"Were it possible for us to see further than our knowledge reaches and yet a little way beyond the outworks of our divination, perhaps we would then endure our sorrows with greater confidence than our joys. For they are the moments when something new has entered us, something unknown; our feelings grow mute in shy perplexity, everything in us withdraws, a stillness comes, and the new, which no one knows, stands in the midst of it and is silent." 


Rainer Maria Rilke


Yesterday, I began the first page of my embroiderer's ledger with enthusiasm and that great feeling of beginning. That is such a good thing. always to be a beginner. I learn that while teaching my class of little one's and when I am visiting with my Mom.
I had to stop working on the ledger, to go to the center where Mom stays, now. I took her for a drive to Blacksburg, Virginia, to buy her some lipstick and we had a sweet time sitting outside eating lunch at Panera's.
I picked this restaurant because I have to help her walk and she can not do that very well, anymore, and to show her the blog Karenruane.blogspot.co.uk  on my Kindle Fire that has wi-fi. She loved seeing the work of Karen. My mom is losing her memory and is confused, sometimes. She is blind in one eye and has lost her sense of smell.
This past year has been filled with so many sorrows, sometimes I could hardly bear it all. But, the good thing is that she is so happy, now. The center is just wonderful and they are well equipped to deal with the physical and mental disabilities that Mom has. They take her to concerts and even the Senior Olympics. They helped her stand-up while she putted in golf competition. She won an award for her putting. The funny thing is that she never did that before, in her life, she just watched my Dad all the time.
So, you see, if I would have known, I would not have hurt inside, I would have experienced the illness of my mom with anticipation of the newness.
When I returned home in the evening with my needles, the package of yarn that my honey picked-up at the post office was on the kitchen table:

So, this is a snap of my morning coffee with the beautiful tools

and materials I have to work with today.

Let not your heart be troubled, and even if it is

there is something hidden in all of that.

Just wait upon it.

See?

xoxoxo

Make Good Art

You know, I question myself a lot
I just wrote a bunch of stuff and deleted it
while it was disappearing
I noticed how amazing
the visual image was
and
that that in itself would make a great video. . .
Tools are important,
not to change the subject, but,
they are.
Above is a tool I found once
that someone a very long time ago
used to grind corn or something.
Tools today are beyond anyone's wildest imagination.
I think about this a lot.

This link to a speech given to graduating students
entitled "Make Good Art"
is something I wish I would have seen
a long time ago.
You simply must watch it.

Tools again:
I need to buy some needles.
I do not want to stop doing what I am doing
to go to a store.
Maybe someday,
what I need
will suddenly appear
as soon as I think of it.
STRANGER THINGS HAVE HAPPENED
IN MY LIFETIME
LIKE
THE
INTERNET

Things In Common

Today we are contemplating things we have in common
for instance
what it feels like to be a comment junkie
or
 is my art good enough
or
should I just do it anyway
who cares
do I care?
do you care?
do I do it just because it is fun
or
can I just not help it if that is all I want to do?
It must be important to me
one way or another.
Is it important to you?
Do you like to see if I see
what you do?
I like to play
around
with
what
I
see!
It makes me see
even
more.
I then want to see
more and more and more
Look at what I did
SEE?


 

Beyond Layers assignment for this week
is above.

Ok I am switching gears back to embroidery ledger
now.

xoxoxo

The Detour

"The fifteen-year old daughter of a friend once addressed the old Jung as follows: "Herr Professor, you are so clever. Could you please tell me the shortest path to my life's goal?" Without a moment's hesitation Jung replied, "The detour!"

Richard Kehl  quotes this in Silver Departures - Quotations to set the mind traveling

So, here I am again, off onto another adventurous detour.

Once, my husband and I were on our way to Lake Powell in Arizona,

we had come the back way over the Three Mesa area of the Hopi

reservation and came to a road that would be a shortcut to save hours

of drive time. So, we turned off that road onto the new road.

I could see it on the map. (I always slip into a passive voice, hmmm)

So, here we are driving a brand new Cutlass Supreme down the middle

of a dry river bed when coming our way were three Indian cowboys

riding on their horses when they stopped to ask if we were lost.

Well, no we were not lost. . .was this not the new road?

You see, I am such an optimist.

Of course, I will never hear the end of this!

It is a super highway, now.

Anyway, back to the detour idea. Starting today,

I am taking a class online, to compliment my detour into embroidery.

I know for sure that this is truly a road worth travelling and it does

complicate  my life, a bit, at this point,

but hey, who knows?

Is this just another jag in the road that is getting me closer to my destiny?

below are some shots I have taken of things I work on:

I hope you have a wonderful Monday!

xoxox

Meditation on the color GREEN

Just 

B  R  E  A  T  H

In the mix

the three above photo's

+

a little type

This week has been extremely busy

I am working on

Sothia shawl

Robin Ulrich

using Twist and Twine

I ordered more yarn for Katriel shawl, too.

Not to mention gardening, cooking, 3 Birthdays, visiting Mom,

photography, embroidery, Fathers Day,

Reading Fall of Giants,

visiting friends, whew. . .

I hope you have a weekend

filled with sunshine and happy days!

hugs to all of you!

Foto Friday

I keep working on embroidery and knitting and gardening

and painting fence and and and

photography experimentation.

I wish for you the warmth of the sunshine

the crispness of New Mexico Air

the blueness of this morning sky

the blueness of my periwinkle fence

and in the details of seeing every little thing

joy

Have a nice weekend xoxox

Ten Things

The Beyond Layers Experiment with Kim Klassen is something that makes me

realize again and again that just like everything else you will

get back exactly what you put into any effort.  We are to share

10 things that one might fear so here is my list:

1. That my fourth grade teacher was right when she told  my Mother that I am consistently inconsistent. I can change that, right?
2. That I will not have twenty million things to do every single day.
3. That I willingly, lately, share way too much.
4. That I willingly, will not share way too much.
5. That being a teacher that I do not take every opportunity to make a difference.
6. That I spread myself too thin when it comes to doing the very best I can.
7. That I can not decide what to do with the yarn pictured above because it is so pretty.
8. That I might swatch myself to death. For those of you who are not knitters, a swatch is when you try out stitches to be able to gauge what exactly the yarn will do when knit with particular needles, etc. It is important so that you will get the correct size in a garment or whatever.
9. That Jiminy cricket will stop telling me what to do. That I know that Jiminy is really just human and makes mistakes, too, and that I loved him, anyway.
10. That I will not live long enough to do all that I want to do or experience.

I was to do a black and white photo and I added the Oh My texture from Kim Klassen.

Again, I am not satisfied with the photo, but, I will try try again.

I hope you all have a very wonderful day! xoxo

Snaps

Working this past week has been filled with experimentation and 

frustration and satisfaction. Is that not the way it goes when one

is in the push me pull me mode?

As usual I am working on twenty two things at once.

But, when I stop to think about it . . .isn't everyone?

Control seems to be an issue for the week.

Machines. . .the culprits.

My computer has been acting up and the internet connection has been 

in that mode, too. It seems that Thundershowers have something

to say about all of that.

The mystery of it all!

Above is something I am thinking about at the moment. The layering

of time and space in life as I live it.

The fear that I will not have enough time to do all I think of doing

is always in the back of my mind.

I have a lot to say, I guess.

What I do when I just follow wherever something leads is more than 

I could ever want in my wildest dreams.

But then I am left with editing and making choices. . .We all know that is not my strong suit.

Just let it be, for now, just BE.

Two things at once.

Two things, again.

Hope you are having an interesting week.

xoxo

Just In Time

Hunting and Gathering

for

a new work

Beyond Layers

I find it is such a comfortable feeling

to be integrating

elemental ideas

considering possibilities

making it work

wondering

where it will

end

If I already knew the answers

I would never do anything

Hope your weekend

is more than interesting

xoxo