February 25th, 2010
Dear Diary, I come here to write, to step away from my rug frame, to reach out , and to reach inside myself. There are a multitude of purposes of the diary . I have learned since I started writing here more consistently that one of the purposes is community, and I have enjoyed it. I appreciate your comments and want to keep them coming.
We sent a package off to Dulcy in Missouri last week because she won the first draw. So having found another empty basket under my desk, I’m starting to fill it again full of surprises, and if you comment here in the next three weeks or so, I’ll put your name in the bag again, and draw for a new basket filled with different stuff from around the studio. One of the things I’d like to hear from you is” What would you like me to write about here?”.
I can’t promise that I’ll write about everyone of them but I think your ideas would be interesting for me to hear, and the ones that I think I can write about, I’ll jot down on little sticky notes, and paste them above my desk with the bunch I have there now.
Keep commenting, keep talking…I’ll keep writing. Thanks.
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March 9th, 2010
Dear Diary, My friends came by today for a cup of coffee after their visit to the sugar woods. We hike together once or twice a year, and mostly see each other in passing beyond that. I have known them both a long time but we have never been in each others pockets. We all know each other’s husbands but we don’t get together. Yet, when we get together for a hike, or like today for a rare cup of coffee and an impromtu lunch of leftovers, we talk. Our lives are each our own, each of us doing different work, at different stages in our lives. We all have common friends, but we say little about them. We talk about how we experience lives in our own homes. We talk about our life, our children, our husbands and our work quite freely.
I always wonder what makes trust so natural and easy with some people, even though, no one would call you close. Most people in town would probally not notice the three of us as friends. One of them I worked with 28 years ago for a summer job. She was coordinating the census, and I was a student she hired. The other I ran into one morning, fifteen years ago at a play group. Our sons are the same age, and they played. I have no idea how they know each other, but I assume it is from living in the same town and sharing a social life, running into each other. With in a few weeks of meeting each of them, I was able to let my guard down. With some people we never let our guard down, with others it never seems to go up. There is something so deep about human beings , we will never fully understand ourselves. Alternately, you could say, there is something so siimple about human beings we will never understand ourselves. Sometimes we can just look at another person and feel as if everything is alright. Sometimes trust is sent in a quick lokk, or a lift of the eye. These relationships can be surprisingly enduring.
When I think of todays visit, one of the qualities they share is a knowledge and understanding of themselves. They are both intelligent, but more importantly, they are reflective, so conversation about your life and the roll you are playing in it is possible. They know they have a role, that they are not the whole show, and they can see the roles that others play. Because we all look at life that way, not taking ourselves too seriously, and seeing that we are characters in a sketch, the conversation flows. We are all characters in a sketch.
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March 9th, 2010
Dear Diary,
Ah, my next oldest sister is a writer. Years ago she wrote a great cookbook called “The Everyday Gourmet”. It was full of rich recipes, all tasty and nice, and probally responsible for a pound or two on the hips of her sisters. There is to me no remorse over a good meal though, it should be just enjoyed.
More recently,after leaving food writing behind for fiction, my sister, Wilhelmina Fitzpatrick, is a novelist, living in Calgary, Alberta. Her first book, Broken Voices, was published by Creative Publishing in St. Johns, NL, and they will publish her second next year. I just had the pleasure of visiting her hot off the press new website and reading an excerpt from her new book. It starts off with a description of a hooked rug that sounds eeerily familiar. So, though I don’t ussuallly place links here, I will today, because she is my sister. She is a writer, and she is living her life in pursuit of a creative passion, just like so many of us. Her writing can be seen at www.fitzlit.com
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March 8th, 2010
Dear Diary, Today I start work on a my first audio book. It is a book on its own, not an audio book of one I have already written. Yesterday, I started playing with title ideas. “Titling” is not my strongest point. My first book, “Hook Me a Story” was titled by the publisher, and they did a great job. My other titles are okay in that they are descriptive. I love the title for , “Making Time”, because it so aptly describes was the perpetual journal, and the entries are about. I came up with that after a title jam with Don Miller.
Yesterday, I got out the thesaurus, and played with words and in my journal wrote all those words down on a sheet and tried to make sense of them. I came up with a title, that iis slightly cumbersome. Two friends liked it, but one friend essensiallly rolled her eyes. Because I ask for opinions I need to be ready to receive them. One roll of the eye from someone I trust makes me reconsider.
By mid afternoon I had this idea that iif I went downtown to my studio and grabbed my coloured markers and pens to use as I wrote down the weords and played with them it might be helpful. This was, of course, a diversionary tactic. I played with my pretty pens for half an hour, and nothing happened. But I played, so that was good.
This morning I walked up the pumping station road , past an old damn, through the woods a bit, and I remembered a title I had come up with years ago for a book I had imagined and I realized that it would fit this project. See how things happen, you exercise your mind with words anf ideas, you get distracted, you play, then you walk, and another idea emerges. Then you have a new starting place. The new title ideas has not got past the idea snipers that I keep in my crew, but I am pondering it, playing with it and starting all over again. Fresh Morning, fresh idea.
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March 7th, 2010
sugar camps energy wheel
Dear Diary, Today we tasted spring, and the flavour was maple. I took a walk into the fenwick sugar bush to Neil Ripley’s camp which is “off the grid”. Everything, not just the maple candy, is handmade. For me , this walk is an annual trek, and some years I take a few pictures. Today I used the camera on the stacks of cord wood that he had piled in six foot lengths that he used to heat the burners to boil down the sap.
The camera lends me a new eye, and allows me to pursue a different way of seeing. When I examine things up close, or I crop images, I see their potential for abstract hooked rugs. Here I was charmed by the natural colours of the wood pile, but also by the repetitive shape. Circle after circle caught my interest, each one being round but still retaining it’s own shape.
The water wheel , at this sugar camp always amazes me, because it powers the pumps that sends the sap to the bins. I appreciate the seeming simplicity, though simple it is not. Today , very few of us could generate power a mile into a sugar bush where electricity is something you have to make.
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March 6th, 2010
Feta Stuffed Chicken
take two large chicken breasts, and split them as a butterfly
Filling: fry,1/2 small onion in olive oil, then mix with 1 cup fresh chopped spinach, and 1/4 cup crumbled feta. Spread on one side of chicken and fold the other side over as if to stuff it.
In a jar, mix a dressing of 1/4 cup olive oil, juice of 1 lemon, 1 clove of garlic chopped, 1tbsp vinegar, 1tsp dried mint. Shake
Separate andsprinkle 2 tbsp of dressing over each breast, then top with fine bread crumbs, and drizzle olive oil over crumbs. Bake at 380 for 30 to 40 minutes.
I cut potatoes into long quarters, tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread it around the chicken on a pizza pan.
On a spearate pan, I sliced two carrots and two beets, tossed with a tbsp of olive oil and 1/2 tsp of rosemary. The vegetables roasted while the chicken cooked.
The garlic lemon sauce for the chicken serves as a great salad dressing. I am careful to just take the two tbsp for the chicken in a separate little dish to baste the chicken, so that the dressing remains clean and safe to use.
Posted in Recipes | 3 Comments »
March 5th, 2010
this idea came on the edge of sleep
Dear Diary, I try not to manage my time, rather I try to manage my life, and then the time thing takes care of itself. One of the things I am often asked is “how do you get so much done?”. Of course there is no one answer to this but I think if you want to be an artist, wife, mother, and small business person, you really need to look at what you can do, and what you cannot do, and then you need to put yourself on the fast track to acepptance.I have no thought that the way I live my life is the way anyone else should live their life. I believe that time is not about space in a day book, it is about freedom of the mind, so you have room to carry out ideas, and love the people around you. These are a just a few of the guidelines I have created for managing my life that I have found give me more time and freedom to create, nurture and love.
- Guilt is only for when I have been awful. I refuse to feel guilty because I did not make every hockey game, or meeting. I swallow guilt only when I am guilty, because a certain level of guilt is a sign of a healthy conscience.
- I apologize when I have behaved poorly, because, resolution is better than guilt.
- Good friends are the ones that can do without you when you are busy in the middle of a project( like raising a family) but when you get together again, the conversation is easy and you are both appreciative of the time you have together. These are the relationships that matter to me.
- I try not to spend too much energy on negative nit picking. It is a waste. I am about solutions, not so much problems when it comes to the tiny hurdles of everyday life. Too many people have big things going on to waste our energy on foolishness.
- I try not to get into relationships where people are expecting things from me because I have two children and a husband at home who have the right to expect things from me, and I want to meet those expectations most of the time. I feel that my work/community commitments are important, but secondary. My friend Carol Oram told me when she was raising her three kids and working full time she did not have enough nurturing left in her too look after a geranium. It was not until her kids left home that she bothered with house plants. I get that.
- Balance is not just about work and life…it is about everything from the things you put on your plate, to the people you spend time with. I see balance as a practice for life in general. Admittedly, work and life balance are all mixed up. As Nancy Edell, so plainy and beautifully expressed, in an exhibit of her hooked rugs so many years ago, I am an “art nun”.
- I try to spend my time doing the things I really like to do, and I hire people to help me do the other things that need to be done. I fully accept that I cannot do everything.
- I do sometimes do two things at once, but sensibly. Once a male friend of mine was talking to a female friend on the phone and he said, “nameless, are you peeing?”. She said, “oooh sorry , yes.” he said, “How about I call you back?” . I think some things do not go together, but we did get a good laugh out of it. I have not quite caught the art of zen, so sometimes I’ll peel the potatoes while I chat with a friend on the phone. Peeing is out though.
- I try to keep things simple. If I have people for supper now, I ussually call them on the spur of the moment, and I cook a meal, for who’s coming, not a meal for an army like I used to do. Figure out how much needs to be done, and do that much. Try not to over do everything.
- Overdoing things makes me tired and resentful so I am careful not to do that. When I do it, I take note of it, and use those feelings to remind myself. I can ussually fend that tendency off for a year at a time.
- I get alot of my social life from my work, and the people I work with. This would not be healthy for everyone, but it is for me because my work is art, and I love what I do.
- People want to tell their story. They want to be listened to and I know that most often the best thing you can do for someone is to listen to them, and hear them out. I often don’t have the drive to bake someone a batch of cream puffs, but I can listen to my friends, and know that that is worth something to them.
- Exercise does not take too much time from your,day it provides much needed energy that allows you to get things done.
- Eating right makes you feel good, it makes you feel better and gives you energy.
- I am willing to receive love and accept goodness and help from others.
- I take time out for myself, guilt free, happily, with out a thought or a care for the laundry that is sitting in the chair.
- I will fold the laundry in the chair, just not at a particular moment.I keep things tidy. I do not like chaos because it makes life difficult.
- I keep a routine as I find that helpful. If it starts to bore me, I change it up for a few days. I like Twila Tharps idea of cultivating a creative habit. I think it works.
- Peace in your home is a beautiful thing. Cultivate it whenever you can.
- Time Sucker Technology is everywhere. I am careful of devices like ipods, computers and tvs. I love them all but am aware how much I use them for pleasure, or just time wasting time, channel or web surfing. I consciously turn them off.
- When I am crabby I try to be alone, or I go for a walk, because being with people creates problems for me of my own making, and occupies to much mind space.
- I don’t fill my life with too much stuff (well accept for wool…and art). I keep a bag going all the time for charity. If the cupboard gets to full, I thin it out and give it away.
- I sometimes give things away, household things that I no longer need. Years ago I wanted a roll top desk, and another rug hooker, Patty McWade said, “I have one you could have.” I htold her I had bidding up to 500 dollars at auction and would like to pay for it. She said “No, I don’t need it you can have it.When you are done with it , give it away.” I enjoyed that desk for years, then I gave it away to my friend, Bart Vautour, who is doing his Ph.D in English. I learned from Patty that selling household things can be cumbersome. and not worth the bother. Giving things away can be refreshing and heartwarming. Now when I need to shed a piece of furniture I put it at the end of my driveway with a free sign on it on a nice day and some guy in a truck inevitably carries it away.
- Afternoon naps are a luxury, as good as a cashmere sweater.
- Reading books is a way of resting but still doing something useful.
- A drink or two is lovely, and it is enough. I like my days as much as my nights so there are no hard drinking artists stories hidden here.
- Same goes for other drugs. A clear mind is a beautiful thing.
- I let go of things, and I try to let go of ideas, or relationships that no longer feed the soul because I change. I try not to hang on to people or ideas by a thin thread. With people,letting go gives you each a chance to grow in new ways. With ideas, letting go, gives you room to create new ones. With stuff, you just get room to move around you.
- I don’t plan things to far ahead because I really like the freedom to enjoy the moment, then if a friend calls for a movie I can go.
- If I am on a committee, I suggest we limit our meetings to one hour, because meetings can go on and on for no reason.
- I’ll excuse myself if something is going on too long, and I am getting fidgeting. I fidget if I have to sit still for too long, so I free myself up.
- When it comes to helping out in the community I like to choose things that begin and end, rather than long ongoing commitments because I prefer that.
- I say no all the time to all kind of things, sometimes to things I would like to do. I believe that saying “no”, is reasonable and fair, and much better than saying “yes” and doing a resentful or poor job.
- I have lots of friends that I keep in touch with but often it is just a quick call. For good friends it is often enough for them to know you are thinking of them.
- Walking is therapy for body and mind. I sometimes use an ipod when I walk but I have learned that one of the real benefits of walking is that it, like hooking rugs, allows you to come to yourself, to hear your own thoughts so I like to go out there with a free mind, most of the time. Whether it is five minutes, or an hour, it will give you so much more than you put into it. Julia Cameron’s book, “Walking in this World” is an excellent book about walking and coming to yourself as an artist.
Posted in Rug Hooking Articles | 6 Comments »
March 4th, 2010
this rug grew out of a few ideas, scraps of fabric I came across, birds in the yard, all come together
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March 4th, 2010
Dear Diary..where do you get your ideas? Do you travel through time and remember? Do you smell the roses around you? Do you wander far and wide to seek? Do you look at art and go from there? Are you always looking for ideas? Do you even know where your ideas come from, or do they suddenly pop into your head?
There is nothing more beautiful than an idea. I sometimes feel like taking that statem,ent and writing it in big script across my studio walls. Having an idea as an artist is like having a new toy as a cild. It is something to explore and discover. You have to take it turn it upside down, shake it, smell it, figure it out. Then you put it on the shelf. Take it down, dust it off , and start all over again. Ideas are like charms you carry with you. You just carry them around, then one day you take it out of your pocket, and it is like you never saw it before. You put it on a chain, then you wear it around your neck. You start trying it on with different outfits and you find all kinds of matches for it.
I save my ideas. I write them on scraps of paper, sticky notes, and put them in great big beautiful books. Sometimes they get lost in steno pads so I have taken to perusing the pges of a full steno pad just too see if there is anything any good left in there before it goes to recycling.
What is the sense of writing down all those notes if you do not go through them once in a while to figure out what is really worth thinking about some more or acting upon. Thomas Edison, said something to the effect that , dreams with out action were just hallucinations. I like to go through my piles of ideas now and again to remind myself of what I have been thinking about. Sometimes when I am feeling overwhelmed with ideas I’ll list them all down on a steno pad just so I can have the satisfaction of ticking them off, one by one. Focus, and action, are an incredibly important part of idea generation because as you carry out one idea, new ideas flow. It is like a tap. One artist told me not to save up ideas because when you carry them out, new ideas flow. I agree, but also know that ideas are beautiful things, and beauty should not be squandered. There is no sense in wasting them too quickly, sometimes they need to mature. One womanm is beautiful as a girl, another comes to herself in middle age, while others are reach their full potential as an older woman. Ideas are like that, you never know when their mystery will be revealed, and they’ll fully become themselves.
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March 3rd, 2010
A three minute excerpt from my new DVD, that shows basic how to hook instructions, has been posted on nthe site. It gives basic instructions on how to hook a rug.
Posted in How to Hook a Rug | 6 Comments »
March 3rd, 2010
Dear Diary, Today Gwen taught four Japanese girls who just came to Canada how to hook. There was maritime music going in the background and people coming and going from the studio. They were young women, eighteen to twenty, petite and beautiful. It was fun to see them immersed in another culture, my own.
I love the idea of introducing handwork to people because it has the potential to be a big part of their lives. Even the knowledge of the calmness that it can offer you is a great thing to have in the back in your mind, if you do not take up the craft right away. Teaching others how to hook rugs offers them alot of possibilities. Rug hooking is about so much more than making rugs.
working on the mat
Coming to the mat for me has always been coming to a place of stillness. It is one of the few things that slows me down. I think when we teach others to hook rugs we also teach them to come to themselves, to listen to the sound of their own hands, and be lead to the stillness inside of themselves. It can be a deep gift to teach someone to hook rugs, because you never know the places they’ll go.
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