Some Thoughts on Creativity

While browsing Youtube the other day, I stumbled across a first-class video on the subject of creativity. It was a talk presented by Tina Seelig, of Stanford University’s School of Engineering. The talk, entitled “Six Characteristics of Truly Creative People,” was primarily directed at companies and organisations but could equally well be applied to individuals. She has written a book on the subject, in which she came up with an intriguing diagram which she calls the “Innovation Engine” – a sort of Moebius strip of interlocking characteristics, all of which are essential if one is to be truly creative.

The aspects on the inner part are all things found within ourselves – imagination, attitude and knowledge. To feed our imagination (which is the basis of all creativity), we need the right attitude, and we need knowledge to formulate our ideas and put them into practice. On the outer part are aspects impinging on us from outside of ourselves – our culture, habitat and resources. We are all influenced by the culture in which we grew up, and the environment which surrounds us can either fire our creative imagination or put it to death. Resources are so much more than money – they include all the things we have, and sometimes it’s really good not to have much money, because one is forced to use the limited resources at one’s disposal. In the video, she got some of her students to create something from their rubbish bins, and they came up with some surprising results. Could we, as artists and crafters, do likewise? I know I have often used rubbish, such as chicken packaging, in my art, and I like to challenge myself with the question, “Could I make art out of this?” – whatever it is, and my hubby usually answers with a resounding “No!” which I immediately take as a challenge to prove him wrong!

All the characteristics on the Innovation Engine are important, and depend on each other. It is arranged so that parallel items are related, for example Culture and Attitude. Relating Habitat and Imagination, Tina Seelig showed a typical kindergarten environment, with a very fluid layout – brightly coloured moveable furniture, with easy access to all sorts of colourful and stimulating equipment. Moving on to your average school, there were desks in rows, and this progressed to the regimented cubicles that so many people are forced to work in for their employment. Contrasted with this were the work environments of Google and other innovative companies, with all sorts of fun and stimulating surroundings, and comfortable furniture laid out in such a way as to encourage people to sit and chat and brainstorm together. Such companies encourage their employees to take time out and rest – take a nap, and the ideas will come! So often good ideas come to us in dreams. In this way, one’s habitat can fire one’s imagination rather than crippling it.

This sort of thing got me thinking about our education system in general. I’ve thought about this a great deal in recent years, especially after I started Zentangle, which is a drawing method that I originally liked to describe as “drawing for people who can’t draw” – until I thought about it a bit, and re-phrased it “Drawing for people who think they can’t draw.” All pre-school children draw. They all dance and sing, however “badly,” according to educated adult standards! Little children are naturally creative, and have well-developed imaginations. As soon as they start school beyond nursery and kindergarten, the system begins to develop the left brain, which is involved with reasoning and logic, and facts. Right-brain activities such as music and the arts are generally looked down upon and not considered such valuable skills because it’s the “Three Rs” that enable people to pass exams and get jobs. The emphasis is always on getting qualifications – bits of paper that say that you know how to come up with the “right” answers. Music and art are fine for hobbies, but “get a real job.” In these days of limited financial resources, a lot of music in schools is now extra-curricular with teachers not being on the payroll but self-employed, and schools in impoverished areas often have very little musical education at all and no facilities – I saw a horrifying programme on TV a few years ago where the poor music teacher in one inner-city school had no musical instruments for the children except yogurt pots that they could bash with sticks. OK, she was thrown back on her resources and had to make do in as creative a way as she could (one of the points Tina was making in her talk) but it was a graphic example of the lack of importance that the powers that be, in our culture, put on creative imagination. A young orchestral conductor went in and provided instruments, and opened up a whole new world for those children, some of whom had never even heard classical music before.

If we don’t educate the whole person, where are the future ideas going to come from, that enrich the lives of us all? We NEED creative people in industry, science, medicine, and every profession. Apart from that, education is supposed to be about producing fully-rounded individuals who can make the best of themselves and live fulfilled lives for the benefit of themselves and others. How else are our communities and the wider nation supposed to improve themselves if people are not encouraged to have the skills that come from a creative imagination?

Tina says we are often far too limited in our solutions to problems, and our education system encourages this by training us to find “the right answer,” when it would be far more creative to pose the questions in a different way, so that there is no one single “right answer” but many ways to answer the question, in a way that encourages us to use our creative imagination.

I love this “thinking outside the box” approach. In my art, I like to experiment with different materials just to see what happens. Not always having the “right” equipment or materials to achieve the results I want, I have to improvise. This is often a lot more fun than just opening a pack of this, or a tube of that, or the exact colour from the complete range – having to work a bit harder at it, one is learning all the time, and gaining far more satisfaction in the long run. Another example of this is thinking beyond the normal art suppliers who usually charge a high price for their products, and looking elsewhere – I use decorating and DIY materials and often raid the cake decorating aisles for equipment. I also use a lot of tools that I inherited from Dad, which were more to do with his interests than mine, but all so useful!

Cooking can be a bit like this too. Where is the satisfaction in simply slavishly following a recipe, and perhaps not even attempting a recipe in the first place because one hasn’t got all the exact ingredients? Substituting these for what one actually does have, one can end up with new and exciting flavours. I use tools and implements for the “wrong” purpose too – one of my favourite kitchen tools is a butter curler. I never curl butter, but it’s brilliant for scraping seeds from melons and squashes. My strawberry huller is in constant use for cutting out the ends of kiwi fruits, and I use my grapefruit knife for removing the flesh from melons. Taking risks is half the fun in all creative endeavours, and often leads to exciting and unexpected results.

Making mistakes. Failure. Doing it wrong. These words are so limiting, and encourage people to give up, and also make us fearful to try anything new. Instead, Tina says we should look on the failures as part of the learning process, to add what doesn’t work to our arsenal of knowledge and experience, and to build on them. I have often made what I initially thought was “a right mess” but before throwing it in the bin in disgust, have made myself think about it in a different way, and build on it, and in the end, have been much more pleased with the result than I would have been, had it “worked” in the first place.

I think truly creative people are rule-breakers, rebels. I know I’m a rebel. I have my own ideas about how to do things, and don’t like people telling me what to do!! Perhaps this is why I am constantly glad that I never had the opportunity to go to art school. I remember I had a friend when I was young, who had recently come out of art school. She was always a rebel and a highly creative person, and she had had to fight hard in order to be allowed to follow her chosen specialty at college – embroidery. In those days, this was looked down upon as the pursuit of little old ladies and not “proper art.” (I am glad that attitudes have changed since then!) I remember thinking at the time that so much that was coming out of art colleges in those days was very “samey” and had a very distinctive style which I called “1960s Art College” (which I personally didn’t like), and how hard it must be for the students to retain any creative individuality if they were forced into the college’s mould. My friend, being a rebel, and capable of being pretty stroppy especially when challenged, came out with her individuality intact! I was always very impressed with that.

Of course I am not against formal art education, and I know that things have improved a lot in recent years (see my post on the high standard now achieved at my old school). There is much to be gained by being taught how to develop and organise one’s work, and basic skills on which to build one’s own creativity – I do sometimes regret not having had this advantage, but I do believe it’s left me freer to follow my own inner guiding and inspiration. Anyway, there’s always Youtube – if you want to know how to do anything, it’s on Youtube!!

All this has got me thinking about my Dad. He was a superlative amateur musician, highly skilled at all the wind instruments (with the exception of the clarinet and the recorder) and he was also no mean keyboard player. He told me that when he was still at school, he had to make a decision about his future career, and it was a sharp tussle between music and medicine. What finally decided him was that if he became a professional doctor and an amateur musician, he would be left alone to lead a happy and fulfilled life, but if he became a professional musician and an amateur doctor, he was likely to get locked up! On a more serious note, he said that if he had chosen music as a career, he would have had to limit himself to one instrument, and would probably have spent his life in the ranks of an orchestra, being forced to play only what was on offer. As it was, he could pick and choose, and although he played in orchestras all his life, he could also indulge his passion for chamber music, and he had so much fun with all the social aspects of this, making musical friends wherever he went, and being in constant demand for his talents. He had so many creative interests outside of work, including his clocks and engineering skills. He went through various phases in his life where one interest or another occupied his time, and looking back, I can see a lot of him in myself, although I do not aspire to his level of genius! We have both moved on from one thing to another, learning all the way, and being excited to learn new things and gain fulfilment from new achievements. Some people may say these crazes and phases lead to a rather undisciplined way of life, as it often heaps up ever more UFOs (UnFinished Objects) but you have to go where the creative flow leads you! Mum never understood this, and when I was a child, she often used to say, “Don’t start anything new until you’ve finished what you are doing.” This can rob you of a lot of joy if the spark has gone out. The spark can come back though – after a number of years, the bug for knitting and crochet has come back, and I’m picking up some pretty ancient UFOs and getting satisfaction from finishing them at last. (This is one reason why I’m such a hoarder. People say “If you haven’t used it for two years, you won’t use it. Chuck it out.” If I throw anything out, you can guarantee that next week, I’ll want to start using it again, even if I haven’t looked at it for twenty years!! Confession time: some of my UFOs are over 30 years old.)

One thing Tina emphasised in the video was the importance of paying attention. I am always telling my hubby that he doesn’t notice things! When we are out and about in the countryside, there are so many miraculous little things, and if you keep your eyes open, you can spot them, and marvel at them. Just looking at ordinary things, and seeing strange juxtapositions of objects, can make one see the funny side – Dad and I were always doing this when we were out together – both seeing something in a funny way at the same time and laughing, with no need for explanations, for example a lorry emblazoned with the legend, “The Chard Meat Company,” or a house with an estate agent’s board outside saying “Sold by Force.” These things spark the imagination and one conjures up all sorts of bizarre images! There is so much fun to be had out of the most mundane things in life, if one just keeps one’s eyes open.

Training oneself to do this, the skill transfers to other areas of one’s life, enabling one to think outside the box and find solutions that might not otherwise come to mind. It also undermines a natural tendency to perfectionism which can be so limiting.

I have been thinking a lot about the Innovation Engine over the past few days, and how I can use it to develop my own personal creativity, thinking about how the various influences impinge on my own life, and how I can use them.

WOYWW 339

Well, I haven’t been around much lately, I know. There’s been a lot going on in my life and I’m pretty exhausted, and my creative mojo has fled again for the second time this year… My poor ARTHaven has become the dumping ground it always is when I am not using it, so I thought as a reintroduction to joining the human race again, I would show you just how awful it is, and how little creativity has been going on of late! So here’s the guided tour of Shoshi’s Dumping Ground.

First stop, under the window.

The box with the transparent lid contains the finished cards from my card factory (to which I must return asap!). You an also see my camera case, the purple box that belongs to my lovely cleaning lady – she wants me to alter it for her. Beyond that is a pile of fabric scraps and bits and pieces given to me recently by a lady from church, and under the window, my packing foam pieces that I was making into heat-set rubber stamps, and a pile of dried teabags!

Moving over to the opposite side of the room, this is supposed to be my textile zone and drawing zone, but as you can see, it’s just got stuff dumped on it.

The saddest sight is my main work area. On the desk itself is a collection of dried leaves I picked up outside the hospital a few weeks ago, thinking I would do something with them but now I can’t think what to do with them.

You can see that the dowel that supported my bags of rubber stamps has broken and collapsed. This happened two or three weeks ago and I haven’t had the energy or the enthusiasm to do anything about it. My hubby, bless him, got me a metal rod to replace the dowel, and you can see that on the desk, waiting to be installed.

Here’s a close-up of the wreckage.

How sad is that. It says it all about the state of my creative mojo at the moment!

However, to happier things. I saw the oncologist yesterday and we got the result of my recent post-chemo CT scan, and it is clear, so I have been pronounced cancer free! This is of course very good news, but I am having some problems processing it at the moment as I need a huge mental adjustment to transfer from being a patient (VIP, receiving incredible care and support, all given with kindness and even love, and feeling affirmed and very special) to being a normal person again (ordinary)! I am also wrestling with some feelings of survivor’s guilt, having met some truly amazing and wonderful people on the chemo unit whose stories are working towards an end very different from my story, and whose indomitable spirit and cheerfulness never cease to amaze me – I find myself asking myself “Why me, and not them?” Fruitless question, I know, because cancer is no respecter of persons and the whole thing is a huge lottery with no rhyme nor reason to it. I know I shall move on from this rather complex response to what I know is brilliant news for us, but at the moment I can’t match my hubby’s simple and honest and uncomplicated response of utter joy and relief! I am also wrestling with the fact that my response is a total surprise to me, as I was anticipating feeling the same uncomplicated joy as my hubby.

I have been through a lot over the whole of this year and a couple of weeks ago had an investigation under general anaesthetic which knocked me back somewhat, and I’ve been a bit low in spirits – I think it’s all a reaction to what has been a complete rollercoaster of a year emotionally and physically. I will get there in the end, but for now I need a period of readjustment to my new status as Cancer Survivor and Ordinary Person lol!

I am not feeling brilliant physically either, because I am plagued with peripheral neuropathy as a result of the chemo – this is not the transient, acute version one gets after each treatment, which diminishes towards the end of each cycle, but the persistent, chronic version which is different, and quite intense. I have also developed a couple of rare neurological effects which may or may not have developed because of my existing neurological condition (M.E.). There is no guarantee that I shall fall into the percentage of people whose post-chemo peripheral neuropathy eventually clears up, or whether I shall be part of the significant percentage for whom this is a permanent legacy. Either way, it is a small price to pay for a cancer-free life, and if it does end up being permanent, it will serve as a constant reminder, along with Kermit, my stoma, of what I have been through in order to become a cancer survivor, and I shall be glad of that, because I never want to forget, and I never want to take what I have for granted, and I always want to be reminded to count my blessings daily.

Completion of Florabunda Alphabet

Last night I finally completed the Florabunda alphabet I’ve been working on, with the letters K to Z, so I can now make personalised cards for all my friends, even those whose names begin with X lol!

Here is the complete set.

Health Update

At long last I am starting to feel better! The final chemo just over three weeks ago certainly made its presence felt and the effects went on well into week 3 of the cycle, which was unusual because with previous treatments, by week 3 I was always feeling a lot better. It was doubly surprising that it went on so long, because the final treatment, like the penultimate one, was at a reduced dose. I am still getting peripheral neuropathy, mostly in my feet now, which is strange because I’ve had more trouble with it in my hands previously – it seems to be there a lot of the time, giving me feelings of numbness and pins and needles, particularly in my toes, and it seems unrelated to cold, too. I shall mention this to the oncologist when I next see her.

I have now started to pick up the threads of my life again, doing some domestic tasks. It may sound funny, but I am so enjoying this! It is making me feel a lot more human again, and in control of my life. My hubby has been so wonderful looking after me all this time but I really feel it’s high time I took back a lot of what he’s been doing, and started looking after him again after so many months.

Here are the “firsts” in getting my life back again!

Thursday: I did my first batch of laundry. Since going into hospital, my lovely cleaning lady has been doing this for me, apart from the odd bit of hand washing that I’ve managed to keep up with.

Friday: First lot of ironing.

Saturday: I got up and got my own breakfast for the first time. Since my operation, my hubby has been bringing me breakfast in bed. First washing up – I did the breakfast things! A gentle introduction. I also finished the ironing. I sorted the larder cupboards in the kitchen and made a list of what we’ve got, and what we need. I started making my first shopping list for the online order I shall be doing in the coming week.

Sunday: I went to church for the first time since May, when I had recovered sufficiently from my operation, just before I started my chemo. I was quite overwhelmed by the lovely welcome I received – everybody was surprised and delighted to see me back and I got a LOT of hugs! Everyone said how well I was looking. I would have easily forgiven them for forgetting me altogether, it’s been so long since I showed my face in the place! I washed up the evening meal dishes. Soon I will be cooking the evening meal, too!

Monday (today): I sorted the freezer and defrosted it. Much as I hate having to throw food away, I did have to throw away a bit, because it was too old. Once I’m back in the driving seat as far as the cooking and shopping are concerned, I shall have a proper idea of what we’ve got, and what needs eating first, etc. etc. and this won’t happen again. I have also re-started my diet – I am on the 5:2 diet, where you restrict your diet to a maximum of 500 cals for two days of the week and eat normally for the other five. I had to abandon this, on the advice of my surgeon, in advance of my operation, in order to keep my strength up and allow my body to recover. Although I have gained some weight during this time, I have managed to keep it on a more or less even keel, which I am pleased about, but now it is time to resume the downward trend and hopefully to reach my target weight by next summer.

During the coming week, I’ve got the fridge to sort and clean out, and the small freezer (part of the fridge-freezer in the kitchen). I also need to clean the hob and possibly the oven but I may ask my cleaning lady to do the latter lol!! There’s a box of food out on the counter where my hubby has been putting his food shopping for easy access for his cooking, and this needs sorting and the stuff putting away, and then I can clean that counter, including all the crumbs from the toaster! Tomorrow morning I shall finalise my online shopping list and then do the order in the afternoon, and request the delivery for Wednesday, as I used to do before. I am hoping to cook the first evening meal on Wednesday.

I am also trying to be good, and going to bed earlier than I am used to, so that I can get up earlier. The trouble is, my M.E. messes with my internal clock, and I tend to be mentally alert in the small hours, and do not feel at all ready to go up at midnight! I am trying to go up to bed at 12.20 a.m. at the latest. Since I have been doing this, I have not been sleeping well (waking frequently) which is what always happens if I go up before I feel ready, but this time I am determined to try and educate my body and put up with the wakefulness until it settles down into a new routine.

This whole cancer journey has brought me to a new start in my life, and I am determined to set up good habits from now on. I seem to be at my best for doing things in the mornings, so I am putting my feet up in the afternoons and evenings and not overdoing things. I have been needing a sleep in the afternoons but this may not last forever as I gradually recover my strength.

I am also hoping to be able to start spending some quality time in the studio doing art and being creative! Initially a lot of my energy will be taken up just getting things straight in the house again, but once this settles down and I’m properly into a routine, I am looking forward to spending time up there, probably mostly in the mornings, depending on how my energy levels pick up.

Commission for a Zentangle Book

The second of two posts today. – Edited – picture of book cover.

I have been approached by Jane Marbaix, a UK Certified Zentangle Teacher (CZT), who is writing a new book on Zentangle – she already has more than one in print – she had found my tangle “Y-Ful Power” and wanted to feature it. She asked me to submit the step-outs for it, and also a piece of art using this tangle, and some text giving details of the inspiration behind it. She asked if the art piece could somehow reflect the story of my cancer journey this year, as the publishers were keen that the book should inspire people.

I was a bit daunted at first because the deadline was so short, for which she apologised; she said she needed it within three weeks, but effectively for me, that meant by the end of the week, because my next chemo treatment is due then, after which I will be fit for nothing for another fortnight. Her timing was actually very good because I was just starting to feel better for my third week in the cycle, and I’ve been able to pull out all the stops and get it done in time!

I felt a bit daunted for another reason too, which was that I have very little experience in expressing my thoughts, feelings and experiences in the form of art. This is definitely something I have felt the need to work on for some time, because I have been wanting to get into art journaling. Hopefully next year after the chemo is finished and I am getting my life back, this will start to happen, and it’s good to get in a bit of practice in advance!

I feel extremely flattered to be invited to contribute to a published book. To be sought out like this and invited to take part is very exciting indeed, and I am so pleased that Jane is so delighted with what I’ve come up with – I wanted really to do this thrilling project the justice it so richly deserves. Jane is one of only a small number of UK-based CZTs and it’s very good to be able to support and encourage her in this way, and to give her a bit of publicity.

My original thoughts on a suitable design for this ZIA (Zentangle-Inspired Art) came to nothing and got chucked out – my thinking was too literal, and my initial sketches were a disaster! I spent most of that first morning trawling the Internet for inspiration until I decided to look on my own Pinterest boards to see if anything struck a chord, and I found this image of the most amazing and beautiful spiral staircase.

I have no idea where this staircase is located. I have always been fascinated by spiral staircases and the intriguing shapes they produce, and in this context, I could see this as a picture of my journey – a journey of the heart from darkness to light.

Here are some pictures showing the progression from initial pencil sketch to the finished drawing.

 

 

The initial pencil sketch shows the spiral staircase emerging from a 3-D heart, both of which feature prominently my tangle “Y-Ful Power.” I wanted the bottom part of the picture to be dark. The small heart on the right is an attempt to get the perspective right – I had some trouble with this!

The next picture shows how I began the first tracing of the shapes, using my light pad – a flat panel illuminated by LEDs for the purpose of tracing. This is an extremely useful tool which I acquired a few months ago on Ebay, and had yet to put through its paces. I have wanted a light box for many years, and am very glad that I did not invest in one at the time because these new panels are so much more convenient – lying flat on the table with very little thickness, and the LEDs do not make it hot.

The next picture shows the first tracing complete.

 

 

I have drawn a pencil grid over the spiral staircase and the heart, for the placing of the dot grid to construct Y-Ful Power, which you can see complete on the first draft I made from that tracing, on plain paper.

 

 

I was still not happy with the heart, which looked rather flat, but which I thought might be improved with some shading. I made several attempts at drawing the heart, using different grids, until I was satisfied.

Here is the completed draft.

 

I didn’t like the overlap of the rays of light from “Footlites” on the left, and these needed to be altered.

My first “fair copy” of the drawing did not pass muster because the bottom of the heart was very dark, and there was not enough contrast with the background, into which it appeared to merge without trace! It looks better on this photo than it does in real life. I had put too much in the way of embellishments on the Y-Ful Power on the bottom of the heart, and this needed to be reduced. I wasn’t keen on the way that the embellishments followed the line of the handrail of the staircase, either. There were some other problems too, such as the hole in the centre of the spiral coming out too small and losing the impact of the spot of light towards which the butterfly is moving. Also, I didn’t like what I’d done with “Finery” on the bottom right – the black embellishments were too strong. (I edited this scan and made it come out a bit too dark – the shading isn’t that strong on the original.)

So I re-drew it, yet again. This next photo shows the final drawing complete, or so I thought until I realised that I had left out some shading that I wanted to put on the underside of the spiral staircase. (The rest of the shading shows more true to the original than on the previous photo.) I was a lot happier with the heart, “Finery” and “Footlites,” in this final rendering.

 

By this time I had scanned the image, and done a bit of digital tidying up, and I didn’t want to do all that work again, so I printed it out, and attempted to add some shading to this scanned image, which I then scanned again. This was a mistake because the result came out very grainy, so it was “back to the drawing board” as I had to decide what to do. To save myself a lot of work I decided to add the shading digitally, to the underside of the spiral staircase. This is the final drawing.

 

 

I was a little concerned at how blue the shading (real and digital) appeared in the image – I tried desaturating it and converting it to greyscale but the result was the same. I am hoping that the printers will get a true greyscale image when they prepare it for the book. I have now sent the files of the drawing, the 2 step-out sheets for Y-Ful Power, and the text to accompany the drawing, to the publisher as well as to the author, and the publisher says that the scans are fine, so presumably the picture prints out OK in a true greyscale.

Looking at these pictures, superficially they appear pretty much the same, but it’s a bit like those “spot the difference” pictures! There are subtle differences which probably only my perfectionistic nature would fuss about, but this is going to be published, and I wanted it to be the best I could make it – I’d never be satisfied knowing that something I had drawn was being published, that I wasn’t 100% happy with.

A Word about Shading

In the past, I have always shaded my Zentangles with a soft (4B) pencil and then blended it with a paper stump. However, being graphite, the shading didn’t usually photograph or scan very well because it is slightly reflective. I have wondered for a while about suitable alternatives, and recently discovered soluble graphite pencils – watercolour pencils in shades of grey that can be applied and then blended with a water brush. I bought a Derwent Graphitint pencil recently in Warm Grey (Shade #19), one of a range of greys that they produce, which I think probably doesn’t have any graphite in it because it is completely non-reflective. Blending with the water brush is easy, and the results are very good, so this is going to be my shading tool of choice for the future.

The symbolism in the picture

You can see that there is an emphasis on upward movement throughout the picture, from the dark beginnings to the light in the centre. The symbolism is best expressed by quoting an extract from the text which will accompany the image in the book (this may be edited by the publisher for length):

“My piece of Zentangle-inspired art depicts my journey from my bowel cancer diagnosis in January 2015, which is essentially a journey of the heart – it is all about attitude. It is not the circumstances and events in our lives which define us, but our attitude to them – we can either cave in under them and complain and be miserable, which will affect everyone around us in a negative way, or we can face them head on, and make use of them, to help us become a better person, which will have the added bonus of inspiring those around us. This second choice is the one I have made. Only once, on the day of my diagnosis, did I say, ‘Why me?’ and immediately afterwards asked, ‘Why not me?’ A positive attitude also helps towards a positive outcome to the illness and its treatment…

“This has been a wake-up call and a life-changing experience, which I have attempted to express in my art. The upward journey has not been a straightforward one but has taken some circuitous routes. From a relatively dark and cluttered existence I am rising towards the light; the butterfly represents metamorphosis from one state to another, taking flight from a lowly existence into the brighter light of hope and joy. Before this event, my life was going on much as before, in a fairly chaotic fashion, and looking back I realise just how much time I was wasting, and how little I was doing for – or even thinking of – others. This journey has changed my priorities.

“The upward journey is from a heart full of gratitude, and a desire to make a difference in the lives of others. My new motivation is to help others, to inspire them, and to become a better person…

“Where will this journey lead? Who knows? Hopefully to a cancer-free life, but to have made a difference is all I ask.”

Tangle Patterns Used in the Piece

I included a list of the sixteen different tangles that I used in the piece:

Y-Ful Power, Cvetic, Lily Pads, Lotus Pods, Footlites, B’twined, Miander. Copada, Bilt, Intwine, Finery, Zinger, Verdigogh, Float Fest, Barber Pole, and Heart Rope. I wonder if my fellow tanglers will be able to spot them all!

Details of the Book So Far 

The book title will be “Inspiring Zentangle Projects,” and will be published in May of next year, all being well. Jane has now sent me a jpg of the cover. She says that between now and publication, this may be changed, but this is the working version.

 

 

It is being published by Arcturus Publishing – I visited their website today and they’ve got some very intriguing titles on there, including several adult colouring books, and to my great delight, an adult dot-to-dot book! I used to love doing these as a child, and the adult ones look highly complex and interesting. Definitely something to try! I expect you could colour them afterwards, too. They do quite a few art and craft books, and one of Jane Marbaix’s earlier Zentangle books is in the catalogue, too – “Mandala Zentangle.”

I hope you will all buy a copy of her new book when it comes out!

A Quilty Hug

Recently, I gained a new online friend in the form of Maria, who started commenting on my blog. I mentioned how she has donated quilts to a favourite charity in the USA, Happy Chemo! in my last post. She contacted me and said she would like to send me a quilt for comfort during my chemo sessions. As you can imagine, I was overwhelmed by this kindness and accepted with alacrity, although I felt I did need to remind her that I was located in the UK and that the postage may prove too much, but this did not deter her one bit!

Today, my beautiful quilt arrived, and I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself as I struggled to open the box and reveal the treasure within!

Here it is.

Isn’t it stunning and beautiful? I am so, so thrilled with this marvellous gift.

In with the parcel, Maria had put this hilarious postcard for me – a little education for an ignorant Brit, from a full-blooded Southern Belle, on how English should be spoke!

I hope all y’all are as moved as I am by my new friend’s generosity and kindness. She knows only too well what it is like enduring the rigours of chemo, and how much a quilty hug can mean. Hop over to her blog and just take a look at all the beautiful quilts she has made. Not only is she a very skilled quilter, but I love her turn of phrase – she’s an excellent writer too!

Reading about her, and about Happy Chemo! challenged me to do something to bring a little cheer into the lives of my own fellow chemo sufferers, which is why I have started making my little lavender sachets to give them, to bring them the healing and comforting scent of English lavender from our neighbour’s garden.

As I endure the rigours of chemo in the months ahead, I know that as I look at my beautiful quilt and feel its texture and warmth, and revel in its colours and patterns, I shall be comforted and lifted out of myself, and even when I am feeling at my most poorly, to know that I am loved and cared for, and that people all around the world are praying for me, and I have more blessings in my life than I could possibly deserve, and how impossible it is to count them all.

When we hear everyday on the news of all the awful things that people do to each other in this world, it encourages me no end to know that not everybody is like that, and that there are people who reach out across the world and perform acts of kindness to bless others that they hardly know. I have been challenged a lot of late with the knowledge that I really do very little for other people, and how I could be using my own God-given skills and talents to bring some sunshine into the darkness of the lives of others. Thank you, Maria, not just for this wonderful quilt, but for giving me the push I needed to start doing this in a small way. May God bless you.

On the Dig

This morning my hubby took me over to the local archaeological dig where he has been volunteering for the past couple of weeks. This is the first year since the dig began, that he has been able to go full time, because previously, work had a habit of getting in the way! (Actually these days I don’t see him for dust on a daily basis, so not much change from when he was working!!)

This is the site of a Roman, and earlier Bronze Age settlement. It was discovered several years ago by my hubby’s friend who introduced him to metal detecting – this gentleman discovered a large number of Roman coins which he took to the university, where interest was sparked, and an archaeological team was appointed to open an official dig. The team consists of qualified archaeologists and students, and a number of volunteers from the local area. This particular excavation has revealed the first evidence that the Romans settled west of Exeter, so it is an important find.

Here are a couple of general views of the site.

Running across the site is the Roman road which has been unearthed. If you look carefully on the left of the road, just to the right of the little row of stones, you can see a wheel rut in the road. The road is cambered, and there are several potholes that have been filled with different types of stone – obviously the Romans had the same problem with potholes that we do today!

Beyond the road, a series of stakes and tapes plot the further path of the road, as revealed by the geo-phys.

Technology in action:

Equipment.

Removing dust with a large brush.

Sieving. This is the job my hubby was on for a few days last week – yesterday he was glad to be back on the main site, clearing with a brush. I told him that in order for the professional archaeologists to do their job, they depend on minions like himself – the blue-collar workers who do the donkey work, boring as it may be!

I noticed that the sievers were wisely standing up-wind of their sieves – there was a light breeze today and it was very hot and dry, and the sieving generated a lot of dust which was blowing about.

Clearing with a fine brush.

Today they uncovered part of a brooch, and a flattened section of a bracelet with some decoration on it, both probably made of bronze. I was shown a section of quern stone – the Romans used two discs of stone with a hole drilled through the middle through which a spindle would have passed, and through which grain would have been poured. On the upper stone, near the edge, another hole would have accommodated a stick which would be used as a handle to turn the upper stone on the lower, and the result of the grinding would work its way to the edges of the stones and be collected. This piece of stone that I was shown looked very unremarkable to my untrained eye – no doubt I’d have rejected it as simply a bit of old rock, but the archaeologist pointed out the smooth curved outer edge which was sufficient to identify it.

I find it amazing that they are able to recognise what is a genuine find, and distinguish it from the surrounding worthless rubble, but as my hubby pointed out, when the Bank of England trains its tellers in the recognition of counterfeit notes, they do not give them counterfeits to handle, but the real thing, and then, when they encounter a counterfeit, they are so familiar with the real thing that the forgery is instantly recognisable. In the same way, the archaeologists become so familiar with the feel of pottery, metallic objects, bone, and so on, that they can identify a genuine find almost immediately, even if it looks quite unremarkable.

I was impressed by the organisation and quiet industry at the site. Everybody knew what they were supposed to be doing, and they were all applying themselves with great concentration to their own particular job of the moment. Each time something was turned up, the exact location was marked and the find was bagged, and a special laser record was made so that the finds could all be plotted on the computer in 3-D. You can see the bags and tags fixed to the ground in the first two photos. The archaeologist explained to me that archaeology is a destructive process because the site is not left intact when they have finished. I had not thought about it like this before.

This is an extensive site, and ground radar has indicated that it extends across many fields. Hopefully the funding will continue, and the dig will be opened up each summer for the foreseeable future. My hubby is thrilled to have the opportunity to volunteer, and to be part of such an exciting venture so close to home, and now that he has retired, he can immerse himself fully in the experience.

It is exciting to think of the Romans living so close to us, living their ordinary daily lives and leaving things for us to find many hundreds of years later. I always feel a great sense of excitement when I handle something that has been dug up – my hubby brings home all sorts of interesting finds from his metal detecting jaunts – spindle whorls, shoe buckles, coins – and I think of the last person to handle the object before it was lost and buried, and what sort of lives they would have led; what their beliefs were, their style of dress, their food, etc. etc. Handling these objects centuries later gives one a real sense of connection with our ancient past, and the human beings who lived such different lives from our own, in our local area, but sharing the same emotions, joys, doubts and fears which are the common lot of humanity. They breathed the same air, saw the same moon and stars, were warmed by the same sun, and lived through the same seasons. It makes one feel grounded in one’s own environment, having a sense of our ancestors going back through the centuries, and provides a sense of belonging and continuity.

Are You an Artist?

Today I viewed the latest Youtube video by one of my favourite artists, Jennibellie. You may remember I featured another of her videos recently, on the subject of comparing oneself with others, and this latest one is another of what she describes as her “pep talks”!

Again, it made a huge impression on me, as she was speaking right into my situation, or my situation as it was last year.

She made this video while visiting York, and staying in what she described as a haunted house! It all looked very charming to me.

Anyway, back to the pep talk. For some time I had been feeling less comfortable with the description “crafter” for what I do – this is no slight on those who do consider themselves to be crafters and are happy with that, but I felt I was moving more into an area where I was creating a lot more from scratch, rather than assembling ready-made materials, and as I pushed the boundaries, needed to start calling myself an artist.

However, for some time I felt very uncomfortable using this word to people because I thought they might think it pretentious of me, and the worst stumbling block was that I don’t get paid for what I do – my feeling was that most people who describe themselves as artists are “serious” artists who make money from what they do! Jennibellie points out that if you do art, then you are an artist! Why do we have no problem with the doing of art, but the personal description “artist” causes us such problems?

I think I am over this hump now. I am finding it easier all the time to describe myself as an artist. It doesn’t matter anyway what other people think, and if they assume that I am a professional artist, that doesn’t matter either. To be exact, I suppose I could always describe myself as an “amateur artist” but that rather implies that I just mess about and am not serious about what I do, or that I am not very good.

I am not as good as I would like to be, but then I doubt if you’d meet many artists who think that they are as good as they should be!

The name I give to my studio is my ARTHaven, a name I borrowed from Penny Duncan. It is indeed a haven where I do art, and the capital letters imply how important this art is to me. I get quite uncomfortable and a bit annoyed when I hear my hubby describe it as my “craft room.” My beautiful room in our new house, all fitted out to my own specification and design, is definitely my studio, the place where I make ART.

This whole issue is another facet of the issue Jennibellie addressed before, that of lacking confidence in ourselves which manifests itself in the comparing of ourselves with others. I don’t know if it’s a particularly British characteristic to be self-effacing and modest, and not to trumpet ourselves lest we appear brash and boastful, but false modesty is nobody’s friend in the end! It’s time to step up to the mark and say it as it is!

Are you an artist? If you are creative with your materials and produce work that is unique to you, and which expresses something of the inner you, then you are. Don’t be afraid to say it!

Something to Pass On, and General News

I have just watched one of Jennibellie’s latest videos, and was so impressed with it that I thought I would share it with you here, and hope that you will benefit from it. She has come across people in the field of art comparing themselves with other artists, and the underlying lack of confidence that causes this behaviour, and this video gives several very helpful pointers to deal with the problem, and to learn from it.

I am experiencing problems with Google at the moment on Firefox (is anybody else?) and am unable to comment on blogs or Youtube videos, and I cannot open Google Chrome (at least using this laptop – the iMac seems to be playing ball, but it’s on my desk upstairs, and when I am feeling poorly and exhausted, I prefer to use the laptop from the comfort of the recliner). If I can get this problem sorted, I shall be leaving my own comment on Jennibellie’s Youtube channel and also on her blog, to let her know that I am in full agreement with what she says, and to thank her for her wisdom, and for sharing her experience with others.

Here is the video:

When I was young (immediately after leaving school) I had incredibly low self-esteem and absolutely no confidence in myself, and was full of fear of what the world would throw at me. I have made some humungous mistakes in my life (as we all have, I am sure) and have had to live with the consequences of these, but later understanding of my background and early experiences have helped me to understand that maybe these mistakes were inevitable, and not entirely my own fault. I have come to know that I am who I am, and can only build on that, helped enormously by my Christian faith and an understanding that God has a purpose for my life, and that He has allowed certain things, and will never test me beyond my strength. (Romans 8:28 has been my watchword throughout my Christian walk!)

Confidence in myself grew in my 30s, when I suddenly realised that it really didn’t bother me so much what people thought of me – Jennibellie points out in the video that actually other people are so wrapped up in their own issues that they probably don’t give us a second thought, so our worrying is all castles in the air! My mum used to say this to me when I was younger, and she was right. OK, I’m never going to shine in the fame and fortune stakes, am not genius-standard intellectually, and will never be a wealth-producer, but I am me, a bit of a jack-of-all trades and master of none, but I have gifts and talents specific to myself and it’s up to me to use them to the best of my ability, and ****** the rest!!! Mum always says it’s a good thing we aren’t all the same. She’s right. If we were, there would be too much done in one field, and nothing else would get done at all!

I think artists are particularly susceptible to comparison with others, and being far too self-critical, whether they are in the field of physical and visual arts, or music. I have found singers to be incredibly sensitive in this area – the voice is such a personal thing, as one’s instrument is oneself! I have recent experience with somebody who although very confident in the field of music, exhibits all the signs of lack of confidence in her work as an artist – she is a beginner, and comes over with lots of negative comments about her work and how she doesn’t consider herself to be a “real artist,” and doesn’t think she is creative. She is comparing herself with me, which is all very flattering, but I did my best to encourage her as she embarks on this new area of creativity.

I have often found myself comparing my work with the work of others online, and in every case these people were more experienced than I was, and I found myself wishing I could have come up with such original ideas. “I wish I’d thought of that…” However, discussing one of my pieces recently, I was told how creative and original it was. We do need to look at our own achievements and let them stand alone, and listen to what others say to us about them, and about us as artists too – this can be incredibly encouraging and confidence-building.

One thing I have done often, which Jennibellie suggests on her video, is to look back at my earlier projects and see how I have moved on since those days. This is one reason why I have a blog. It’s such a useful tool! The other day I was reviewing my Youtube videos and felt acutely embarrassed at one of my very early ones, “What’s in Shoshi’s boxes?” I made this small series just after I started what I then called crafting (I now consider myself to be an artist rather than a crafter – many self-confessed crafters, in my opinion, should maybe rebrand themselves likewise!), before I had a dedicated space, and had to get the boxes out and work off my lap, or off the dining room table. Those who follow my activities will know that I am now incredibly blessed with a purpose-built studio, my new ARTHaven, and over the years I have accumulated a large quantity of materials and equipment, and also a lot of experience, and growing confidence along the way. Having watched Jennibellie’s video, I have decided to ignore my recent impulse to delete those embarrassing early videos from my Youtube channel! Maybe if others compare them with more recent ones, they also will be encouraged to press on!

I love how we are all unique, and no original work we do is the same as the work of others. Recently I was hankering after a definitive style which would say “Shoshi” to anyone who saw it, but several people have commented recently that various things were in my style, so even if I can’t see it, perhaps I have developed my own unique style after all!

As I grow in experience and confidence, I have come to realise that given my resources (which I fully understand that not everyone is as fortunate to have available), and given some time thinking, planning and imagining, I can do anything I set my mind to. Ideas for projects that have long remained dormant because I couldn’t think how to achieve them will come to fruition, adding another brick to the construction of my growing confidence in my abilities.

The most important lesson in all this is to “Enjoy the journey”! Life, and art, are never static. As individuals we are never static – we grow and change, with time and changing circumstances, and with experiences that impact us and add another dimension to our creativity. What an adventure it all is!

Life is too short to sell ourselves short by thinking we are not as good as other people. There are many different levels of ability, but it is where we are now that counts, and each step along the journey is a step in the right direction, building on past experience and growing in confidence. Various people have commented under Jennibellie’s video, that the only person we should compare ourselves with, is ourselves.

One thing I have found incredibly uplifting and encouraging is the response of others to the work that I am producing – the joy I can give by making, rather than buying, a gift or card – how valued, loved and important it makes the recipient feel. It is in blessing others that we ourselves are blessed.

 

Recent news

I am not able to participate in the weekly blog hop WOYWW (What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday) at present because of other things going on in my life. My workdesk has backslid into a dumping ground again! Today my hubby and I came to the final farewell celebration as he embarks on retirement. We have both been overwhelmed by everybody’s kindness and appreciation for all that he has done to help people in his long career, and by their generosity in the form of gifts and cards, parties and meals provided, and tears shed. We are both feeling pretty wiped out by the incredibly emotional experience and need a few days’ peace and quiet to adjust our inner compasses and get into a new routine.

We are going away on holiday this coming Friday – our first holiday in four years. Over recent years we have both been very busy dealing with all the problems of having extremely elderly parents – settling Dad into residential care as his dementia progressed until his death early last December, and doing our best to care for Mum who was unable to cope on her own. Getting the three of us moved into more suitable accommodation for us all was the great adventure of last year, and from the New Year I felt it was a fresh start, and a springboard to a new way of life. With retirement, there will be financial adjustments to be made as we will be living on a much reduced income (which makes me very glad that I have invested so much in materials and equipment in the past in my ARTHaven!!) and although my life won’t change much – who said “Wives never retire”? Lol! I shall still be cooking and doing the laundry etc. etc.! – but it will be very different adjusting to having a hubby who is no longer working – he has been working (and very hard) all the years I’ve known him, and I can’t yet get my head round what it will be like!

Here we are, last Sunday, at the penultimate farewell party, with the most gynormous cake I’d ever seen:

In May, my hubby celebrated his 65th birthday, and I my 61st, and also it was our 28th wedding anniversary, so quite apart from his retirement, there’s been a lot to celebrate.

To finish, here is a picture of Phoebe looking opulent on my cushion which I chucked onto the floor last night as I settled on the recliner.

I hope you have found this post helpful. Thank you, Jennibellie, for your words of wisdom, which I think we creative folks all need to hear – we all need a refresher course in attitude management sometimes!

Views from Shoshi’s Settee–This and That–and an Exciting Day Tomorrow!

Today is the 27th anniversary of my becoming a Christian. If you want to read my testimony, I blogged about it exactly a year ago today. I am so grateful to God for everything He has done for me in my life, and above all for sending His Son to die in my place, taking the punishment for my sin, and opening the gate of heaven for me for the future, and giving my life purpose and meaning for the present.

I’ve tried to have a rest today, because tomorrow will be a long day – my hubby is dropping me off at Westpoint, Exeter, for the Creative Stitches and Hobbycrafts show. I love craft shows and can’t wait! It’s going to be a very special day for me because my crafty friend Wendy from Wales is going to be there and it will be the first time we’ve ever met, because we’ve only been friends online.

I’ve bling-ed up my wheelchair in honour of the occasion! Since I got my new one, I haven’t decorated it at all, apart from putting some sparkly spoke guards on it – I did bling it up for Christmas in a simple way, but nothing since. I rummaged through the bags under the stairs and found most of my wheelchair bling (can’t find the newest flowers!) and I’ve redone it with my original flowers, with the black sparkly Christmas stuff underneath, and of course, MY LIGHTS!!! I also added some rust-coloured sunflowers that a friend gave me years ago, which I’ve never used before, and I thought they gave a nice autumnal feel to my new bling. I also put on some of my black and silver Christmassy bits, so when the time comes, all I’ll have to do is strip the flowers off and add a few more bits of Christmas bling, and some baubles on the back.

If you look closely, you can see the lights. They aren’t terribly bright, and they probably won’t show up much tomorrow as the lights will be so bright, but in the evening in subdued lighting they look gorgeous!

Last time I went to a craft show with flowers on my wheelchair, everyone loved it and it generated lots of smiles and happy comments! It helps break down barriers and stops people being embarrassed around disability (shame that still happens, but it does…).

Yesterday I went through the stuff in my ARTHaven to make a list of stuff I need (need, not want lol!) from the craft show. Last time I took a little note book with lists of stuff I’ve got in the back, for example what colours of alcohol inks, stickles, etc. that I’ve got, and in the front is a list of all the stuff I want to look out for, and as I go round, if I buy any new colours of anything, I write them down so as to avoid buying the same thing twice – in the hustle and bustle of the show, it’s not always easy to remember what you’ve bought from the different stands! I also take a box with me. The staff are very happy to let me put this in the office, and I can come out with my purchases and put them in the box, because it’s difficult for me to carry a lot of stuff.

While I was sorting out my list, I also sorted my rubber stamps. I have kept them all in empty CD cases up till now, but I have separated some of them out and put them back in their original packaging if I’ve kept it – this way I know what make they are. Now I am blogging about my projects, it’s important to say what the stamps are, in case anyone is interested in getting them. It makes them a bit less convenient to use, but I rather like the feel of them in their flat packs with the pictures of them underneath!

All I’ve done today is change the bed sheets and get the laundry on, wash my hair and have a nice long soak in the bubbles, and at the risk of having a bad night, I’m going to try and get to bed a bit earlier than 3.30 a.m. as I’ve got an early start tomorrow and I’m going to need a lot of energy to keep going all day!

Our middle nephew and his wife and daughter popped in for a cup of tea with us this afternoon – they are down in our area visiting. I haven’t seen their little girl since she was a baby and she’s now nearly 2! She is so pretty, and so full of energy, and didn’t sit still for a moment!

I probably won’t blog about the show tomorrow, because I’ll be too worn out, but watch this space, and hopefully I’ll have some good photos of the day to share with you.

God's Knitting

When I was clearing out my room to make my ARTHaven, I came across a piece I'd made years and years ago, to illustrate some thoughts I'd been having at the time about how God is in control of our lives, however chaotic they might seem to us.

I had the thought that our lives are like a piece of knitting that God is doing - a work in progress. For anyone who has done Fair Isle (multi-coloured) knitting, you know that the back can end up as a tangle of different coloured yarns that are carried along, to be picked up when you want a new colour in the row. What we see is the back of this knitting. God is in control of the design, which He planned before the foundation of the earth (Ephesians 1:4) - He knows how it's going to turn out. While the work is being done, it can be messy on the back, which is the only bit we see.

However, with the eyes of faith, opened by the Holy Spirit, we may catch a glimpse of the right side of the work, but in reflection only ("through a glass darkly," 1 Corinthians 13:12) but when we are face to face with the Lord, we will see the whole picture, the right side, in all its beauty and splendour.

Throughout the work, the golden thread of God's love is present. Although I didn't think of this when I was making this piece, I did incorporate a cross into the design.

This was an experiment, really, and I didn't spend a lot of time getting a nice glossy finish on it - it's pretty roughly put together, but if you don't mind seeing the staples holding the knitting in place etc. I hope it means something to someone!!

Here is the piece closed, showing the "wrong" side of the knitting. I'd like it to have been a bit more messy than this, so that the design didn't show up quite so clearly:

Here it is, open, showing the right side of the knitting in the mirror.

I hope this strikes a chord with someone, somewhere... If your life seems in a total mess at the moment, and without purpose or direction, and you can't make sense of it, remember that God, who loves you, has the design in His hands, and sees the final picture.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

May God bless you all.