Great to hear about your trip! I LOVE Portugal and Spain especially the Coast! Sounds like a fabulous time and looking forward to hearing more about the inspirations you saw!!
This seems to be a current theme resonating in my work. I have taken up weaving again but find myself drawn to very different colors as well as techniques. I have no desire to weave "useful things!" And find myself wanting to make bigger pieces of art rather than small. I attended one of your early classes in the DC (Rockville) area on transferring of photos. I still remember you telling us how your bed was your work area and that's when it really hit me that "my studio" is where I make not having a large separate space etc.
Sometimes I miss working on my bed. It was comforting in a way. Thanks for remembering me all these years. Happy to hear you are still creating and finding new ways of working. Thanks for reading Further to Fly.
Yes to this! We just recently moved and I am feeling a change coming on as well. In my current work-in-progress my typical color scheme has shifted and that was suprising and pleasing to see. I know more is coming. :)
OMG!!! I feel the same way - need to create, explore new ideas. I was very afraid also that my customers would be very upset with me. I feel it's time and don't know what it will look like.
A new authentic creative path + expectations + solar eclipse ?? Whew! What a wild equation. But we are ready. Perhaps? I laughed out loud and felt like a fortune teller extraordinaire as I predicted (before reading) that Catholic school did that to you. You are not alone at all. I am the Quintessential Catholic School Girl All Grown Up (Minus the pleats). Your journey to Portugal is the modern day Gilgamesh quest, yes? So many of us are right there with you. I believe Alexandra Castro Ferreira and I share the same birthday. Such a talent...
I love what you said, Helen. Gilgamesh - yes! It felt like it but much easier. Those post-WW2 nuns had their hands full. There were 60 in just my class and 3 class of each grade! In 4th grade I switched to private school with 1 class of 30 but those nuns were much the same.
Your words resonate deeply with me. I am on a similar Journey. It's exciting, confusing, and hard. All at once. Keep on keeping on... And I love the Joseph Campbell quote. Thank you for sharing your feelings and your Journey. Many of us seem to be revising our "flight patterns" right now!
I can’t tell you how much I love this post. New beginnings can happen at any age. I think it’s giving oneself permission to just let go knowing you already have strong wings to carry you on a new journey.
I see we are in a cohort now of women entering the perhaps last stage of life with lots of changes and what could feel like failures, to engage our minds and art-making. I turned 77, gave up the large house filled with materials and studios, my independent driving, my vision slowly to macular degeneration. It is good to have company along the way and know that like Virginia Woolf, we are all changing all the time, as is our planet. We can still craft this process into art making.
Dear Lesley, thank you for sharing your experiences about your stay in Portugal. Recognizable, I have just turned 75 and I am wondering too what I still want to do with my creativity. I wish you a lot of joy and fulfillment as you continue to follow your path. Marian van Tol (participant in The Red Thread Retreat 2015 in Castricum).
Great Joseph Campbell quote at the end. Keep flying Lesley!
Thanks so much, Ginni. My Amsterdam trip is such a wonderful memory (except for the autoimmune flare). I hope you are feeling 100% now, too.
GO FOR IT LESLEY!! Any Art you make will be all you!! Your time to fly now! You can make anything you darn please.
:-) Thanks for all the support.
Great to hear about your trip! I LOVE Portugal and Spain especially the Coast! Sounds like a fabulous time and looking forward to hearing more about the inspirations you saw!!
Thanks, Jenny. Stay tuned!
Great essay- I relate entirely. Thank you for writing such beautiful confessions of impending flight
Thank you, Susie. And thanks for reading!
This seems to be a current theme resonating in my work. I have taken up weaving again but find myself drawn to very different colors as well as techniques. I have no desire to weave "useful things!" And find myself wanting to make bigger pieces of art rather than small. I attended one of your early classes in the DC (Rockville) area on transferring of photos. I still remember you telling us how your bed was your work area and that's when it really hit me that "my studio" is where I make not having a large separate space etc.
Sometimes I miss working on my bed. It was comforting in a way. Thanks for remembering me all these years. Happy to hear you are still creating and finding new ways of working. Thanks for reading Further to Fly.
Yes to this! We just recently moved and I am feeling a change coming on as well. In my current work-in-progress my typical color scheme has shifted and that was suprising and pleasing to see. I know more is coming. :)
Change is definitely in the air.
OMG!!! I feel the same way - need to create, explore new ideas. I was very afraid also that my customers would be very upset with me. I feel it's time and don't know what it will look like.
It's SO interesting how many of us are having this experience. Good to hear from you.
A new authentic creative path + expectations + solar eclipse ?? Whew! What a wild equation. But we are ready. Perhaps? I laughed out loud and felt like a fortune teller extraordinaire as I predicted (before reading) that Catholic school did that to you. You are not alone at all. I am the Quintessential Catholic School Girl All Grown Up (Minus the pleats). Your journey to Portugal is the modern day Gilgamesh quest, yes? So many of us are right there with you. I believe Alexandra Castro Ferreira and I share the same birthday. Such a talent...
I love what you said, Helen. Gilgamesh - yes! It felt like it but much easier. Those post-WW2 nuns had their hands full. There were 60 in just my class and 3 class of each grade! In 4th grade I switched to private school with 1 class of 30 but those nuns were much the same.
Haha! The nuns evolved and honed their skills by the 70s. And the rulers had not been retired yet. Ouch!
Your words resonate deeply with me. I am on a similar Journey. It's exciting, confusing, and hard. All at once. Keep on keeping on... And I love the Joseph Campbell quote. Thank you for sharing your feelings and your Journey. Many of us seem to be revising our "flight patterns" right now!
"exciting, confusing, and hard" - exactly, which is why falling back on the familiar is so comforting. But the excitement lies ahead, right?
I can’t tell you how much I love this post. New beginnings can happen at any age. I think it’s giving oneself permission to just let go knowing you already have strong wings to carry you on a new journey.
Thanks so much, Margaret.
I see we are in a cohort now of women entering the perhaps last stage of life with lots of changes and what could feel like failures, to engage our minds and art-making. I turned 77, gave up the large house filled with materials and studios, my independent driving, my vision slowly to macular degeneration. It is good to have company along the way and know that like Virginia Woolf, we are all changing all the time, as is our planet. We can still craft this process into art making.
Life really is what we make it. And make it we will. Creatives never stop.
Dear Lesley, thank you for sharing your experiences about your stay in Portugal. Recognizable, I have just turned 75 and I am wondering too what I still want to do with my creativity. I wish you a lot of joy and fulfillment as you continue to follow your path. Marian van Tol (participant in The Red Thread Retreat 2015 in Castricum).
How lovely to hear from you and be reminded of my wonderful experience in Castricum. We have Ginni to thank for that!