Creative Hibernation
I have been in an energy rut for a while now. It’s been a long winter and – as usual – I hibernated almost literally. While most people I know feel more productive with their creative projects as the weather cools, I felt, well, PTtthhhT. This winter, I read a fair bit and completed a frightening amount of Sudoku puzzles. All things I can do cozily from a relaxed position and so I did, which also led me deeper into my “nap habit”. My imagination was only on semi-vacation, though. I dreamt up plenty of creative projects to tackle, and I continued to take “artist dates” to Michael’s on Saturday mornings.
I dabbled with some knitting. My talented friend Tanya taught me how on a work trip back from Rhode Island in Nov. It had been about 25 yrs since my Nanna taught me the first time and so rather than Barbie clothes; I knitted a couple of what Pete calls “Neck Tubes”. They turned out ok, but nothing like my teacher and inspiration Tanya’s work. Tanya is an amazing craftsperson. This is not your Grandma’s knitting. Her work is beautiful, funky, and she is able to combine every part of the process from dying and spinning her own wool to the final beautiful piece! (PS you should really check out her work on her blog http://bytanya.blogspot.com/ .
I have planned some photo / paper projects… several scrapbooks I want to get started on: A gardening theme, a gourmet food and wine theme, a dog theme, pics from Greece, and now pics from NYC with Kate. I beefed up my digital setup a bit with a new Dell in the Fall, a new photo printer and a fun Wacom tablet. Since it also an activity requiring more stamina than energy J, I spent many hours beefing up my Photoshop skills.
I also completed two baby quilts that were in the works for a while - the two O’Hara cousins Olivia and Peighton received these on their first birthdays J I always mean to get photos of the babies and their quilts and never get around to it.
Looking back on the summary, it wasn’t a totally inactive winter, I guess. I am feeling much more motivated now that Spring has arrived, finally. I have decided to try to include some sort of “artist date” activity every day, even if it is only surfing web sites of my crafty friends. It’s something and it will get me moving eventually.
Comments