Ispirato

I was interviewed recently for the Aussie Scrapbooking site. Gabbie asked me to send a photo of my studio - it didn’t matter if it was messy, she said. Yikes! Because my sister Vonnie was visiting at the time, I had to clear the craft stuff out of the guest bedroom and stack it temporarily in the studio. So here is the room at its worst.

Trouble is, even when the room is at its best, there is far too much stuff in there. It ain’t conducive to working creatively. In fact, I probably spend more time looking for stuff and trying to sort and tidy than I actually spend creating art.

I’ve learned a new term for an overabundance of art and craft stuff. It is ‘SABLE’ - ‘Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy’.

Now I want you to check out the sign on the window above my desk. This is my new artist’s creed.

It is good to have this posted at my workspace. It really does make me pause and think about how I am approaching a project.

My friends are complaining that my blog DESPERATELY needs updating. Okay, I’m sorry! I’ve been distracted.

At left is a picture of me with my big sister Vonnie who came over from Marshfield, Wisconsin to Melbourne to visit me. You first met Vonnie and her quilting buddy, Gwen, in this post nearly a year ago, about my trip to the US.

So Vonnie wanted to visit in late May and I told her she could come so long as she didn’t distract me from the job of finishing up issue 6 of Astarte’s Mega-Zine with its publication date of June 1st. She had no problem with that, in fact, she needed time here to finish a big quilt she had started for my queen size bed. So while I worked at the computer, Vonnie sat nearby working at my sewing machine. In fact, she made dinner for my family every night, too! The arrangement worked wonderfully and we both completed our big tasks at around the same time.

This quilt is amazing. Vonnie has a great eye for color and her stitching is great! (When I’ve attempted smaller patchwork projects I’m not so good at getting the seams to line up correctly.) I have so much respect for quilt makers. Each big quilt takes hours and hours to complete. Yowzah!

So, okay, we didn’t just stay at home stitching and laying out the mega-zine full time. Vonnie also came along to my Goddess Mythology class, my meditation class, and she helped me when I taught a felt jewelry class at the Embroiderers Guild of Victoria one Saturday afternoon. Plus she got to meet a few of my friends while here. That was special.

So here you can see my beautiful bed. The framed picture behind is an embroidery I did years ago of an angel flying toward the moon. Vonnie designed the cushions and pillowcases to match the colors of the picture and the plum feature wall. Very clever, and quite possibly the best gift George and I have ever received.