Reflections of 2007

Given today's title, I was going to post a photo of myself using a hand mirror, but then I remembered...I don't cast a reflection so it would be a waste of bandwidth.


Another year, by our calendar, has passed. How is everyone? Are we ready?

This has been a great year of discovery for me. I lost some things I cherished, including what I thought was a really good friendship, and what I knew was a good car. My car was totaled in an accident, and the friendship... well, some people are with you more for what you can do for them than because they really care about you. It is a very hard lesson to learn.


But the blessings are that I recovered from my accident, and I did not succeed in letting loss destroy me. I moved through it. I'm very thankful for that. And one of the avenues by which I was able to move through it was the arts and crafts avenue. Like the arts and crafts movement at the turn of the 20th century, the movement that heated up at the turn of this century is about the handcrafted endeavors of individuals, independent of corporate, industrialized structure. It calls on the will of the artist to get in touch with the creative fire within, in order to bring forth 'the real deal'. It's also strengthened me to take responsibility for choices I make and the control I can exert over the process. To welcome happy mistakes. This is what I found to be healing about crafting. I wanted a feeling of control and community at a time when I felt out of control and at odds with everything around me. Now, the process of learning what inspires me, what is meaningful to me, and what I can achieve, have given me a renewed appreciation for all the wonderful people in my life.

But enough about you.


One of the things I love about this crafty community is how welcoming people have been. As a newbie, I have been foundering around, making mistakes, throwing my work (some good, some mediocre, some kinda-icky) out there and getting supportive responses. If I ask for advice, I always get it. From super-busy Michael Demeng to Superwoman Michelle Ward, from Sister Diane of Craftypod, to my beloved BadBabyArt sisters, I can ask any question and get a response within minutes. Granted, when requesting cash, I don't often get the response I was hoping for, but I get one, and that's the point. People are out there, and even if they are across the world, they are only an email away. And they, too, are passionate about the art-y process.


And apparently, they like it when I use them shamelessly. So I've found my home.



This year has been fabulous for me in terms of sheer inspiration. Go here. Or, here. Or, here. And you can find interesting and lovely things (even though they aren't naughty), right there on the page!



By the way, look at this!
Oh, don't tell me you haven't dreamed of that. But you thought it didn't exist. Well... it does. And Laurie Mika made it happen. It wasn't here before.


And if you aren't sure what to do with yourself, go here. Jeffrey Yamaguchi thinks he's so smart. And he happens to be right. Listen to him, and save yourself from the mundanity!

((Intermission))

This year, I've been coming to terms with my mortality. The terms I put on the table are: I'll close my eyes, mortality will quietly leave the room, and no questions will be asked.

(Mortality giggled. So, we're still coming to terms.)

Even with one foot in the grave, exploring new frontiers is exciting. Even the technological frontiers. I'm the opposite of a tech-head. Which would be a hcet-head, but, like Spock's last name, it's unpronounceable. I'm loving the podcast! You listen to the podcast? Oh, you people. The podcast is DA BOMB! Let's say you are on the Crafty Chica's website. And you suddenly want to know what she sounds like. BLAM! download her podcasts. Did you think Laurie Mika's tabletop mosaic is neato?

She made it for us on Craft Lab. So go listen to the Crafty Chica podcast interview with the host of Craft Lab. And listen to Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood interviewing Carol Duvall on her podcast. It's fun! You sew, do you? Check out Sister Diane's interview with the founders of Burdastyle! It's all here. Here, without commercial interruption. Without corporate manipulation and undue influence, even from me!

And you have to admit, that's rare.

But, speaking of the rush of time, what I wasn't ready for was this: hearing wonderful craft professionals bemoaning the fact that they aren't young any more. That they have struggled with career choices and career paths, and now they feel so late to the party. It's refreshing. It's refreshing to know that other people have struggled with their places in this world, and have found a home and some nourishment in the art world. After all, they're already in their forties!! Some of them have tragically wasted their college years! Oh, if only they hadn't procrastinated to find their twenties almost gone! Turning 30 really turns your head around!!

Well, with that perspective in mind, and if I can manage to keep my tired, wrinkled, 51-year-old body upright, I'm going to go now, and spray my stencils, just like these were sprayed by a woman a decade younger than I :



Isn't it cool? And in the end, the most surprising thing about all this is that I don't seem to care as much about age, now. It's okay that some of these very accomplished artists are in their twenties, or that they are upset that they are already in their thirties and forties, and they have so much more they want to do. Surprisingly to me, it doesn't matter what the clock of my life says. The whole point of all this is the process. The process of seeing life, valueing life, and recording it, ordering it visually, giving it a second life, and bringing a bit of yourself to play.

Just love the process. Even I'm not too old to learn that.

To all my great friends, near and far, I wish you a wonderful new year. Thank you for sharing your lives with me.