Feeding Your Curiosity
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Feeding Your Curiosity
Last week I opted to embark on more doing, more "hand-work” as I promised myself this new year. A few months ago I had acquired my mother’s old sewing machine (literally so old that there was no manual for it available online anywhere) and tried my hand at putting together some drawstring bags made from thrifted and recycled cloth. The idea was to sew my own cloth produce bags from old bed linens/t-shirts. It was rough because the tension on my machine was way off and things went a little awry…so badly that I decided to give up right then and there and with no way of referring to a manual to troubleshoot, I decided it was time to let the ol’ thing go. It was probably much older than me and very heavy! Since then, I haven’t done much “sewing"…until last weekend!
I get these strange bursts of creativity from time to time and it actually feels crazy. One day I want to watercolor so I spend 6-8 hours doing it non-stop and then out comes a children’s book; One day I’ll cook up a feast and decide I want to throw several lavish, themed, dinner parties (one of these days); Or another day I will macrame and decide, I want to build a loom next. It’s like my soul craves "doing something", anything, (even if the end product looks absolutely terrible!) and I have to tend to those cravings or I’ll miss the opportunity. My "golden" birthday is this Friday (...yikes) and though I will be 26 (double yikes...), I still feel like I am running out of time. Perhaps I'm just someone with impulsive creativity. I am certainly restless.
So anyway, this weekend my goal was to learn some sewing basics from Austin’s talented mother and in turn, we made 2 boxy linen tops from recycled bed linens (LOL at the tiniest seams I've ever sewn. Bless her heart for taking this on with me). Now I’m thinking I should get me a sewing machine and open up shop (only half kidding because I definitely need to sharpen my skills)! It would be cool to never have to buy clothes again--plus, I'm now inspired to do more with this project. Alas, too many (grandiose/delusional) ideas, and too little time!
On top of all of that, I also went ahead and built that loom earlier that same week and finished my first weave on it. The loom is made with a thrifted photo frame and some screws I had leftover from a previous endeavor. I spent 4 straight hours (plus 6 more) in a two-day span weaving a wall hanging with yarn (some thrifted from Goodwill). I’ve made super basic macrame wall hangings in the past, but not actually from weaving. The cool thing is, every time I invest in a new artistic endeavor I find it is like discovering an entirely new world with a foreign language I am unfamiliar with. It is fun to learn all of the new terms and to be able to say things like, "warping a loom" or "tying RYA knots" (I had no idea what any of that meant just last week). It also helps me notice more tiny details in my everyday life and appreciate the craftsmanship in certain objects around me.
With everything I have been doing to feed my creativity, I feel like I have also tapped into other sources of creative energies. It's as if I've opened up some new doors (the Universe really listens, guys!). I've been reached out for photo proposals, design concepts, and public art brain-storming all in the span of 24 hours last week--not to mention the newborn portrait session I had on Sunday (peep through just a *few* of my favorite shots below). It all feels really good!
Here’s to more doing, learning, & feeding our curiosities!
xxo