Van Morrison is on in the background singing, They Sold Me Out. Later…Jools Holland. The sky is lit up at 7:51. A few months ago, dark by 4pm. I’m thinking about Mrs. Blume, my 4th grade teacher. She said her son, Jules had a crush on me. Why? Because my hair looked like Patty Duke. Swirl, schwish, swoop under the chin.
But this writing practice is about Tools of the Trade. It’s hard to dive right in. I splayed everything out on the couch beside me. The bucket of Kid’s Crafts 100 FineLine Markers, The Crayola GlitterGlue and PipSqueak makers, the Portfolio 24 Oil Pastels, yellow cat with green box, long eyelashes, sylin’.
I’m looking at the Canson watercolor paper manufactured in France, 9×12 and 4×6, cold press, Montval Aquarelle. Liz bought the paper along with a box of 24 Reeves Water Colour Pencils. We went to purchase art materials when we started working on the mandalas. The rest of my art supplies are packed in boxes. And boxes and boxes. I hauled them to the studio last week. But I don’t know what I have. I need to go through them, purge.
It was ybonesy who said that she has art supplies she would not use, even if she could find the time. I feel the same way. When I went to MCAD, I was sure I was going to be able to tackle every art form before I died. But that’s like saying I’ll read all the books I want to before I die. It’s not happening. That reminds me of the Do Or Die lists that ybonesy and I made for that Writing Topic. And that takes my brain to Bucket List, a movie Mom saw about a month ago. What is important to us? What do we want to do before we die?
This is all I ever wanted to do. Write, photograph, be close to my family, have a partner that makes me smile every day, and good loyal friends. Loyalty is important to me. This is something I’ve realized over the last year. I have lost friends. I have gained friends. Isn’t it strange how people come and go, suddenly, and most times with no rhyme or reason. Loyalty. But not at all costs.
There are Crayola colored pencils in a green swoop neck container with a roll top, like a roll-top desk. The roll part of the top is clear and I can see that many of the points need sharpened. The thing about colored pencils is that I love contrast and I can’t seem to find a deep enough value in the tip of a colored pencil. Others are able to achieve dark, dark, blues, crimson reds, and lemony snicket yellow. That’s not a word. Where did it come from?
On the painted living room table there is a navy mug with gold moon, sun, and stars, from the Wedge CoOp on Lyndale. It’s filled with 4 fluorescent highlighters (I use highlighters a lot in writing), a black Uniball Vision (an old favorite), a cool Post-It highlighter, filled with Post-It flags on the other end. I use a lot of Post-It Notes. Did you know the glue came out in 1968 but the Post-It was not mass marketed until 1980.
There is a hot pink Pilot Precise V5, Extra Fine, a Sanford Fine Point Sharpie, an overused emery board that Chaco likes to lick, and a Twist-Erase 0.7 Pentel pencil made in Japan. There is an Olivia pen, a publisher gave to the bookstore where I worked, bright red bottom, clear top with a thick liquid, Olivia floating from top to bottom when I move the pen up and down. Olivia wears a red smock, black and white striped pants, and a black bowtie. Her skin is bright, a fictional pig.
These are my tools of the trade. There is a Mead spiral notebook, 3 yellow legal pads, and a Spiderman folder where I carry all the notes from my red Ravine meetings with ybonesy. It’s thick and full of papers with lines in orange, yellow, and green highlighter. When I read ybonesy’s post on Tools of the Trade, I thought, “I really should give away those strings of beads I bought at BearHawk Indian Store. I should give them to an artist who would appreciate them, a beader.”
Once I thought I would sew. But I am not good at sewing. I usually have a lot of patience. I don’t have it for sewing, knitting, or anything involving thread, needles, or yarn. Strange. Because sewing is the perfect medium for meditation. To keep the hands moving, let the mind get lost, the body ground through the hands.
There’s a Prosperity candle from a Pennsylvania store I went to with Mom last June. The Satya Super Hit – Since 1964 – incense I got that burns long and wild (made by the same people that make Nagchampa and Saibaba). Blue, red, silver, black box, smells good as Italian Roast.
I gave Liz the Goddess Prosperity candle for her birthday. The odor, clean and green. The poem says – “In opening up our hearts to giving and receiving, blessings and gifts come easily. Abundance and joy flow in our life. The Goddess of Prosperity is the embodiment of success and fulfillment.” Prosperity. Giving and receiving. Can’t have one without the other. The art of a craft – not up for trade.
-posted on red Ravine, Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
-related to Topic post, WRITING TOPIC – TOOLS OF THE TRADE, and posts: PRACTICE – The Art Studio, WRITING TOPIC – REMINGTON’S STUDIO
redravine.wordpress.com 
qoinMonkey – it is strange how you mention having much patience, yet not with threadmaterials and tools. I too have been cursed with the anti-fabric gene, even though at various times of my life I have sewn, free embroidered, spun and died wool. Have to confess though I have made only a twelve foot long knitted scarf in purple wool for a boyfriend back at university (couldn’t get the hang of casting off!, hence the scarf grew and grew) and made one crocheted pillow cover, very ugly. My favourite saying is “I’d rather stick needles in my eye than….”, for what now appears obvious reasons. But love my art tools, and my set of riffler files – those are special! G
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When I went to MCAD, I was sure I was going to be able to tackle every art form before I died. But that’s like saying I’ll read all the books I want to before I die. It’s not happening.
So true, isn’t it? I’ve come to believe that I once mistakenly thought “a lifetime” was this forever thing, that you could meander through it and do a ba-jillion things. Now come to find that it passes quickly, no?
When I lived in Spain, the little old ladies (they seemed old at the time; they were probably not that much older than me now) specialized in different crafts. One sewed clothing, one crocheted bed covers and table clothes, and the third knitted mostly sweaters. I asked the knitter to teach me how to knit, because at lunch time, when the stores closed and the streets went dead for about 2-3 hours, I didn’t have anything to do besides watching Spanish-language dubbed reruns of Dallas and the show with Carlos Montalban (the plane, the plane). So I learned to knit, and I made myself this huge, oversized sweater with huge, oversized stitches (easy for beginners). My teacher, Irene, had to knit all the seams together for me, though.
I loved the meditative aspect, but the technical aspect never stuck.
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G., I’m glad I’m not the only one who just can’t get the hang of sewing. I had to chuckle at your twelve foot long knitted scarf in purple wool. 8) My mother was a beautiful seamstress and sewed many of our dresses when I was growing up. She was also an amazing cook. I don’t know what happened with me. Perhaps it skipped a generation! I try to stay focused on the talents I do have.
yb, yeah, I don’t know what it is about sewing. It’s such detail work. And I love the tradition of women and sewing and fabric arts. But I just don’t have the gift. One of my new studio mates is an amazing seamstress. I’m in awe of her work. Maybe when we have our first show, I’ll post some photos from the studio and you can get a flavor of it.
Hey, I have a question about Spain. Have you stayed in touch with any of the women there that you lived with or who taught you to sew? I was just curious if you had exchanged letters after you got back.
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I did visit them (my father, sisters, sister-in-law, and I had a late dinner with them) when I returned to Spain 12 years after I lived there. But that was about nine years ago — I was just barely pregnant with Em. I haven’t talked to them since. I will go back to see them when I do go back. I hope that is soon.
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QM, you have so many tools! Your workspace sounds like a fun place to be. I’d love to spend an afternoon there, playing with all the art supplies. I’ll bet you have enough photographs, beads, and markers to make a fantastic collage.
I love collages where the photographer enlarges her own photos, or reduces them to surreal sizes, placing the objects in impossible settings, made to look 3D with foam backing. I’ve never seen the 3d part, I’m making it up as I go along, but after reading your post, this is where my mind is leading me.
You are a fountain of creativity, and I love how you share it with the rest of us. yb is right along with you, and Liz too, since she buys you supplies. 🙂
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Christine, come on over! Though it might be a long flight (you’re in Georgia now, right?). Well, one good thing, you could fly Delta (based in Atlanta) which is now a part of Northwest (based in the Twin Cities for the last 80 years and now part of Delta). Now that they are one airline, I wonder if the flight might be more streamlined? 8)
Somehow, I think the two companies are going to have a few kinks to work out. The Minnesota news so far is not favorable.
You know, I DO have a lot of art supplies and tools. I started to go through them yesterday, wondering, what will I use, what should I maybe give away? It’s a process. I love art supplies. You reminded me of another post I wrote about them and also about the Writing Topic – Remington’s Studio.
I know what you mean about blowing up photographs for backgrounds and placing objects there in 3-D. I actually followed your line of thought in your last comment (#5)! Yeah, you make the collage, then re-photograph it as one piece.
Collage is a fun art form. One of the most spontaneous and intuitive, too. Thanks for the kudos. I’ll be sure to tell Liz you mentioned her. I try to tell her when her name pops up in the comments. She usually blushes first – then breaks out in a big old grin. 8)
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[…] Holland. The sky is lit up at 7:51. A few months ago, dark by 4pm. I??m thinking about Mrs. Blume, mhttps://redravine.wordpress.com/2008/04/02/practice-%e2%80%93-tools-of-the-trade-%e2%80%93-20min/Mandalas of the World: A Meditating & Painting Guide – Google Books Resultby Rudiger Dahlke – […]
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