The First Thing…I have been waiting to introduce my doll. Here she is. I think her name may be Priscilla. Choosing a name and sticking with it is fraught with complexities.
I made Priscilla over the holidays. I announced to the family that I would bring materials to Sea Ranch where we were headed. We were going to make our own dolls to guide us through the birth canal of the up coming new year. By Christmas Eve I had started tearing into some felt with scissors. My daughter and husband were working on their own dolls. We sat and chatted with the others around as our concentration lay mostly in picking the right fabrics, cutting, gluing and sewing.
Throughout the rest of the days up until New Years, I worked now and then on the doll, sitting on the comfy little couch next to my lamp that gives me just the right amount of light so I can see to thread the needle. By New Years Eve I was finishing up the touches on Pricilla’s dress and fastening her bauble earrings to her head. She was ready to go.
As I made her I got in touch with so many things I had forgotten. I remembered that I loved to sew my doll clothes and later sewed my sister’s prom dress and failed the biology test because of it. I made little tiny dolls with embroidered designs on them when I was on bed rest pregnant with my second child. I have sewed quilts, pornographic potholders, my own clothes, my kid’s clothes, my mom’s clothes, and a few shirts for my husband. With Pricilla, I held the needle and made imprecise stitches that have their own personality. I looked then sensed a being evolving. I tested how she made me feel. I ripped out and redid. This process was taking me back into a space of peace, comfort and yearning. My skin prickled with emotion of happiness. There was joy of creating something that had no being before. I realized that I could never really foresee her once I saw what she ultimately looked like.
The Second Thing… My friend Erika and I are re-inventing my studio space via her awesome Feng Shui Services. My studio has so many objects that I don’t interact with anymore. I walk in and immediately can’t look at the clutter. I turn to my computer and then my back faces the mess.
Erika says there is no breath in many areas of my studio. We need to get breath into all those areas. This will begin to happen once I look at the objects and decide what is useful and important to me and what I need to pass on to others.
Today we talked about my dreams and what I want to enter into my life. The creation of Pricilla made me realize I want to spend more time in creative activity and I want to do this with others. We discussed my space and why it is not inviting me into that wonderful creative place. We envisioned some nice touches that we could begin to implement once I did my homework.
An “out” box was set up by the door. I am to take 20 mins a day in working over the objects and going through what stays and goes. We came up with an idea to move some of my artwork out. It does no good to anyone stacked up and leaning against walls. Soon I will post my paintings on my website so their new caretaker’s can find them.
Sometimes I put paintings out on the sidewalk in front of my house. These are usually ones I think aren’t so good. They always quickly disappear. Erika says this is because they are gifts that many others really appreciate.
