When one has a spirit to create, they are not completely content or joyous unless they are actively creating in their life. This I have learned most keenly. For me, over the last four plus decades, that has been a mixture of poetry, writing, painting, fashion design, choreography, sewing, crafting, and weaving. I adore weaving!

In early 2016, my friend, Lisa, asked me to keep her daughter’s rigid heddle loom. Her daughter was away teaching in China and Lisa was cleaning out her storage unit, and her daughter did not want to get rid of the loom. So, it sat in my basement for years. Then my garage at my next house. Lisa died. I never could get a hold of her daughter. Then the pandemic hit and I decided I would learn how to weave. I took a three hour lesson and was hooked.

My god, I love how the shuttle feels swishing between the warp threads, and how the colors come together. I love texture and I love seeing how a shawl comes out. I may be the creator, but as with all art, it becomes itself and I get excited when I unroll the shawl from the loom to see what it has transformed into.

Lisa could not have known what a powerful gift she had given me. I have woven over a hundred shawls to date. As I warped on a gorgeous variegated blue and grey yarn yesterday in my studio, a sense of peace came over me as the methodical and poetical motions set in. Weaving is like a heartbeat, rhythmic and serene. Same with painting. Same with sewing. Creating is what completes a life for an artist. I am so blessed to be able to make time to practice art.

What are you creating this year?