January 2012 - a Resolution

January 2012 - Beginning the New Year 

Bob and I  hung some art on the walls in our Library.

Now the room feels just right as I sit surrounded by the beauty of ART!

There is nothing that can compare with real, original art  in your home or office. Each piece holds memories as you look from one to the other.  When you buy a work of art, you are buying a piece of the artist's  life in a very personal way.  In my own collection are works from artist friends as well as other pieces I have bought from artists I will never know personally. Each art work reminds me of the artist who made it and each holds a special place in my heart.

The lively abstract painting shown here  was painted by me. It is one of my all time favorite paintings that I did a long time ago.  I was an graduate student in painting at West Virginia University. I was passionately reading poetry by Robert Bly and William Carlos Williams. They are still my poetic mentors.  The images I recognized in their poetry cam through my brushes during those years as I painted in my stdio. There were wonderful images from nature, snow storms, rain, and the environment that we dwell in evry day.  This painting moves me every time I stop to have a deep look at it. I will never understand this painting and it still holds secrets that I find there. 

There are other paintings and photographs on my walls and they were done by friends I know personally. Other works of art on my Library walls come from Africa. A young painter in Nigeria sent me this beautiful textural painting one day. It was a very big surprise. I had no idea it was coming to me through the mail, in a tight little roll, inside of a box. This is one of my treasures, among all treasures in my home. It was a gift.

The African Painting and sculpture  hang above a collection of books on a vintage primitive table. I am very fond of primitive things that I have found over the years at yard sales, basements, and unexpected places. They are often someone else's trash and in my home they are my treasure. I have many such pieces in every room of the house. I keep them exactly as they are when I find them. I do not paint them or disturb them, but just clean them up and put them to use again.


The lamp shade was made by my husband Bob. He makes beautiful art  in Stained glass and steel.  The pottery plate was made by me,  I was inspired by a vintage advertisement plate made of clear pressed glass. African statues fill the nooks and crannies of this Library.  I am always surrounded by the spirits of the artisans who created them..

A bay window allows light to flow into this room from morning till late afternoon.

While others are making stunning and ambitious resolutions for the year, I choose to just resolve to spend time each day thinking about art and poetry and the passage of time.  

My resolution  for the New  Year is to  enjoy  making some  knitted items in the solitude of my cozy home; sweeping the wooden floor of my porch with a fiber broom to clear it of the new  snow that the western winds have blown there; watering and tending to my plants while they safely wait inside the house for their time to once again return back outside after winter has passed; pausing to admire  my little African Violet plat (I started from a leaf).  It is about a year old, and won't be ready to bloom for quite awhile yet. There is time for that. No hurry.  

I finally started writing in my journal today, too.  I wonder why I put it off, keep in on the back burner like I do. I write it on the computer, print it out, then put it in my binder that is labeled "Journal."  

The pottery bowl  was a welcome Christmas gift from our daughter Heidi.  I cherish  this piece of pottery. What I like about it is the natural color of the glaze, the kind of clay that the potter used, and the way she carved deep geometric and symmetrical patterns in the clay.  Another reminder of Heidi is on the wall. There is a set of three drawings that she made years ago. The three drawings are placed vertically in one frame. They look African, too.  Her drawings have a tribal feel to them.

I would not trade one small piece of hand made art from this room, for an entire room full of expensive commercial art made by the thousands and sold at slick department stores.  Here in my Library,  each piece is priceless to me. 

Tribute to my Mother on Mother's Day

Who are you as a person?

How did you become the person you are today?

My thoughts go back to childhood memories of my Mother. I recall the the hours I spent with my Mother. Her marks on every aspect of my life through the lessons, training and ideas she handed down to me.

Mother's Day seems like the appropriate day to reflect on her-

Esther Luella Kirker McKinney

(1920 - 2007)

From the earliest years of my childhood, I recall spending time at my Grandmother's house. On one occasion I was there with my Mother and we were beginning a new project. My Mother was teaching me to do embroidery. She had bought a white linen tea towel that was marked with a stamped on pattern. And, the embroidery floss we were using was various shades of blue and gray. I would begin learning how to do embroidery. My Mother was my teacher, and my first Muse.

Mother not only made lovely embroidered items, she is usually best remembered for her soothing and flowing alto voice. Mother was a singer. She sang solos, and duets, and in the choir in our church. But it didn't stop there, where she had an audience. She sang every day in our home. Our house was filled with her songs. It would have been impossible to spend any amount of time at our house, without hearing my Mother singing.

In the final years of life, after Alzheimer's took away her ability to communicate through words and conversations, she still was able to sing the old songs of the church that were in her soul. We would sing as we drove down a highway together. and then we would burst out in laughter as we forgot a line or a word. Then, we would just make it up, and laugh some more. She never lost her ability to sing until her final days on earth.

Back in my Grandmother's house, so long ago, the blue embroidery threads were put through the eye of a silver needle. We began the exciting new project. One by one, Mother taught me the different ways of working the thread to create patterns on

the tea towel. She was patient and I was excited to be learning this new craft. I was mesmerized as the smooth thread went in and out of the creamy white linen cloth; my arm moved up and down in rhythm as the pattern began to take shape on the cloth; blue threads wrapped around the slick needle and was pushed through the crisp cloth. I was creating a design! I was hooked on fibers, threads, and cloth. I was becoming ONE with my work.

Mom created lovely "pictures" out of embroidery techniques. Her pictures hung in our home. there was a Crewel embroidery piece that became a clock in our living room. Then, one by one, Mom made pictures of red cardinals and bluebirds using Crewel techniques. The bird pictures joined her clock. There were lavender scented pillow cases lovingly made by Mom and we slept on those freshly ironed pillows at night. Mom's art was comfort under our heads, and soothing.

I have always had a love for fiber arts since that time. My idea of heaven is to spend the rest of my life in a yarn shop, surrounded by the most beautiful yarns imaginable.

I find that I simply love everything about yarn. It engages all my senses. TOUCH; SMELL; VISION. Most of all, it is my IMAGINATION that kicks in the moment I walk into a fabulous YARN SHOP. When I pick up the skeins of yarn, I begin to envision what that yarn will become once I take it home and begin to work with it.

Colorful yarn was a part of my Mother's life, too. She crocheted afghans in the later years of her life. She left behind a legacy for me. It is the LOVE for fiber arts in my heart. Often, when I pick up my needles and begin knitting, I think of her and how much she loved handmade things. Her embroidered pictures, her afghans, were her treasures.

And, one of the greatest treasures my Mother gave to ME, is the love of things hand-made. There is something to healing and so important of the touch of a human hand that is left in a piece of fiber art. Sometimes, when my heart is still and listening to spirit, I believe I hear her singing as I touch my knitting needles and move them softly through the luxurious silky yarn.

Happy Mother's Day, Esther Louella Kirker McKinney

from

he Village of Wurtemburg, PA.

When I grow up,

I want to be just like you.

May 8, 2011

Regia Kaffe Fassett Design Sock Yarn at Yarn Supply

Regia Kaffe Fassett Design Sock Yarn at Yarn Supply

I have not knit a pair of socks in three years, since the sight loss.

I tried and tried, several times.

Finally, I set the sock yarn and needles aside and knew that I had to just take baby steps in regaining my knitting skills again. Mostly, for the past three years, I have knitted dish cloths and towels in cotton; Swing Jackets from Lion Brand Homespun yarn; and some Prayer Shawls for friends who have disabilities and some for myself to keep around my shoulders on cold winter days. I love to knit but it has been a challenge for me. I still cannot pick up a dropped stitch, or tear down a row or two to fix a mistake. My friend, Chris has done this for me when I am in a "fix."

Now, I have recently had a class in how to do the Magic Loop with a circular needle, knitting in the round. I belong to a fantastic group of blind crafters in a group called _ Krafter's Korner_ It is a division of the National Federation of the Blind (NFB) organization. I signed up for this group on-line when I heard about it through another blind friend. Through contact with this group I have regained my confidence that I, too, can learn how to do more complicated patterns and be successful. So, with this in mind, I have ordered some stunning sock yarn, and some Addi Turbo circular needles that are super flexible. I am planning to knit a pair of socks again, using my new Addi Turbo's and my Kaffe Fassett yarns. I have ordered this yarn through http://www.yarnsupply.com and it arrived very quickly. The yarn looks wonderful.

This has motivated me to give it a try again. Learning to be patient, and willing to do things over and over again, with determination, is now my life style. Some days I still want to breeze through tasks, but then I get very frustrated and anxious when I do. I have to just tell myself to slow down, and enjoy the experience of re-learning things I used to do so easily.

The new yarn has inspired me to try and try and try again, to make socks.

I love to wear handmade socks. They feel so comforting and cozy on my feet.

New Friends

I have found some new friends who are creating art and crafts. They are also blind!

I was told about a group of artisans who are members of the National Foundation of the Blind organization. I have recently made contact with them. I registerd to be on their list of artists and I am now getting personal e-mails from some of the members.

It is amazing the things that these blind artisans are doing! I am so inspired by their notes on the site list and their notes to me personally. I hav found other people who do bead embroidery. I have not even tried to do it again since my sight loss. But, it has been on my mind all the time. That has been my desire, to once again be able to pick up a very slim needle, get out my gemstone cabachons, and tiny seed beads, and work on a project. I was doing "Encrusted Beadwork" at the time I lost my vision and have longed to be able to create some pieces once again. Now I know it is possible, because others are already doing it and have contacted me.

I am beginning to make pottery, and that has kept me occupied as I work my way through the process learning how to feel the clay and turn it from a piece of mud into something lovely. There are potters on this website and list, too.

And, knitting has been my passion for years. Yes, I have found other knitters, too.

What is so amazing is that these people do "classes" using the telephone call conferencing option. By doing this, people from all over the country can be in the same "place" at the same time, and be "in a class" together through the phone conference call. Amazing, isn't it!

Now you can understand why I am so excited. Daily, I am getting contact emeails from artisans who introduce themselves to me, the new member. And, I am having a blast meeting these talented and lively people. They make me realize that there is next to nothing that I cannot do again.

But, don't expect to see my driving by in my car. That won't be happening!