Every day, I look out in the yard, and see the garden,  snow covered though it may be, and well,  Albert Camus said it best —

In the midst of winter I discovered within me, an invincible summer. – Camus

I am not a fan of winter. Never have been , never will. However, I am a fan of scarves, and felted ones at that. So every winter, I make a batch of felted scarves, for my own self, for gifts, and to sell. Some things worth noting:

These scarves are wool, but they are merino wool, so they are not itchy at all… they are quite soft, in fact.

They are water repellant…so you could literally get caught in a storm and stay dry for some time.

Wool is  sustainable material, and will last… ummm. eons.  And it is not hard to take care of. Simple hand washing will do.

They are very lightweight, but warm as all get out. Warmer than cotton, hands down !

Each one is one of a kind… and I do accept custom orders, for men or women. Nothing like a custom piece for yourself or a loved one.

Most are about $50, (plus shipping, if you are not local). Paypal accepted on all purchases.

So here is the first, called “Red Sun”.

This one has lines of alpaca yarn felted in, as well as some  tan alpaca fiber patches. Scatterings of magenta fiber are also thrown in for extra vibrancy.  About 6″  wide by 62″ long. This is the scarf to wear on a grey Monday when the work week looks long and the sun is missing in action, and you need a jolt of what only the color RED can do. And of course red looks good with black, grey, brown, white, tan, and just about any other color. Wear it with a pea green coat for a vivid entry into a holiday party.

Email with questions or to order a custom piece. There is still time to have it for Christmas!

Ok. So, here is one amazing piece of wearable art that is at the One of a Kind Show this weekend at the Merchandise Mart. I had originally seen this coat in the January 2006 issue of Fiber Arts Magazine, and swore that one day, I was going to see this coat ” live” (if not maybe own it). And, last night, there it was “live” (although in a vibrant blue color) . Of course I had to try it on, and , of course, it fit like a glove. Anyway, here are some pics. The designer’s website is www.sarmite.com.

And no, it isn’t in my possession…. YET. ha !

Photos courtesy of my friend Marie Gilbert.

Ancient mystery—
descending from the heavens
trilling regal grace.

Still beauty
forces me to look
and just
be.

Worth reading, watching, pondering.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/24/Superstar-CBS-Reporter-Blows-the-Lid-Off-the-Swine-Flu-Media-Hype-and-Hysteria.aspx

So now, can we bury the swine flu hype  and the vaccine and all this pandemic fear into the pigsty where it belongs?

(note: because of the vast readership of mercola.com, sometimes you have to be patient when articles like these get posted because of high volumes of people viewing at the same time)

Sad news, indeed.

I have never seen one of their installations “live”, nonetheless, I have been very inspired by their work, by their collaboration, by the vision of their projects, by the faith they have in their own work.

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/jeanne-claude-artist-is-dead/?hp

Some of their work is documented here:

http://www.amazon.com/Films-About-Christo-Jeanne-Claude-Production/dp/1891024949/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258660177&sr=8-14

Well worth watching. Beats the stuff that is on TV, hands down.

Their website is : http://www.christojeanneclaude.net/

Running Fence and The Gates, are favorites of mine. All of their installations require untold amounts of work, planning, cooperation, details. But Running Fence, also required permission from ranchers and farmers to install the fence temporarily on their personal land. Watch the film about this one to see what happens when something literally bigger than you are, is put in place, even though it is temporary. But it is NOT temporary in the mind, as anyone can attest who has seen their work live, or even on film. I can still hear the wind, running through the fence….

When the world seems to be falling apart, the rule is to hang on to your own bliss. It is that life that survives.

~Joseph Campbell, in Reflections on the Art of Living

And so, here is a pic of one of my blisses: this is “Autumn Leaves” a grey baby girl, born on October 18, 2009. I was there, just hours after she was born at Calypso Farm in Lockport, IL, where alpacas and llamas are bred and frolic in the grassy fields there.  Quite magickal animals…in my book …

Tuesday night, i went to see Caroline Myss on the opening leg of her book tour for Defying Gravity:
“https://www.amazon.com/dp/1401922902?tag=bluettproduk-20&camp=0&creative=0&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1401922902&adid=0E5PKN5KX9FVKN2NPY49&”

Her short lecture, made sense of so many things about our world today, it was almost like receiving a shot of “enlightenment”, truly. Her book, is of course, on the list for my next Borders trip, and I hope to write a review and perhaps more about that here.

A few excerpts, direct from Caroline’s lecture are thus:

“Logic keeps the soul at a distance.”

“All changes becomes instant; all change becomes profound. Reason, cannot GRASP the psychic intensity of this. ” (here she was talking about the timelessness of the world we are now living in)

“Time is out of the equation.”

“A reasonable life is driven by unreasonable fear that controls you constantly.”

“Releasing the soul becomes the most reasonable thing to do because you become liberated; your heart and your head are lined up.”

“Healing comes from the congruence of the soul.”

“Disdain for the ordinary is what makes us seek the extraordinary.”

“A crisis in your life is a call to be(come) a mystic.”

“Crisis, shatters our reason.”

“The unreasonable self is the mystical self.”

“In every single every-ness, we are either giving love or taking it away.”

And, thanks to the timelessness of the world we are living in now, you can witness this mystic “live” via Youtube. She has various presentations there on this “Defy Gravity” subject. As the presenter who introduces her at the Omega conference said, if you are not familiar with her, or seen her before, put a seatbelt on, “buckle up”. She is a strong personality and very passionate….some don’t know how to handle this. But, I dare you to take it through all the way to the 11th youtube segment. Just sit, and listen. And then do it again. You can’t absorb her in one take.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlnSHNyn7qQ&feature=related

It all makes sense now, doesn’t it?
The world is in a state of spiritual crisis, but this topic does not come out in everyday conversation…because too many are afraid, to admit it, to talk about it, to even poke it with a stick. This is not about religion, or faith, or what sort of God you believe in or don’t. This is about our SPIRITS.

My personal enlightenment from this lecture: my walks at Pleasure Lake, were in fact, mystical… (I called them magickal). I know what it feels like to be connected to the beauty of the everything on an intimate, intimate level. Do you?

Well, it is rainy and cold here tonight in Chicago, but I am happy, because tonight is the opening of Broadsided, where one of my indigo prints is making an appearance. Alas, I cannot be there in person, as it is in Portland, Oregon, and not around the block, so to speak. But I am definitely there in spirit! All of the broadsides in the show can be seen in the catalog here: http://www.23sandy.com/

In one of the photos of the gallery, you can even see my broadside hanging on the wall! (not too hard, as the background is entirely blue)

This looks like a great little gallery and I will visit it when I get to Portland someday…

These images are of a custom journal I was commissioned to do, for a friend’s daughter.
It is a 7″ x 9″ leather bound book with an archival longstitch binding (this means there is one thread that holds together the entire thing. You could throw this against a wall and it would still be intact, perhaps with a few bent pages, if the strap came undone.) The paper inside is Mohawk superfine, a lovely archival paper, with endsheets of handmade paper dyed with rust. The interior pages were detailed with the markings of an ethereal dragonfly who fluttered about and randomly touched down on certain pages, but did not stay for long in any one place. (the dragonfly is a favorite insect of the client). The back cover contains a small envelope with one of her favorite poems, with a bit of room for a few more to be tucked in.

The first page also has an excerpt from another of her favorite poems, and an image of a dragonfly from my photography collection:

“Then listen close to me
Anything can happen, child
Anything can be…”