Building a Tapestry Pedagogy
It was late summer of 1998, and I was just about to turn 13, when my mom asked me if an enrichment course through the Madison Area Technical College on Navajo tapestry weaving might be of interest. We had just begun our homeschooling adventures together, transitioning from Montessori schools to our own version of Montessori-infused […]
A Mountain of Wool
Chris’ telltale greenish-gray truck pulls into the barnyard early in the morning as we’re doing chores. Shearing season once again has arrived on the farm, and the 120-odd sheep are ready. As the temperatures tentatively climb out of the deep freeze, their heavy wool coats will soon be too intense for their comfort. In the […]
The Art of Repurposing
There’s an old green trailer on our farm, reworked by some creative soul from the back end of an old pickup truck. It hangs out next to the garage, out of the way of the snowplow. A few years ago, we had the idea to load it up with the various pieces of scrap metal […]
Healing Through Our Hands
Healing Through Our Hands Recently, my indigenous friends on social media have been sharing a beautiful sentiment from their cultures. As a creative maker, gardener, and tender of the earth, these thoughts resonated with me personally, and I wanted to share them with you. “Grandma, how do you deal with pain?” “With your hands, dear. […]
The Joy of Making Christmas Presents
Shopping…it has never been a family favorite. As far back as I can remember, Mom would remark how she loathed shopping. We’d even challenge each other to see how fast we could breeze through a store for the items we were after! Our holiday gifting to each other is customarily ever-so-practical: new chore boots, insulated […]
Creativity Vs. Productivity–Yin and Yang
I was a bright-eyed fourth grader the summer we stopped by the gift shop in Wisconsin Dells where my mom’s younger brother had a summer job. I had a tiny bit of spending money, and I picked out a necklace for myself—a silvery yin yang pendant embedded with shell inlay dyed maroon and a bluish […]
Inheritor of Stashes
The stash. I wish there was a prettier word for it, maybe something that sounds a bit more French? Even horde sounds at least medieval or fantasy oriented to describe an assemblage of art or craft supplies, but “stash” seems to have become the term of choice. On the other hand, I don’t want to […]
New Exploration, Added Skillsets
Being an interdisciplinary artist means that I’m not married to one medium or methodology. Creative projects for me typically start as an idea seeking form–which might eventually become a song, a tapestry, a story, or any number of options for making. Adding to my toolset for creative expression keeps things fresh for me as an […]
Facing Your Project UFOs
For many of us, the term UFO conjures images of disk-shaped alien space craft with blinking lights and eerie music, but for creative makers, we have a different use for this acronym—Un-Finished Object. A creative UFO is a different critter from the other acronym WIPs, or Works In Progress. A WIP is something you’re actively […]
I Made a Thing, Now What?
Creating can be so much fun–invigorating, stimulating, and able to make hours disappear like mere minutes. If you’re like me and a prolific creator (or you’ve been taking a host of my Zoom classes lately), you are probably creating quite a collection of items you’ve made. Now, what to do with all this creative wonderfulness? […]