A day of shining...

 A week at the cottage and we are sorting and sifting and settling. There is always lots other do on return and then the excitement of all the things we plan to do as well all the wonderful catch ups here and there. There has not dear reader, been a lot of making happening. But there will be I am sure.

Today I spent the morning getting my jewellery ready for the Pop up Art Show which is in two weekends' time.

We started sharing the postcard promotions this week and will start letter box drops and posters here and there as well as some social media promotions things. I wish I knew how to do promotion better - but we do what we do and we hope some of it works.

I was very happy to catchup with Lindsey Gallacher the fabulous silver smith we have had lessons with, yesterday, and she gave us some good advice about a silver polish that we could use. And today I put it to good use.

Very happy with the shiny results! Here follows quite a few of the pieces I will be showing, all looking their best (tho not always photographing at their best which is very much down to me).

A pair of my driftwood and pebble earrings.

Some pebble stacks - one finer than the other.

This pair are quite tiny and sit on small ear wires for folk who don't like statements!

This pair are quite tiny, but sit on long hoops which is a bit of fun.

I like the texture in these ones. They are simply but also sit on the long hook.

Again quite small and a little bit textured.

This pair are a bit quirky - the large pebbles are different thicknesses as are the small pebbles - like each earring is the inverse of the other or something.

It's nice to see how the older work sits so happily alongside the new work - they work like an extended family of sorts I think.

I am looking forward to setting up and showing the work and chatting with folk in a few weeks time.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Critical thinking without hope is cynicism, but hope without critical thinking is naivete” 

Maria Popova

I sometimes head off down the rabbit holes of hope - searching and trying to understand what hope is all about. How we conceive of it, what it is based on, and what it means for us.

I came across these thoughts in one of those rambling searches and found that they made me want to think about them more, and so here I am, as I turn to pondering Life this week (Art last week; Books next week!).

I am not sure her words get to the essence of hope itself; but I think they really help shape your thinking by placing hope alongside things, which then clarify those things, and thereby enable you to understand hope a bit more as an agent or a modifier. Its a bit like when you look at a bright light in a dark sky you can't really see it (because of the rods and cones in your eyes) but if you look a little bit to the side, you can see the light. Hmmm.

The more I read these words, the less sure I am that I am describing things well! If you don't add hope to the mix your critical thinking is just cynical. Add hope and it is critical thinking? This part of the quote gives you a sense I think of the leavening action of action of hope. 

The second part helps describe hope itself a bit I think. If you don't bring some thoughtful and critical thinking to the table; then just having hope is being naive. So does she suggest that hope isn itself is naive?

Perhaps hope without thoughtfulness and purpose is not going to achieve anything; and thinking critically about something isn't necessarily going to lead you anywhere without hope. I may have just tied myself up in some more knots, but I still enjoy these words.

Safe arrivals

We are back at the cottage safely, after a smooth travel experience - not something you can bank on these days. We had several fall back strategies should the air space over the Gulf be closed...

We spent our first night in Scotland at Pitlochry - a favourite spot to wander around. It is a sight to behold with its many baskets of hanging flowers; and this time we also got to visit the Book Shop at the Pitlochry Railway Station. What a brilliant idea this is - who hasn't sat at a train station wishing they could buy a book for the journey?

All books are donated and all sales go to the six charities they support. We got a couple of goodies and a cook book!

I think I need to find me a railway station with a vacancy....

And so to the cottage where the summer of rain has meant we have loads of growth - we have apples, potatoes, flowers and plenty of weeds!

We have since weeded the apple and hydrangea garden and it looks much better now! Before we left in May we planted out several containers with potatoes. They look utterly straggly, but we have harvested one pot and eaten them all!

Flowers are still going strong and I have brought some into the house just to keep the smiles going.

Out in the rockery.

Some of the wee heather remains on the hillsides.

And the cove looked majestic on our first morning here...

'Tis good to be back.

Thursday Thoughts...

“Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” 

Andy Warhol

I oftentimes think this describes the friends we discover along the way. Not everybody thinks rusty old stuff is beautiful. Not everybody sees a gathering of sticks laid out and breathes a huge sigh of delight. Not everybody is going to think that the white on white on white of embossing is beautiful especially given they can't even see it...

The friends we gather are the ones who also stop and go back and pick up that rusty washer; who breathe a similar sigh; who look deeper  and beyond and delight in the softness and gentleness of the white.

I like that he is suggesting that there is beauty to be found in everything. That in fact most, if not all, things have an inherent beauty. If only we could look for it. If only we could see it.

So often we seem to be trained to think o beauty as a certain way. Each culture celebrates and venerates certain elements of appearance say or artistic endeavour. Sometimes these notions can seem a long way from our own ideas; and yet there is beauty in them all.

Lovely rusty stuff...

The beginnings of peace

We will soon be on our way back to Scotland and have been sending our peace weathergrams out into the world the past few days. On the weekend we managed to put all the strings on the ones we will hang in our peace tree here; and string all the ones my Dad shares with his meditation group.

 

And then we managed to hang them!

Some of last year's are still going strong, and you can just see Barry's from this year in the bottom right.

There are still quite a few of Barry's peace doves in the tree as well, and its nice to see them hanging together.

And the worn and the weary from years gone by rest on the chair at the front of the house, gently echoing peace, peace, peace...

We will be in Scotland for International Day of Peace on 21 September this year and so will carry some with us to hang at the cottage as well.

Things circular

When last in Scotland I purchased four double, dos-a-dos accordion books that I thought maybe I could use for an exchange of sorts. When I received them I realised they were way too big to post back and forth, and would take a very long time to fill, so instead I decided to gift three to my friends and keep one for myself.

When we got together recently we decided we would all simply try to fill the book, and we would check back and see how we went in a year's time.

Far less pressure than a monthly exchange!

But because there are four parts to the book and because I am me, I have been pondering what to do, where to start, how to start, what to focus on and the like. None of that pick up a tool and make a mark and we're off!

Interestingly I came around to the notion of circles. I think I was wandering through Pinterest randomly and a series of circles caught my eye. And then I saw them everywhere. And then I thought I might spend time with circles for a bit.

So I collected images of circles that appealed.

 

 I collected thoughts or quotes about circles, and explored their symbology and what circles mean. I also just sat and thought of things circular.

I settled on circles and the sense that they can portray wholeness, completion or perfection (less on the perfection side) and also that they can be thought of as timeless, and endless with no beginning and no end...

Other options included - circles of protection, circles of friends, running around in circles, circling back  and so on. I must admit it was an interesting concept to dive into - so many ways of thinking about circles!

Once I knew the thinking around circles I was trying to explore, I tried to sort the images a bit. Whilst I love multiples and a grid, these weren't really speaking to me of the wholeness or perpetuity of a circle. Hold them over for another time.

These were differing designs...

 

And these were different techniques...

I ended up selecting ones I thought may play a part in the evolution of this part of the book, and cut them down and stuck them in my journal with a few notes to self alongside.

I will take both the books with me to Scotland and see if I make some progress there... 

Thursday Thoughts...

“We should not see print and electronic literature as in competition, but rather in conversation. The more voices that join in, the richer the dialogue is likely to be”. 

N. Katherine Hayles

I really like the idea that all forms of literature are in conversation rather than in competition. This suggests to me flow and movement between the different forms, that at one point the hard copy book is the main voice whilst at others the electronic or audio version enters the conversation.

It feels particularly pertinent to me a little way out from a long haul flight.  Every single time we travel the lead up is filled with me thinking - which book will I read? How many books will I need? Will I take a hard copy in case I run out of battery? Will I buy an electronic book or just borrow one? Should I download a few mindless magazines from the library too?

Laugh.

So much time in my head preparing for my reading in all its forms on my flights! Which is OK - its about 24-25 hours of flying time and if the movies are no good...

I have moved to reading on my iPad on the plane because it doesn't require me to put on the overhead light and shine brightly, perhaps when others are trying to sleep. I can sit in my nook with my screen lit just enough for me. But I do need a back up because once you are in flight you can't download another book if the one you chose is rubbish.

It does feel like a conversation between the different forms; or a bit of choreography perhaps. My preference is always for a book I can hold in my hand; but I am grateful that the other forms have joined my chat!

Flowers

 In the last little while, the winter blooms have blossomed a bit and I am making haste to gather some into the house.

I always feel happiest when here are fresh flowers inside with me. I always used to think that if I won the lottery, my big indulgence would be to have fresh flowers delivered every week.

I still try to have fresh flowers every week, despite no lottery wins.

Dad brought me along a stem of his orchids and suggested I could cut it down to make several vases. I love the angular nature of them here on the kitchen bench.

Our irises are just beginning to show their shy faces and I managed to gather a couple for inside

We helped a friend with some gardening and she gave me a couple of her early freesias - the scent! And so I collected a few of our remaining snow drops and some violets and made a posy.

Outside in the late afternoon sun - I love the low light - this lone camellia sat shining.

And gardening mid-morning, this frail and persistent hydrangea gave a smile.

And more late afternoon sun - picking up the first of the blossoms on the cherry tree so vibrantly.

And along the way, I began a rainbow doodle. 

Life is good.