House of Music, Color, and Peace

It has been 3 weeks.   I have landed in Southwest Florida after a rather epic trip through a Panhandle storm, emptied a mobile home of some else's life stuff, and begun my own nesting.  I can now breathe.

As I look around me, I wonder if I am perhaps recreating my 1970's dorm room. (It was a time of trying to create peace in a cement box at UVM.)  Rag rug color on the floor. Music at hand. Everything I need to live in a rectangular space; a community of friends just outside the door.  It's the same here!  The difference?  I now have TWO rectangles - one is a fully functional studio (and guest room)!

Some before and after studio photos of the "art making" rectangle: 

yikes - two truckloads:  it all must GO!

cut, sew, print, play, GO!

So the music is on, coffee is made, moon and Venus are fabulous in the early morning sunrise, and a great blue heron just flew over my head. Every time I see one, I always tell myself that that's a good omen for the day.  (What is yours?)

Piecing a Way Forward

Final Piece, Terry Jarrard-Dimond Workshop, 2012

Construction Detail

I have been musing a fair amount lately, internally and with my studio surface design friends, about the experience at the Crow Barn with Terry Jarrard-Dimond, a full 5 days of freeing up exercises, creating lightning-fast cloth in the wet studio, and thinking about Map as Metaphor.  

I was at standing at the cusp of a major life change at the time.  AND:  Becoming aware of a prior life of rigidity and structure… always doing the "right" thing; lacking artistic experimentation and the freedom to direct one's own life.  And accepting the WHY of the past - to move forward to openness.

I need to finish quilting this piece… I see it as a reminder, with a 10,000 foot view, that I then directly chose the path to open up, to play, to look forward and not back, and to also see the enormous influence of water on my life.

It's also interesting --> the ocean is now calling me home.

Becoming Aware... of Shapes that Inform

Marblehead, MA, Sept 2012  P Lowe Studio

August 2013  P Lowe Studio

Funny, how months later, an image imprinted on your brain from a great play day on the New England seacoast - decides to show up in your work.  I didn't expect this, today, but I'm going to run with it.

And also - to savor the awareness of it...

Process. Process. Finally.

November through February was rather a fog.  A downer.  Big one.  

Kindled a book, "How Crochet Saved my Life"  by Kathryn Vercillo -- and, interestingly, what was happening to me, as I was coming back up from the depths of this big BIG depression episode, was exactly what the author was talking about.  I found a daily focus, small goals, new friends.  Made stuff.  Lots of stuff.  Obsessive crochet and etc.  Got back to myself.  Big sigh of relief.   A new community.  Fabulous.  OK, now back to work(!)...

This week, when the studio muse finally arose from the depths,  I have been inspired by recent playtime events with our SAQA group (Setacolor painting with Vou) and the myriad of colors and texture of alpaca yarn that my friend Jennifer spins with her portable wheel.

So the process begins:

 Fast painting with sponges, Setacolors; a gorgeous day with SAQA friends in Seguin, Texas

Musing about handspun alpaca yarn scraps from a friend...

Beginning to stitch (and couch some of the yarn)

Detail of stitching - before washing and shrinking  (then the real fun will begin!)

A Hook to Save Your Hand!!

A young man in Austin, Harrison Richards, has started his own company by creating a unique line of hand turned exotic wood crochet hooks that allow your hand muscles to totally relax while you are "hooking".  As a massage therapist concerned with my own hand function, as well as that of many of my carpal tunnel clients, I am just totally taken aback with the elegance, simplicity and form/function design of these beautiful polished hooks.

Using a hook specifically made to rest in the palm of your hand, your hand muscles relax, a far cry from what happens when you try to hold and work with a skinny metal hook for lengths of time.

I received mine this week, and yesterday had a glorious lazy day re-learning my dusty/rusty crochet skills. I have been a long-time knitter, but I also have experienced some repetitive motion issues with that craft... so this idea totally intrigued me when I was recently invited to an event to try them out. Because this hook was so comfortable to use, I started and completed a small basket (pattern on Ravelry) in no time at all.

People that know me well, know that I value things made by hand (as well as the artists who support themselves entirely by their own hand).  A Furls Crochet Hook is a piece of art, and - the BONUS:  a tool to actually preserve and extend hand function for fiber artists.   Amazing.  Check it out!!

Furls Crochet

Compartmentalize. or NOT!

I have recently become aware that I have had a lifetime obsession (fixation??) with making containers.  Useful, or "un-useful" (but touchable, beautiful... textured).  Quilted, knitted... crocheted..

and now, moving on to crochet...

What does it mean?  It's (as usual) about the process, the joy of making them, but it is also about the object.  the vessel, the bag, the basket.  The container.  To contain something.  One thing.  Many little things.... or nothing.

While trying to find my way in the making a living department, and the "living my life" for the first time department, and also the "starting" of a new series on the wall (hello,  procrastination!), what does this container obsession mean about who I am?  It's not a new thing; I have always been drawn to making something... that holds something else.

So I think - Is it that the making of these containers is a way to let the "control" genie out of the box?  I would like to envision that the "making" process... whatever is going on, is an expression of the "controlling" me... and if that part of me can be released each time a container is finished, can the"other", more free side of me, just let go and GET A MOVE ON?

Meanwhile, I watch and wonder at the color in the skies, every day... finding peace, absorbing changing color...

Marblehead, MA, Sept 2012

Pond sky, at home in Austin, November

Coots, Mallards, Austin, December 2012

Peeling, Shredding... shedding...

November 2012 themes:  

Stripping away to the base elements... peeling paint, stripping bark layers... the textured layers on the way to the core...

The studio space is now more spare (yet more furniture giveaways), to allow for a 100 x 100 work wall which is now in place.  I am quite itching to get to a series of larger works again, once the Blanco Holiday Open House this Friday November 23rd concludes.

A note of interest which I should have spread the word about, but haven't:

For another 2 weeks I have work on exhibit at the newly reopened Santa Anita Gallery in McAllen, Texas; Linda Lewis being the new owner/curator.  Lisa Kerpoe's fabulous art is also featured.

Linda Lewis Gallery Santa Anita Gallery Building 1500 Pecan Blvd. McAllen, TX  75201 lewis1997@hotmail.com 956-332-3544 Facebook The show is up through end of November;  Hours:  Tues - Thurs 12 --6pm ; Sat 10 - 5 pm or by appointment

So it's been a while...  But I'm back...

During this past year of many life transitions, I have finished school, opened my business, sold my house and most things I owned, downsized to a 1 Bedroom apartment, traveled to the northeast and midwest for P Lowe Studio Massage Therapy, and followed my nose to some simply beautiful scenery during the fall season.

Had I seen this sign before I arrived in Ohio, I might not have thought so much about its significance - but now, it just makes me smile - and reminds me of all the challenges and highlights - of an extraordinary conversion. To - slowing down my life!  (Hey, if I can do it, you can do it, too...)

Rippling Stream Campground, Baltimore, OH

I will be home in Austin in a few weeks, but right now I am savoring the reflection time; to process what has gone on; living in the NOW in the variable weather conditions; sketchbook time from New England photos; sewing in the van!  Knitting overdue projects for friends and family.  Productive but calm and meditative time.  Yay for that.

I also want to talk about Peru, and the overwhelming and lush textural imagery from that trip - but we will save that for another time....

Understanding the Healing Process || Massage Therapy Articles

This is a great article describing the tissue healing process after an injury to skin or muscle or other underlying tissue.  I've had my own struggle recently with a minor surgical repair that busted wide open and then I needed to have a re-stitching of the same area, long after tissue granulation.  Now it's time for the value of massage to help the  healing along, and reduce the scar tissue and adhesions!

Understanding the Healing Process || Massage Therapy Articles

When to Ask for Help! (4 weeks to go...)

So, as you can see, it took at least 4 people to hoist me up on a very small donkey (Maras, Peru last fall).

I hate asking for help (it runs in the family). Most comfortable doing things myself.  Learned that early on.  Can't seem shake it. 

But, as with most things, sometimes it takes a massive switcheroo to change your thinking.  Same with school. For the most part, the past 8 months I have toiled away, alone. But increasingly, I realize how important my small but (critical) personal support circle is to me, and I will be leaning on them even more, these next few months.

Hooray for good friends!!!  I need you all to keep propping me up!

Internship Begins...

It's a busy, frenetic time...  The van is here, my business logo is in final stages of design,  massage internship has begun, Kinesiology and Pathology homework is piling up, Peru "holiday" awaits,  the Thanksgiving and Christmas required travel is near, my cats need a forever home...

so... my thoughts today are merely:

SIMPLIFY!  LIVE SMALL!     (If I can do it, anybody can do it.)

and... when I can't drive this anymore, a Tumbleweed Tiny House would be just perfect!

From Flat to 3D - in 3 days!

So I visited my van yesterday, and probably will do that again over the next week before I go to be with my mother for an important visit. Seeing the floor plan on paper is one thing, but watching it grow UP - into counters, a closet, a slideout pantry, overhead storage, - the shower - !! is mind blowing. I have also realized this morning that having this positive focus to ruminate over and plan with, is providing me therapeutic and helpful mind space to rest from the anxiety and sadness over Jane Gay's aging and continual physical decline from her long battle with Parkinson's Disease.

I also met with a local graphic design artist yesterday and hope to get started on logo work for the business and website as early as next week.

This week's photos:
Cabinet bases are in along with the flooring and storage cabinets overhead. The bathroom will be built out shortly and it was fun to visit the bathroom window. Work underway under the bed/couch includes two batteries, the water tank (I think) and a bit of storage. The long counter is cut and waiting patiently outside in the shop to be installed. More soon!

 

EARLY FINISH!!

A brief VAN update:

I am told that the van should be ready at Sportsmobile of Austin on October 7th!  (Paradoxically, also on my mother's birthday.)  This is about 3 weeks ahead of the original estimate.

So I am glad that I started early this summer, stashing away a few small organizational items here and there, to be ready for its first solo trip.  (you know, the important stuff;  a small corkscrew, unbreakable wine glasses, new towels, small food storage containers,flashlight, etc!).

So:  the Big Question is:  Where shall we go first for a trial-run weekend???

• Bastrop State Park?
• Marfa?
• Kerrville?
• Port A?

 
 

A Milestone Reached in The "Transportation Department"

Nearly 5 months ago, I committed to the purchase of a Sportsmobile (a customized conversion van) as a bridge to my "pre-retirement". 
Today, I wrote a very big check, and the van shell is now safely in the hands of Paul Meyer, President of Sportsmobile Austin, and the customization of the interior will now begin. 

We tweaked the floor plan a bit this morning, now that I have a need to store massage equipment and supplies for the business.  The van is BIG... and it's beautiful... and I will be able to visit it as needed during its birth cycle at the shop, as we get closer to completion in October, and small things can be added or changed.  What a luxury to have Sportsmobile right here in Austin.

(Do I want handholds, and where?  Do I want a small portable table, or a large one?  Do I need to rearrange the locations of the LED lighting?  etc.  It's great that minor (but important) details can still be fiddled with,  before final delivery.  I can't say enough about how great Paul and his team have been to work with, during this large (did I say nerve-wracking?) decision process.)

I couldn't help but take a bunch of pictures today.  It will be a lot more interesting once the "comforts of home" are added - but this will give a "before" and "after" view.  The photo below also shows how long the thing is (and side windows will be added, of course).

Meanwhile, back at massage school, we are nearly a third of the way through.  I haven't flunked out yet - !  I love it - despite the more and more frequent (and brutal!) anatomy exams.  Only 6 months to go, come Labor Day.  YEAH!  In an upcoming post, I will extoll the virtues of the dedicated massage studio, now ready at the house.

Going back to NATURAL

So: I am now back to near-normalcy, living in the front half of my house, vs living in the whole house, previously.  Now, I won't lie; the cement floor grinding and staining process was hell.  However, I do like the results.

Moving my bedroom into the studio has been interesting.  The first few nights going to sleep looking at my design wall led to some really weird dreams - some which had absolutely nothing to do with quilt art. But, I digress...

I have reached the 25% mile marker with massage school, definitely a decision I have not regetted.  March 1st graduation will come quickly, and I am beginning to draft the business plan, and to contact potential art workshop venues to determine their interest in an on-site massage therapist.  One of our recent fabulous teachers is very schooled in alternative and natural body treatments,, and his first 4 hour class was really quite overwhelming!  With all of the of great information he presented,   I felt like I had come full circle, from when I went to nursing school in Vermont in the 70's (during my Mother Earth period), then spent 30+ years in public and private sector to make a living, and then, Whoa --->  2011, a SHARP left turn back to starting up a health and wellness business.  Hooray.  It feels like being back home...

Tonight I mixed a half-recipe of our instructor's natural lip balm (just Shea butter, olive oil, and lavender oil - yum).  Great stuff!!  Getting back to this focus on health and wellness has also given me the seeds of another idea for a sideline business venture.  (More on this soon!)  Meanwhile, I have got to get into the studio, and get back to sewing again.  It's time.

Simplicity and Stress Reduction - Gaining Momentum

This week I have made some major decisions about my living situation and the path to next spring, when I expect to manage an income stream from bodywork.

Decision 1:  Get the master suite ready, in anticipation of the need to house-share.

Decision 2:  Rip up the carpets and stain the concrete - which should be complete by mid-July.

Decision 3:  Divest myself of the Ethan Allen furniture circa 1984 from a marriage that has been over for more than 22 years...

In anticipation of the major mess next week during the flooring re-do, and the need to empty rooms of furniture, books, and life's ephemera, I felt a major weight lift when I said to myself: "What if I DIDN'T need to hire someone to help me put all the heavy stuff back?  Why don't I just let it all go?"  Whoa.

Stuff.  It's just stuff.  (which Jay reminded me, last night)  I am moving forward to the next chapter, now, and I actually can't wait to have some breathing room for FOCUS.  I do crave the simplicity, and in the meantime, it is also what I HAVE to do.  (I accept that I need help financially, and that I must share my space with another.)

Goodbye stuff; you've been great to look at - and now I don't need you anymore.  Go forth and bring satisfaction to another!

Persistence: Massage School, and Anne's Piecework

During a break from school this week, I spent a few days with my good friend Anne Parker in Kerrville.  As I drove home to Austin across the parched Hill Country, I thought about the parallels between machine piecing and hitting the books again in "later life".    Anne is a perfect example of tenacity in piecing, as well as an artist with an exquisite eye for color gradations - as you can see by these photos of two of her quilts' currently on view at the Kerrville Art and Cultural Center through the end of July.  It's a joy to have good friends who are also addicted to this passion for creating work at the sewing machine.  What does it take to create successful large compositions with the building blocks of such tiny pieces? I say it's persistence, and lots of repetition; practice.

Same thing with school.  I never thought I'd be going back to school at this ripe "old" age, but persistence will get me through.  And I must say, us Aries women have really gotten this persistence thing down. So anyway, seeing Anne's work this weekend reminded me that we're lucky to have this community of persistent seekers - whether it's women artists, or fellow students at massage school.

 

Mapping out the Way Forward

Well, it's exciting and daunting at the same time.  I have 7+ months to set up the business plan for this next stage of my non-corporate life.  Between now and April 2012, For those who have not heard, I am back in school for massage therapy, which will build on my prior nursing background and also my years of experience in the business arena. 

I will be offering onsite therapy services targeted at the artist community, taking this service on the road to selected artist workshops, retreats, art and craft schools, and the like.  At the same time, I will be able to stay connected with the fiber world, and my friends in this sphere.  I will also be working on my own art quilts as I move about.  So here we go!

As they say: Plan the work, work the plan....