Fits and Starts...

The crazy summer has drawn to a close - working overtime sewing up collars and leashes - outdoor fairs, festivals & farmer's markets - building an Etsy site for my little give-back, Waggsley Muttleston. It seems like summer went by in the blink of an eye!

In comes Fall - time for introspection, for looking around me, and for planning projects for the long north country winter. I've always loved the fall. The first few cold days when you take out your favorite wool sweater and feel the nip of the air on your cheeks. Heating up the kitchen, cooking soups and casseroles (and apple crisp)! The returning crackle of the wood stove on frosty mornings.

Here are some fall patterns that were hard to resist today. (...and of course, my new Blue Q Beaver lunch bag from our lovely little gift shop in Franconia, NH. Woven from 95% post-consumer material!)

Get out there and enjoy your autumn, wherever you are!
XO

My new Blue Q Beaver lunch bag. Hard to resist!

Pink Sedum in Franconia, NH

Fall cabbage (?) at the Post Office

Something about the transition from live green leaves 

to red and dead leaves - the way they intermingle. 

It just says something about the season.

The Millicent Library

My mother-in-law passed away a couple of years ago from an insidious form of cancer. She was a pretty cool lady, mother-in-law stereotypes notwithstanding. She introduced her family to the wonders of a fabulous place called West Island in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, wandering there for a summer vacation and eventually building a tidy home with a lovely ocean view. (Of course, her husband and her son built it, but we quite fairly credit her with making it a home for several generations.)

She loved all things English - TV shows, dainty tea cups, the Queen, and English literature. It was her habit to take her car to town on a regular basis, looking for things to be discovered. By the time I met my husband, she knew every little spot worth knowing, and even those that had come and gone. In her quest for literature, she took all of us, at one time or another, to the Millicent Library in Fairhaven. It's one of the loveliest libraries I've ever had the pleasure to visit.

We spent a week on the Island recently, indulging in cherished time with family. Feeling reminiscent, my daughter and I ventured out to visit the library. She especially wanted to see if that amazing doll house was still there - the one she used to stare at for hours.

My daughter has always LOVED to read. Maybe my mother-in-law had something to do with that (Thank you, Marian). Maybe the Millicent Library had something to do with that. Maybe she just inherited the reading gene. Either way, it was bittersweet to go there again. I drew my first design sketches in this library, working up thumbnails for kids products. Picked up summer vacation reading here, browsing over the new releases. Was a newly married girl here, and a Mom here (enforcing the "QUIET" posters)! It's still so full of books. It's still as beautiful as ever.

As much as I've seen it before, I felt I had never seen it at all. Amazing arcs repeat everywhere you look (Richardsonian Romanesque style). There is beautiful mosaic tile work, narrow spiral staircases leading up to the stacks, marble floors, and that doll house. Yes, that doll house is still there. It made me sad in innumerable ways, surrounded by all those wonderful books, side-by-side with my daughter in that incredible, gorgeous building, my mother-in-law's passing and even greater, her legacy.

If you ever find yourself in Fairhaven, stop by the buildings credited to Henry Huttleston Rogers: The Millicent Library, The Fairhaven Town Hall, The Unitarian Memorial Church, The Tabitha Inn and The Fairhaven High School. Pure inspiration.

07.23.14

Of late, I've read a dizzying array of inspirational quotes that run amok on the internet. There are the garden variety "Give em' hell", "You can do it" (against any and all odds), "Don't give up" kinds of phrases, reminiscent of 1990's workplace posters. Like the one of the giant sailboat, probably some investment broker's bonus trophy, racing at full sail, tilted on its side with the bold words "Team Work" below. An image which truly inspired me to cooperate with a smelly, condescending co-worker with whom I shared a cubicle at my very first design job. But I digress... There are also the overtly peaceful "Let's make the world a better place", "You get what you give", and "Be thankful for [you-fill-in-the-blank]" thoughts, full of karmic retribution. And, or course, the ubiquitous "Don't leave your dog in a hot car" excerpts. REALLY? We have to TELL people that?

What about "Never walk with a yard stick in your mouth", or "Avoid using a Xacto at work on the same day your dog died", and maybe "Before you talk about someone, make sure they're not in the room."

What I'm getting to (short-story-long) is my personal effort at getting inspired and feeling strong. The truth is, like any creative person, I beat myself up horribly. And it has to stop. (Why do I feel like there should be an "lol" after that?) What I'm realizing is that it must be noticeable to those around me, and that it undermines a sense of security in those that need to rely on my skills.

Although I occasionally enjoy this kind of feel-good, coffee table philosophy, I can't help but wonder if there's someone out there who likes to paint-by-number on weekends, and has used FB quotes as a springboard to quit their day job to start an online paint-by-number art gallery. I have to ask - What about your savings? What about healthcare? What about rent? Worry... worry... worry.  I can't soar with eagles when I think like such a turkey.

So I'd like to focus on what I know to be truth:
1) I love my family.
2) I love to design.
3) I love chocolate.

And what I've realized, aside from the fact that there are many more truths, is that I've been Art Directed for most of my 20 year design career. At present, I need to direct myself (and occasionally, a few others). So, based on personal experience, here are my own inspirational (and practical) quotes for the day.

You're not as strong as you think. You're stronger. (I think this one is out there, but I'll pretend like I thought it up first.)

Bring your own personal gifts to the party.

Don't compare yourself to anyone else or try to be like anyone else. You are not anyone else. You are you.

Direct yourself according to your own personal compass.

Start off humble. No matter what you're starting. Even if you "know stuff", enjoy learning. Listen. Allow people to tell you things. Learn the process, make mistakes, design the road, then take charge.

Be patient. (Not one of my finer qualities.)

And in the meantime, if life hands you lemons.....