Knitterly Notes

 

Have I ever told you I love to knit?  

And so I have…here and here and here. The only thing better than knitting, is to draw or paint what I’m knitting or crocheting. I loved making this little painting of my hands knitting a scarf. Mind you, this lace scarf was begun several years ago…but I have finished it! And I’ll give you a proper reveal soon!

So here’s the photograph I worked from to create the above painting. I thought you might like to see the reference photo and how it gets translated into line and watercolor. I also thought you might like to see some of the projects I’ve been happily working on of late.

 

I knitted this little cupcake hat for my niece’s one year birthday back at the beginning of March, the early days of my U.C. diagnosis. That’s my beautiful sister with her fifth child, Brynley.

Then I finished this pair of socks, which I wore and wore through the chilly days. For some reason, I kept messing up on grafting the toe together. I’ve done the kitchener stitch successfully many times before, but a brain glitch prevented me from getting it right on both of these socks. Of course, I made it work somehow so the socks hold together without being uncomfortable.

So, on THIS sock, finished just recently, I was delighted to work the Kitchener stitch correctly! Yay! Maybe my recent surgery re-worked my brain as well!

And I love the colors in this yarn!!!!!

This is a random photo of the basket of yarns I used for my Resurrection Shawl. 

And this is the beginning of another multi-yarned confection, all in creams and whites! I have quite a vision of this shawl in its finished state…we’ll see how it all turns out.:)

And a photo of me knitting on our front stoop. This was taken prior to being in the hospital, hoping and praying that the medications I was on would put the U.C. into remission. There’s something about this photo I like… 1. I love knitting outdoors, even if it means wearing a coat and knitted hand mitts. 2. Knitting became synonymous with “hope” during my recent illness. Knitting and Hope…I like that.

Well, that’s enough for now…I’ll share more “knitterly notes” with you soon. I’ll be stocking the Shoppe with some new items soon…more on that coming up!

**Thank you so much for visiting me here on Drawn2Life!! I can’t thank you enough for sharing in these creative ventures with me!

***And…if you ever wanted to take up knitting, try my little photo tutorial HERE. I haven’t yet transferred it over from Drawn2Knit. It will happen someday. For now, check there for free patterns and tutorials.

****ANNDDD….if you’d like to try your hand at drawing/sketching OR need a little boost or encouragement to get back into it…check out my Drawing Your Life Mini Lessons. These were offered last year and still receive a lot of traffic.  I hope it’s helpful to you all!

“The Fringes of a Dress…”

Where Dwellest Thou?

O what is it that wanders in the wind?

And what is it that whispers in the wood?

What is the river singing to the sun?

Why this vague pain in every charmed sense,

This yearning, keen suspense?

 

Often I’ve seen a garment floating by,

fringe of it only; golden brown as it lay

On the ripe grasses, fern-green on the ferns,

And in the wood, like bluebells’ misty blue

Whitened with mountain dew.

 

I laid me low among the mountain grass;

I laid me low among the river fern;

I hid me in the wood and tried to hold

The lovely wonder of it as it passed,

And tried to hold it fast.

 

It slipped like sunshine through my eager hands;

See, they are dusted as with pollen dust,

Soft dust of gold, and soft the sense of touch,

Soft as the south wind’s sea-blown evening kiss;

But I have only this…

 

This dust of vanished gold upon my hands,

This breath of wind blowing upon my hair,

Stirring of something near, so near, but far,

Glimm’ring through color’s fleeting preciousness–

The fringes of a dress.

 

O Wearer of that garment, of its hem,

Hardly perceived, can thrill us, what must Thou,

Its Weaver and its Wearer, be to see?

Master, where dwellest Thou? O tell me now,

Where dwellest Thou?

 

The grasses turned their golden heads away,

And shyer and more wistful stood the ferns;

The little flowers looked up with puzzled eyes;

Only the river, who is all my own,

Left me not quite alone…

 

But mixed his music with my human cry,

Till somewhere from the half-withdrawing wood

Sounds of familiar footsteps: Is it Thou?

Master, where dwellest Thou? O speak to me.

And He said, “Come and see.“

 

-Amy Carmichael

from a collection of her poetry titled, Toward Jerusalem.

 

**May you enjoy this poem today and walk through the day’s moments with an awareness that they are but fringes of His dress.  

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

 

I woke to a chilly morning with sunlight streaming in our home and dancing around the landscape of our neighborhood. As I began to get things ready for Maddie to have breakfast and go off to school, I thought of this phrase…”the unbearable lightness of being”.  I’ve never seen the movie or read the book, but I did just look up what meaning might be attached to this phrase. And while I’m still uncertain as to its exact meaning, I gather the gist of “lightness” and “weightiness”, which is exactly what’s been going through my head.

This “lightness of being”, this joy upon waking to sunshine, the gladness to be alive and able to move around pain free… it is sometimes so exquisite or heavy that it could be described as “unbearable”.  I had this same feeling in the weeks following the birth of my children…a deep joy that comes out in tears, a feeling that one is too small or fragile to contain the hugeness of Beauty that’s been given. Such is my morning here in Kernersville, NC. Who am I to have been granted LIVING? As the weight of this thought falls on me, I feel a lightness that makes me want to stand up under it and fling paint, knit riotous colors, walk for miles and miles in the sunshine, and drink in the faces of my loved ones!

I’m wishing you a “lightness of being” kind of day! Maybe not “unbearable”, but definitely palpable and real!

Sustainable Art

Last weekend, when Maddie was sick, it made me remember a wonderful morning just a couple of days before with two visiting artist friends from Reidsville. After combing the creations in Eclection, Vintage Jane, and Renew, we sat talking away at Amalfi’s about how to be artists in and around our lives as mothers. It’s a subject near and dear to my heart, as I have tried to work this thing out for nearly 16 years now…pursuing art and all that it encompasses from learning to creating, to exhibiting. Motherhood is perhaps one of the most interruptive jobs one could have. No two days are alike. Just when you get them into the school years, so many other things arise, visits to the doctor, dentist, orthodontist, sports. And of course, sick days halt whatever artistic goal or path you had hoped to pursue that day.

Suffice it to say that I’ve been, for many years, on a quest to find a sustainable art, though I wouldn’t have been able to articulate it that way. A couple of summers ago, on our trip to Michigan, we met up with old friends there. The wife’s job was to work with companies to make what they do more “sustainable”. As I listened to her describe what this meant, I gathered that her job was to help companies do what they want to do in a more humane and gentle way both for their employees as well as for their clients and to the environment. Over the long haul, these new or improved ways of doing things would allow for resources to not be used up, for employee satisfaction and less burn-out, and clients who feel served over a long period of time.  Something about what she was saying made me think that this was what I had been trying to figure out in my artistic life. At the time, I felt I was actually finding the answer.

When I began to paint and draw in earnest at the age of 32, I did so in and around the busy life of a mom of little ones. I grabbed whatever time I could when my children were napping or asleep at night to paint and draw things that would hopefully be purchased in an art show or gallery. Several years into this, it began to feel very difficult to keep up this pace. I was schlepping paintings hither and yon to broaden the exposure of my artwork, while soccer games, gymnastics, church activities, etc. vied for the same slots as the openings for these shows. It was getting increasingly harder to justify the expense of framing all the works on paper (my preferred medium), to buy the tubes of paint, etc. It was also getting harder to find space in our small house to store these paintings if and when they didn’t sell in the exhibit or gallery. It felt incredibly hard to work as an artist of this kind, trying to keep it up. I got to a point where if I only had 30 minutes to paint, well that just wasn’t enough time to really do anything so I just didn’t do any “art” that day. Several of these days strung together and became a year, then two, where I didn’t do any drawing or painting.

Fast forward to this post here, when I discovered Peter Reynolds book, Ish and Danny Gregory’s book, The Creative License. I began to work (play) in a sketchbook, getting down all the “paintings” in my head, using any and every medium I enjoyed, in any and every method I wanted to. Total freedom. Easy on the pocketbook. Much easier to store. Portable. Do-able in and around a busy, chopped up, life of a mom.

What has been most lovely for me is to find working in a sketchbook to be a sustainable art that I can participate in no matter the circumstances of my life. Though I can still draw and paint for an art show when I want to, I am no longer limited to that. I can draw and paint anytime, anywhere: when my kids are sick, or at the orthodontist, or at a college orientation day, or on trips, or at the hospital, or ANYWHERE!

This may not be important to some artists, finding a sustainable art, but it has been to me. And one must find the artistic expression that is authentic to them!  This is also why I love knitting and crocheting…a portable art form that can be sustained in and around a busy life as wife, mother, and teacher.

**Note: The above sketch was made along with My Balloon Tree post. Again, one of those times where the meaning of it is unclear while making it. I see it now with me standing outside my home, Balloon Tree in the backyard with an endless stream of lovely balloons of creativity flowing from it.

Buried

As if it weren’t enough to have an Art Show to prepare for, I’ve also dived, head first, into SEVERAL knitting and crochet projects! Add to that the drawcumenting of my days, the cooking for family, the shuttling children here and there, the everyday goings on of small town living…and I’m waving my white flag! “Uncle!”

I don’t think my cat, Lucy is too worried about me though! Truth be told, I’m sitting under that mound happily working at whatever my hands need to be doing at any given moment. Well, maybe there’s the odd groan of frustration from time to time. But in case I’m scarce around blogland in the coming weeks, you’ll know why! :0

Mounds of Art!

In my job as Art Teacher at Redeemer School, I have mounds and mounds of artwork to prepare for our Annual Art Show which will take place February 7th.  This includes backing each piece of art with construction paper to act as a mat to set off the art. It also means adding a label to each piece identifying who the artist is and what grade they’re in. I teach the TK, and K-8th grades. With around 150 students who have created 4-5 pieces each, that’s a staggering 600+ pieces to get ready.

I’ve begun the process, and took a few moments to draw the mound.  I have a wonderful, old, wooden structure which I think might’ve been used for poster board, that I keep all my students 2-D work in. Each slot is a different class. Then there are trays of clay works and other various pieces the student’s have made since the beginning of the year. I take one class at a time, trying not to think of the whole thing, since it really can overwhelm me. But it is fun to look back through at the amazing work these kids have done! Can’t wait to show you some of it in February, after the show.

I drew this in my trusty Aquabee Sketchbook, using my usual Prismacolor Fineliner Pens. But I pulled out the watercolors that my students use and grabbed a brush I thought would do. It’s amazing how different materials shake things up a bit. In order to get the vibrancy I typically get with my own artist grade watercolors, I had to go over the strokes a couple of times with the student grade paints. If you’re able, do treat yourself to artist grade materials…it will make a difference in not only the outcome of your work, but the enjoyment level while creating it as well!

A Place to Call Home

The most delightful part about commission work, is the people I meet through the process. Yes, I love the drawing and painting. Yes, I like the challenge of trying to climb inside someone else’s head to bring forth an image they might like. But the best part is meeting and getting to know the people who commission me.

In the fall, Nelie contacted me through a series of serendipitous online connections (to tell you the whole story would take a bit of time, but is the very best example of how connected we are via the internet). We met downtown Kernersville, at the Factory, to discuss what she would like.

She is getting married at the end of January 2013, to a wonderful man named Edwin, whose birthday was late in December. She wanted to surprise him with a painting of their new home in Raleigh, NC. Armed with only the realtors photo of this town home, there were certain things she hoped I could add and adjust. Truly I never know whether I am ABLE to do these alterations for folks, but I guess I’m crazy enough to give it a go. So I try.

We discussed size and medium choices along with the additions and adjustments. When she saw the finished painting, she said that it exceeded her expectations…and that is music to my heart. But the best of it all is the story about these two lovely people, near 60 years of age, who are embarking on a new life together.

You see, Nelie and Edwin grew up here in Kernersville, on the same downtown street, right next door to each other! Edwin is the youngest of four boys whose dad was a doctor in town for many years. With the exception of a few years that Nelie and her family moved and lived in SC, the two families grew up on the same pew at Main Street United Methodist Church. Nelie has two grown children, but Edwin never married. They lost touch with each other for 26 years or so.

Their wedding will take place at Main Street United Methodist Church followed by a reception at our brand new restaurant Giada’s. They are the delight of Kernersville. And I had the privilege of painting for them and of meeting Nelie.

A privilege I hold humbly and gratefully. I wish them both EVERY happiness!

Widener University Holiday Card

In this and the next post, I’ll share with you a couple of commissions I received prior to Christmas. I have truly been blessed to be asked to create artwork for some wonderful people. One of them was for Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania.

The above drawing was created from a handful of photos sent to me of this military University’s main building. In fact, the name of the building is Old Main. Years ago, this was the only building on campus, housing all the dormitories, classrooms, and administration offices in one.  It is a beautiful building, with it’s sweeping lawn and statues.

I was asked to made certain additions  to the drawing: have snow (there was no snow in the photographs), add some students, keep the flag, etc. After a few adjustments to the first “draft”, all parties were satisfied and this became their holiday card sent out to all the alumni.  I think it turned out well.

The best part was working with Kathy, a fellow mom of a child with Type 1 Diabetes. In fact, she found me via a Facebook Page we follow called Mom’s of Type 1 Diabetics. Isn’t that cool?  Though we’ve never met in person, it was great to “meet” and work with someone who you have an instant connection with.

I am continually grateful for all the people I get to meet, whether in person or virtually, through art!

Draw Where You’ve Never Drawn Before

As I’ve been thinking about 2012 and that it marked the year when I took my sketchbook places I’d never taken it before, I started to wonder what other places in my life I could take my sketchbook and draw.

I HAVE taken it to my school where I teach and I’ve drawn there on a few occasions. But I’d like to do that more!

I have taken it with me on trips to visit with family, either to Boone (above drawing is of mom, who always “hides”:)

…or to the beach (like the Prince Resort in Cherry Grove, SC above. Or to Oak Island, NC with my husband’s family:  Click on highlighted words to view my video of last summer’s trip to the beach in sketches!

I have taken it to Mr. Whicker’s field at the top of my neighborhood.

And, of course, I’ve taken it into my yard numerous times.

And all around the inside of my home!!

But I haven’t ever taken it to church or to church activities. Maybe once or twice. Perhaps this will be the year I’ll draw the people I love in our little congregation. Maybe I’ll sketch different events there.

I also haven’t ever taken it with me to the grocery store or to Walmart, where I spend a good bit of time. I’m not sure that I’d have the guts to stand or sit there drawing in these places. But it might be a good thing to do.  I have a feeling that if I took my sketchbook with me to the Mall in nearby Winston-Salem, I could get some really cool sketches of people shopping and of store windows. But I’m not much of a Mall shopper. We’ll see…

How about you? If you were to draw where you’ve never drawn before, where would that be? Would you like to sketch in these places? Why? or why not?

It’s fun to think about anyway. I love this quote about artists.

“Draw everywhere and all the time. An artist is a sketchbook with a person attached.” (Irwin Greenberg)

A Garden of Hope

I spent a couple of hours working in the Garden this week!

In December, you say?? Yes. This is a year-round Garden.

A unique garden whose rows and vines are shelving structures.

The food “grows” on these shelves and then gets harvested and bailed into bags

to be given to school children in Guilford and Forsyth counties.

Please read more about this amazing Garden here!

I’ve written about the Out of the Garden Project before, which you can read about here. I really do love the mission

that Don and Kristy Milholin have planted.  (Don pictured above)

The growth of the Garden is astronomical: they now serve over 900 children and their families in over 50 schools.

 That’s 900+ bags of food EVERY WEEK OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!

As you can see from my photos, the shelves are quite bare. A Winter Garden to be sure.

But this Garden needs to be producing all year round and especially so at the holidays!!

There are many ways you can help:

If you’re local, you can give canned food and/or volunteer to pack and deliver bags!

If you live anywhere, you can donate money! And this is the best part of it: For every $5 you give, you receive an Honor Card (the little painting is by yours truly.  This makes a wonderful gift to give on someone’s behalf.  The back of the card has a space for you to write the name of the person in whose honor you have donated to OOTGP.

No matter where you live in this wide world of ours, consider giving in some way to those less fortunate than you.

In so doing you will bring hope to the children of the Garden!