Solace, Centering and Summer Break

Reflections on ways creativity accompanies us and offers active reflection...

Solace, Centering and Summer Break

Last Tuesday marked the official start of summer. I find myself turning inward and craving quiet. I am creating but it's an exploratory quieter kind of creating, one grounded in being present in the moment and in spending less time with screens.
One of the media I have been experimenting with is cyanotype as seen in the image above. I found this leaf on the road on my walk through my neighborhood, dry from the weather and cracked from being run over and stepped on. I carried it a couple miles and even managed to dodge at just the right time when my neighbor's dog thought it must be a treat. It makes a beautiful silhouette on the sun print paper. I feel child-like when I pick up natural materials on walks; often I try to tuck them discreetly in a pocket but many like this one are too fragile for that mode of travel. Instead I carry them between pinched fingers, out at my side, unable to leave them behind, thankful for the wonder.
For about a year and a half, I have been keeping daily notes about my garden and the forest behind my house. I note when the first leaves appear on trees, when I plant seeds, when flowers bloom and other observations like the first evening I noticed fireflies out in the woods this year. Lately the news cycles offer lots of cause for concern and overwhelm. I am grateful to moments in the natural world to ground me in the beauty of creation. This is my favorite source of solace and feels closely related to creativity because the act of writing, recording and photographing deepens the experience and the wonder. I am grateful for this form of centering. 
At a retreat workshop recently, we were shown an image of a labyrinth and asked where we find ourselves in the image. I found myself in the center, seeking quiet and rest, preparing for a journey out to share more of what I have learned from an inward journey. This image and sense has stayed with me for about a month now. I missed writing a newsletter in May and am sliding in here just at the end of June. It seems like a good time for a summer break, a chance to regroup and lean into quieter ways of being before a return to a regular monthly newsletter again in the fall. 
Below is an image of my latest labyrinth creation.

I invite you to reflect on where you might find yourself in this labyrinth, is there a particular color that draws you? Do you find yourself on the edges or more toward the center? Are you still or moving? Other observations?

Etsy Shop Update

I have a few new products in my etsy shop for summer. Additions include laser cut prints of two more of my "Mother Trees" paper cuts featuring quotes by Maxine Hong Kingston and Jamie K. Reaser. Additionally, laser cut prints of the image featuring words by Joy Harjo is also back in stock. These come matted and ready for framing in a standard 11 by 14 frame. 
I've been trying new glazes for the labyrinth balls, a copper glaze is pictured here and others may be added throughout the summer. 
And I made a new labyrinth sticker, pictured below on the front of my journal.

Thank you for being a part of creative community through this newsletter. 
  With a grateful heart, Kathryn