Healing Handcrafting


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Summoning Creativity #1

One of the things I love about teaching is that it keeps my mind fully engaged with what I’m talking about and trying to share with other people. Something that comes up often in classes is how connected or disconnected people feel from their own creativity. On occasion, people have asked if I could offer prompts to help keep momentum going and I do it for a while, but then forget over time (same thing with working out! there must be something to unpack there). This is my attempt to not let such a request fall by the wayside.

Here’s how it will work (this is my fantasy as of now- keep me honest if slack!):

  • On the first of each month, I’ll offer some thought, idea, inspiration that is centered on summoning energy from the bottomless creative well we all have within us. I’m thinking monthly because honestly, we need time to let ideas steep and take hold, let alone play with the ideas in an effort of making/creating.
  • Some months will have insights from others who tend to their creative landscape, some will be my own thoughts, some will address those pesky things that can get in the way of efforts such as these.
  • These will never be over-complicated or expensive suggestions.
  • I’ll continue this for as long as there is something useful to say.
  • Welcomed: if you have things you do that keep your creative life energized and flowing, and you’d like to participate in the conversation, please write, comment, share! I love co-creating efforts to lift the veil off our own artistry.
  • Suggestion & Request: if you are into this idea and want to make sure not to miss one, follow this here blog! My goal is to get out a new summoning each month. And, share this with others who you think might be interested! (at the bottom of each page on this site there is a place to subscribe).

Summoning Creativity #1

These are two suggestions I’ve used in my classes and I wanted to share them here. Hope you enjoy them!

1. Make a List– make a list of 25 things that you love. Leave the list in a place where you will continue to see it and let it work on you. Are there things on your list that nudge you a little? Or pull you a little bit? Just notice what happens as you spend time with your list, imagining these loved things. Don’t overcomplicate this. It could be a color. A smell. A temperature or moisture level of the air… just tune in. Then, move towards…

2. Nurture Your Inner Judge~ aka the fear-monger– most of us have a “voice” that pops up and tells us things when we are in new territory, especially when we feel vulnerable, exposed, frustrated… I read something a while ago that really resonated with me, and it was this: our inner critic is trying to protect us from harm. When it senses we are stepping out of our comfort zone, it tries to reel us back in because it doesn’t want us to experience something that is painful, scary, or embarrassing. Chances are, this fear-monger showed up for us when we were little, and it had an important job to do. The thing about this judgy fear-monger is, it doesn’t know when to stop. And I wonder if it doesn’t know what to do with itself when it sees us taking steps into new terrain. It reminds me of how I’ve felt when my kids tried new things like skateboarding, snowboarding, etc. Inside I wished they’d just stay safe and not put themselves in harm’s way. Every part of me wanted to keep yelling, “Be careful! Slow down! STOP!!!” So I had to work on dealing with my own fear while helping them know how to responsibly do the things they want to do. This is how I think about my own inner judge. 

Now, when I hear my inner judge piping-up, I address it directly. I let it know, “we are safe and I’m just playing. Nothing bad will happen, even if what I’m making doesn’t turn out how I want it to.” I let it know that it can join me in the play and sometimes, if I remember, I thank it for trying to protect me, but that it doesn’t need to at the moment. It also doesn’t need to be banished. It can be reshaped into something more gentle. That’s when I find myself thinking about vulnerability and creativity, and where they intersect. 

For this prompt, I just ask for you to notice your fear-monger. What does it say? How have you dealt with it so far? Can you invite it to relax and look around, and see that it’s safe to explore and play?

Until next time… bradie


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Playing with Woven Material and Flowers

I’ve been busy in my studio seeing through ideas that are a continuation of themes I’ve been hanging with for a while now. I just can’t seem to get enough of loosely woven wooly fabric. I love weaving it. I love playing with it. I love how it is the perfect backdrop for a stem, a stick, a branch…

There is an Open Studio event where my space is tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. There have been a lot of projects in the flow, some of which are completed, one big one that is almost done that I’ll write about separately, and two that have finally gotten dislodged from my mind and set to looms. What a relief!

I think that’s one of the best parts of making… having an idea and finally getting it into action. Why does it take so long sometimes?


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Sweeping Away and The Wild Bits

little bits of everything
here and there
this and that
brooms sweeping away what is not ours
inviting a hold on what is
thresholds beckoning
then not letting go
interlacements revealing
the over-under dance



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Playing with my Ancestors

In my space
circling around materials and ideas
I found my great-grandparents
Not all but some,
And then it started.
Do you like this color?
Did you have this flower in your garden
That was in the back of your little house
Where you made my brother and me
The most delicious hamburgers
In a frying pan, with butter and salt?
I remember you and your dear love.
Mom told me you held hands when you slept at night.
And you, great-grandmother I never met,
Whose teacups I have but am not graceful enough to use.
Maybe you know I’d slug the coffee that could fit in that dainty piece of porcelain in one gulp,
Apologies.
I feel loved by you and can feel you through the veil.
I’m glad we got to play.

Klara and Friedrich Behind a Veil
Virginia Behind a Veil


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Monday’s Musings~ Weaving Your Story is Online!

Dear god, I say “ummmm” too much!

Why do I know this? 

Because I’m getting ready to teach my first online class that involves a lot of videos. And, as I’ve been editing them, I’ve realized, wow, I really do say “ummmm” a whole lot. It’s such a good place holder for my mouth when I need to catch up with my thoughts, but not ideal to listen to! I’m very grateful for iMovie editing features!

I’m also extremely grateful for…

~ The chance to bring Weaving Your Story to more people~ this is a class I built, drawing together my passions from years of work and study, both as a therapist and as a weaver. I feel so strongly about what weaving offers to people, aesthetically, emotionally, in community. 

~ The Shelburne Craft School, and especially its director, Heather Moore, who right out of the gate expressed interest in the way I use weaving in my work with people, and wondered if we might build a class around it. And that’s just what we did! Through that process, I’ve learned about writing grants and partnering with other organizations, while expanding my own skill set as I’ve offered this work to a larger group. I’ve also gotten to teach a dear friend and colleague, Ali Waltien, how to offer Weaving Your Story in her work. How amazing!

~

~ The Vermont Arts Council, who awarded us the Creative Aging grant.  

~ An anonymous donor who has made the class available to even more people.

~ Weaving Your Story participants who take the leap into weaving… well…  their stories! This takes courage, patience, trust, and flexibility, and with every single group, I learn and grow. 

~ My weaving teachers, Lausanne Allen, Susan Barrett Merrill, Rebecca Mezoff, Elizabeth Buckley, and Susan Powers, … I’m so fortunate to have these people as part of my weaving journey. They share and encourage, inspire, and know their craft inside and out.

~ My daughter who has been helping me learn how to make and edit videos, export, upload and put into the airwaves the online version of the class. 

That all reads like an acceptance speech! Seriously though, I’d be remiss to talk about the Weaving Your Story classes without expressing all the gratitude I feel for those who have given so much to me, so there we are. 

Now, back to editing my videos! If I can reduce my “ummmmms” by 75% or more, I think it’ll be okay. 

Weave me a rope that will pull me through these impossible times.

~ from, Not Even Close, Tim Finn


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The Creative Process~ Article Published!

I’m delighted to share that an article I was invited to work on with the director of the Shelburne Craft School, Heather Moore, has been published in the IMAG #18 periodical from InSEA publications. It’s called, “Who Cares How it Comes Out? Pinhole Camera as Teacher and Muse”. You can find it here! It was a marvelous process, working on such an important-to-me project. The more I think about creativity, the more I think it is an essential and critical part of being human and that it ought never be treated as an afterthought. We’ve, as a species, been articulating our ideas and inspirations for millennia. To be able to think and write about how the creative process fosters community, empathy, enthusiasm, and engagement was a real pleasure. I hope you like it!


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Happy Spring

Took a long walk today at beautiful Shelburne Farms.

Picked up some weather worn sticks.

Stared at a pileated woodpecker while it went about its business.

Felt the warm, wet wind, and exhaled.

Made eye contact with a cow.

Communed with a robin.

Greeted a cardinal.

Listened to people laugh.

Sent many wishes into the sky.

Noticed the osprey aren’t back on their perch yet.

Heard an eagle in the distance.

Thought about my next weaving project and the steep learning curve I’ll surmount to make it.

It will be red.


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Beautiful Weaving Quote

For one of the classes I teach, I gather quotes that capture the symbolism of weaving and how it describes so much of our experience of life. I’d love to start sharing what I find here.

We all belong to the same beautiful tapestry of existence, and our lives are all woven together to create the magical experience of life. None of us are alone, or solitary, or unimportant- we’re all part of something that is vastly bigger than ourselves but, at the same time, comprises each of our individual energies. We are forever interconnected, and these connections are more awe inspiring and more powerful than we can even fathom.

~ Laura Lynne Jackson, “Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe”


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Monday’s Musings: Neck Pain & Looms

I haven’t been able to weave lately because of a back/neck injury I sustained one month ago tomorrow. As I’ve worked to get back in touch with my body and what it’s communicating to me (if only I’d listen!), I’ve been thinking a lot my looms and which one will be my entryway back into weaving.

I think for the sake of my back, I’ll start weaving again on this wonderful one from Lost Pond Looms. I am planning on using this loom in both my Introduction to Tapestry Weaving Classes and Wild Weaving classes, as we phase out the ones we have been using. I like this loom because it is super strong and allows for different warp spacing. I also love that we are buying it directly from the person who makes them, and he’s from the next state over in NY.

So, taking it slow, and learning ever more to listen to the language of my body and woven form itself. And in the meantime, I’m circling my weaving tools, thinking about what they will hold soon, and looking forward to picking up my yarn again.

Here’s another Lost Pond Loom as well as a shed stick from Threads Thru Time and an itty bitty loom from Stephen Willette.


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America’s Shadow

The Shadow of America has burst forth,
Hideous in full form,
Visible to the world.
Not for the first time,
But still, this time too
Is trying our souls.
Many have known this Shadow.
Those able to see have recognized it,
Studied it,
Preached, sung, written of it.
Courageous vilified for naming it.
Truth-sayers killed for challenging it, taking it to court.
Those countless murdered by Shadow’s effects on humans in righteous denial,
Their blood is on our hands,
Fostering dis-ease until we ease ourselves into taking it on, this Shadow-illness
That, when denied becomes more itself,
Tyrannical.
To know is to descend into darkness,
Where ancient Destruction lives,
With Her corpse wall hooks,
And His poison.
No wonder there is turning away.
To face Shadow is the stuff of legend.
Legend’s heroes have scars, every one,
Valiantly earned,
Skin debt paid in the quest towards light.
The lid is blown off this American dream.
Now we must, oh we must!
Welcome the cracked open broken heart that comes with Shadow
As it swirls and climbs,
Snuffing out white-washed lies,
Engorged on delicious ignorance,
Creating and co-creating with light
Something new.
A new table where all have a place,
Eyes looking into eyes, with recognition, sorrow, love.
This time,
And again,
It is an invitation.

b. mccabe hansen

Notes:

“With Her corpse wall hooks”; references Ereshkigal, Mesopotamian goddess of death and the underworld who hangs sister/goddess Inanna on wall hooks; the myth of Inanna explores many themes, including the process of descending to darkness to face that which we have not seen or accepted within ourselves, claiming our cut-off parts.

References:

Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer, Diane Wolkstein & Samuel Noah Kramer

Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women, by Sylvia Brinton Perera

“And His poison”; references Phthonos, Greek spirit and embodiment of malicious envy.

“Is trying to our souls”: Reference to Thomas Paine’s American Crisis, December 23, 1776. Excerpt: “THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.”