Spirit Cloth

so it seems

Lately,  everything...

seems to be caught in A Nest of Days. Which is the large cloth that has become a home for a lot of loose things. At least for a while.  I think about that, as a metaphor then, for how it is that it all happens. 

And then how I was able to warm the Indigo Vat in the afternoon sun yesterday. Just like that, under the skylight, moving it a bit as the sun moved across the room with the big table. How happy it became. With just that little bit of attention. This morning it is ready to give more blue.

Yesterday I confused everyone by testing private posts over at Feel Free. Later today I will do a regular open post over there to present my goals with some Clarity, which I often refer to as Blur-ity, because really what you understand is often a matter of perspective.  This will be my last post here for a while as I focus on the chaos that is just about always present when I begin a new teaching adventure.  Which in a way is no different from building a new home, which is what this one has ultimately become.

 

 

Probably

 

Probably there is always more to say, probably because there are always so many more ways to look at things.

 

Makes me much more comfortable about changing my mind.

I just added Probably to the Feel free Glossary because suddenly I realize I will probably use it a lot.

It's just an awful day, Raining Ice.  But I have a lot of emails to get to anyway. Thank you for gathering for my new class. Class? Zone. There is a link in the menu over at Feel Free. Look for Welcome to the Forever Zone, you can test the password if you already have one.

you sleep, you wake up...

And the Older said...

You stand.

You breath, let it move through.

You go.

Sometimes just to see.

Don't be discouraged.

Absorb the magic of days.

It rained, it snowed, the plow guy didn't show, 7 degrees, it froze, no unfreeze in sight, the only way out is to slide. Or fly.

Inspired by the Cloth Itself

And a thread from here to there...

I am really enjoying this scratched/old filter lately, probably because I can relate.  I had added a dyed layer over a print, loving how the illusion of it sliding behind the foliage gave it depth.  That gave me a similar idea here. 

But before I go further, let me just say, that all my audio and video will be at Feel Free now, as I move to my new series Everything in Perspective. I have decided to continue as long as I can with a modestly priced password protected format. You can come here to read about life and see what I am doing (and that can be enough) and then you might choose to follow the thread (if you are so inclined) to dive deeper into my process. Very much deeper. 

Why?

The feed here is unreliable and media is next to impossible to host, especially audio.

This blog has so much content, but the way I just go makes it hard to hold the bits together in any cohesive manner at this point.

I need to generate a bit more income. For reasons that aren't just about me.

The WordPress format is helping me organize my thoughts for book-writing.

I will release a full description of the final part to the series at the end of the month, which will begin mid February. If you are subscribed there you will receive details in a post, if not there will be a thread from here to there.

The thread from here to there, sounds simple, but really the journey is really so much more than a straight line. If you try to map how it holds together.

We are in for another storm. And frigid weather following. The most winter winter we have seen in a long time. I need to run to the grocery store because grocery delivery here is no longer happening due to a shortage of drivers. And low inventories.

But Hey. Let it snow.

 

 

 

Path Way

We are in the middle of a new storm. Still dark here and I don't even want to imagine the snow and rain mix. The yuckiest kind of weather to try to get around in. So I am not going anywhere.

I took this picture  Yesterday. That's a new path winding through the woods. Won't be visible when winter is over.

When we moved here, I brought my attitude with me. My neighbors (the couple is about my son's age) live right on the road below us. About 1/2 acre, 2 teenagers, and an ATV.  Not long after being here, I noticed them walking through "my yard". The 5 acres between them and the next neighborhood over. I kindly let them know how I felt about that. Everyday the youngest kid, 11, rides his ATV in circles around their house . For hours. While I think to myself, I hate those things.

Right after the holidays, while retrieving the mail at the bottom of the hill. I saw them on their deck. I called out. We talked from our own sides over a stone wall.  It was a long talk. Too long for here, I cannot type that much.

I asked about things. I learned about them. The things we have in common and the things we don't. I suddenly said...something I never would have said before... "what if Nicholas could use his ATV to make a path? I said maybe we could all walk through the woods more easily. Maybe he could use the path once in a while to ride through to see his friends over the hill.  Faces lit up. She asked if I wanted to know more about the hiking trails just beyond the hill.

The culture is different here. But people are people. If you try to understand.

I let a lot of things go with the turn of the year. I think that might become more apparent.

So many works I create are about path. Maybe they all are.

 

when it's cold

0 at dawn.

 

Photo play of course, but a little lost puzzle piece at the bottom of a basket brought back so many warm memories. A little bit of heart can go a long way. And I played with the photo just to try to express how it all made me feel.

That's what I do really, try to see if I can find a way to do that. A stray snow self I will call WHEN IT'S COLD. These seemingly silly little cloths. They can sometimes go even deeper than a more sophisticated form of expression. I think because, like a children's drawing they can move past agenda and catch you off guard, even in the making. And then the making brings new feelings. 

I will be starting a new and final segment of Patchwork in Perspective in February, in case you have not subscribed to or read the Feel Free Newsletter. Details of new teachings and shop updates will be over there now. Just going, here.

2 degrees. Still, the birds are singing.

The email feed service I tried to set up turned out to be a piece of crap. Not worth the ridiculous fees they were asking. I left the old one in place for now. As silly as it is.

Have a good weekend. I will sit with the Magic Cloth.

Some Thoughts

This is not The Magic Cloth.

The Magic Cloth is a large cloth. 

I am starting again in the middle.

Continuing could be a challenge.

Challenge is a component.

Challenge can be a base.

Typepad has changed. I/we have changed.

There are two places, here and Feel Free.

Email delivery here is failing. I need a new service.

.....................................................

It took me hours to put this audio here but I did it anyway.

 

 

alternative audio link if you see no player.

 

This is the Magic Cloth today. Waiting for me to make up my mind about so many things. I am going to hang it next to the bed so I can look at it every morning for a few days, before rising.

Some folks get adverse reactions to antibiotics. I am one of those folks. I feel like shit and that is the base I am working with today.

 

How might it happen?

As I recall, it was June 23rd. 2011.

Hello and Welcome

Hello. Here we are. I just wanted to talk a bit about what I have in mind for this series. Hopefully you have arrived here without any trouble.

This series was set up to follow what I call larger cloth. By this I do not always necessarily mean bigger, but just slower and longer term.  Deeper maybe. I wanted a format where I could talk about that a little more. In more detail than I do on my public blog.  A place to share more personal thoughts about cloth making. A place more like home that would be more continuous and less planned.

My thoughts are the same again. To just be here as I am, talking and sharing. Doing or not doing, thinking, struggling, whatever it may be. Probably not finishing, but who knows? And for you to be here with me, perhaps working alongside me on whatever you might work on, perhaps being inspired, perhaps just listening. Because really, there is no rush or expectations.

And here I am again. Going back in time and trying to find a way to connect the past to the present. And no the cloth is not finished. And neither am I. Yes, I could just put the class in the shop for those of you who would like to go through on your own. But this one was special. We gathered, we said and did and something clicked, because many of us are still here, going. It was a kind of Magic. 

Still, things are not the same. Especially Typepad. Maybe that will just be a big part of it. 

I did not go back through the class. I will be like you then, waiting to see what's next.

Meanwhile, the Ice Storm Cometh.

I'll be back with more thoughts. Just Talking, hopefully.

Hello. Here we are. I just wanted to talk a bit about what I have in mind for this series. Hopefully you have arrived here without any trouble.

This series was set up to follow what I call larger cloth. By this I do not always necessarily mean bigger, but just slower and longer term.  Deeper maybe. I wanted a format where I could talk about that a little more. In more detail than I do on my public blog.  A place to share more personal thoughts about cloth making. A place more like home that would be more continuous and less planned.

My thoughts are the same again. To just be here as I am, talking and sharing. Doing or not doing, thinking, struggling, whatever it may be. Probably not finishing, but who knows? And for you to be here with me, perhaps working alongside me on whatever you might work on, perhaps being inspired, perhaps just listening. Because really, there is no rush or expectations.

And here I am again. Going back in time and trying to find a way to connect the past to the present. And no the cloth is not finished. And neither am I. Yes, I could just put the class in the shop for those of you who would like to go through on your own. But this one was special. We gathered, we said and did and something clicked, because many of us are still here, going. It was a kind of Magic. 

Still, things are not the same. Especially Typepad. Maybe that will just be a big part of it. 

I did not go back through the class. I will be like you then, waiting to see what's next.

Meanwhile, the Ice Storm Cometh.

I'll be back with more thoughts. Just Talking, hopefully.

the frozen days

Frozen solid.

Probably some of the coldest days still to come.

But the sun's out. Encouraging a little shadow play.

A piece I started in Whispering Color. Arising from an Inner Warmth. Which is hanging upside down which doesn't seem to matter. It's about love. Color is so much about that.

I sat here thinking this morning about how many things I always have going. How it might confuse others. But really, I thrive on chaos, I somehow sense the order in it. It is a cradle of form. It is really how it happens for me. Part of that , though, is not worrying about it.

Yesterday, was not so good. Today is not great, but better. There is still pain but I can work through it. And I will ditch the painkillers. And the worrying.

I slept hugging the Magic Cloth and woke up to this. They have no names, these Magic Beasts.

I feel better then, ready to go, even if I don't know where. The how is just going, the where will become apparent.

Exchange

On waking, I thought Thank you.

Then I thought, who is You?

She is still here. Under the needle.

I extended her red. Still using the leafy shapes available in the weave-sketch. Mane, Red, Fire, Reaching. Change. I will bring some green into her. Exchange. An exercise in liminality.

I see this as part of Sempathy. Evolution.

I should talk. But it is difficult here. 

Really what I want to say is it is not about you or me or he or she or we or they, or even the thing. It (and what is it?) is about exchange. That is what makes us useful.

It's 13 degrees but the sun is out and I need to go outside and breathe it in. Gather my selves. Have a meeting. About the New Year, which at this point seems as if it should be marked by my upcoming birthday. A more important point for Mapping. Yeah, I need some time.