Totems

I haven't made a doll in a while, but recently made several; one of them features in this image, standing in front of a large oil painting. Now the gardeners working in my garden are under strict instructions not to throw away sticks that might make good Totem Dolls. I seem to be doing a lot of things that I haven't done in a while, recently. Knitting, for instance, three scarves down, who knows how many to go... flower arranging (just bought a lovely glittery basket in a charity shop for £1, someone will be getting an arrangement for Christmas...)... baking (the caramel shortcake with white chocolate is particularly yummy). I've even done some housework! Domestic goddess status surely must be bestowed soon...

Above all, I'm having fun. I think we sometimes forget that all this making stuff is supposed to be fun, too. Joseph Campbell called it 'following your bliss'. I call it joyful. We're both right.Now, what could you do to bring a bit of joy into your life, right now?

Asking The Right Questions

I visited a blog that's new to me today, and found myself challenged by its writer, Bethany Stephens; visit her blog here . She asked a very astute question, and answered it herself, beautifully, in the post. 'What is your reason for your art of choice?'

My answer, to my surprise, was very short. I wrote:

"My blog is called 'artmixter', and I work in a number of different
media, often together. Why? Because I want to break down barriers,
challenge perceptions and create change. Thanks for asking, it has just
made me very clear about what I do and who I am... Oh, and did I mention
joy? The creation of joy. "

You know, for years, I have wondered why I don't fit into quilt groups, no matter how art focussed (and there aren't many of those around...if you know better, please let me know). Now, I know. People who do what I say I want to do, aren't always easy to get on with. They challenge things, people, ideas, concepts. They argue. They don't accept the easy answers, and they ask difficult questions, like, 'why?' The upside, is that they're genuinely interested in the answers, and may well make you see things differently just by being around and asking odd questions. I'd like to thank those of you who are regular blog readers; you stick around where others would give up in disgust... or annoyance... or something. I hope we can learn lots of new things together; it's such an exciting journey.

Happy as I am to be here, now, in Spring, the quilt image I've shown you here is Summer Garden. The colours in the original are even stronger than those in the photograph, and if you look closely, there are lots of roses quilted into the piece. But I mentioned joy, and for me, this piece is truly joyful.