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.
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?
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.
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 WeavingDonna’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?
One of the classes I teach at the Shelburne Craft School is called Weaving Your Story. The chance to meld my love of weaving with my passions for healing, growth and creativity has been a true boon in my life. The program is fully grant funded by grantors and an anonymous donor making it cost free for participants. The Vermont Arts Council, being a grantor and a great supporter of the program, recently interviewed me to talk about Weaving Your Story and I wanted to share the article with you here. It captures so much of what the class is about and how I feel about it!
In case you are wondering how weaving and creative expression can be healing, I think the conversation gets at it well. Enjoy!
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.
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
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 VeilVirginia Behind a Veil
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!
~ 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 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.
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.
Healing Handcrafting 