After months of constant travel, felting, dyeing and a stitching marathon I finally crashed. I don't know if it was the days of ironing right before Artistic License, the 2 day schmooze fest or all that load and unloading of my beautiful booth that wore the wheels on my butt down. I hit the wall. Maybe it was the 300 violas I just planted before my show. Maybe it was the trips in between my work trips these past few months; Sleeping Bear Dunes national park, Mi. Shake Rag workshop in Sawanee, Tn. Burning Man art festival, Black Rock City, Nv. The Wool and Sheep festival, Taos, Nm. Not to mention all my trips to Memphis for work. I did a lot this summer and these new experiences and tools are fueling my creative drive wildly. I used to have balance in my life; yoga, cooking, hikes, biking and art. These past months I was eating sleeping and breathing ecoprint dyeing, stitching and felting all day every day.
After the success of my fall show, I rested (forced by that wall I hit) and started spinning. My husband Chris was so thrilled to see me spin. Normalcy. Calm energy. Slow flowing meditation. I felt like slipping into my comfy old shoes after a marathon in Jimmy Choos. Really its just the turn of the Wheel. Now it's November and when it gets dark so early I am forced to come in from the dye pot and the garden to where spinning, knitting and stitching begins. I welcome the long dark hours, relaxing yoga, cooking. My winter bear sleeping habits unfurl. I will relax into this state of being till Winter Solstice lights the spark of summer plans; workshops to attend, camping trips (now a ruse to gather wind falls for dyeing), playdates for co-creating with Lori from Capistrano Fiber Arts. The wheels on my butt really start to turn in January when burning Man tickets go on sale. It is the starting flag waving a promise of summer adventures to come. Start...get ready...here I come!
But for now, I am relaxing in my favorite mountains with my dog. Balancing the biking, hiking, camp fire and stars with the wind falls of oak leaves and dried misletoe I gathered. Relaxing and reading but wondering about the dyepot I get to open tomorrow when I get home. In balance again and grateful for it all!
