Happy Fall!

I hope this blog post finds you all doing well. I have been struggling with my pain and fatigue, as always. I injured my wrist last week and have not been able to crochet for a few days. What a bummer! On the plus side, I have been able to make a few collages and write a bit. I have been enjoying the cooler weather. I love to sleep with my window open. I hope you all are doing well!

My sweet baby, Callie, modeling a bandanna I crocheted

three crocheted pumpkins I made

Blue Butterfly 15 (collage)

Red Bird Ghana 500 (collage)

Black Butterfly (collage)

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. I am having a rough day due to my pain, fatigue, and PTSD. I was, however, able to sit outside for a bit and make a collage. I have also been working on crocheting items for Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet. If you would like to support me and my work, please consider buying something from Green Owl Crochet or commission me to crochet something fabulous for you or a loved one. Ciao!

Esteem (poem)

Esteem

hold yourself 

high and

if you need to

you can

declare war on the 

dragonflies and 

the pumpkins

but never declare 

yourself invalid

or unworthy

(a fountain near Lake George, New York)

By Passion Alone (poem)

By Passion Alone

I am a writer 

by passion and 

by passion alone.

Give me money or

leave me unpaid. 

Recognize my name or

leave me living in anonymity.

I will move forward

with my craft

and ply my trade

as zealously as 

my want and need dictates.

Me with Angelina

May 2021

of desks, studios, and hope

     Despite my pain, fatigue, and headache, I was able to pull out my art supplies and make some art today. I'm beyond happy that I was able to have an art-making session! I must say, I'm proud of myself. 

     My current studio space is problematic. I simply use a desk to make art. This desk is in my bedroom. In addition to being an art studio space, it is a craft studio, a writing space, and an office. I have to do a whole lot of preparation to be able to make art. I also have terrible lighting in my bedroom and my chair is uncomfortable. 

     I consider it a chore to have to pull out all of my art supplies, clear off my desk, and set up my supplies on said desk. In fact, I consider it such a chore that it has become prohibitive to my artistic practice. Often, I will settle on just taking out a few collage supplies and go from there. That is, I will settle on working with a glue stick, some ephemera, and some supports (which are usually postcards and canvas boards). This is not necessarily a bad thing, per say. However, as an artist, I feel it's unfortunate to be limited like this. 

      This, of course, leads me to explore what I can do to prevent myself from being burdened with these preparatory tasks. I know that I need to have a better studio set up for myself. I have, in fact, known this from early on in my art career. My dad has suggested in the past that I put a desk in the basement of our home. 

      In the past, I deemed myself unworthy of having a better studio set up. I thought that it was unnecessary and perhaps selfish to take up more space for this little hobby of mine. Now, I believe that I have finally reached a place in my life where I am no longer ashamed to ask for a better studio space.

     I will talk to my dad about setting up a studio in the basement tomorrow. If all goes well, he can help me get a desk, a chair, and some good lighting there. I'm hopeful that having a dedicated, functional studio will help me expand my art practice.

     I would love to hear all about your art studios, past and present, in the comments below.

     

addressing the Inner Critic

Hello, all! I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe and healthy. I was able to make fifteen collages in the past week or so. According to my friend and fellow artist, De Villo Sloan, I've had a creative breakthrough. It has been fun being able to make some art! I made most of the collages while sitting up in bed and watching TV. I find that watching TV while I make art helps block my Inner Critic. Another thing I do to try to avoid my Inner Critic is work quickly. I enjoy gluing things down with wild abandon and only briefly stopping to plan and critique. Plus, I have always felt that it is better to make bad art than to not make art at all. What are some tips you all have that help you overcome your Inner Critic?

watercolor class and crocheting my heart out

      My public library hosted an online watercolor class last week. The class was taught by Swetha Shenoy of The Paisley Corner. The class was a lot of fun! We started out with practicing some brush skills. Then, we made shapes like flowers and leaves. We concluded the class with a final project. The final project was a freehand-style bouquet of flowers and leaves. I did not like the way my final project came out. However, I will share a picture of me doing the preliminary work (such as the brush skills). It was a delightful class. I highly recommend Swetha's classes.

     Of course, I've been keeping up with crocheting. I made a bunch of hats and scarves that I mailed to my friend Kai back at the end of December. Kai lives in Rochester, NY and distributed the hats and scarves to folks in need. Below you can see a picture of me crocheting a scarf while I watch YouTube on my laptop. Also, I have been crocheting more hats and scarves, and slowly but surely been working on a yarn bomb. Below is a picture of some yarn scraps from the yarn bombing project I am working on. As always, if you would like to support me and my work, please peruse my Etsy shop, Green Owl Crochet. I also accept crochet commissions!