Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes…

I’m furiously printing, binding, cutting, packaging, labeling, and packing for my five day stint in Harrisville, NH, I leave tomorrow for the 5 hour drive north.  I had the trusty 12 year old Honda car serviced, affectionately known by the residents of my basement as the “Red Swoosh”, and I’m also looking ahead to when I return and have to immediately ship up to Washington Island Wisconsin, all the materials for the five day class I am teaching at Siever’s Fiber School starting on the 30th.  Use to be I could bring all this stuff in my suitcases on the plane.  No more.  I have to ship more and more, and that means being ready with handouts and product about 8-10 days ahead, depending on how far away the workshop is.  This is a little tricky when there are only 5-7 days between workshops…

So with all this in mind, I have decided on a new press photo, Anne Marie Soto, Editorial Director of Notions Magazine, a publication of the American Sewing Guild was gracious enough to capture this classic shot during the American Sewing Guild conference last weekend in Atlanta.  Thanks Anne Marie, for being in the right place at the right time, rumor has it the flash didn’t even wake me.

Anne did follow up with this shot of me actually looking awake and pretending to teach, and we had quite the laugh sitting together in Atlanta airport waiting to board the flight back to Newark last Sunday night.

On a completely different note, and just for fun because I needed a fun kind of break, my daughter has continued on her quest for all things Japanese, she is studying Japanese, and exploring Japanese cuisine, and decided while I was working hard in the studio, to make dinner for us the other night.

Bless her, the smells coming from the kitchen were intoxicating, probably fueled by the sake, but never-the-less, I finally wandered down to see what was cooking.  She had Japanese cook books spread out, and all my counters were completely covered.  I couldn’t tell you what she was cooking, something about fish cakes and egg baskets, and creamed spinach.

Can I tell you how much I adore this child and the way she dives into everything she discovers with an abandon that I completely envy?

Undaunted by missteps, like the fried tofu something that didn’t quite work, Brianna valiantly surged forward, filling my sink with dishes, and making a complete mess, but having a blast!

When she was all finished, we poured the sake, OK I drank the sake, she isn’t old enough and her face puckered up in distaste anyway when she tried it, and we both sat down to a most wonderful creative, beautiful, gentle meal.  I’m so going to miss my daughter when she heads off to college next year…