The Narrative Within

ART FOR HOUSEWIVES has provided me the opportunity to come in contact with many interesting,  animated and exciting people.  One such person is my Blog Buddy,  Tittin Rinde.  We met via our blogs, hers  being BACKTRACKING SLOWLY.

Below, examples of Tittin’s charming work:

“From grey to green”  Charms story: 1)Watch out for the alarm bells! 2) Put your heart into any work, and you will succeed! Bracelet by Tittin Rinde

“Frogs flocking back to pond” Inspired by Tittin’s sister’s longing back to their childhood in Switzerland. Brooch by Tittin Rinde

Working with your hands.

There is something magical that happens to us when we work with our hands. So I asked Tittin if she would be willing to write something about working with ones hands and  eccola! :

Do you want to lay your hands on the magic dust?
That magic dust which turns badness to blessing. The magic dust that surrounds the people who seem to land on their feet, whatever trouble they meet.
Take a look at your hands and tell me; how long, when and what do you use them for?
Your hands are magical.
Some intuitively know it; what they touch turns to gold. Others know because they watched their mother’s, an aunt’s or a grandmother’s busy hands turn bundles of yarn into items of use. Another proof to my claim is Cynthia self, who turns trash to treasures; but more than that, she shows us that by start doing, more follows. And after that it is a newer ending story.
The magic dust, my friends, is creativity. We all have it. One way to let creativity flow, is to still your brain and concentrate on letting your hands do a job. Soon you may feel a sweet anticipation at how your efforts will manifest and in this mind frame imagination rules and everything is possible. You may even remember this feeling from childhood. And in fact, anything, I repeat, ANYTHING you can imagine, can be made, done, created!
You may believe you’re not creative, but trust me, you’re all wrong. We all are born creative. And please, help spreading that word. I believe that the more people recognise and honour their creativity, the more hope there is for us on this planet.

The two C’s – change and creativity.
Change is another wonderful trigger for creativity. Cynthia asked me to say something
about change, which I’m more than happy to – another mantra of mine – as nothing lifts me like a change. My first big change, country and language, at the age of 4, could easily
have made me dread change, timid and anxious as I was (much like Pippi Longstocking’s
little friend who wondered if one really was allowed to do the unusual things Pippi
suggested).

Yet, I became one of those who thrive on change – not just the pleasant changes; like moving from cold Norway to the sunny, French Riviera, but I’ve learned to benefit from the really uncomfortable ones as well. So when going from affluent comfort to working really hard to make ends meet I find my creativity expands. It literally thrives. I see it for my work as well; the tighter the belt is for a project the better it works, as if a tight belt pushes all energy up to the head and pops out as creativity.

And I’m not alone, neither to be challenged nor becoming more creative. We live in times when many have to, or want to, tighten the consumer belt, whether for economical or ecological reasons.

Thanks to the “wwww” or wonderful world wide web, I know I’m not alone; it shows that blogs and sites with creative takes on alternative living are blossoming. A good sign for humanity, that not only do many adapt in such positive ways, but there’s a whole wave of courageous and creative people who seem to thrive and find new business in their thriftiness and niftiness.

If you don’t believe me, go surf the net, or look deeper into this blog, study the links, you’ll find the world opens and hopefully it will not paralyse you with its vastness, but inspire you to expand.

Many tricks and tips are about making things, reusing. Again, the magic formula is craft; these are activities that force us to use our hands much more, to polish skills we actually already have. We just forgot, because lately we had become more adept at using a keyboard than brushes, scissors, pins and needles.

As a small child I had no choice but adapting to the changes forced on me. I did what all small children do when faced with a challenging reality; I fantasised, lived in my mind. Fortunately not by shutting out reality, just retreating now and then, to a pleasant room in my mind for a well deserved rest. As an adult I recognise the room; it’s were I do all my creative work.

I used to play with dolls as well as play acting, pretending to be different personalities. But the best part was preparing and planning the play. Finding outfits, creating accessories, making dolls clothes. I can still recall that feeling of excitement when starting a project. There’s so much going into children’s play, I think it’s fair to call it a project. And I wish all unhappy or maladjusted children could have a place to go where they may join in a project and use their hands to create something that contributes to the good of all, or their tribe.

I think we enjoy being thrifty or crafty not just because it’s satisfying and saving money, but also because we reconnect with a state we knew as children. An utterly blissful state from a period where we with ease switched in and out of a parallel reality – our fantasy life – for some more real than reality. A place where creativity is allowed – a place where all things become possible. We all have this place; we know it’s there, and some of us are lucky enough to have stayed in touch with it forever through our vocations. The satisfaction that comes from just letting our hands do, often repetitive, work for hours, is truly magical.

We can’t all be Picassos (living a long celebrated creative life), but we owe it to ourselves to stay in touch with our core. It keeps us able to stretch our minds and stay alert much longer. The growing interest in female crafts like knitting, crocheting and textile crafts in general is a clear sign that we need this combination of hand and plan.
Cynthia has had her ear to the ground for years ability to pick up what’s going on around, and share it – I say take it in try it out and save your mind and our little globe.

Fabric charms from Album di Woolly Fabulous

Fabric charms from peregrine blue.