Last week, I got stuck in the studio. It really felt like I was banging my head on the wall and it was clear that continued effort in that state was not going to yield results. So! I did what many people do when they get stuck – I changed media and let myself play.
Felting fit the bill. Making a globe is a lot like making meatballs! All you need to do is stand at the sink and pat and rub and rinse under running water, and pat and rub some more. And, more importantly, since I am not a felter, there’s no real striving involved.
I used Peace Fleece rovings to cover two beach stones and to make a globe. Peace Fleece has an interesting story:
The Peace Fleece offices are in a barn on a sheep and horse farm in the small, rural town of Porter in the foothills of southwestern Maine. Peter Hagerty and his wife Marty Tracy started buying wool from the Soviet Union back in 1985 in hopes that through trade they could help diffuse the threat of nuclear war. Since then Peter has journeyed through eastern Europe, central Asia and the Middle East in search of farmers and shepherds who are willing to set aside historic enmities in exchange for opportunities leading to mutual understanding and economic interdependence.
This wool was ordered many years ago for some children’s classes that I was running, so I don’t remember its provenance. But – I remember that I intentionally selected wool from areas of the world that have been in conflict with each other for generations so that when felted together, the object would be ornamental AND a prayer for peace.
What do YOU do to express a desire for peace? Or, what do you do when you get stuck in the studio (which, if you think about it, would be a prayer for peace!)
love your thoughts and motivations here. i have always had a warm spot for peace fleece and its intentions. over the last couple of years i have found myself stitching my wishes for peace, a meditative process of thinking of the one(s) who are in need. your earth is beautiful
positive thoughts are the only ones aloud in my mind. it’s gotten easier over the years with lots of practice and shooing away the negative ones. i believe we become what we think about. and when i’m stuck, i usually pick up my knitting or crochet or i start stitching scraps together, which i learned from Jude.
Cindy – thanks… the meditative stitching of prayer into a cloth is a wonderful practice, and one I suppose I preclude by stitching so much of the time to a Netflix movie or taped program.
Deanna… you can tell that you practice this by your presence online.
Great blog, I love it here. thanks for sharing. It’s good to see my mutual friend Deanna here too. Creative bloggers become my daily community. I love it – Hugs Nat
Thank you, Nat…the cyber community is one I turn to for inspiration and support as well!
peace is often my parting word, mostly in writing/emailing when ending a conversation. I started that as a way to keep the word alive in my vocabulary and to put the meaning and wish for it on the wind. I’ve longed for the creation of a Department of Peace at the governmental level funded at equal amounts as the Military.
If I wasn’t so committed to buying felt locally, I would jump at Peace Fleece.
what a brilliant idea, Karoda – “Department of Peace” ! I have been signing written things with “best”, but perhaps I will try “peace” for awhile – I like that idea.