Healing Handcrafting


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August Creativity Update

We are ten days into this month and I wanted to share an update on how I’ve been doing with the Summoning Creativity intention, which is to engage with your creativity every day. First, I’ll just give you the run down.

August 1: I feel like this was a bit of a cheat because I had the opportunity to visit the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. I specifically went to see the Woven Histories exhibit, which was incredible, inspiring, tear-inducing… but we also checked out a lot of the permanent collection which knocked my psyche into a great space. I was also reminded of how much I love the work of Marc Chagall. Once back at home at my family’s house, I did a quick sketch inspired by a piece from the Woven Histories exhibit entitled Composition 9 by Manolo Millares.

August 2: while on a walk in the town I spent a lot of my childhood, I gathered some leaves that caught my attention. I either was drawn to their shape or to their colors. Once back at the house, I looked them up to see what tree they belonged to and took some notes. Sassafras, Pin Oak, Big Tooth Aspen, and some kind of Hickory were of special focus.

Captured with VisionCamera by mrousavy
Captured with VisionCamera by mrousavy
Captured with VisionCamera by mrousavy
Captured with VisionCamera by mrousavy
Captured with VisionCamera by mrousavy

August 3: On this day, my daughter and I drove from my family’s home in NJ where we were visiting to Asbury Park which is on the Jersey Shore. Driving in NJ elicits a unique kind of stress in my mind and body, so just making that trip felt like a feat that involved mental creativity. BUT, once there, we made it to the beach for a bit, swam, and I let myself succumb to the relaxing and beautiful sounds of the ocean waves. Heavenly magic. I watched people and witnessed a most beautiful scene: two women helped an elderly woman down to the water. The elderly woman was wearing a long blue dress. Her hair was pinned up. She was beautiful. The two women on either side of her were holding each of her hands gently; they were in bathing suits. They stepped into the water, feet getting wet. Then a little deeper… ankles and calves… no worries about the woman’s dress getting wet. They moved slowly, patiently, lovingly. Deeper still and they were up to about mid-calf. They were getting splashed by waves, smiling. Her dress was completely wet. Other family members approached and stayed. It seemed like there were at least three, maybe four generations of family there. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The picture here is cropped in such a way to respect the privacy of those in the scene.

August 4: On a walk with my daughter to the place we went for dinner, we got turned around and ended up on a little footbridge. I took a picture of the reflection, imagining a tapestry project idea and made sure to document it in my book.

August 5: on our last night in Asbury Park, we took in the scenes around us and marveled at the art, edginess, creativity and spooky feeling that abounds there. I didn’t do any journaling- taking in the ocean and the sights was satisfying enough.

August 6: I drove home to Vermont from the Jersey Shore, about a 6.5 hour drive, and stayed mostly calm through 4 hours of heavy traffic. That’s all I could muster.

August 7: I had to, rather quickly, make a fun project for an upcoming class at the Shelburne Craft School. My goal? Show how random we can be when weaving on a frame loom, and how we can just follow an urge or a whim to create something unique.

August 8: I sat on my porch in the evening and added a little bit to my little tapestry project. There’s no plan to this. I just want to make waves an swirls and swales, capturing my feelings about this summer. I didn’t have too much time to work on it but I got one more wave in (on the left) and the yellows.

August 9: Yesterday began with me trying to sort how I was going to spend my hours… I need to repair a sculpture at my studio and am longing to be there. But home was calling to me- I wanted to tend to it and be around my family. What began as some mild chores turned into cleaning windows, mopping floors, putting things away… I listened to music (I’ve been on a Rolling Stones kick lately) and took care of my space with a lot of time to be with my people. I came across started and then left, or half-finished art projects and did the next step on one of them: a while ago I took some loosely knitted linen material from a former project and molded it around a bowl with some hardening fixative. It’s been sitting and curing for months now. Yesterday I spray painted it gold. Next step will be to paint it with nuln oil. Can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s finished.

August 10: Early this morning, I sat on my porch, listened to all the critters making their late summer sounds. I worked some more on my little tapestry, until it became too hot in the direct sun.

In these first ten days of this month’s Summoning Creativity intention, I’ve given myself a lot of space to be where I am and fully engage with whatever is happening. Sometimes I’ve actually gotten to make something or work on a project. Most times, I’ve been more of an observer/noticer of interesting, beautiful, lovely things or moments. One day, so much focus and energy went into driving safely that there was no energy left over to do anything else. What has been consistently true is that I have not had hours to spend on my own art. Life is busy with family, work, chores, and other engagements. Yet, I feel like I’ve been really tuned in to the part of myself that is creative and wants to create. I’m proving to myself that not having a lot of time in the studio doesn’t mean I can’t live in and experience my life artistically and creatively. Having this intention for the month is reminding me to tune in and do something… anything… to keep the flow going so when I do have more time, I can jump in with abandon.

Tell me about your creative practice! I love hearing how people approach their own artistry.

Until next time…


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Summoning Creativity #3 ~ Engage Every Day

I’m writing to you from my porch. It’s just a few days before August 1st. I’ve been thinking about the next Summoning Creativity post for a while now. As I listen to the myriad birds engaged in their morning meetings and wonder at the frogs knocking to one another from here to there*, I can’t help but come back to the bewilderment I feel at being on Earth, doing this thing called life. Being alive. Being here as part of, and witness to, all of it. All of what is happening, all of what has been, all of what will come… here we are. Part of the story.

August in Vermont has a certain texture and moodiness to it. The sun’s height in the sky has gone through some noticeable shifts and, even with the hot days of late, there have already been moments that feel and smell like early fall. The rhythms we live in are obvious.  Yet, they can pass by with little notice if attention is not paid to the shifts.

Lest this seem like a naval-examining treatise on the passing of time, let me get to it and make the link between being human in nature and creativity.

The Link

When We Notice, We Are Engaged

When We Are Engaged, We Can Create

The Prompt for August

Engage Every Day

Yes. Every day.

Don’t go yet! This isn’t bootcamp or a fad diet. It’s an invitation to harness the energy of August and give yourself the gift of engagement with your life, your surroundings, and your beautiful creativity that is boundless and waiting for attention. Here’s what I have in mind.

~ Every single day, take a moment to be fully present in your body and mind. Let your senses guide you. Do you hear something that has you wondering? Do you see something that catches your attention? Feel a sensation on your skin? Taste something that has your tongue tingling? Smell something that makes you tilt your head?

~ Let your attention rest on something that is: neutral, pleasant, interesting, or beautiful. Yes, I’m being directive about that. ** Like students in school, we learn best when we feel and are safe. Let us give our nervous systems the gift of a moment of, at minimum, calm neutrality.

~ Observe what you have chosen to rest your attention on. At least for five minutes, study what has gotten your attention.

~ Then, following this engagement, document it. You can do this in several ways. On days that are busy and there’s just no time that feels available for more, simply write what you saw.

It can be as short and sweet as: “By my front step, I saw a web that formed a circle on the grass. It looked like a tissue from a distance. But up close, it was webby and dewy.”

Or, you can take a picture of it and print it out, if possible.

Or, you draw it, paint it, sketch it.

Or, you can research it. Using this example, I might wonder, “what makes those webs?” and then study that creature.

Or, you can make something inspired by what you’ve seen.

~ And… repeat. Every day for one month.

Why every day?!

Because when we do something every day, over time, we change our habits. And yes, it is a habit to plow through a day without noticing anything. And, it’s a habit to live every day and notice many things.

It’s a practice to let those things you observe work on you and interact with the part of you that is curious, has wonder, and wants to play.

Things that might be useful to have around:

  • An unlined notebook where you can keep sketches/drawings/writings/clippings….
  • A camera. Many folks have smartphones that have one million photos on them that they forget about. I recommend for this endeavor to print out pictures and put them in your book. If you have a printer that can do this, great. I don’t have reliable printer and ink costs a forture, so I often will order prints through the Walgreens app because I can order the prints I want and pick them up quickly. If you are only ordering one print here and there, it’s remains inexpensive. Many pharmacies and grocers have photo printing these days, and there’s no minimum number of prints necessary. My daughter also has this little polaroid camera that is pretty fun. I haven’t used it for things like this, but I think it would work great!
  • Colored pencils or pens
  • Charcoal drawing pencils
  • Portable paints
  • If you have a specific medium you like to work with, have that around and easily accessible in case you have more dedicated time to play and create.

Things to consider that might help support this practice:

  • Setting an alarm each day (with a pleasant sound, please! – no startle responses necessary for this effort!) to remind you to take a moment to engage.
  • Keeping your art book around so you are visually reminded to engage.
  • Inviting people you live with or talk to regularly to do this, too! Sometimes it’s fun to have a partner in daily efforts.

Beware of the following:

  • If you forget a day or days, don’t throw in the towel! Just get back to it. My relationship with my journal changed drastically when I decided not to make it a shame and self-hate punisher if I miss a few days or months. Shit happens, man. It’s no big thing.
  • Judgement of what you are focusing on or on what you do with it. Reminder: this is not a project to get anything specific done. It’s an invitation to engage with what resonates with you while taking it a step further and interacting with what you noticed.

What do you think? Are you game? I am! I vibe deeply with getting practical and organized in my efforts. I also don’t want to miss any of August, no matter where I am or what I’m doing. If any part of this feels too rigid for you and your nature, adjust as needed and make it work for you. Most important is to commit.

As always, I love to hear from you whether through the comments or directly, so please let me know if you take this on! I plan on sharing my thoughts about the whole thing as we make our way through the month. We’ll see what engaging every day inspires!

Until next time,

Bradie

ps- this post came a little early so you can start on August 1 if you’re so inspired!

* I think I’m hearing mink frogs but it seems like where I am is not considered part of their Vermont territory. Not sure, but a deeper dive into frog lore is in my future.

** To be clear, I am not saying the requirement is to ignore all that is happening in the world and to just “be positive, man”. What I am saying is that we need to give our nervous systems a chance to balance out, reboot, and access a sense of safety if we are actually living in a safe circumstance. With the issues we are facing, we need to do what we can to nurture ourselves so we can stay strong and grounded. 

Frogs Landscape (1575u20131580) painting high by National Gallery of Art is licensed under CC-CC0 1.0


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Workshop @ Mercy Ecospirituality Center

I think it was around fifteen years ago now that I re-found my love of making things. That energy had been in some kind of limbo state, emerging at times through writing, experiments, and gardening. For these last fifteen years, though, I’ve been in a steady state of learning about all sorts of fiber craft and art. A main passion has emerged, and that has to do with weaving.

The interlacement of all things is an idea, or a reality, that just grabs me. It’s simple and obvious. But it’s also profound and true. I recently wrote this in an instagram post:

One of the things I love about weaving is that is invites our minds to work with our bodies. We can be
with humble tools and materials and through the simple act of interlacements, something beautiful can emerge.

To interlace materials is to simply join them in an over and under rhythm. Suddenly, elements are joined when they were otherwise separate. Weaving for me has been a way to be with myself and my thoughts. I follow the directions of the materials and let myself flow with the process, rather than try to control the process from start to finish.

This has been true of my experiences with grief. The more I tried to control grief, the more I suffered. As I have learned to move with grief and let the waves of it interlace with all of the other truths about me and my life, the more I’ve been able to grow with it.

If you told me fifteen years ago that I’d be invited to lead a weaving workshop at such a wonderful place as Mercy Ecospirituality Center, I’d have looked behind me, assuming you were talking to someone else. If you are within a reasonable drive to Benson, VT, and feel like spending a day playing with interlacements, please come! I promise, you will end up with something that you didn’t expect, and that it will mean something to you.


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Summoning Creativity #2~ Follow Threads

Recently I was talking to someone in my studio about a theme he noticed in my work~ I had an image expressed several ways and he wondered at the significance of the image to me. This got me thinking about how this happens in my work sometimes and the best way I can put it is, I let my psyche guide me in what images, symbols or themes I want to follow, and then… I do.

For example, several years ago, I was looking at a picture in a book I have of an image of an elderly woman sitting on a granite sort of bench that was really maybe a retaining wall for a city garden bed, her hands resting on her pocketbook. I loved her face and found myself looking at her and going back to look at her some more. I had all kinds of feelings when I took in her details and conjured stories that might explain her look of sadness.

Then, I decided to try to draw her. (I know I didn’t get her image exactly as she looked in the picture. For one, I don’t know how to draw, but the point of all of what I’m saying here has nothing to do with perfection, and only to do with engaging.)

Then I found myself looking at the face of the woman I drew. And I kept going back and looking at her some more and I remember thinking, who are you?

A year or two after drawing her, I took a tapestry weaving class with Rebecca Mezoff, which I highly recommend. We were tasked with designing a cartoon for a weaving project, and I chose my lady. I knew I wanted to learn how to weave faces, and I wanted to spend more time with her. So, I dove into that and made the cartoon, and then I started weaving her…

And I wove her…

And kept weaving her…

And then I was like, “no really, who ARE you?!” She became ever more important to me. I started to see in her face regret, which is another theme I’ve been following, studying, and writing about for many years. That was interesting. This thread I was following was actually one I’d been engaged with in a more intellectual way for a long time. The theme suddenly dove into new, creative terrain.

Then, I was done with the weaving, but I wasn’t done with the image, so I did a block print of her.

And then, I was done.

So you see… there was an initial spark, and then an idea and another idea and another idea… I couldn’t have planned this all. I just followed the image and let it keep working on me over the course of a few years. There need not be any rush or pressure. There’s no time limit. There’s only an invitation.

Following threads of themes, symbols and images is a really fun and meaningful way to get into something and experiment with different mediums. Fun because you’re literally playing with an idea and letting it work on you. Meaningful because the threads come from your own psyche. No one is assigning them to you.

So, how does one do this?

Start with these questions:
~ What’s on your mind these days?
~ What are you drawn to? Is it a song? A color? A taste? A smell? An image?
~ This thing you are drawn to, how might you engage with it creatively? Can you draw it? Cook it? Paint it? Weave it? Sculpt it?
~ Can you start there? And see where it leads?
~ Can you write about it? What draws you to it or captures your attention?

For example… maybe the color green is really grabbing you or you know it’s your favorite color. You can:

  • take out some water colors play with greens; you can blend, use solid colors, or make them so subtle you can barely see them, or pair the greens with complementary colors…
  • you can take pictures of all the greens you see in your immediate landscape or your home
  • you can wear green
  • you can knit/crochet/weave a green-inspired project
  • you can read about the color green and see what themes/symbols/stories/myths are associated with it
  • you can follow an idea because what might happen is, with all of this attention to green, an image of a way to work with it will occur to you- listen to that and follow it.
  • the more you do this, the more you’ll do it – wow, that was deep.

I love seeing how people do this~ please write and share if you are so inclined! And, if you want to keep up on this monthly Creativity Summoning, sign up to receive updates to the site! We’ll keep it going as long as I have something say.

Until next time,

bradie


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Monday’s Musings ~ Random Bits of My Life

Thought I’d share a compilation of things I’ve been thinking about and doing this last week. Some make me smile. Some make me think. Some make me cry. Some make me feel gratitude. Some a mixture of all of those things.

  • I got to participate in this art show along with fellow fiber artists, potters, painters, and woodturners. What a wonderful thing! There is something uniquely powerful about putting your work out there for others to see. The camaraderie I feel with my fellow makers who are in this show is really nice. Makes me proud.

  • I had to cancel, very last minute, a Community Weave event at my studio because I got wrecked by an allergic response, either to an antibiotic or a new-to-me face/body cream. It looked like I got punched in the eye, and I had welts all over my body about 48 hours ago. Not cool. Much better now.

  • I finished a prototype for a larger series I am getting working on… it’s hard to see in this picture, but it’s a woven tube made of linen, adorned with flax, wool, jute, with a beautiful antler hanging in the middle… better images to come…

  • Wrapped up a fabulous class at the Shelburne Craft School- this was explosively fun and very co-creative and inspiring! Weaving with minimal rules, natural materials, and instinct frees up a whole lot of space in my psyche. Sharing that with others was a true joy.
  • Read through journals I’ve been keeping since high school, looking for lyrics I wrote for a song I love playing… man, that’s a trip. Never found the lyrics to that song. Did find lyrics to another song I wrote but didn’t put down the chords… what the shit? So, reworking that one. But, I did find this… a realization that I’ve been hard at work being-a-person for a long time… thinking, creating, examining, striving, loving, fearing… I often think of my younger self as kind of a hot-mess, and don’t get me wrong, I had my drawn-out hot-mess moments for sure (still do!), but I think I’ve been unkind to the younger me that was just learning how to grow up in the midst of living. Those days are over. I suddenly see myself very differently, not as pre- or post- hot-mess, but rather as a long story. Just like anyone. This shift has been medicine.
  • Spent a lot of time with my dog who seems to know I’ve not been feeling well.

  • Learned that there are so many plants in my yard that are medicinal and I am now going down a rabbit hole of studying them… reading about “weeds” that heal ailments has me reconsidering what a weed actually is.

And, I think that’s it for now. There’s so much going on, so much to respond to, metabolize, and critically think through. An endless well of compassion, empathy, fortitude, and courage is needed. And honesty. And self-reflection. Most everything I’m making these days has something to do with living and dying and the cycle of these opposites that shape our existence and our choices.

Until next time,

bradie


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Circular Weaving Adornments

Circular weaving is a wonderful way to play with yarn, experiment, and make beautiful things, with or without a plan. I recently warped my Majacraft circular loom; it is no longer made but sometimes you can find them for sale through other vendors. If you can get your hands on one, don’t hesitate- these looms are by far my favorite circular looms to date. I set it up in a way that keeps the center open/unwoven. When you weave this way, you can make home decor and sculpture, as well as shawls and necklaces, depending on how big the space is in the middle and how big your loom is.

I’ve wanted to weave a necklace for a long time and I finally decided to play and make one that is dedicated to Thalassa, primordial goddess of the ocean, who I’ve become very attached to. This first piece is woven with linen, very thin and strong, like netting and sea grass. I included sea shells from Sanibel Island, a place where I used to live that takes up a lot of space in my psyche. The necklace rests gently on my shoulders and the shells move but don’t clank or tangle. It lays in such a way that I want to stand straight and move with intention when I’m wearing it.

I knew ahead of time how the shells would be attached to the weaving, but the weaving itself came organically and peacefully. I wanted it open, airy, loose. The sea interacts with air and netting with water and its inhabitants.

I am delighted with this first outcome! And you know… I’ve got another project ready to go! This one will be woven down to the end of the warp and will have a totally different vibe… stay tuned!

Thalassa, daughter of Aether and Hemera,
mother of Aigaion, the Telkhines, Halia, Aprhodite, and the fishes.
Thalassa is the sea.


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Things that made me smile today…

I wish I had pictures of all of these things but I was driving when I saw some of them, or it just would have been weird to bust out my camera…

  • handmade signs asking drivers to slow down because of geese in the road
  • the kind and lovely person who helped me understand my new progressive lenses
  • asking this wonderful man what he’s up to and him saying something like, “6’3, no good, and logging”
  • a joke that flowed off a dear person’s tongue as seamlessly as water over a smooth rock
  • signs indicating that in a family barn, you’d find coffee, snacks, art, and vintage stuff… I love Vermont so much
  • the Green Mountains
  • hearing how excited someone I was talking to is about an upcoming trip she’s going on with her family
  • listening to the birds around my studio- I think a couple of pigeons were yelling at each other
  • thinking about this fantastic play I saw last night that my friend is in
  • seeing signs all over the place that suggest that love, compassion, and a welcoming attitude are preferred by many
  • my cat resting in the garden
  • the smell of peonies
  • an about-to-bloom poppy
  • the sounds and sights of bees doing their thing
  • the smell of catmint

we need to notice the things that make us smile,
call to our hearts,
help us feel connected to other people, even if we don’t know them,
and to ourselves, even when we’re tired, sad, scared, or sick

Until next time,

bradie


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Amazing Book: Border & Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism, by Harsha Walia

Just doing a little light reading because, you know…

Pretty much every sentence in Walia’s book is a powerhouse meal of critical information. I highly recommend it if you’re someone who is trying to find your way through this time in our shared history.

From Border and Rule,

“We are told that immigration policy is about law and order, not racial exclusion in an allegedly post-racial society. But there is no objective fact of migrant illegality; as Catherine Dauvergne maintains, ‘Illegal migration is a product of migration law. Without legal prohibition, there is no illegality.’ While borders are hierarchically organized and permeable for white expats, a handpicked immigrant diaspora, and the rich investor class, they form a fortress against the millions in the “deportspora” who are shut out, immobilized, and expelled. The global turn toward deportation and detention as the central means of immigration enforcement is attendant to the rise of neoliberalism.”

That’s just in the Introduction…

What will our leaders do? What will we do?

“All men make mistakes, but a good man yields when he knows his course is wrong, and repairs the evil. The only crime is pride.” ~ Sophocles, Antigone


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Monday’s Musings~ new work in the queue

Biologic Windæge

Each pane in this piece is a window into a space containing an idea, a feeling, a symbol, a material. Everything is biologic. In some cases, the material is of plants, in others of animals. In one case, the material is a secretion of the silk worm. Everything will one day biodegrade. Fleeting and beautiful. Strong to a point.

I’m waiting for the right materials to emerge for the last three panes, which will serve as the end of the story…

Until then, a preview…

What do you see? Maybe not the same as me, and that’s okay. It’s how it should be.

Hope you are doing alright, wherever you are. ~ bradie


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Co-creating after death

My mom was a very talented artist. She had an eye for alluring shapes, luscious textures, intricate details that could easily be missed if one didn’t stop to look closely at whatever-it-was. In Florida, we lived on a bayou and the whole back of the tiny house on stilts opened to a view of it, tree and mangrove lined. The bird life there was epic. Alligators glided through the water, occasionally lumbering up the bank into our yard. Oh, do I have some stories about them.

Much of what my mom made included materials found in our yard or on the island. She had this uncanny ability to use the natural contours of something to house or nestle around little sculptures she’d make, usually faces. Once, when I went home for a visit after I’d moved to Vermont, one of the walls in the open space in the middle of our house was adorned with her pieces of art. I was breath-taken. They were exquisite. I went directly into agent-mode, wanting her to get her work into local galleries. I wanted everyone to see what I saw.

After my mom died, eight years ago now, many of the materials she used in her art ended up with me. One piece in particular has hung on the wall in my studio for a long time. It is a material that comes from palm trees and is like netting or burlap. It’s the most amazing material, woven by nature, strong, pliable, beautiful. I’ve wanted to make something with it for years but nothing was coming to me so I let it simply be itself.

Last week, I was in the midst of repurposing a piece I’d made about a year ago for an art exhibit. It was fabric of very fine grey linen, knitted loosely. I wanted it to be something else and was letting myself play. After treating it with a stiffening agent so it didn’t unravel in my hands, I moved it around and “asked” what it wanted to be and netting came to mind. As I sat at my table strewn with materials, I thought about my mom. Then, I invited her to play. What does that mean? I welcomed her to participate in what I was doing. I talked to her in my mind and imagined how she might have approached what I was doing. Then, I remembered the palm netting. It was at that moment when I felt, “oh cool, we’re making something together”. And then I got to it.

When people ask me how I use fiber art or handcrafting to process grief or life events, I know I answer the question, and I have a lot of things to show for my efforts. But in the moments I’m describing here, I got to observe myself while in the process of doing it, and I wanted to share some things that came clear to me. I believe anyone can do this, with whatever materials they have on hand, whether they or their loved ones were/are artistically inclined or not. And by the way, I truly believe all humans are creative beings. Creativity is not just for some people. It is an energy and a gift available to all of us because it resides in us.

Why am I sharing a personal moment like this in such a public way? Because I think about grief and love all the time, and help people process their own when I can. And I can tell you with absolute confidence, creating while in the mindset of connecting with a loved one* or processing grief does something. Many things. Here’s some details:

~ It creates a space in which you can think about and talk to your loved one.
~ It can be playful, which benefits our mental and physical health tremendously. You can read about that here.
~ It fosters the bond between you and the one you are grieving – read about continuing bonds as described by Dennis Klass here.
~ It’s a worthwhile effort, even when the relationship was painful or your grief is complex.
~ You make something meaningful to you. There’s no getting it right or wrong.
~ New thoughts, emotions, and understandings have a way of coming forth when you allow the time and space for them to emerge. When this happens in a creative zone that utilizes some form of action (art making, cooking, gardening, singing/playing music, writing), these shifts are metabolized through the body. All the thoughts and emotions are no longer only housed in the mind, but flow through the body, which can lead to greater peace.
~ You might be able to repurpose things that would otherwise be stuck in a drawer or thrown away.
~ You hang out with yourself, which is something I highly recommend. You are worth your own attention.

unfinished co-created piece by my mom and me

This new co-created piece between me and my mom is not finished yet. It’s hanging in my studio in a spot that is important to me and commands my attention. I find myself looking at it and feeling all of the textures and imagining what it will be when it is finished. There’s no rush to get it done and I suppose this is a chance for me to just be in my thoughts with and about my mom. It’s an ongoing invitation…

Until next time… ~ bradie

* I often use the term “loved one” to refer to the person we are grieving. This is not to imply that all has to wonderful and conflict-free in terms of the relationship one had with the deceased person. I should figure out a new way to refer to the person who has died that allows for imagining processing all loss creatively, not just the loss of someone we had a generally good relationship with. It is possible to do this, and is very valuable. Even if grief is complicated, there are ways to work it out through creative expression.