Julia Cameron on "The Artist's Way"

Julia Cameron is one of my favorite creativity mentors. Here she is interviewed by Joel Fotinos of Jeremy Tarcher/Penguin Books about some of the concepts in her bestselling book The Artist's Way.

Freshly Spun Ragamuffin Yarn

Freshly Spun Ragamuffin Yarn, originally uploaded by confections.

Here is a bushel basket of Ragamuffin yarn that I have been spinning this week. The unspun strips are shown below. I'm going to experiment with some two-ply rag yarn tonight. I'll post those pictures later this week. Happy December!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

nano_participant_icon_large, originally uploaded by confections.

I have signed up to participate in this year's National Novel Writing Month marathon writing fest from November 1st - 30th. This is my first time attempting this, and so far I've kept up with my daily writing demands, but I'm only on the third day of thirty, but I've already got 4,000 out of 50,000 words. Wish me luck!

Daddy Tying Flies Circa 1975

Daddy Tying Flies Circa 1975, originally uploaded by confections.

My father passed away sixteen years ago this week and the unfathomable pain of his loss has only slightly lessened for me. I love this photo of my Dad, taken in our backyard by anthropologist and photographer Frances M. Cox, a now-deceased friend of my parents. He is tying flies to use when fly fishing for trout, one of his favorite pastimes.

He was an unself-consciously creative man. One of my earliest memories of his expression of that natural creativity is his crafting an archery bow from scratch with laminated colorful woods. I was a pre-schooler and was fascinated by the steaming of the wood and its taking shape in the custom form he built. He made the arrows, too.

Years later, for my youngest sister's wedding reception, he and my mother hand-gathered grapevine and he wove an oversized fruit basket to grace the dessert table. I come by my love of crafts and handwork honestly. My mother is no slouch in these areas, either! More about her in an upcoming post.