Synthesis and Curation

One never knows when a new chapter of creative life will begin. My passions for book-making, mark-making, slow stitching, knitting, weaving, poetry and writing have yielded works in progress and finished works, spanning the past 40 + years.

Currently, I’m experiencing a life-changing reinvention of my creative/sacred practice. Recently, I discovered a new teacher from Australia, Harriet Goodall. I’m studying with her (online) and learning basket-weaving and a meditative form of stitching with/upon natural objects. The image of the blanketed stone talisman above, is my first attempt of one aspect of what I’m learning. With Harriet’s guidance, I’m also exploring weaving with annealed steel wire, combined with embroidered, fabric overlay.

It feels as if, at long last, all my creative bits and bobs, trials and errors, explorations, and starts and stops throughout the years, can now be curated and combined into a storied and comprehensive form. Today, I’m setting a conscious intention to fully step onto a new creative path. The vision I’m holding is to synthesize my various creative passions into a cohesive and meaningful body of work, to express a story centered upon the alchemy of ancestral lineage and legacy.

Baskets, boxes, vessels of all shapes and sizes and forms found in nature such as; pine cones, acorns, tree bark, driftwood, shells, birds’ feathers and empty nests…these are the things that speak to my soul and imagination. Currently, I’m in the gathering phase of this new adventure and I’m observing and exploring the natural world through the lens of the forager. I’m also experimenting with found materials that are rusted, and worn.

It’s been many years since I have felt so creatively inspired. Thank you, Harriet Goodall. My sketchbook is filling with plans for creating: amulets, talismans, baskets, and metal vessels filled with tiny books. Let the work begin...