Bread and Roses

I am determined,

within these newest days of the year,
to bring back

 parts of my normal,
where I find joy.
 I am also working on my new normal...
it will curve about in and around;

just like a meandering stream

as life goes forward.

Last year,
I wanted to continue

my writings and musings here ~
but great losses,
brought much despair
and heartache.

I couldn't find the will,

 nor the words.

The past year 

has been a fragile year for all of us. 

Many have lost work,

friends

 and

loved ones.....

huge changes and losses.

We sheltered and kept to ourselves

to be safe...

and 

we continue to do so.

As the year went on,

I was surprised 

that

my Wee Friends

and patterns

were in such demand.

~~~

Our world was being held together

by

Essential Workers...

Something,

 which was not what I was offering,

 in the least.

I had nothing in the way of needs,

 for any soul.

Art itself,

can be argued as not a need.

In fact, 

I was told by someone,

 that I once thought highly of

(well educated and well-read)

that she felt a musician

as self-serving.

That hurt for years.

I come from a family

with musical roots

as well as those in the visual arts.

 Now, I can shout, 

"Indeed, it is!!!"

But, only if you keep it to yourself 

and

 do not put it out into the Universe.

I offer

a piece of my heart.

A piece of MY joy~

in hopes that it also gives you joy.

So is it a need, 

to have joy in our hearts?

I believe so~

and

 was reminded of it this morning.

A fellow Maker of joy.

She spoke of this dilemma

as she opened her own business.

She pointed to Helen Todd,

a Suffragette.

In 1910,

Helen told the world,

"We want bread, but we want roses too!"

It later inspired the poem,

Bread and Roses

by

James Oppenheim.

So, the musician that she spoke of
was not in any way, self-serving;
but rather
a goode sharer of joy.

Sometimes we forget 

when it is hard,

to make our surroundings 

 a place to also

make or hold

joy ~

January Hags

 

Welcome to the

January Hags Offerings

Please send your Email and choices to: 

thegoodewife@yahoo.com

attach the full name of the piece(s)

that you wish.

I ship within the Continental US

New York Residents, please let me know.

Layaway is available.

***please excuse my poor lighting~

        Hag 1

Hag is approximately 13" and hangs.

Paper clay and fabric.

200.00 and 10.00 to ship

in the continental US.

Thank you so much for stopping~

Tis spoken for

Hag 2

Hag is approximately 13" and hangs.

Paper clay and fabric.

200.00 and 10.00 to ship

in continental 

Thank you so much for stopping~

Tis spoken for

Hag 3

Hag is approximately 13" and hangs.

Paper clay and fabric.

200.00 and 10.00 to ship

in the continental US

Thank you so much for stopping~

Tis spoken for

 

It's Been A Bit~

 

As some of you know,

I have taken a bit of a break

over the Holidays.

It was hard to 

pull myself back to work...

More on that, farther down~ 

but first a wee announcement.

This Sunday, 

January 17th, at 8pm EST

I will have a couple 

Salem Hags here

for adoption.

So...the big question is,

why???

What's up?

Well...you see,

 I self challenge myself

every year.

this way, I feel that I grow

and reach the goals that I want.

I have been working on 

 face skills for a couple years now, 

for they have always been

the bane of my existence.

Simply...I want more realism. 

I also want a different method of armature.

I found exactly what I have been looking for

from my fellow Bewitching Peddler,

Karen Baker.

It was an online class through

a site called Curious Mondo.

Check it out! (Google will get you there)

There is so much and you can register to watch classes for free as they tape them!

This time of year can be perfect for doing projects or learning something new.

We can always learn something in a class!

 My class used Polymer Clay.

a whole different animal,

 from my beloved Paperclay.

I tried it years ago

and was not captured by it.

It is very soft, waxy and oily looking.

I knew enough to trust in the process, 

and her methods.

OH MY GOODNESS!!!

Success!

 

Check out those wrinkles!

The next step was trying to

 do that in Paperclay.

Well, that was what I set out to do 

for this month's Early Work Mercantile

offerings.

But, I did not realize

how difficult would be

to put everything forward with my Hags;

to strike a balance of more realism

and wonky, old worldish.

So, simply put;

time got away from me ~~~

but on the other hand,

a green pumpkin for September 

was cool!