Still Working on Christmas

I visited my friend Carolyn’s Christmas Shop the other day and was so overwhelmed with the wonderful decorations she has for Christmas.  I came back to my house that still has no pictures on the walls and wondered what I could do to decorate for the upcoming holiday.  I’m still thinking.

In the meantime, I continue to work on Christmas presents that I cannot show, and since I’m not getting much else done, I don’t have much to put on the blog.  However, I will show a glimpse that hopefully will not reveal too much of something I’m currently working on.

I’m greatly enjoying the reading for my Doctor of Ministry classes but find myself wanting to constantly stop to look up the artists I’m learning aboutt.  I’m finding the internet both a blessing and curse in that respect. 

I googled David Ellsworth to look at his amazing work with wood that melds together his training in ceramics, talent with wood, and depth of spirituality.

While looking at his work I clicked onto Wendi Ellsworth’s gallery and found some amazing beadwork.  Her sea objects are astounding.

Then I looked at Nancy Chinn’s liturgical artwork.

 

Can you see why the reading is going slowly?  Each of these artist’s websites is a treasure trove.  Such inspiration!

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Where Did the Time Go?

I know, I keep saying there is just enough time for everything we truly want and need to do, but I have to admit that at this time of year I always catch myself wondering where the time has gone.

Can it be that Advent is nearly here? It’s coming.  It’s coming.  It’s Advent, after all.

I’m also rapidly approaching my blogging one year anniversary in early December and I’m not even blogging as much as I want to.  To say nothing of not getting much fiber and textile work done.

But! I have been doing some oh, so, inspirational reading as I prepare for my first Doctor of Ministry classes. I’ve finished Van Gogh and God by Cliff Edwards.  I’ve picked this book up before and thought it looked boring.  No color pictures in a book about an artist?  But it is very interesting and has me now wanting a van Gogh to hang in my house.  Dream on… But there are some nice prints and reproductions available.

Then I read Catherine Kapikian’s Art in Service of the Sacred.  What fun it was to pop the accompanying DVD into my computer and look at some of Cathy’s amazing artwork.  The section on creative process is especially fascinating to me.  Cathy was one of my professors during my Master’s work and will be the professor for my first D.Min. class.  I’m really looking forward to working with her again.

She’s the professor who said we would all be able to draw self portraits at the end of her class, and she was right.  I should dig mine out and post it.  I think I still have it.

Now I’m reading Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art by Stephen Nachmanovitch.  This book is jam packed with one liners of the type you would like to put after your e-mail signature.  The problem would be how to choose.  His elucidation of improvisation and play in the process of creativity makes me want to get together a group of people to improvise with.  He’s keeping my head popping with ideas, that I’ll probably forget before I get them down, but how exciting is that?

Tonight I went surfing looking for some artwork on the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids in Matthew 25, which I’ll be preaching on this Sunday and ran across an old friend.  I don’t actually know Jan Richardson, but one of her books was very formative for me when I was first entering ministry.  She now has a couple of websites, and one especially on Advent.  I will be checking the archives on that one as I think visually about the upcoming season.

‘Started a new project today that cannot be shown…..’tis the season!

Oh!  And I did something new and different yesterday. I worked the election polls; something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.  What fun it was watching people come to vote and helping them get checked in.  It was especially moving to see all the first-time voters.  Very gratifying, but I was definitely tired by the time we finished up and our precinct totals were recorded and reported.  

It felt like being a tiny part of making history.

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New Sock Yarn

I decided I wanted to make a pair of men’s socks, so last week I went looking for the perfect yarn for the sock pattern I chose and here it is:

This is Anne from Schaefer Yarns in the Full Moon colorway.  It has a beautiful, subtle range of blue-gray tones. And it’s a really nice yarn.  I made my Monkey socks from this yarn several months ago–superwash merino, mohair, and a little nylon for wear.

I got the yarn from TheLoopy Ewe and they were soooo fast in getting it to me.  They even sent me a couple of little goodies along in the package.  I had been drooling over their sock yarns for quite awhile and am so glad I finally bought some.  This was the first time I ordered from them and I will definitely go back!  

I’m going to use Ann Budd’s Diagonal Cross-Rib Socks pattern in Favorite Socks from Interweave.  I think they’ll be very cool.  Fun to knit, quick, and not too boring because of the subtle color changes, still, not to froo-froo for a guy.

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