The Dream

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’

...I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, ‘My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.’

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

…When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’”

Martin Luther King Jr.

  August 28, 1963

Click here to read the entire speech.

Collected Thread

I think this could end up being a very rambling post - but please bare with me (or should that be, bear with me?) So here goes:

You may remember how much I love my hair guy, Sean, so I make sure I go to visit him on a regular basis. The Velvet Monkey where he works is in a part of Oklahoma City called the Plaza District in what used to be an ice house. Most of Plaza District is still pretty rough but there is a real move to revitalize it. (We thought about moving there but I just don't have enough pioneer spirit in my old age - maybe half a lifetime ago...)

Last time I had a hair appointment I was early so I stopped into a store called Collected Thread next door. COOL!! They had handmade clothing fashion accessories as well as some vintage and a few new items related to making clothing & fashion accessories. I found this awesome sketch book for fashion design. Now I don't usually draw clothes anymore but it is how I started my art "career" back when I was about four so I HAD to buy it! When you copy your sketched fashion design, the pre-printed body isn't supposed to show up!! (I think that's what made this hard to photograph - that or the fact that photography is not one of my artistic skills!) To tell you the truth, when I bought it, I didn't really think I'd be designing clothing - I thought I'd probably use some of the cool pages in my collage.

I also found some beautiful vintage patterns and, again, HAD to buy this one for the sewing section of my studio. The sizes were different back then but I think this MIGHT actually fit me - if I were to sew it. I gave up on sewing any clothes that involved zippers, set-in sleeves or buttons a long time ago. In other words, everything but elastic waist skirts which, as you know if you watch What Not to Wear, are NO-NOs!!! But my new machine might improve my skills. Tho I couldn't bring myself to cut up the pattern anyway!

So that's my really rambling post. If you're in OKC, check out Collected Thread. Or Sean at Velvet Monkey (tell him I sent you)! I'm gonna get off this PC now and get to work on an initial bracelet that was ordered. Then to work-work. Then I think I want to try a transfer to beeswax on a piece that I thought I finished last week. Hmmm. Now I'm done with my rambling post!!

a few have asked for more info regarding ordering the initial bracelets - click here

I'm Iced In!! What Fun!!

I'm iced in today so I get an extra day to play. YAY!! I'm working on the pendant for Nancy and a collage for my friend. Both of these have involved lots of experimenting. And I've learned a couple of things so of course I had to make a journal page about it!! The generousity of other artists never ceases to amaze me. Specifically today I want to thank

• Silke gave some instructions on image transfers on her blog and I decided to try again.
• Dankartistry on Etsy was kind enough to answer a question I had.

Thanks to everyone so willing to share. And thanks to all of y'all for stopping by ~ Sherry

Inspiration: The Company of Other Creative People

Awhile ago, I wrote a post about IDEAS & INSPIRATION. In the last paragraph, I wrote "the number one thing that gets my creative juices flowing is interacting with other creative people". It's the main reason I look forward to my monthly art group meetings. It's why I read blogs by other artists. It's why I buy books full of "eye candy" created by others.

When a group of creative people get together to create, ideas fly around the room. Soon you can watch new ones form in mid-air. A BIG BANG of ideas. Or maybe it's more like reproduction. It works with solving work problems too: start discussing the issue with a co-worker and the not-quite-right solutions you voice outloud come together and produce the right answer. It's just not as exciting with accounting as it is with art.

A couple of weeks ago, ten of us got together to make ANY WHICH WAY books that one woman ordered from Mrs. O'Leary's in Wichita. Everyone brought their gorgeous rubber stamps, inks, papers, tags and more. Just looking at the "goodies" was a very heady experience. We all have different directions in our regular arts-n-crafts. It was so exciting to see what everyone was doing for their books. Most of us stamped backgrounds and sayings. Two women made their books about their recent trip to Asia & Europe (can you say JEALOUS????).

But the exciting thing was how everyone shared their tips & techniques and their praise & suggestions along with their stamps & inks. We shifted into creative overdrive and all left at the end of the day exhausted and inspired.

Reached a creative block? Invite a few friends over to "art" and you may find you can't stop creating for a month ~ Sherry

a stamp from Mrs. O'Leary's

Ideas and Inspiration

I became a fan of WHERE WOMEN CREATE on Facebook (I was already a fan of the magazine). They have a discussion thread going: "Where do you find inspiration for your art?"

As I thought about it, I realized that I don't seek out inspiration - it's kind of just a byproduct of going thru life. Right now, I have a lot more ideas than I have time so I WRITE THEM DOWN. My thought in doing this is that some day I may have time but no ideas and, voila, there's a well to draw them from! I have a secondary reason as well - sometimes, the ideas come to me at night and I'm unable able to sleep again until I've done it or at least written it down. (I hate to admit I'm the same way about accounting and groceries and everything else too - once it's in my head, I have to deal with it!)

As to the inspiration for a particular piece, I'm a "go with the flow" person. Sometimes, I'll just start painting a bunch of journal page backgrounds. Maybe I'll pull out a piece of glass or an image. Or I might pick up a piece of fabric or paper that I like and start pulling things that go with it.

Pretty soon what I'm working on tells me what to do. Or it tells me to backup and try again. Or it shouts at me to STOP! Enough! NO - not THAT paper! (BTW, art talking to you is NOT the same as the other voices some people hear - LOL.)

Let me know what your "process" is - after all,the number one thing that gets my creative juices flowing is interacting with other creative people (See Inspiration: The Company of Other Creative People ) ~ Sherry

So it was a slight exaggeration

So yesterday I said "doing "ART" is a matter of survival" and I have to admit that that was an exaggeration. After all, it's not physically necessary like air or water or nutrition or shelter.

It's more that creating feeds my soul and a part of me might wither away without it. When I am too exhausted from work or whatever to create, I get sorta depressed. Depressed might not be the right word ~ it's more like being lonely. Lonely for a part of me? an old friend? Hmmmmmmmmmmm. This may be just a bit too introspective!!! hehe

Suffice it to say, I need to create. How about you? Do you indulge or ignore the creative spark within? Or do you immerse yourself in it? Let me know ~ Sherry

Why do I "ART"?

I've been sick this week so I stayed home from work for two days. Whenever I'm at home I feel like I have to get into the studio and create. Unfortunately, if I'm too sick to create at work I'm often too sick to create in my own studio.

So then my mind is thinking thru all the endless projects I need to make (for customers, for the Ephemerites, for my house, f or my daughter's new house) and all those I want to make. On top of the list of pre-existing projects, I come up with endless new ideas.

Of course, all that laying around when I'm sick keeps me from actually sleeping at night so my brain just keeps on thinking and thinking. Now it's even thinking about blogging - wait, that's gonna have to be another post - blogging or journaling or both or neither (since I am terribly inconsistant at both).

Anyway, all that thinking has me wondering Why do I "ART"?

I truly believe that every human being is born with a creative impulse. Some have it squished out in elementary school or by the harshness of life and some never even consider indulging it. And some of us just can't seem to move without doing something creative ~ that's me. I've been creating ever since I can remember - with varying degrees of success. And I don't see how I could survive if I was told I could never again create anything.

So for me, doing "ART" is a matter of survival. ~ Sherry