Clearing and Experimenting

 

Taking the summer off isn’t all play and that’s a good thing for me. With all the life changes flowing my way, having things to do and feeling productive is grounding. The key to doing this without stressing myself out is space and pace. 

Clay, crochet and cleaning are on my summertime agenda. But instead of pushing and striving and making lists, I’m leaning into them softly. 

New clay. 

I wanted to try out some new clay options for small to medium sculptures. The first option did work but I wasn’t a fan of working with it. Then I got a sample of some new clay from another clay artist to try. This was a porcelain sculpture clay. It’s white, smooth and lovely.

It rolled out well. I liked working with it and the small figures seem to dry well. I didn’t have enough clay to try a larger piece, so I’m not sure how it would work out. But it was fun to play with a new clay. And to fire my kiln with some new landscape and sculpture pieces. 

Calming with crochet. 

Ok, I think I’m finally hitting that stage: Gram is making baby blankets. I taught myself to crochet about 20 years ago and focused on Freeform crochet, lacy angora scarves and felting. It’s always been fun, creative and calming. 

Now with 3 grandchildren and a need to ease my stress, I’ve been making throws and crib blankets from craft store yarn. It’s easy. The super soft yarn is not expensive. And there’s no complicated pattern, just chain and crochet until it’s as big as I want it to be.  

One slat at a time.

When we built our home 30 years ago, we had 9 custom wood blinds installed in the downstairs. It was a big expense then and an even bigger expense now. Before the downstairs flood, I looked into updating and replacing the blinds. But because of our back door configuration, the more up-to-date 2” blinds wouldn’t work. 

After all the demolition and reconstruction, the original wood blinds were filthy. There was only one way to get them clean: swifter dusters and Murphy’s Oil Soap. After dusting, I wiped across and under each and every slat. The kitchen sink was the biggest challenge. The only way to do it was to climb onto the counter and maneuver myself behind the sink. 

Releasing the old dust of the past, cleared my mind,

Crochet softened my heart, 

And new clay opened up places for new ideas. 

Isn’t that what Summer is for?