blank canvas

This blank canvas has been taunting me for weeks now - begging me to break out some fabric, some stencils, make some patterns and get stitching - yet an image has been alluding me. Without an image in mind one can only get so far... Sometimes when life is too busy or I am feeling too much stress a blank canvas mocks me.  When an image hides in my mind and won't come out it is often a sign that life is out of balance.  The blank canvas calls to me to slow down and take time for myself - it asks me what am I hiding from?  My mind stays clearer when creativity  is at the center of everything I do.  Like the time I spend at my sit spot time spent behind my sewing machine is time with myself - a time where I can get into the shadows of life and tend to the dust that is trying to settle there.  Shadows can only be ignored for so long... Keeping my mind tidy leads to life flowing more effortlessly and I am all about that.

Thankfully, this blank canvas will not be mocking me for too much longer.  Imagery popped into my mind last night as I was drifting off to sleep.  This in between time of awake and asleep is often my richest creativity time.  Stories become visible and images become clear.  I spent the day getting my stencils ready and now it's time to pick out fabric!

Until next time-

S

dive deep

In a revival of creativity and self reflection I am back to blogging.  I was trying out a different interface through my website, but have decided I don't really like it. So, here I am back to this blog in hopes of feeling inspiration to write as much as I can...

This quilt is all about the process of diving deep into ones self.  There is so much I can say on this process both from personal experience and having witnessed people looking at their own personal stories and seeing how attachment to what was can keep us from moving forward in life.

I am forever grateful to know how to look deep and look hard at the patterns and wounds within the essence of myself that I want to transform into new healthier patterns and releasing those wounds, tending the scars and allowing new stories from within to evolve.

Through the process of "diving deep" my life gets better.  I find more joy.  I find more connection to self and to those around me. In my mind, this can only be a good thing!

Here's to more soul searching and more joy and more happiness!

Until next time-

S

A summer sit

Lost in the haze of thought.
Hot.
Sweaty.
Mosquitos bite me.
Cicadas deafen me.
The yellow jackets buzz at my feet.
I wonder if trusting them to not bite will suffice.
An edge of uncertainty...
I blow a mosquito off my arm.
A pine cone falls to the ground.
Where is the water?
Where is the rain?
Lightening bugs flash yellow.
Dusk approaches.
Sweat upon my brow.
My butt hurts. Shifting seems impossible.
Teetering on the edge of enjoying myself and discomfort.
In winter when I was dressed in my snow suit I wondered what summer would feel like.
I have no tangible memory of the cold.
It was just cold. 
There are no words to describe it.
Winter has faded away.
Yet, here I sit again begging the seasons to teach me more.
My mind drifts into the lostness that is thought...
Two Red bellied woodpeckers call out through the quiet.
Through the pines.
On the warm breeze.
They let the other know where they are.
"I" know where they are.
The warbler sings in the tree tops.
My mind returns to the surface of the here and now.
It comes up for air.
The beauty of the sit spot.
I shift.
I adjust.
I sit.

Written 7/7/12 (day 218)

pic by India

"the toilet's in heaven."

There's not much more to say about it than that!

Until next time...

Sarah

Finished the tree

Sometimes I just can't believe how fast time goes.  

Kalib and I had an amazing time at the Advanced Bird Language weekend up at Wooten Woods.  We met some awesome people, learned more about tracking, and best of all learned more about birds.  It has blown my mind to learn all this new information about birds and what they can tell us about our world.  Those vocal critters are pouring the information out.  We just have to tune in.  

In the mean time, I haven't gotten a lot of quilting done.  Artistic progress is slow, but any progress is good progress.

With all this mentor training and bird language training much of my time is taken up studying and looking things up and... listening...

I did manage to finish the tree!

However, when I stood back from it I just did not like that apple in the middle of the tree.  

 A little obsessive you ask?
Maybe. 
 I just like to get it right.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

Initially, I wanted it to stand out because it would sit at the heart of the tree, but each time I looked at it I felt like it drew the eye from the overall image a little TOO much. And, I just don't really like that piece of fabric.  I keep trying to use it and keep putting it back on the shelf.  One day it will make its way into one of my "tapestries."

So, I pulled it off and replaced it with a different apple in a fabric that was only slightly different from the others.

AHHHHH.... much better...

Now, I can sleep at night!

 
 

Until next time!

Sarah

Sit Spot Day 84

It wasn't my intention to write today.  Naturally, I have about a billion things left to do before Kalib and I leave for Nashville, so inspiration hits and I have to put it off a little longer... go figure...

Today was my 84th day of getting up in the morning and going to sit in the woods and watch the birds and animals.  Jason says at this point, I'm a goof ball for keeping up with my days, but somehow keeping up with it seems to keep me motivated. 

As one might suspect, there are days that are amazing and there are days that are not so amazing.  Oddly enough rainy days are often my favorite and especially the day after a good rain shower.  Today, was one of those amazingly beautiful days in the woods.

When I sat down at 7:05 this morning (yes, I also keep up with the time I am there so I can track the birds as they come and go) the fog was heavy on the forest floor and the birds were giving up their morning songs to the sun. 

I sat there for an hour and half and the birds came and they went and they came and they went and three different squirrels passed right in front of me and many more ran behind me. 

I watched the sun peak from behind the trees as it pushed the clouds apart.  It lifted the fog as it began its journey across the sky today. 

The drops of rain splashed to the floor as the birds perched upon them and began singing their songs to one another. 

 It was a beautiful morning.

  



http://www.123rf.com/photo_2677048_sunrise-on-a-foggy-morning-in-the-grampians-forest.html

As I was heading down the path home, I had this thought...

"Mornings like this morning make going out worth everything it is.  There was no more than there always is.  Some days I become more than I normally am and it seeps in deeper.  I breathe."

I looked to the sun as it shown on my face and then down to the ground and at my feet was a tiny snail. 

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/roman-snail:helix-pomatia-photo-1159.html



My first day at Grey Fox the kids found a snail and we named it "Snooky."  We made up a song about it, we checked into facts about it and shared them with one another the next week.  It was a happy day.  I was reminded of that day and the mystery of the snail and how little I knew about it.  How little I know about life.

I had the above thought return to my mind and I felt appreciation and gratitude and my heart felt full.

Life IS the miracle.

Be well.

Sarah

a shot from India's eye

I figured since I was back, India should be back too - again, we aren't commiting to being regular or anything, but instead posting when it feels right.  Whew!  What a lesson to learn! 

Anyhow, she recently came into an Olympus SLR camera that is on indefinitie loan and we are super eager to see what she's able to do with it as she learns to use it.  She's got a Nikon film camera our dear friend Elise gave her that has tons of lenses and we have ordered  a part for the Olympus that will make the Nikon lenses fit it!  There's going to be great things coming from her eye.  I can't wait to see what she creates!

We - meaning Jason and I - have got to get India out into the world to take some shots.  If you have suggestions of places she might could shoot (other than the Bot Gardens as she's been there, done that...) we would love to hear them.  She's also interested in possibly trying to do a photo shoot somewhere along the way with costumes and make-up.  I'm so excited to watch her voice grow with her eye.

Today, we have a picture from Hendershot's Coffee where she went a few weeks ago to see some her friends play music.  This shot is my favorite.  It captures the light and the atmosphere of Hendershot's at night.  I'm also grateful we have a small coffee shop that supports our local teen muscicians the way Hendershot's does! 

Kalib and I are off to Nashville for the weekend to learn Advanced Bird Language with Jon Young!

See you next week!

Sarah