It’s true, creativity and art do heal.
My father passed away in August of 2012. At that time, I was working with Yoshiko Wada at a boro workshop at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. The philosophy behind the art of boro is complex but it entails using every last bit of whatever it is you have. My father was a thrifty man in true New England fashion. He lived by the maxim, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without”. He was born in 1923, so was a product of both the Great Depression and World War 2.
When I left for Penland, I knew he was not going to recover, but we all thought he had more time. I was in a place in my work where I had mountains of beautiful dyed bits and pieces and was looking for like minded artists to join with in a creative environment. There is nothing like working in association with other artists at times to tap the hidden wellsprings. (Today, I am working to build those associations online, due to the pandemic circumstances beyond my control — this is a challenge and also, surprisingly, quite inspiring and wonderful.)
I arrived at Penland with all of these pieces, and began stitching them together, one half inch strip at a time. I was meant to be there for two weeks. However, a little over a week in, the phone call came. I had woken up at one am the previous day and, for no apparent reason, had decided to go up to the studio and begin packing. So when my sister’s call came at six thirty am, I was standing in the back of the truck at the door, almost all packed.
I snapped a photograph of the piece I was working on right before I left, willy-nilly, and the piece itself got packed away, not to be opened for over a year later. When I finally did finish unpacking all of that material, I realized that this method was going to be a way forward. Each stitch I took to complete that work, and each stitch in all the subsequent pieces, brought me deeper. I am still doing this work today. My most recent piece using this method is eleven feet high. There is no material, color, event, emotion, or happenstance in this world that is a mistake.
This afternoon I can be found, stitching.
