Blogging friends

One of the wonderful surprises I’ve experienced with blogging is the chance for new friendships.

No, online friendships are not the same as face-to-face friendships. But connections are made even when we don’t meet each other face-to-face.

With readers of this blog and writers of other blogs, I’ve shared life experiences. I’ve received moral support, inspiration and encouragement. And I’ve had plain fun conversations with people I would never have met if not for the Internet.

One of those blogging friends is Patty of Patty’s Pretty Things.

The word “pretty” goes perfectly with Patty. She’s a pretty lady with a pretty personality who makes creative and—you guessed it—pretty things.

I love reading her blog and seeing pictures of the art she makes. She takes vintage items and creates new pieces that are not only beautiful to look at, but honor the people who used those items first.

Her family and her home are very important to Patty, and she celebrates them with her art.

Patty recently sent me a Christmas package. When I opened the package, I was so excited to find this:

This lovely Christmas card is an example of the paper art Patty makes.

These cardinal tags came complete with ribbon to use to attach them to packages I give out this year.

The kitty faces on these cards are so sweet. How did Patty know I like cats? (smile)

I can’t wait to send out these butterfly cards.

Patty made my day with this fun and pretty package. She’s so sweet. I hope you will check out her blog and see many more pretty things she’s made.

Thank you, Patty! And thank you to all my blogging friends who make my life richer from just knowing you.

What do you like best about your blogging friendships?

My space to create

I’ve been busy putting together a space to create visual art.

I already have a writing space. In a room off our den, I have my desk, computer, scanner and printer set up, and that’s where I write and process photos. It’s where I’ll do my editing work.

I’m not a visual artist, so why do I need a space to create such art?

A wonderful thing happened over the last several months, even longer. I read a lot of blogs. A lot of you create art and crafts and do so beautifully. I love seeing what you have created, and I admire and appreciate you sharing your work.

It has inspired me. And deep inside, that part of me that has always wanted to create with paint and paper and other art supplies woke up after a long nap.

I’ve never had any confidence in my artistic ability. I’ve taken only one art class in my life. I figured I had no gift for it, so why bother?

I’ve done some work with collages, but it was hit and miss. I had fun, but again, lack of confidence made me think I was wasting my time.

I’ve thought about my relationship with words. I love words. I love putting them together, working with them on paper or on the screen, making them fit together to mean something.

I rarely sit down and write something exactly the way I want it to sound. I nearly always have to work over it.

I’ve practiced writing for most of my life. With practice, it has gotten better.

And I love the process. I don’t worry if I can’t get the words down just right immediately. I trust in the process. I trust that the right words, the right order, will come.

I’ve learned that the creating process itself is just as important, sometimes more important, than the finished product.

So why not apply that same attitude toward visual art?

I decided I wanted to try. I had been browsing through a book I have about collages, and I wanted to go deeper.

I also decided that I needed a designated space for it.

Larry has a workshop in a building behind our house. He has all his tools and his workbench out there. He creates things with wood. He loves being in his workshop.

I already had sort of a space in the basement, but it had gradually gathered other stuff on top and around it.

So I rearranged, dusted, swept and cleaned. It was hard for me to get started. My OCD didn’t want to face the task of cleaning. I was afraid I would turn it into a compulsive ritual. But I did just fine.

And I made myself a studio. Here are the results.

These two drawer units hold my sewing, cross stitch, crochet and jewelry making supplies.

On the left is a sewing box/basket that I received when I was a little girl. On the right is a needlework bag that my mother made when I was a little girl.

On the left is my basket of embroidery thread. On the right is a bag that I usually use for cross stitch projects.

Over the years, I’ve collected leftover thread from various projects in this basket. I love seeing all the colors available.

The round table is my main work area. I’ve had this table for about 25 years. I bought it from a friend in Bowling Green, Ohio, as she was preparing to move. I think I paid about $10 for it. It has withstood many moves. The surface withstands just about everything I do to it.

On top of the work table, I have a vase that I filled with beads. I love the different colors in the clear container. Next to it is a measuring tape that a friend gave me. It has a cat on the front. When you pull the tail, you find that it’s the end of the tape measure.

In this photo, you can see my sewing machine covered up. Next to it are two drawer units on wheels where I keep my art supplies—paint, clay, colored pens, colored pencils, stickers, and paper—lots of paper. On the far right is a bookcase where I keep my art and craft books, including books on crochet, needlework and making mandalas. I can roll out the unit next to it to reach the books. On top of the bookcase is a photo of Larry and some keepsakes.

This is a container that holds my adhesives, including my glue gun.

This container holds my cutting tools and my paint brushes. In the front left side, in front of the brushes, you can see a little box with a collage on top. A friend made it and gave it to me many years ago.

This vase that holds the brushes is one that my mother made in ceramics class. It’s dated February 1970.

I’m keeping my small collection of buttons in this blue and white dish that a friend gave to me years ago.

I have a camp table that I bought when I was health educator and needed something to carry with me to health fairs. It’s now a place where I can cut material or paper. The basket/tray on top is where I’m keeping my templates and fragile papers until I find a container for them. I’m also keeping my rulers and cutting board on this table.

So thus ends my tour. I’m excited about working in this space.

Next step? Organizing my writing workspace the way I want it. I’m continuing to work towards my freelance editing business. I have an appointment with our CPA this week to talk taxes.

Do you have a space where you do whatever work you’re passionate about?

Making art to ease the anxiety and depression

Mandala #1

I am not an artist.

I have never been able to draw.

   I have taken one art class in my lifetime, one called “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain,” which helped me understand that, unlike an artist who draws what he or she sees, I tend to draw what I know.

For example, I know that a dining chair has four legs of equal length, so that’s what I draw—and it doesn’t look like a chair. One who sees like an artist, though, automatically draws the chair with perspective, drawing how the chair appears.

Other than my work with that one class, I have allowed my lack of basic talent keep me from my love of creating, of color and of design.

Then, as I wrote about in a past post, last fall I pulled out my art supplies and started coloring and drawing mandalas. I consider making them part of my therapy.

That making art, being creative, can be therapeutic is not a new idea. According to the International Art Therapy Organization website, art therapy is considered a mental health profession, though it is also used in non-clinical settings.

I have not participated in art therapy with an art therapist. I have simply found that making art, specifically mandalas, helps to calm my anxiety and feel the satisfaction of completing something.

In her blog “The Healing Arts,” Cathy Malchiodi wrote about art therapy using mandalas.

“According to [Carl Gustav] Jung, mandalas symbolize ‘a safe refuge of inner reconciliation and wholeness.’ They have the potential to call forth something universal within, perhaps even the proverbial archetypal Self. And at the same time, they give us an experience of wholeness amid the chaos of every day life, making the ‘sacred circle’ one of the very coolest art therapy interventions for both soothing the soul and meeting oneself.”

An idea for a mandala usually starts with an idea or experience that I want to express. I may not put pencil to paper for days, but I mull over how I want the design to look and what I want to include.



Mandala #2



Sometimes a picture of a mandala is complete in my imagination before I draw it. Other times, I create as I draw.

In mandala #1 pictured with this post, I chose to express my priorities. At the center of the circle, the blue, smaller circle represents for me the center of all life. Around that I have the bond of the wedding rings to represent my marriage, and other symbols to denote my spiritual life, my cats and my writing and reading.

Around that are other symbols representing my love of animals, nature and music and my search for peace.

In mandala #2, I created a picture of chronic depression: the dips into the darkness of depression, the gray of the chronic disorder and the blues and greens of whole life available.

I enjoy creating such pictures to look at later and even meditate on.

The process of sitting and drawing and coloring is relaxing. I focus on the task at hand and practice mindfulness. And creating a mandala teaches me about myself.

I want to venture into other art forms and types. I just need to get over my fear of not being good enough and my notion that if I’m not good at something, I shouldn’t try.

What activities do you engage in to feel soothed, to feel like you’re getting in touch with your real self? Do you make art? If so, what kind? How does it make you feel?