their art and craft with us, with so much generosity and care. I felt very lucky, and very much aware of the fact that I was experiencing something unusual and precious. If you are on Instagram and feel like seeing some of my posts on our trip, you can find them here.

Leading up to the trip, I’d been thinking about what brings people together and what separates them. I thought about the fact that I don’t speak Spanish and here I was, going to meet people to learn about their art. I was trusting that the artisans we were meeting with would be able to show us what they do, and if we were paying attention, we could learn without words, and ask for clarification through hand gestures and facial expressions.

We could express the question, “how did you do that?” and a bridge would be formed. Of that I was certain.

Tey Mariana Stiteler, who directs the beautiful  Murem – Museo de Ropa Etnica de Mexico in Valladolid was instrumental in linking us up with three of the four artisans we met with, and she translated for us the whole time! And in Uayma, we had this excellent translator and guide. Even still, there were countless moments when, just by watching, listening, and absorbing, we were learning and connecting and understanding each other even without translation.

“How did you do that?” became the bridge I’d imagined between people interested in each other.

It was beautiful. These experiences expanded my mind and stretched my heart.

For this month’s Summoning Creativity theme, we are looking at ways to dive into a “how did you do that?” mindset. There are no specific requirements that have to do with travel if that’s not in the cards. But look around. See if you notice anything that someone made that you think is cool, interesting, unique… whatever! If you can, ask that person how they made what they made! You don’t even have to do the thing itself if you don’t want to!

Just don’t stop with the observation of the thing. Take it step further and wonder at it, ask about it, and see what happens.

Maybe there is an artisan market in your area that highlights work from your region as well as places around the world. Check it out! Ask a question.

Maybe there’s a family member who makes a delicious dish that you only eat at their house. Ask them how they make it!

Maybe there’s a person nearby with a beautiful flower garden and you’ve admired something in it. Ask them what the plant is or how they go about a specific gardening task.

Maybe there’s someone who knit/crocheted/felted/or wove a piece of clothing. Ask them about the pattern or draft and see what they say.

You get the idea! When we notice what others are creating and making and we take an interest in those things, we are connecting in a way that is higher and freer than so many other things we are encumbered by these days.

I hope in this coming month, you get to experience that sparkly moment between yourself and another person, maybe someone you never would have met or talked to had you not noticed something they made. If you end up having a cool experience as a result of asking, “how did you do that?” please share it with me! I’ll love to hear the story!

Until next time,

Bradie


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Summoning Creativity #8 ~ Spring’s Threshold

Today into tomorrow is known as many things: Imbolc, St. Brigid’s Day, the Feast of Brigid to name a few. In the northern hemisphere, it marks the time between the winter solstice and the spring equinox and is a time when there are glimmers of warmer times to come. Right now it is 2 degrees Fahrenheit where I live, so temperature-wise, spring might be hard to sense, but there is a noticeable lightening of the sky and certain bird songs remind me that we are part of a cycle, always.

Photo by Aaron J Hill

The ancient Goddess Brigid is associated with poetry, smithing, fertility, keening, and protection. There are many more aspects of her and this would be a lovely time to read up on her. Just looking at those associations, I notice that they are all to do with creation/creativity, keeping that which is grown and cherished safe, and grief. A full cycle embodied in one goddess.

For this month’s Summoning Creativity post, I thought it might be fun to play with words as a way of interacting with the Goddess Brigid’s poetry aspect. Expression of self through words carries significant energy- we take what is in our minds, hearts, bodies and put it through the fires of wordsmithing to communicate with other minds, hearts, and bodies.

One need not write a poem to engage with this energy, but certainly you can! Below I’ll list some ideas to take on today and for this month to work with the power of words. We know all too well that words can work to elevate and express love, can serve as acts of resistance, can illustrate passions, can take us to places in our imaginations that were, prior to reading them, unknown. Words can also be used to attack, harm, humiliate, and isolate others. We must always be responsible for choosing our words.

As we head into the time when winter releases its grip and spring pushes to emerge into new life and new growth, let’s play with words and see what happens.

Photo by Viktoria Emilia

Some ideas:
~ Write down one word a day that is of interest to you and put it in a location where you will see it and be reminded to think of it. Look up the definition and the etymology of the word and see what comes to mind. If a word doesn’t come to mind, flip through a dictionary or book you have around and open to a page. Wherever your eyes naturally find themselves on the page, choose a word.
~ Write a letter to someone- the paper kind! And mail it!
~ Write a poem.
~ Read a poem.
~ Write a word and think about what color it is. Play with that. Maybe paint around it, draw the word, or weave it!
~ Perhaps there’s an email that could be sent to a state politician that implores them to consider a different point of view? Or that supports them in continuing the fight that they are in?
~ Listen to an author read something they wrote or they love.
~ Consider how you would like to use your words to communicate with people in the coming months. Is there anything that you’d like to express that has been hard to put in to words? Call on Brigid’s smithing and fire energies and apply them to working with expression.
~ Look to the sky whenever you are feeling overwhelmed and/or the creative spark is tired or feels far away and breathe. Say one word (or more) that describes what you see. Does it elevate you? or sadden you? Let your eyes find something to rest on that is neutral and simply describe what you see with no judgement. Just be. See what happens…

Enjoy the process of playing with the power of words! See how they feel as you say them, write them, hear them. And look for those signs of spring!

Until next time,

~ bradie


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Little Experiments, Picking Up a Languishing Piece, & Moistening Tea

My back is better. Nerve pain is in the rearview window. I’m engaging with my body in a new-ish way- listening better, and softening. It’s been cold here in Vermont. I’m doing what I can to not feel like a dried up raison.

This tea blend I made maybe will help? It is beautiful to look at and to smell. Thyme, Echinacea, Marshmallow Root, Milky Oats, Rose Petals, Linden… Nature and her gifts are endless. How is it that we abuse her so and assume she will always provide for us?

In my studio I’ve gotten back to a tapestry that has been woefully neglected yet is so important to me. What is that about?

And at home my tables are covered with projects, including little experiments like these, that are igniting my imagination for pieces that may or may not come to be woven. We will see. This tension that always exists between all of the ideas and the limits of time is a character in the story of living.

Wherever you are, I wish for you warmth and peace.

Until next time…


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A New Year Wish

The shift from one calendar year to the next feels more significant to me than my birthday. Collectively, we all make the leap into a new start, a fresh chance, a shifted idea of what is possible. Resolutions are hopes put in the form of determinations, and in that is something beautiful. Hope itself is beautiful. It’s what I see and feel as I watch people cheer and and cry, hug and kiss, dance and sing as the ball drops and confetti rains upon revelers.

I love hope.

Hope, like creativity, needs tending, like a fire. Hope starts with an idea or an image of how something might be better. Hope is maintained with discipline. This is where things fall apart for many of us. All I want to say on that is, be kind to yourself and be realistic about the disciplined steps you choose to tend to hope. With small bits of tinder, we can keep the mighty fire of an idea alive and moving forward.

I wish that for us all in this coming year~ that we keep our hopes alive and tended to with love, tenderness, and determination.

Always,
bradie


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Summoning Creativity #7~ Slow Growth, Slow Healing

My post is late this month because I’ve hurt my back something wicked and it’s really had me down for the count. Life has been very full and I’ve not been terribly good at following the advice that is the title of this post. This month’s Summoning Creativity effort is offered to me as much as it is to you.

I came across a quote recently that is in this marvelous book called Mystical Stitches: Embroidery for Personal Empowerment and Magical Embellishment by Christi Johnson.

Christi wrote,

Until recent history, the slow growth reflected in the natural world and in the required crafts of daily living was all there was. Our bodies and minds evolved thanks to, and in support of, slow growth. Today, we live in a culture that not only makes it possible to force growth but often expects it. While we don’t have to eschew technological or human progress, we must weave the appreciation for slow growth back into the tapestry of our lives if we hope to move toward a more harmonious relationship with the natural environment that surrounds us.

This writing made me nod and exclaim out loud, “yes, thank you for this reminder”. I read it a few days before I hurt my back, and I find myself going back to it now when just sitting to weave or stitch or even read is somewhat challenging because there is no comfortable position I can be in for very long.

Applying these words to my own healing is a learning edge to me. Over the last several years, I’ve had several injuries and physical realities that have forced me to reckon with the impatience I have with my own body. While I relish slow growth, slow healing is a whole other matter. I’ve got a lot of work to do there.

And once again, I have the opportunity to reckon with this issue of mine.

How will I do it?

My current thinking is to relate to the pain I’m feeling in a visual way. I want to look at images of the muscles, nerves and vertebrae that are communicating with me. Maybe I’ll draw them, or stitch them, or at some point, weave them. I will add color and texture to impatience, to my tendency to force healing on myself (which never works), and I will try to relate to the parts of me that have some slow growing to do, namely patience with and compassion for… me.

So, here we go.

Do you have health issues that impact your making? How do you reckon with these themes?

Until next time,
~ bradie


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Summoning Creativity #6~ Shadow Play

The light is retreating where I live, noticeably. I’m into it this year, my psyche begging for a bit of slow- down. Just a moment, please, to be quiet, to process, to metabolize, and to get clear on some thinking. Something, or likely many things, have made these last couple of months feel frenetic and off-pace. I feel it, and I feel like it’s visible.

I thought I’d invite those of you who are engaged with this monthly creativity exploration to do something “easy”~ to play with your shadow. What does that mean? Well, you’d get one answer from a Jungian, and and another from a young grade schooler… maybe their ideas would meet up somewhere and skip around in tandem for a while before going off in various directions.

So, I’ll leave it at that~ Play With Your Shadow, in whatever way makes sense to you. There can be no directions for this!

But for some fun, I’ll share this classic poem.

My Shadow

I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me,
And what can be the use of him is more than I can see.
He is very, very like me from the heels up to the head;
And I see him jump before me, when I jump into my bed.

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow—
Not at all like proper children, which is always very slow;
For he sometimes shoots up taller like an india-rubber ball,
And he sometimes gets so little that there’s none of him at all.

He hasn’t got a notion of how children ought to play,
And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way.
He stays so close beside me, he’s a coward you can see;
I’d think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me!

One morning, very early, before the sun was up,
I rose and found the shining dew on every buttercup;
But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepy-head,
Had stayed at home behind me and was fast asleep in bed.

~ by Robert Louis Stevenson


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Hema Thríno 2~ blood mysteries in yarn & wood

Hema in ancient Greek means blood. Thríno means lament or grief.

This piece is reimagined and adapted from the original Hema Thríno pictured below.

It might be clear that I was working some things out in the making of this knitted sculpture. Namely, a grief to do with the natural departure from one stage of life into the next, evidenced in part by the changing soul landscape bringing me towards menopause. Over time, I’ve learned that I do best when I wrestle with matters of the heart/mind/body through my hands. Maybe writing, maybe drawing or weaving… in this case, knitting with gorgeous deep red cotton thread, strong and soft at the same time, and engaging with a plant called Witches’ Broom, parasitic in nature, that you find on trees and bushes. Witches’ Broom is an abnormal growth of branches in the tree, usually signaling some kind of distress.

Evidence of distress mixed with beauty, resilience, and strength…

I’d been looking at the first iteration of Hema Thríno for some time in my studio and I began to see her in a different form~ less vulnerable, more in an assumption of power and clarity. So off the wall she came and we got to work together and brought her into fuller form. She has a countenance now. She is here more fully… calm… and powerful.


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Summoning Creativity #5~ Hearing From People Who Create

I asked this question to people in my community: what is one thing you do that you feel supports your creativity and art making?

Of those that I asked, these are the responses I got back. Captured are the nuances, intricacies of humanness, and the fabulous varieties in the ways people think about and relate to their creative spirits. It’s clear: creativity is not only about making art. Creativity is energy in the relational field, with self, others, and the world in which we live.

From Donna LaPerle~

Joy feeds my creative sparks which encourages resiliency.  Knowing I have joy inside me comes through my creativity and keeps me from sinking into what I believe is insane news on the TV.  I have balance because the joy of being creative puts me in an “I can” space.  If I am experiencing joy, I am healing myself and it might reflect what I am creating in my art.  My depression has popped out of my so called, Jack in the box, through weaving and woodwork.  Looking at my stash of yarn or smelling my wood gives me hope.  Through my creativity I silently invite others to connect with their joy.  Perhaps I cannot change these crazy times but maybe we can hope for a brighter day and maybe witness just one or two smiles. 

Linda and Donna with some Wild Weaving
Donna’s Weaving & Exploration of Color Interactions

From Linda J. ~

I seek out craft and artistic visionaries who teach, inspire and nourish the creative quest and thought. Then I reflect and gather various inspiring materials, implementing the excitement into action–realizing everything is a learning opportunity and to enjoy the process.

When possible, allot time for your creativity—creativity nurtures so much of our well-being and identity; we can’t ignore that! 

From Kendra ~

I exercise my visual perception. I attentively observe my environment, forms of plants, animals, interior spaces, quality of light/colors. The more I look, the more I perceive with my eyes. 

I exercise my imagination in various ways: I imagine experiencing the world from a different physical size, how would it feel to be a tree or be a particular leaf or cat or an insect. How would I experience a tree if I lived in the soil? What’s the shape of the sensation of my skin touching another surface? What’s a visual representation – color, shape, movement – associated with a feeling or emotion? 

from Kendra ~ Virginia Oaks; the tree pictured in the back is 800 years old!
from Kendra ~ A leaf stuck in the snow and the pattern the wind and it created together. 
from Kendra ~ tea ceremony

From Steve Diffenderfer ~

I reflect on a current event, historical event, a recent interaction with a person be it emotional or cerebral, or anything else that holds my interest. I will then make a series of drawings to create context & reconcile that particular subject/idea/emotional response with at least three drawings and often twenty five or more small 5 /12″ x 8 1/2″ graphite or pen & ink drawings. (30-60 minute drawings).

When I am truly inspired, I will translate one of those drawings into a painting. (5 hours to 45 hours per painting). I am not concerned with generating artwork. I am not constantly drawing. I create visual art in yearly cycles. I play guitar every day :).

Beginning in 2020 I started exploring foreign languages and what may be lost in translation. I read a lot of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Gogol, Turgenev, Pushkin, Bulgakov & Pasternak novels during the pandemic. I considered Russian literature being translated into English prose, and being reliant on a translator. I also considered the Tao Teh Ching (which I consider poetry, and have read and revisited for many years) being translated into English. This led me to begin visually considering Chinese characters (hanzi) and Hebrew characters (Ktav Ashuri) and working them into a series of artwork: using them to convey ideas & feelings outside of the spoken & written language I use in daily life.

I explore other themes along the way. I’m always interested in something.

From Krista ~

I wake up early when it is still quiet. Make a cup of coffee and have time to knit or craft.  It’s almost a meditative time for me.  In the summer, I like to knit outside and listen to the birds and morning sounds. Winter, audiobooks.

Lately, I have moved away from visual YouTube podcasts, because my attention is drawn away from my knitting to the screen.  I am more productive listening to audiobooks.  I can keep working with an eye on what I am doing while listening to a story.

From Ali W. ~

One thing I do that supports my creativity is spending time outside without an agenda- just observing, walking, or collecting natural objects. Being in the moment with nature sparks ideas and often leads to unexpected creative flow. I prefer to let myself follow instinct-whether that’s taking a walk at dusk, watching how the light changes, or making something with my hands from what I find. Those little, unplanned moments feed my creative self more than anything structured (which tends to be hard for me).

from Ali

From Jonathan Silverman~

Serendipity, play, discernment- I have no idea and every idea of what I’m doing. There is joy and humility in acquiescing to both intent and discovery. Kneading, coiling, slabbing, throwing, pinching, scraping, folding, glazing… a wonderous dance. I am in partnership with clay, sometime we are in sync, sometimes we just don’t get along. We share ideas on how to end a form, pondering from the inside out and outside in.

 

Photo by ritesh arya

What do you think? What do you do to tend to or pay attention to your own creativity? Or if you don’t, can you imagine doing one tiny thing to turn your gaze towards the creative parts of yourself?

Until next time,
bradie


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Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend

Hey, hey! I’m a bit behind in getting the word out that I’ll be participating in this year’s Vermont Crafts Council Open Studio Weekend.

The details:
Dates: Saturday and Sunday October 4 and 5
Address: Shelburne Pond Studios @ 1260 Pond Road, Shelburne, Vermont
Hours: 10am – 5pm
What’s in the studio: lots of things but especially recent work I’ve been doing that interlaces my focus on the plants around me and my love for weaving. My work has been dreamy lately, and I’m excited to show it.

If you’re in the area and feel like stopping in, I’d love to see you! This Open Studio event is wonderful. If you haven’t participated before, there are studios open all over the state and you can pick loops that are in a region you’d like to explore. The very comprehensive maps will show you all the spots to check out. This is my second year doing it and it’s a total joy. Many thanks to the Vermont Crafts Council for putting on such a great event.