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 teal.  It was one of …

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 think of it as hoarding, …

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 artist and allows me to …

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 working on—you know where you’re …

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?  The answer is that there …

A Fiber Journey into Rosemaling

In November 2018, I was a student at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN, taking a multi-day course on millenary (find that full story here).  We were stationed in Blue House, in the smaller of the two rooms.  Next to us was a large rosemaling class, with the tables formed in a wide U-shape to accommodate everyone’s projects.  …

Joyful Lifelong Learning

I’m not much for watching TV, as you might have surmised.  The few winter evenings we do watch a program, it’s almost always a documentary, preempted by someone calling out, “Let’s learn something!” Learning, in our house, was not something you did only during school hours—it was a part of everyday life that was encouraged and celebrated.  Mom read to …

Nisse: Yuletide Homestead Helpers

I love learning new things.  This last week’s Zoom needle felting classes were hosted with Vesterheim Folk Art School (based in Decorah, Iowa), with a class that proved to be so popular we added a second date to accommodate the waiting list, which also filled up in just a matter of days from opening registration.  The project of choice was …

Introducing Erindale Palates

“You have such a sense of color,” I’ve hard again and again.  “When I see your work, or the dyes you choose for your yarns, I know it’s yours by the colors you choose.” Or, most recently when helping an online shopper with shipping her roving order, she offered, “I loved the color choices–more natural and soft, not too harsh …

Students Share Their Projects

In the face of COVID-19, my teaching schedule tanked.  Facing March and April classes that had already been scheduled and booked, I turned the loss into an opportunity, transforming the materials into kits and the instruction time into recorded tutorials.  This allowed me to launch seven new needle felting kits with accompanying video instruction, which were duly mailed to students.  …