Testing, Drilling, and Sewing for Self Preservation
The last two weeks have been super busy for me. Whew, when things are heating up it can just get a little nuts. That's when it's so important for me to stick to a strict “taking care of me” schedule, which basically means resolutely going to my art studio for my scheduled studio time no matter what else is happening.
What activity to you use to wind down and refuel you when you're feeling used up? Is there something special that refreshes you deep down inside? I think it's different for everyone. For some people it's taking a bath, meditating, or just being still. For other people it's helping someone or performing a random act of kindness. For other people it's exercise which helps clear the stress out of their bodies. Everyone has something that deeply replenishes them faster than any other activity. Leave me a comment on my blog to tell me what yours is. I would really like to know.
After tons and tons of testing, I finally figured out a way to make temporary molds for my quilt pieces so I wouldn't have to make a wax prototype and a silicone mold every time. I couldn't use normal mold releases because they ended up floating on the surface of the resin, so I had to get inventive with lining the walls of the mold with something that wouldn't stick. As you can see, I tried a lot of things:
After getting my test to work I tried it for a really big quilt piece. This was the biggest piece I had ever done and it was a new style of mold, so I was a little nervous. It worked! Here is a video of me taking it out of the mold. Oh, I was so excited!
Next, I've had to drill holes in the quilt squares I made with temporary molds and start sewing them all together. Here is a video of how that works. Since the resin squares are rigid, I have to be able to see the holes to sew up from the bottom of the quilt. I've had to make a special table to help me do this. For every stitch I do a partial squat, keep my back straight and concentrate on keeping my shoulders down like a ballet dancer so I don't build up tension in my upper back. As you can see, I'm very focused on keeping my body healthy with this repetitive movement. It's worth thinking about because I want to do this A LOT!
I've been listening to inspiring podcasts while I sew and it's just been so lovely.
I hope you enjoy the videos! It's certainly fun getting all this figured out and making the quilt come to life!
Oh, and the flowers on that big quilt piece are the wildflowers my children gave me on Mother's Day last year. Isn't that lovely? They had to be on a big quilt piece all together because I wanted them to look like they had been scattered on a surface or blown by the wind.
Leave a comment to tell me what you do to replenish yourself at the end of a busy day. Even the most humdrum answer is special, so don't be shy. I find the most simple, honest answers to this question so inspiring.
Thanks and good wishes,
Jenny
Seizing the Moment: Inspiration and Gathering Materials
A lot of what I do is try to seize the moment to savor something inspiring. This may be looking at a beautiful view (which I'm lucky enough to say I do a LOT), noticing and really appreciating a moment with my children, noticing the textures and beautiful materials around me, and taking the time in my busy day to gather these things for my sculptures.
Life is about taking the time to appreciate these moments. Everything else – all the hurrying, plans, and tasks often get in the way of this. My life is a constant balancing act in this regard. For instance, things have been very busy for me in the last few weeks with international visitors, my husband's huge birthday bash, and the usual litany of tasks associated with raising four children age seven and under. And still, still I have seen and done some beautiful things that are creatively working in my mind.
Most of this starts with inspiration. My main inspiration comes from those fleeting, beautiful moments in life when you notice that you're really living. You know those moments? The ones when you are truly in the present, noticing the colors, textures, and light around you. When you really listen to the sounds in your midst. When you stop and see the sudden beauty of someone in your family and it takes your breath away.
To me, these moments are at the core of life and this is what I strive to capture in my sculpture.
One jaw dropping moment for me was when I corralled all my kids down to our creek to take a photo for their Daddy's birthday. You know how hard it is to get four kids to pose for a photo? It is tough. But oh, when they are all united, all there in that same moment together, all enjoying the same joke and the smiles ripple across their faces and through their bodies . . . now THAT is worth it!
Another was exploring Graveyard Fields in the Pisgah National Forest with my kids and British friends. The crisp air, snow on the ground, clear sky, cold refreshing streams and sparkly stones made my heart sing! My kids and I gather so many things for my quilts on adventures like this.
Another was when I was clearing up our yard getting ready for my husband's party. I saw the most gorgeous twisty dried vines on some brush I was piling to burn in a bonfire. I took out my pocket knife and spent twenty minutes trimming them off the brush. Aren't they beautiful? I can't wait to use them in a quilt!
This is the kind of thing I do all the time. I see wild violets growing in the yard, pick a few and press them into a book. I see a dried poplar flowers and grab them quick before my kids can break them and rush them down to my studio. The kids bring me little things all the time too. I end up with a wild and wonderful variety of things to work with.
I think the main thing is to take the time to really live and enjoy the moment. Relax and let that moment fill your heart. It only takes a few minutes to stop and take something in.
My ultimate goal is to maintain a state of being where I'm taking the time to think about my internal motivations AND taking the time to appreciate the beauty of life as it happens. I use my creative practice to help me get to this state, and I want to help you use creativity to find this level of mindfulness in your life.
I'm currently working a “Guide to Exploring Your Creativity Mindfully” with a whole load of creative ideas to get you started. It will be coming soon!
Warmly,
Jenny
PS. If the thought of these mountain adventures is enticing to you, know that I'm currently developing a structure for you to come to Asheville, visit my studio and make collaborative sculptures with me. You can come on adventures with your family, gather beautiful things, and then make a quilt about it, (yes, even kids can be involved). Then you will have an artwork that you will truly treasure forever!
How I Cast Resin Quilts
Since I last wrote to you I've made some exciting progress. After months of creating silicone molds, followed by weeks of technical difficulties, I've FINALLY STARTED POURING THE RESIN FOR A QUILT!
Wow, that was a long time coming. And you know what? These new molds do make the process a heck of a lot faster! It really was worth it!
I've made a sweet little time lapse video of my first pour so you could see how it all works. Enjoy!
I'm going to test one more way to make temporary molds for unusual sizes of quilt squares, then do the final resin pour of the remaining squares. Then it will be time to sew it together!
If you don't already know from previous posts, this quilt will be called “All the things my children gave me in May” because it is literally a collection of the beautiful temporary ephemera that my young children gave to me in May last year. It's a tribute to the simple joy they find in life and the open hearted, loving way they share it.
I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out, especially since there have been so many hurdles to overcome in creating it.
So much of sculpture is trial and error. It's a series of educated guesses, attempts, evaluation of results, then based on those results you make the next educated guess and so on. Hopefully, hopefully you get to a useful conclusion. It's really very similar to scientific enquiry. It's similar to life, too.
Talk about an exercise in maintaining a positive attitude!
My oldest son and daughter both take martial arts. Every lesson their teacher reminds them of the three qualities you need to become a black belt leader:
- Best effort
- Good attitude
- Perseverance
We've been talking about this a lot at home and I find myself carrying this with me into my studio. I've been teaching my kids to evaluate their performance on these three criteria, NOT whether or not they had a successful outcome. After all, these three things are what they can control.
When I take my own advice it certainly frees up a lot of energy! Suddenly it doesn't matter whether or not the attempt works. All that matters is whether or not it was a genuine, useful attempt and what I learned from it.
That sure does feel a lot better to my soul.
I hope it feels better to yours too.
Take Care,
Jenny
10 Steps to Manage Frustration (And Keep Creativity Churning)
Making art (or any project) is not always straightforward. Sometimes when I'm working things go wrong again and again until I feel like I'm about to blow. This is pretty serious in a field where the maker's feelings are directly translated into the work. When working in my studio, it's incredibly important for me to be mindfully present in the moment with the artwork. That flow and direct connection to the work is what makes the artwork effective in communicating it's message. If feelings are pulling me away from that mindful state the artwork can lose direction or the meaning of it will get muddy. Without knowing why, viewers will know it is less effective than another work I made when I was in a good frame of mind. So, when I'm frustrated it's time to STOP WORKING and sort myself out.
This is equally applicable in life, where if you act in anger or frustration you usually make things worse.
So what do you do?
1. Disengage.
When you’re angry or frustrated, disengage and really take the time to calm down. Do not touch your project while you are in the wrong state of mind. Every choice you make when you are angry or frustrated will be immediately evident in the work. It’s too easy to act in anger and ruin the whole thing.
2. Let go of your expectations.
For a good 15 seconds, let go of all your expectations of yourself. Do it for longer if you can. Feel that sweet relief?
3. Embrace the failure.
Problems are always hidden in the process and it’s your job to uncover them so you can fix them. So don’t wish them away. In failure there is INFORMATION. It’s one of the only times you get definite feedback. Embrace this and find the gem of learning that comes with it. (Remember - if you don’t you’ll just have that same lesson presented to you again and again until you learn it. Annoying but true.)
4. Take lots of deep breaths.
You need some time to assimilate the new information you’ve been presented with. Give yourself time to relax.
5. Do something else.
Switch activities if possible. This will help you return to your project with a fresh frame of mind.
6. Accept your new course of action.
You probably already know what you have to do differently. As Mark Twain said “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day” So EAT THAT FROG!
(BTW this is also the name of an excellent time management book)
7. Lighten up!
It will all be okay! Life is too short to be too serious or beat yourself up. You can’t force things to be different, so relax and focus on the positive. There is ALWAYS a positive side. The more you focus on it the more it grows.
8. Take heart.
“Remember that feelings of greatest frustration and impatience are likely to arise just when things begin to feel most hopeful.” I read this recently and since then I've gone back to this wisdom again and again. Just because you are reaching your boiling point doesn't mean all is lost. A breakthrough might be just around the corner.
9. Obviously, don't give up.
You're better than that. Dig deep and remember why you want this. Commit yourself and see it through.
10. Be in the Moment.
If you don't know what to do next, follow the advice of Audrey Kitching. “In my experience when you don't know the next step to take, it means to surrender. If you can just trust and be in the moment, everything you need will show up. If you start forcing action out of fear or anxiety you normally just create more lessons.”
I truly hope this helps. In my line of work, following your instincts is a huge part of the job. A natural bonus is learning to follow your instincts greatly helps with life in general (and parenting - good God it really helps with parenting!). So trust yourself and be in the moment without expectation or judgment. The answers and sense of calm all flow from that mindful awareness.
How You Can Capture a Fleeting Moment in Sculpture
The last time I wrote I had just created a mountain of molds and was super primed and ready to use them. The only catch was the resin I'm going to pour into the molds was still on order and wouldn't arrive for a few more days.
So what do you start doing in an art studio when you have a few days to spare? Experiment!
I've been thinking about trying out this particular idea for a while now. It uses my absolute favorite photo of my kids. I mean, I really love this photo. It is one of those surprise photos that just happens in family life, when the kids suddenly start doing something amazing and you have time to whip your phone out of your pocket but can't run downstairs to get your good camera. Since the focus is just a bit soft and it was taken in low light, I wondered if I could enhance it in another way to make it special.
I retouched it, printed it large, cut the kids out, then started arranging them with all manner of soft natural forms I had on hand. The kids and I gather feathers when we go on walks quite a lot and I had a good store of them. We also gather pine cones, beautiful nutshells, etc. They find them on their own and give them to me too. So many offerings . . .
After gluing it all securely in place I put it in a shadow box frame . . .
And here it is!
The kids were ecstatic about it! It really made them feel special.
As you can see, I live in a log cabin. I actually made this artwork with those rich browns in mind so it would look good on our log walls.
I'm going to experiment more with these and try them out with other colors, objects, formats etc. My next idea is to do one of my boys in a pile of lego. I think they're going to LOVE it!
The beauty of this is I can make one of your people, involving objects you have gathered or that relate to your interests, and make sure it matches your space or fills a particular area in your house. (!!!) Talk about an artwork that is made for you and is completely one of a kind!
So if you're out with your children or grandchildren and they give you sweet little bits of things, don't throw them away. Start keeping them and we'll see what we can do with them. Children live in a magical world where they see so much beauty in the smallest, most ephemeral things. Let's celebrate that.
Also, this can be done with pets too. We can put your pet into a magical nature scene, soft comfy cloud, or whatever you think they might fantasize about. Then you will have a gorgeous piece of artwork celebrating your love for your pet right now, in this fleeting and beautiful moment.
If you don't have a photo to use and can get to Asheville, NC I can also do a photo shoot for you. I am a professional lifestyle photographer, so this is a service I can easily provide. It will only cost $100 extra and I can frame more images for you or produce an album if you like.
This size (21.5" x 10.5") will cost $295. I'll have to work up prices for other sizes since this is the first one I've made! I'll work up some framing options too so you can find something that suits your style. If you're interested in commissioning a piece email me at jenny@jennykiehn.com or call me at 828-989-2923. Or you can just hit reply to this email!
Here's to enjoying and celebrating the best parts of our lives RIGHT NOW while we live it! As my mother-in-law so wisely pointed out, “these sticky fingerprints are a nuisance now, but in years to come you will miss them.”
Warmly,
Jenny Kiehn
Making a Mountain of Molds
You know when you have a big challenge ahead that can make a huge difference if it's successful? A true game changer? And even though you know you can do it, you feel a bit nervous because it will make such a difference? That's what this project was for me.
Since mid December, I've been making a mountainous pile of molds for quilt squares. So many that I can cast a whole quilt in a single pour. In my previous quilts, I've only had two or three molds so I've had to pour, wait for the resin to cure, demold the quilt squares, prep the molds, pour again . . . and repeat that process however many times it took to make a single quilt. It took forever! Since making silicone molds is expensive and super time consuming, I never took the time to sort out the problem. This year I decided to get serious and tackle it.
The process starts with making wax prototypes of the quilt squares in the right size with all the needle holes. I wrote a blog post about that which you can see here. Next, I had to make plasticine molds to pour the silicone in.
Then after checking the leveling, spraying mold release, etc I mixed up the silicone and poured it in.
The silicone takes 18 hours to cure, then it's time to demold them! This involves a lot of careful trimming first and then Viola!
See the needle holes? This will keep me from having to drill thousands of holes every time I make a quilt! And the flexible, rubbery nature of the silicone will mean I can definitely get it out of the mold every time.
Then I repaired the wax prototypes, prepped the plasticine molds and poured again . . . and again . . . for about a month . . . until I eventually had twenty 3”x3” molds.
To my joy I had extra silicone and got to make some more 4.5” x 4.5” square molds too. I made a few more wax prototypes and plasticine molds and got busy. My hands are still a bit sore from rolling out thick plasticine with the rolling pin!
That's it! Now I have enough molds to cast an entire quilt of 3x3” squares in one pour and enough 4.5” x 4.5” molds to make a 9 square quilt in one pour. This will really speed up my productivity. This will also help me teach workshops and allow me to start the collaborative commissions I'm itching to get going on. These rubbery little darlings really are game changers!
Now it's time to get going on actually casting resin quilts again (I have been waiting for this day!!!)
Also, if it interests you, the productivity method I'm using is from The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. I love this system. It makes me feel like I can accomplish anything.
I hope you are feeling successful too! If not, take heart. A little self care can go a long way to helping that change.
Take Care,
Jenny
PS. Stay tuned for my next update! It's going to be exciting!
How to Interpret Art
Have you ever felt nervous about walking into a gallery? Or does the thought of talking to someone about art make you cringe? It's okay if it does, we've all been there, even artists who went to a serious art school like me!
Interpreting artwork is fun for people who know how to do it, but can feel like an overwhelming enigma for someone without much experience. Luckily, there are some simple steps that will really make a difference.
First, before you even get started get in the right frame of mind. Relax and enjoy yourself – this is a no pressure activity. (Really it is, I promise!) Only look at artwork that interests you. Otherwise, don't bother!
Looking at artwork is a great exercise in being mindful. Stay in the moment and keep an open mind. Artwork and creative thought need an open playground to work in. Then magically something will come together in your mind and you'll make connection you hadn't noticed before. It can be really exciting and produce some great “Aha” moments. Don't try to define what is happening in the artwork too early.
Also, believe your own ideas. You don't have to guess what the artist was thinking. For many artists, the point of making the work is to generate feelings and responses from the viewer. Your ideas are important!
Now that we've set the stage, we'll use this artwork as an example and use a technique I've adapted from art historians Erwin Panofsky and Kit Messham-Muir to help you get into it.
1. LOOK
Keep your eyes and mind open, and really look at the physical characteristics of the artwork. What do you see? Look closely and if it's a sculpture, walk around it. What are the shapes, colors, textures, and materials in front of you?
In this case, you can see a grid of squares with objects inside. The squares are made from a translucent material and when you look closely, you notice they are stitched together with white thread. In each square, objects are embedded or sitting on top of this material. The objects vary quite a bit. Depending on the object they are shiny, hard, strong, soft, delicate, natural or man made. They have lots of cool colors like sliver and blue punctuated with black. You can see circles in the acorn tops, buttons, watch, egg, wheel and the rubber strap that is rolled up.
2. APPLY MEANING
Now start applying meaning to what you see. This is when you start thinking about what symbols and iconography are in front of you. If it is more abstract, you can still think about what the shapes and textures might represent or what the colors may stand for. How does it make you feel? The feelings you experience may point to the meaning too.
In this artwork, you have noticed the grid pattern and the sewing, and this reminds you of a quilt. What do quilts stand for? They can symbolise warmth, home, the use of scraps to form something new and useful. Ah, now that is relevant. There are objects here from various different sources that have been brought together to form this artwork. So like a functional quilt, this artwork brings disparate objects together to form a whole.
There is a repeating pattern of circles in the work. Circles can symbolise the idea of something whole, or they can refer to cycles.
Now, for the objects. The objects are mostly domestic in nature. There are buttons, screws, a watch, an egg, bits of a toy car. All these could be found in someone's home. The watch could indicate time, the butterfly wings are arranged in a circle and could indicate flight or metamorphosis. The egg shell has a hole in it, allowing a partial view of the interior. This could point to the idea of interior v. exterior. There are several elements of sewing, with thread on spools and bobbins and the quilt format in general. Sewing is also a domestic activity. Could this be a portrait of someone's domestic world?
The objects sometimes sink away in the translucent material. Sometimes, as in the case of the screws, it's difficult to understand what they are at first. By being sunk in this stuff, they get a little more mysterious. What are they and what is their origin? Are these unformed thoughts just coming to the surface? Or are they memories fading with time? Are they without origin, like the clutter around the house that you can't remember where it came from? Or are they being concealed like a secret?
There are lots of contrasts in texture. The white feathers look unbelievably soft and delicate. This contrasts sharply with the pointy screws and huge, hard nails. There are other contrasts too. The acorns, butterfly wings, egg shell and feathers are natural materials in contrast to the man made machine parts, screws, nails, toy car bits, and watch.
So far you've got cyclical elements, domestic life, the mystery of partially formed thoughts or half forgotten memories, and contrasts such as Interior v. Exterior, Delicate v. Strong, Natural v. Manmade.
3. THINK ABOUT CONTEXT
Think about the context in which this piece was made. When was the artist born? (This is often on the little white card on the wall next to the artwork.) When was the artwork made? Where is the artist from? These things will tell you a lot about the work. Your general knowledge of history soaked up from school, TV and books will come into play here. (You may be surprised at how much you already know!) Another important clue is the title of the work. This can be a good clue as to what the artist was thinking about.
This artist is named Jenny Kiehn, was born in 1981 and is from Asheville, NC. Clearly, there is a strong history of quilts in that area. She may have grown up with quilts as a central element in her life. From the little card you learn that the translucent material is resin. The artwork as made in 2018, but the elements in it are fairly timeless with the exception of the resin. The resin marks this as a contemporary artwork. The materials list says the machine parts are from the artist's first sewing machine and the feathers were collected by her grandmother. Clearly she has invested objects with personal meaning into the work. Since they are objects of meaning and are domestic in nature, perhaps the artist is making a work about her domestic life. It is called “Cycles”, hence the pattern of circles. So now with the egg and wings we have cycles of life and death, cycles of time, and lots of paradoxes such as Manmade v. Natural, Soft v. Hard, Delicate v. Strong, Interior v. Exterior, all within a quilt format which is indicative of home and reusing what you have. Perhaps this is a portrait of the artist's home life and the cycles and paradoxes embedded in it.
What do the objects mean to you? Maybe the sewing machine parts and thread remind you of your mother and grandmother. The buttons, which are floating in the resin like bubbles, remind you of the buttons you used to play with in her sewing basket. The toy car parts remind you of one your brother used to have. The feathers remind you of feathers you collected as a child. This is about YOUR CONTEXT for the artwork, which is just as important as the artist's context. Really go to town on this one, and have a think about what the artwork means to you. This makes it really fun and special to talk about with others.
So there we are! Three steps to learning how to interpret an artwork. The more practice you get, the easier and more fluid the process will be for you.
Also, it needn't be such a long and in depth analysis as this one. Some artworks just don't require it. However, my artwork is meant to be a conceptual puzzle, so it's perfect for this kind of deep, meditative thinking. And by the way, there isn't one right answer to the puzzle. All answers are interesting and valid. Hopefully another answer will occur to you the next time you look at it!
I once gave a lecture on creativity to a bunch of meteorologists in the UK. They asked me how to go about interpreting artwork. I told them it was like learning to cook. Remember when you didn't know how to cook at all? I remember as a girl I thought the way gravy bakes into a savoury pie crust was like pure magic. (You know, like chicken pot pie? Yummm....) Now I know it's relatively simple to do, but it's taken a lot of repetition to learn the skills to do it. Learning to interpret art is like that. It requires repetition, but it's simple and fun to do. So just jump in and start. It's not hard and it helps you to think outside of yourself, which is always a good thing.
To see more images of Cycles or purchase, click here.
If you have any questions or want to respond, please feel free to write in the comments section below. I would love to hear from you!
How to Follow Your Dreams (and Maybe Find a Life Partner)
Someone recently asked me what my advice is for how to find a life partner. When I answered him I realized my answer goes to the heart of my philosophy on life. My advice is to follow your dreams. Finding a life partner is a side effect of this central, all important part of living fully. So start with what you are doing - what are your dreams? Do you even know what they are?
When in doubt, it’s best to start small. Maybe you have a dream to take more baths and time for yourself, maybe it’s to practice yoga, or even have a smoothie from a place that you’ve been wanting to try but never gave yourself permission. Start really listening to yourself to learn what you really want, especially with the little things. This is really quite critical because it must be what you want, not what you imagine someone else thinks you should do. This is about getting in touch with YOUR DESIRES FOR YOURSELF.
I started this process when I realized I was so focused on what other people wanted I had no idea what I wanted for myself any more. I had to start really, really small. It was so scary at first. But then I did that first little thing for myself and nothing bad happened. Then every time I did something I really wanted to do, I felt better. Then I started to gain momentum and gave myself permission to do bigger and bigger things. A dream of travel started to come into focus. That was a big dream I could never have allowed myself to contemplate previously. Once it was out of the bag, I knew how much I wanted it. All of my previous effort would have been for nothing if I had backed down, so I went to work on making it happen.
So much in life is possible if we can work out what we want and bravely set to work. You don’t know if it will work out, but you do know you won’t be fully happy unless you try.
That’s how I ended up meeting my husband on a campsite on the Isle of Skye in Northern Scotland. I had a day of hiking that was an absolute pinnacle in terms of self fulfilment. I felt so complete I didn’t need anybody or anything. Then I went back to the campsite and there he was.
Interestingly, he was following his dreams and wound up finding me too. He went on a long cycling trip through the Western Isles, carrying camping gear and taking ferries from island to island. He was on a journey to find out what sort of person he wanted to be and leave all the ideas everyone else had for him behind. Every mile he cycled (and believe me, he cycled hundreds) more and more of the old ideas that weren't serving him dropped off of the back wheel. By the time he met me, he was comfortable just being himself, and I tell you he couldn't have been more lovely.
Following your dreams is a path to living fully. You want to become the best person you can be and get your life headed in that direction. Then you will naturally meet people who have the same dreams. Your lives will align and you will support each other to become better people. That’s the true goal.
Besides, in the meantime you are making your life as wonderful as you possibly can, so there’s nothing to lose!
New Body of Work, Key to My Inspiration
It's a brand new week, the sun is shining, the snow is melting, and I'm full of positivity. I've got a 12 week plan that I LOVE and since I made it I've been knocking tasks out left and right. Ah, it feels so good to have PURPOSE driving forward every step. This makes such a difference to how motivated I feel. So right now I feel GREAT!
My plan for the next 12 weeks is all about building a body of work, so it's going to be fun to show you how I go about it. The first major hurdle is making a full set of new molds to make my next batch of resin quilts. If I can get a full set of molds made it will speed up my production is a major way, taking away extra time wasting resin pours so I can do more of the fun part – designing the artwork!
The first step is finishing off the wax prototypes I started a few weeks ago. After three attempts, I've finally gotten some good results. Here are some pictures of me drilling the needle holes that I'll eventually sew through to sew the final quilt pieces together. I use a beautiful, tiny drill that I adore.
Every bit of spare wax shaving has to be picked out carefully using a sewing pin. The protoypes really need to be perfect before I make the silicone molds, so this is precision work.
If you're curious about the picture on the far back wall above, it's one of my most important inspirations. It is a small handkerchief embroidered by Louise Bourgeois. I saw it at the Tate Modern in London in a huge show of Louise Bourgeois's work. This little handkerchief really got to me. It's such a simple every day item, but it speaks so strongly about living life to the full, embracing all of it, and understanding the bad and the good together form a whole and complete journey.
I always think of birth whenever I see it. It's probably because I've given birth four times. But honestly, the experience of birth is such a condensed example of the larger life journey we are all on. We are giving birth to the next version of ourselves all the time. We are giving birth to our projects. We are nurturing things so they can creatively come alive and make the world a better place. We are going through the long struggle to make things come out right (hopefully!). We are getting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
That's why I find it so inspiring. It connects deeply to how I experience life as a whole.
So I guess what I'm doing now is giving birth to a new body of work! Woohoo! It's so exciting!
If you're feeling lackluster or need a sense of purpose, do have a look at The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. It has been like a bolt of electricity in how it's brought energy and vitality to my creative practice. These days I'm practically running to get to my studio I'm so excited!
Thanks for joining me today!
PS. Keep an eye out for my next few posts as I roll out this process. You're getting a really honest look at my creative practice!
Stamina, Rest, and Beautiful Melting Ice
See the picture above? I took that last year of my frozen creek as it melted. Aren't the layers and shimmering water beautiful? And the gentle round drops of water waiting to drop off the underside of the ice, echoing the shape of the stones underneath the water . . . with the bite of the cold air it was so gorgeous.
I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving! Mine was busy and full of family, but it held just enough of a rest that I got in touch with myself and realized I need some pretty serious refocusing.
Basically I don't feel like myself if I don't have a strategy and bigger picture to work toward. I've achieved some big goals recently and since have been a little . . . all over the place. To help me sort this out I'm reading some fabulous books. Here are a few tasty snippets:
“A compelling personal vision creates passion. Think about something that you are passionate about, and you will always find a clear vision behind it. If you find you're lacking passion in either your business or in a relationship, it's not a crisis of passion; it's a crisis of vision.”
- Moran and Lennington, The 12 Week Year
“Vision provides you with that line of sight, that emotional link, to help you overcome the challenges and execute. When the task seems too difficult or unpleasant, you can reconnect with your personal objectives and vision. It is this emotional connection that will provide you with the inner strength to forge ahead in spite of any difficulties, thus enabling you to achieve your dreams and desires.”
- Moran and Lennington, The 12 Week Year
This is really what it's about, isn't it? Finding power for STAMINA.
But of course the essential partner to stamina is REST. Resting in the right way, at the right times. To me this is at the heart of mindfulness.
HOW TO RESET YOURSELF IN FIVE MINUTES
Just today I found a new way to reset myself whenever I feel overwhelmed and stressed. As soon as I get a chance, I lay down somewhere private, put my phone on mute and set a timer. Then, I try my best not to think about anything for five whole minutes. This may seem simple, but I tell you, when you've been completely switched on, knocking out task after task, five minutes of switching off completely is an ocean of time. Your mind returns to your body and viola – you feel like yourself again. Oh, the relief!
Correspondingly, here is a jewel of a quote in The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh:
“But active, concerned people don't have time to spend leisurely, walking along paths of green grass and sitting beneath trees. One must prepare projects, consult with neighbors, try to resolve a million difficulties; there is hard work to do. One must deal with every type of hardship, every moment keeping one's attention focused on the work, alert, ready to handle the situation ably and intelligently.
You might well ask: Then how are we to practice mindfulness?
My answer is: keep your attention focused on the work, be alert and ready to handle ably and intelligently any situation which may arise – this is mindfulness. There is no reason why mindfulness should be different from focusing all one's attention on one's work, to be alert and to be using one's best judgement. During the moment one is consulting, resolving, and dealing with whatever arises, a calm heart and self control are necessary if one is to obtain good results. Anyone can see that. If we are not in control of ourselves but instead let our impatience or anger interfere, then our work is no longer of any value.
Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves. Consider, for example: a magician who cuts his body into many parts and places each part in a different region – hands in the south, arms in the east, legs in the north, and then by some miraculous power lets forth a cry which reassembles whole every part of his body. Mindfulness is like that – it is the miracle which can call back in a flash our dispersed mind and restore it to wholeness so that we can live each minute of life.”
-Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness
Isn't it incredible that mindfulness can be the path to working well AND the path to recovery from work?
Here's to being still and not thinking about anything! It is the space in which the ice in your heart and body starts to melt and the truest parts of your life blossom. I hope you can find that relief today.
Take Care,
Jenny
PS. If you are interested in more inspirational books, I'll be creating a reading list shortly. In the meantime, here are links to the books above:
The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington.
This book is all about setting 12 week goals, NOT annual goals. Each 12 weeks acts as a complete entity, so you have a completely fresh start every three months. I love using this structure because it allows such freedom for change. If after three months the process is taking you in a different direction than you expected, the structure already supports that level of reevaluation and redirection. Perfect for creative thinking! Also, there is a strong focus on efficiency and executing tasks. Exactly what I need!
The Miracle of Mindfulness by Thich Nhat Hanh
This is a classic for anyone interested in mindfulness. The book is relatively short but is an excellent introduction to the practice of meditation and mindful thinking. It was originally written as a long letter from Thich Nhat Hanh to some comrades of his in need of support, so it succinctly gives a guide to mindfulness that can be used to preserve oneself through stressful and difficult times.
Latest Work - New Beginning
A lot has been going on in the studio. I'm plugging away making the new molds for my next couple of resin quilts. After two failed attempts, I now have some wax prototypes to begin making the molds from. However, since mold making can get a bit . . . formulaic, I'm also making some small pieces on the side.
I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with these photo based cocoons. They link back to an artwork I did years ago which you can see here. However, they're really different now that I'm incorporating photographs into them. They are becoming much more dreamlike and I find it a really good way to illustrate a point in a person's life journey. Plus they're just really fun to put together.
This one is inspired by the very beginning of life. Before my children were born they existed in this dream space in my mind. They were like floating, ephemeral ideas, mysterious and new. Then even after they were born, when they slept I watched them dream and grow, like ideas taking shape and coming into being. This is my tribute to that.
If you would like me to create one using a photograph of your own sleeping newborn, just email me the image and I’ll make it for you. One newborn in a frame like this one would be the same price. If you wanted to do more children in a single larger frame I can do it for you too. (Or twins could even be in the same cocoon!) I'm thinking about doing it for my own four children. It will be really beautiful seeing them all as newborns together, all little floating dreams, ready to come into being. Plus then we can play the game of guessing who is who! They will absolutely love that. And they'll have so much fun showing everyone who walks in our door!
If you want to buy this one, click here. If you want to commission one of your own little person, click here to send me a message and attach your photo. Just send the photo as is - I'll retouch it for you :).
How to Approach the Holidays with Mindfulness
Happy Halloween! I hope you're enjoying the pumpkin carving-spooky-costume-warm-apple-cider-cute-kids-going-bonkers-for-candy madness. This is one of my favorite times of year, it really is, but like all holidays it comes with it own challenges. I'm already starting to feel it.
The problem with the holidays is managing the big, messy, gorgeous, overwhelming excitement of loved ones and the limited time to get everything done. Even thinking about it brings up a deep, tired sigh inside me but I'm determined to crack it. There is a way of circumventing this problem, I'm sure of it. I really think it's comes down to two things – approaching it with clear intention and the magic of saying “no.”
Clarifying your intention is deciding what you want from the holiday season. Do you want peace? Tranquility? The warmth of family and best friends? What do you NOT want? Hectic running around? Too many activities? Stress? Yeah, me too.
It's useful to try to sum it up in a sentence. For instance “I want to feel peaceful as I enjoy the excitement and warmth of my family and friends” or “I want a calm, comfortable holiday season.” If you have a partner, discuss it with them and try to come up with a shared intention. This will make a BIG difference!
Once you have your intention set, then it's time to develop a strategy to support it. If you want less stress, then you need to plan to cut out activities and protect free time like it's your most important treasure on earth. Remember, the best parts of your life blossom when you slow down. You need free time for that to happen. By this I mean true free time with nothing planned at all. (To me that's like the holy grail!) It's worth fighting for.
So, what do you enjoy most? Definitely keep those activities! (Personally I love doing holiday crafts with my kids) What do you enjoy least? Reduce your involvement in those! (For me it's going to lots of Christmas events and spending too much time on Christmas cards) Find ways to reduce the activities you don't want, and cut them out completely if you can. Life is too short to keep doing them.
Once you have your strategy, it's time to gear yourself up to saying NO to the things you don't want. This can be tricky when you are dealing with other people's expectations, etc. Remember, when you say NO to them you're saying YES to yourself. You are saying YES to the things you really believe in. You are saying YES to free time which allows your life to thrive. You can say “no” politely and lovingly. Simply explain that it's super important to you to avoid being overstretched and you just can't do it this time.
There is true magic in saying “no”. Within it lies beautiful, breathtaking individual freedom. Not only are you saying YES to yourself and everything you want, you also give other people permission to say “no” too. It's very inspiring to watch someone utilize their personal power.
Remember what you are saying YES to. That holy grail of tranquility, peace, and loving relationships (or whatever your holiday dream may be) is in there, buried under all that hectic mess. This is the year to throw out everything else so you can let the beauty in your life grow and be truly thankful. That, after all, is the point of the holidays in the first place.
Activities to Help Support Your Intention
“Intention Jar”
Once you've set your intention, get a glass jar and name it to match your intention. For instance it could be a “Kindness Jar” or a “Tranquility Jar” or a “Self Care Jar”. Once you've named it, cut out a stack of little pieces of paper and have a pen handy. Then, every time you do something that supports your intention, write it down and put it in the jar. As you see the jar fill up, you will feel pride in your efforts grow. Try to do something you can add to your jar every day. Celebrate every time you have said “no” and every intentional “yes” to what you really want. You can do this!
“Intention Wall” – Great for Children!
Instead of putting little notes in a jar, you can write them on paper hearts and put them on the wall. My family is currently doing this with acts of kindness. Every time the chidren do an act of kindness, we put it up on the wall so they can easily see how much they have achieved. This activity has had a magical effect on my family. Suddenly my children are LOOKING for ways to be kind. It has made our family discussions so positive and gives the grown ups lots of chances to praise the them for their good deeds (THANK GOODNESS – I was so sick of doing the opposite!!)
We got this idea from a book called “Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler” by Margery Cuyler. It really is fabulous. Like the kids in the book, our kids are going to get to have a party when they get to 100 acts of kindness. I can't wait!
Latest Work in Progress
This piece is called “All the things my children gave me in May” because it is literally all the beautiful things my children gave me in May! Having four little children, things just flow out of their hands towards me. They are constantly giving me things for my artwork. Special, beautiful gifts that mean everything to them for a short while. My six year old son even climbed a tree to get me that curly dried vine. This piece is about the beautiful whimsical quality of children that helps them completely embrace the present moment. It's also about how children use transitional phenomena to create a transitional space through play. D.W. Winnicott writes about 'transitional phenomena' in which the object is embued with a part of the owner, creating a transitional space through which to interact with the outer world. This is the basis for symbolism, religion and creativity later in life. This artwork points out how fleeting and in the moment those transitional phenomena can be. Children are masters of creating transitional space through play. My goal is to be able to play as well as they do.
Plus it was just so beautiful to receive so many flowers and natural forms after being cooped up for the winter!
The next step for this piece is to make new, smaller silicone molds to cast the resin squares. First I'm making wooden molds to make wax prototypes of the squares. Then I'll make silicone molds from the wax protoypes. It is a time consuming process, but once I have the molds I'll be able to use them over and over again. As you can see below, the wax has cooled in the molds and is ready for me to take out so I can drill the needle holes.
The Nuts and Bolts of Bravery
I really try to be brave in my choices so that I truly live in the fullest way I can. But sometimes I wonder how do you go about that bravery? How do you sustain it? How can you keep making the choice that scares you but brings you closer to who you really are?
We all have things that we want to do but are frightened to try. Maybe you want to lose weight, be more daring in your career, or take a risk in a relationship. It is common to wish you lived and functioned at a higher level. But how do you actually go about doing it? How do you take that step?
One way is getting so fed up with your current situation that you say “Oh, to h**l with it, I have to make a move! It’s now or never!” This is a good motivator and certainly the reason I’ve (finally) taken many risks! But really that only works for the first couple of steps in a new venture. How do you keep going when your confidence fails you? This is what I’ve been dealing with lately.
I was chopping vegetables when it occurred to me that I can feel this in my body. I can feel that tension, tight and stretching right between my shoulder blades. Where is it coming from? Is there some unreasonable expectation I have of myself that is causing me stress? Why is the thing I want to do pushing my buttons in this way? What about this particular task that frightens me? Then it occurred to me that this is a point where it would be easy to get so wound up that you could abandon the task all together. It would be easy to give it up and run away.
But obviously THAT won’t work!
The next thing that occurred to me is maybe the tension is the key. If I relax and just listen it, maybe my body is trying to tell me something. Underneath it all there is probably a relatively simple reason why I feel this way. If I can focus on that part of my body and listen to it then maybe my muscles will relax and the reason will reveal itself.
I fell asleep concentrating on that tension last night. When I woke up this morning I was completely sure of this: bravery needs to be taken with a healthy dose of self kindness to help you let go of the fear. It’s similar to how the body absorbs iron - it needs plenty of Vitamin C to do it. I think bravery is the same way. To sustain it, you need to be gentle and understanding with yourself. It’s supposed to be frightening, or else you wouldn’t need to be brave.
The other thing I know is this - hidden inside that tension is the next big revelation of your life. The real challenge is to welcome it with open arms, opening your heart to your fears with bravery and faith.
I’ll let you know how that goes.
How to Make Time For What You Really Want
Everyday life in the contemporary world is usually full of too much of the unimportant stuff and not enough of what really matters. There is so much information, too many options to contemplate, too many ways to communicate to people, too many social obligations, and not enough time for any of it. So how do you navigate this mess and find time for what you really want?
The first most important thing is to look inside yourself and work out what you really want. How do you really want to spend your time? If you weren't constrained by work, family, social obligations, etc then what would you do with yourself? What would you really like to do? For some people the answer comes easily. Some people are so used to ignoring their wishes that they need to dig deep for a while to come up with the real answer. My answer is usually to spend more time working on my artwork. It's a quick answer, one that usually pops out of my mouth even before the question has been completely asked. But being lucky enough to know what you want is only the first step.
The next step is to really look at the rest of your life and assess how important the other things really are. Really look at them. Seriously. If you were to put these activities in a ranking order what would be essential for your soul to thrive? What is something you enjoy but could stop doing for a while and still be happy? What are the things you do out of obligation but don't really want to do that much?
In my life the most important differentiation has been between the things I want deeply from the bottom of my soul and the things I merely enjoy and am good at. Being a creative person, I'm lucky enough to enjoy and be good at lots of things. However, that doesn't necessarily mean I should be doing them.
My husband was the one who really helped me understand this. He said “if you really want to do your artwork then you can do it. You just need to do that and stop doing most other things.” So I did.
From then on I started setting rules for myself for how I was going to spend my time. No more experiemental cooking, only the most minimal gardening, fewer cycling rides in the countryside, no more making my own clothes. Artwork first, then cleaning. And only TV in the evenings if I was specifically spending time with my husband. And you know what happened? I started to make artwork. Lots, lots more than I had been making.
You know that feeling when you are finally doing what you want to be doing? The deep, sweet relief of connecting with who you really are? The unbelievable calm? I still feel this almost every time I walk into my studio. When you find that feeling you know it's what you are really meant to be doing. And the more you do it, the more it expands.
Of course there are lots of outside factors that make this process more challenging. Having children or caring for other family members is high on the list. Every time I've had another child I've had to get more and more serious about my prioritisation. (I have four young children now so this is a major part of my life!) The best answer I've found for that is time blocking. Block out time that is going to be for you and stick to it like it's a doctor's appointment. After all, you wouldn't miss an appointment like that would you? Make yourself that important because you are. DON'T drop it for other things. You need this time!
After I had my second child, my husband would give me two hours of childcare on Sundays. We had no space in our 500 square foot house in the UK for me to make artwork, so I asked a friend if I could borrow her art studio for that two hour window on Sunday every week. She worked a non-art job on Sundays, so it was no big deal. I rented a shelf in her studio to keep my things and gradually began completing sculptures and exhibiting them again.
That was possible because I bothered to organise the childcare and the space. Once I had put in all that commitment I really felt like a fool if I didn't go. If you put effort into making that space for yourself you will naturally be more committed. So DO it! Make that commitment and tell other people to help hold yourself accountable.
We all have a deep calling and desire to do something more meaningful. Once you know what that thing is, all you have to do is be brave enough to make the move. The logistics are easier to work out than you think.