Inspirations

 Welcome to my studio!  There is not much room in here and things are a bit disorganized but improvements are happening and it is inspiring!  I can find my paints, brushes, and palettes.  I know where my sewing machines are and can see most of my fabric stash. I have a work table that is usable and mostly free of clutter.  The best part is that I can actually get in the door!  I couldn't say that with much honesty a few weeks ago, but things are definitely looking up!


This morning as I made a trip to the mailbox, I found some Lily of the Valley blooming.  Since they are one of my favorite spring flowers and fragrances, I selfishly picked them all, brought them in, found an empty water bottle for a vase and set them on my "desk".   Heady, intoxicating, inspiring and beautiful! The most humble of flowers puts to shame my best creations!   Along with my visiting flowers is another lively guest.  My youngest son had his bunny, "Hoppy", in for a visit this morning so I brought her in to inspect my space.  Here she is looking over my tools and treasures.  We don't have house pets, but the rabbits all come in on occasion for plucking, or training, or just for fun.  Mostly just for fun!  And they are better guests than chickens or goats.


Once the garden is all planted and the growing season is in full swing, the view from this window will be even better.  The only things growing out there right now are my onions and plenty of weeds.  This window gives me a pretty good view of the neighborhood.  We really aren't living in terribly close proximity to our neighbors but we are more hemmed in than we were at each of our last three homes. Country living suits me well.  It warms my heart to watch my children playing with the animals or helping me milk the goat.  I hope each one of them can see what a blessing this life is.   We see robins, bluebirds, sparrows, cardinals, bluejays, grackles, starlings, and goldfinches scouring the ground for seeds and worms and bickering over their territory. The other day we even saw a woodchuck up a small tree.  Do woodchucks really climb trees??  I guess this one did, but it sure surprised us all!  He may be nimble, but if he knows what is good for him, he will keep eating tree leaves and stay away from my gardens. The kids scoop up tadpoles from the swamp and deposit them in the water trough where they eventually grow legs and hop away as toads to feast on slugs and other nasty bugs. Our children get science experiments on a daily basis just because they live in the country!  Ahh, the life!

The "becoming" ~ new projects

Tools of the Trade

Sleepless nights lately have brought out the creativity in me.  Or maybe I was sleepless because of the ideas running around my head.  Either way, the studio has beckoned.  It has been so nice to go there, close the door and create. Or just escape.   Or to pray and bring life back into focus.  My "studio" as I am calling it now is far more than just a place to make stuff. It is a sanctuary from the things that get me down, a place that nurtures, incubates and, finally, gives birth to all sorts of  germinating ideas and designs.  It is a chapel where I can bring my hurts and joys, triumphs and terrors to the Comforter and Lover of my soul.
Yes, it is still the "storage room".  Sometimes even "the junk room".  But to me, it is so much more than just a room.  It is, in all of its glorious (and not so glorious) messiness and disarray, a reflection of who I am and who I am becoming.  It teaches me that even messes like me can produce beautiful fruit.  Just like my weedy garden.  And just like my messy studio.

So, what lessons has life taught you lately? I encourage you to find your own "studio".  A place where you can savor the moments, find rest from your weariness, and find peace.  I hope your heart is open to the beautiful and the Divine around you, and that you will find your soul nurtured and refreshed in a special way today and every day.