The weather has been gorgeous here temperature wise, with rain y'day and sun today. Another art tour took place this weekend in NH. These are tours are state wide with sometimes long distances between artists so I just went to one open door studio about 5 minutes away.
This artist practices the Scandinavian craft of plaiting straw. I had met a woman on Cape Cod who did this and I bought ten of her creations to give as Christmas gifts. So I knew what to expect. I hadn't planned to buy anything but the artist was so delightful, her workroom so beautiful, that I went hog wild. Note: the items on the left and above the straw plait are made from birch bark.
The cards says "...originally fashioned as a resting place for the grain spirit in winter, today these ornaments are symbols of good harvest and good luck." This one I will hang in my bedroom.
The straw artist also featured work of several other local craftspersons. The woman who made this mug is also in my yoga class. As it turns out the straw artist also takes yoga from my same teacher, Josephine. This made me feel so....connected somehow. Not to mention that the men who built her new studio addition were people I knew when I lived here before in the seventies. In fact, my son played with one of them when they both were children. This too made me feel a sense of continuity.
I had seen this artists work last week at an art show, but I hadn't bought one of her pictures and as I kept thinking about them, I went to another art show featuring her work. This is a watercolor all in greys and grey/blues. I just love the effect.I also purchased two books and joined a Vermont library. I had to pay as I am a non-resident. It was, for up here, a fairly large library and is only 13 minutes away. So, all in all, I felt I did a good bit of "connecting" or as they say "networking." I was inspired to do all this by a chat with a man in yoga class who mentioned a particular nearby Vermont town as a good cultural resource and he told me of a web site I could subscribe to to get updates on the cultural events.
That's how you find out about things. You talk to people. I know this, but had been unable to put much energy into doing so until recently. Oh, I had a massage on Friday too. I think all these things are accumulating into grounding me and hopefully they will lead me to finding some one on one friends.
Be Well, Suki
