Creation Station
Nov 14, 2010
Harvest
Some treasures from the P-Patch’s last harvest of the year. Beautiful beans, non?
Jul 7, 2010
Dodging Ducks and Summer Zen
Everyone jokes that summer in Seattle officially starts July 5th. This year that’s definitely the case. Fourth of July was 50 degrees and rain. Yesterday was 80 degrees and those deep, clear blue skies with daylight still streaming through the windows at ten o’clock pm. It’s feast or famine in the Pacific Northwest.
Last night was my first Duck Dodge of the season, enjoyed from a picnic blanket on the top of Kite Hill at Gasworks Park. This sailboat race with the silly name takes place weekly on Lake Union from June to October.
It’s pretty amazing to see that many boats on such a tiny lake with that much beer. A tiger-striped boat whipped past a large boat with sharkskin sails and the deckhands yelled out, “We’re faster!” The losing boat replied, “Yeah, but we’re drunker!”
When I lived on the houseboat, one of the boats in the marina participated in the Duck Dodge regularly. You could tell which boats along the waterfront have done well by the number of ducks on their bow. Despite the captain’s affinity for local microbrews, the sailboat boasted a long row of ducks. I’d watch them head out on Tuesday nights amid quite a commotion. Sometimes they’d swing by the dock to pick up stragglers and it was always an entertaining event. I mean they’d literally swing by, without stopping. The fully inebriated folks would lean over the rail and pull the semi-inebriated folks onboard. Sometimes successfully.
May 24, 2010
Please Pause for Station Identification
Spring is crazy. There’s an electricity in the air. I can feel it humming in my bones. The trees are singing. Storms sneak up on the horizon and explode the sky with unexpected rainbows.
I’ve been walking, taking it all in. Spongy moss bed beneath my feet on Summit. Heavy sweet smell of Lilacs on Roy – coupled with the unmistakable scent of dark roast coffee grounds and soil. Fresh tilled earth, acidified by Starbucks.
I spent most of Saturday at my (still unnamed) workspace in Frellard. Had a few minor epiphanies. I’ve been getting bogged down in the business part of “doing business,” paralyzed with little energy for doing. (more…)
Mar 11, 2010
Sunday Arboretum Wanderings
The Page and I go on Sunday walks each week. Green Lake has been our usual haunt but last Sunday we decided to go check out the cherry blossoms in the Japanese Garden at the Lake Washington Arboretum. The admission was a little steep, so we opted to take a trail walk instead.
The view of the Japanese Garden from the trail made me feel pretty good about our decision; there were lots more blooming cherry trees on our street in Capitol Hill than at the Garden.
And the trail wanderings made for more interesting photos, I think.
Mar 9, 2010
Crafterday and Connectivity
“Writing is a solitary occupation. Family, friends, and society are the natural enemies of the writer. He must be alone, uninterrupted, and slightly savage if he is to sustain and complete an undertaking.”
~ Jessamyn West
It’s a cruel truth that as a creative person, the more productive I am, the more isolated I become. Writing is a solitary undertaking, and I’ve yet to find a way around that fact. I often become, as West says, “slightly savage.” Deprived of sunlight and sleep, you can do away with the “slightly.”
Making Art Things (the official name for any of my myriad creative undertakings) can be slightly less ostracizing. My various dabblings, from paper-clay flowers to mixed media collages, do not require solitude. One can at least talk and operate a hot glue gun simultaneously, given adequate safety gear and enough caffeine.
In early December, I headed over to Joni‘s house to make holiday cards en masse. We sat at her big oak dining room table, a sea of paper, paints, rubber stamps, punches and stickers spread out before us. The 70′s funk Christmas CD she found was playing as we cut, pasted and adorned our individual cards.
I like the idea of holiday cards in the abstract, much like I enjoy thinking about camping. It would be nice to do, just not today. Or like running, which I never enjoy, but always enjoy having done.
But making cards with others, chatting over espresso and sparkly brush pens, was a whole different experience. I loved it. And as a bonus, everything I owned was covered in glitter for the next week. I even found some on my cat, who was not in attendance that day. It was like finding sand in your shoe a week after a trip to the beach.
So imagine my delight when my friend Kerry let me in on a little secret called Crafterday. I could barely contain myself.
Like Joni, Kerry makes mixed media Art Things. Her artwork is amazing, and one of the best housewarming gifts I ever received is a two-part canvas hanging on my wall.
The last two Crafterdays I attended involved field trips, and I have to admit, those are my favorite kind. Saturday we went to JoAnn Fabrics in Bremerton after an adventurous jaunt on the ferry. I was totally overwhelmed with the sheer volume of art supplies there. And they were having a half-off sale on all their paper crafts – i.e. the stuff we came to buy. I tried to control myself and was marginally successful. I got this behemoth book of cardstock called “Pocketful of Posies.” It’s all juicy floral patterns embossed with – brace yourself – glitter!
After our field trip we went to Adria’s and indulged in her innumerable rubber stamp treasures, paper craft books and a waist-high stack of patterned paper.
My favorite part of the whole Crafterday experience is the talking, listening, and bonding that comes through sharing time, space and art. There’s magical alchemy in mixing three women together in a kitchen over crafts. It reminds me of the long tradition of sewing circles, the modern day version of which I’ve heard called “Stitch and Bitch.
I’m realizing how important it is to connect with other creatives in face time. After countless hours submerged in my digital world, population: 1, the warmth of voices and comfort of friends reminds me what I’m really a part of.
Feb 14, 2010
On Having Arrived
I had an appointment downtown the other day. It’s on the very top floor of one of the skyscrapers towering above the city, one of the sleek and mirrored ones that reflect blue sky and white puffy clouds on clear days. The top floor has its own elevator; you have to take the regular elevator up to the 33rd floor and then get on a separate elevator which whisks you upwards 12 feet to the penthouse above.
As I exited the elevator at the top, I passed an office with enormous glass doors. I could see right through the office and out the floor-to-ceiling windows cradling this executive’s suite. I saw it out of the corner of my eye, and did a physical double-take when I realized the shaft of white I saw was the Space Needle. I backed up three steps and stood there, mouth agape.
The enormous windows framed the Space Needle perfectly and the office was the same height, so level with the observation deck. It was unreal. It seriously looked like a fake picture.
There was the guy with his desk abutting the window, talking on the phone. On a bright Tuesday, sun streaming in onto the floor of his office, the Space Needle sparkling like some real estate ad in Architectural Digest.
And I wondered – when this guy walked into that office on the day he was hired, did he say, “Okay. NOW I’ve arrived”? Was that a watermark morning for him? Such a lush and tangible proof of accomplishment?
I keep wondering what my moment will be. If I’ll have one of those moments. If it will come slowly, if it will sneak up on me while I’m busy doing dishes or writing another rough draft.
Or if I, too, will be handed the keys to something so undeniably full and bright. Unlocking the door to some proverbial room to discover the Space Needle wrapped up just for me.
