Recycled Love

 

A page from For Sadie Jane by Gayle Pritchard featuring a
Womankind badge and a heart created from recycled kimono silk.


According to wikipedia, St. Valentine was executed on February 14, ca. the year 270. It would appear this event was an auspicious beginning for celebrations of love, and quite far removed from the pagan holiday we are familiar with today.

In my life, love is a core value, and something we try hard to express and honor. It is an intangible to be experienced, absorbed, shared and recycled.



Two page spread from For Sadie Jane by Gayle Pritchard

I suspect that love, or rather the ability to experience love, and the creative process are deeply entwined. A person who is able to love deeply is a person who is open to staying connected to their inner spark and creativity. If you happen to be one of these people, I encourage you to dig deeply, locate your source and spread it all around you. Maybe tomorrow will be a day when we get to feel the recycled love in the air.

Granny Would Be Proud

For Sadie Jane, two page artist book spread by Gayle Pritchard

We have family visiting (again) and in last night's conversation I got on the topic of Granny Pritchard, my husband's grandmother. The cyanotype image on the left is a picture of her on her wedding day. Anyway, I was remembering last night that it was Granny Pritchard who taught me how to make pie. I was in my early 20's, in her kitchen, my trusty old Betty Crocker cookbook in hand. I made notes all over the illustrated pages about making pie crust. Granny had a lot of tips, such as keeping the water for the pie crust in the freezer, along with the dough fork, pie plate and all other utensils until ready to use. Her most important tip, however, was to place her marble rolling pin in the freezer until it was time to roll out the pie dough. I proudly own her marble rolling pin, and I dutifully place it in the freezer as soon as I begin gathering the ingredients for pie dough. It works like a charm. Now, if I can just find a member of our family's next generation who is interested in learning how to make pie!

I am traveling again this week, this time to watch my baby granddaughter while her family moves into their new home. Instead of bringing my bag of art supplies, I am bringing my idea journal and a small quilt I am finishing. I don't anticipate having a lot of free time to sketch or work, but always like to have something to grab when I do find a few minutes. That is always how I accomplished so much when my own children were small, and why I prefer to sew by hand: it's portable. I pieced, appliqued and quilted many artworks while sitting at dental or doctor appointments or school activities, or even waiting in my car to pick them up.

Once I return home, I have a lot of artwork-work to catch up on. I also desperately want a playday, since I got a Yudu home screen printer for my birthday.

Here you see it sitting on my dinner room table. It is now in my temporary "garage" studio, calling my name. I have watched several online links demonstrating how it's used. Fortunately, I have done silk-screening before, although it was many years ago at the Cleveland Institute of Art. They, of course, have a wonderful facility, with very large work tables and a separate wet room. With the Yudu, everything is self-contained. The screen size is limited, but I am hoping it will be sufficient for my needs right now. I'll keep you posted!

Domestic Goddess

Artist book page, For Sadie Jane by Gayle Pritchard

I seem to be in the third week of domestic duties, and have one more to accomplish before June ends. It is so hard sometimes to escape life's responsibilities and just do what I want (or need) to do on any given day.

I don't really want to escape life, of course. I love entertaining, hanging out with friends, being with my kids. I do not love cleaning the house, grocery shopping, filing insurance claims, or keeping track of bills.

I have had more energy in the past month than I have had for a long time. This is fortunate, because my head is spinning with ideas, and I am able to do a little bit of artwork most days, even when other responsiblities interfere. As I mentioned in my last post, however, such times are trying, and definitely call for juggling finesse.

In the meantime, I am keeping busy in my journal any chance I get, jotting down ideas so I don't forget them, sketching pictures of things that occur to me, and working through solutions to problems. I would rather be doing more, but eagerly await the quiet days in my studio and my office that are sure to come my way soon.