Begin Walking Towards Your Dream

Do you have a dream?

I think you most likely have something inside of you that tries to come up to the surface of your consciousness occasionally. Think about it. What would you like to do?

One of my dreams was to write a book. I had no idea how I would do it, or how it would be published, or who might like to read my book. I did not have any experience in writing a book and did not know any publishers.

My background is in art and teaching. As part of my position as Professor of Fine Arts and Humanities, I traveled each summer in Europe. I taught a course called "Drawing and Writing in Salzburg." My students and I lived in a village in the Alps, in Austria. We had classes four mornings a week. Our classes were held in a school classroom sometimes, but mostly we traveled to a new place every morning on the local bus. There, we wrote and made sketches and worked on ideas in our sketch books. On the weekends, we traveled to other countries: Italy, Germany, and Czech Republic.

After teaching and traveling during my summers for a few years, I had created a collection of drawings, poems, and reflections in my sketch books.

One day, I was unexpectedly contacted by a publisher of books. I sent my collection to her and she immediately wanted to be the publisher of my collection. The rest is history. My book was titled _Concerti...Psalms for the Pilgrimage_ and it was published January 1, 2002. One of the works of art I created in Austria became the cover for my book. I was delighted with the finished product.

If you have an idea or a dream, just begin working on it. Don't worry about the little details or how you will achieve it. The people you will need to have on board to help you will come to you. You don't have to search for them. Just begin your project, and watch what happens. One by one, the other people and the things you will need come to you.

Begin to work and walk towards your dream.

Your dream is waiting for you.

Dreams are like that!

The Artist's Sketchbook

From the earliest days of my art journey I had always kept a Journal and/or a Sketchbook.

What is a Sketchbook and why would a person want to use one?

A sketchbook is a little bit of everything to the artist.

It can be a book of blank pages, or a binder that you can put blank pages or any other things that will fit over the rings inside the covers of the book. It can be large or it can be very small. It can be an expensive bound book with leather covers. It can be a small tablet or one on a spiral so that the pages can lay flat giving you two surfaces to work on at a time. My favorite sketchbooks were small or medium sized spiral binding books because I always like to work on two surfaces at a time. I liked to work in a series or set and this gave me the opportunity to think beyond a single page.

What can the Sketchbook do for you?

It is a place to dream or to write about dreams. It is a place to experiment. Since it is not usually considered a a finished “product” you feel free to let go, use materials you know nothing about, or make marks and shapes and colors that are new to you. It is a place where, as you begin to work on the pages. They come alive and take you on a new journey.

Begin by thinking about how you will work in your sketch book.

First select one that seems right for you. It can be any type of book at all in which you can work on ideas.

All you need is a little bit of time and something to make some marks with: Pencil, pen, marker, chalk, crayons, nail polish, shoe polish, bingo markers, pieces of paper and glue, well, anything at all. If you can put it on the page, you can use it in your sketchbook.

With the loss of eyesight, things like this had to change for me.

What do you do when you can no longer see the page or anything written on it and when you cannot write on a page and see what you wrote? That was my situation three years ago. I had to find a new way to do a sketch book. It had to be one that could work for me.

Here is how I solved my problem.

I now have a somewhat different approach to my work I created a sketch book for each of the mediums I work in: fibers, encrusted bead work, and pottery.

Here is how I adapted the Sketchbook:

1.) For my pottery: one three ring binder with transparent pages.

This book it I am working out ideas and keeping track of my glazes and ideas for other projects in clay. Since I can use a Closed Circuit TV to “see” things, virtually, I can put the pages under the camera and the computer will let me know what is there. This is a wonderful adaptive piece of equipment that works for me. I still have some peripheral vision, so I can use this machine. If I was totally blind, then I would have to do the pages in Braille and read them that way. Fortunately, I can use the CCTV which is very quick and easy for me to do.

I even put pottery magazines in my binder so that I can find them easily, scan them, or view with the CCTV.

The Transparent pages hold my notes written with very large black markers. I can see only contrasts, so if the marker is very large and the paper is white, I can see the large letters on it.

I can also put pieces of leaves or bark or other small things in the pages to use for references for glazes and colors for a project. Since all my current pottery is made from information I get in Nature, this allows me to make notes. The leaf itself is a note there in my binder.

2.) Fiber Arts: a folder of ideas for fibers works well for me. It is just a very simple folder that you might buy for a student to use for a class in school. It has pockets and you can put some transparent pages in it, too. I can put labels for yarns, pieces of yarns, etc. this folder is my sketchbook. I sort through my ideas at the beginning of the year and select some ideas to work with that year.

3) Encrusted bead worked amulets and magical pieces – For this medium I do not need a binder or folder. Instead, I need a container that will hold my stones and other objects for future use in a piece of art. The container I use is especially made for holding such items. There is a lid on the container and it fits tight so that if the container is dropped or shifted upside down, nothing will spill out. Inside, the bottom half of it is divided into separate boxes. Each little section holds a special object. When I open the lid, there is a wide array of stones and objects, waiting to be used in my next project.

When I am creating my encrusted bead worked pieces, I begin with a rock, stone or gemstone or object. That "thing" is the beginning of the idea that will develop as I begin to work with it. The object is actually my sketchbook and journal. I take information from that stone to guide me to what it will be eventually. I never know when I begin where the piece is going to go - I sort of pick out a palette of glass Japanese beads that I might use in the work, all based on the initial stone. Then, one very tiny bead at a time, I begin the tedious and long hours of working on this piece. It may take several months or even a year or two before the piece is completed. The piece itself becomes a journal of my creative and life journey during that time.

Regardless of your own creative journey, you need to have a sketchbook. Why not begin to think about it now. Take a little trip to the art supply store to see what is there that might work for you own needs. You may even visit a stationary store or special school supplies section at a variety store. You will find something that will be perfect for your needs. It does not have to be expensive or fancy. You can begin with whatever you have. Let me know how it works for you!

Create a Quiet Place to Read

Create a special place in your home that is just for reading. I have done this recently and it has brought so much peace to my home. It is a special room that I can go to when I want solitude. Here I read and knit on the winter days that we have in western Pennsylvania. Here, I will share this secluded place with you today.

At the top of my list of favorite things would be books.

I savor the books by authors who challenge or uplift my mind and leave a residue of wonder behind long after I have read the final page. I close that book with regret that it has come to the end. I treasure the books that have fully developed characters. The characters become living people who transcend the ordinary and mundane and leave an impression on the reader. Books take me to places I have never been before. They take me to places I will never be going in person. They take me into their world where I meet individuals who each have something to share with me personally. I see them, listen to them, and I have communication with them, if the book is well written by a sensitive and honest author.

I have created a library in my home. It is a room on the second floor devoted to books and reading. In this room there are books on shelves from the floor to the ceiling. The books are surrounded by art works on the walls, tables, and pedestals. The art in the room reflect the things I like to be surrounded with - things made by friends, my husband, my children, and me.

There are paintings by friends and also paintings that I have created over the years. You can see photographs from friends, lithographs, stained glass pieces made by my husband, a woven tapestry by one of my daughters, a tapestry that I made many years ago. On a primitive table there are sculptures from Africa and one dynamic piece made by an artist friend. there is a tall black column of stone, a favorite sculpture made by an art school friend. Here you can find pottery that I recently made, handmade baskets woven out of cloth and honeysuckle vines, by West Virginia artisans. there is a striking Victorian style clock that once hung in my husband’s grandmother’s home. I seldom wind it up, but I enjoy it as a work of art.

This library is a place of solitude and peace. There is a futon and two chairs in the library. They form a circle in the center of this space. An overnight guest may stay there and be surrounded by art and literature and have a time apart to read, rest or relax. A space that holds books and art is a sacred space.

This is the room where I read my audio books. Since I can no longer see to read the physical books on the shelves, I use a special audio book machine that is provided to the blind and handicapped people through the US Library of Congress. The books I had selected arrive in my mail box and after I have read them, I put them back in the mailbox and they are sent on to another person to enjoy. This service is free to those of us who would be unable to enjoy books and reading without it. I am so appreciative of this service.

As I read the book, I am knitting on special projects. Right now, it is a Prayer Shawl. I do not yet know who the shawl will be for, but when the time is right, I will know.

My library room is the perfect place to spend the hours of a winter day. It is warm and comforting and time stands still here in the library. I bring my cup of tea with me, sit down in my high back chair that supports my back so well. I reach into my woven knitting basket, slowly pull out my soft and colorful yarn, pick up my smooth bamboo needles, and begin listening to my book.

Your library will reflect your own tastes and interests. Think about where you might create such a space for your own enjoyment. You do not have to be blind or handicapped to have such a wonderful place to read!