Handmade with what we Have on Hand

In this time of staying home, I am thankful for the chance to share things I am making with this community.  I'd love to hear what you are making too.

Planting Seeds and Creating Community While Staying at Home

My latest paper cut honors Wangari Maathai, known as Mama Miti in Kikuyu which translates “Mother of Trees.” The quote comes from her autobiography, “Unbowed.”

The image of earth and seedling in her hands feels especially appropriate in this time. Soil and planting feels like a good counterpoint to our (important and necessary) focus on hand washing and sanitation. I love all the stories I am hearing of people taking time to plant seeds. 

I also love the long view of her work. Planting trees as advocacy does not make quick change. It places faith in vulnerable baby trees, in the potential for growth, in work that may take years and generations to be fully realized. Her work is also about building community; as I read about her, I loved the stories of how she would win over even those sent to police or oppose her through her passion for teaching people to plant. 

Try this at home...

I am seeing so many creative prompts on social media for art at home. One I particularly love is the idea to create a color wheel of found objects.  
Creating color wheels has been an important part of my mindfulness and prayer practice for the last several years. 
Below are some created by this community and shared with me over the years.
You can see more from my color wheel series here.

The found object color wheel on the left was created by Henry Gamiz. 
The lego color wheel on the right was created by Ryan and Kevin Coneway.

Jello-filled orange slice color wheel on the left by Ginny Nelson.
Found object color wheel on the right by the Rees-Hoofnagle Family.

Color wheels are also a great way to try out materials. 
The one on the left is a sample of the colors in a watercolor pack.
The one on the right is a collection of colors in a pack of oil pastels - created and labeled by Leal Abbatiello.

Creating Community around Studio Practice

Jenna Fournel and I have been dreaming about creating community around studio practice.   
In this time at home, we have been focusing on ways community might grow on-line. 
Below is an image Jenna created and shared this week. See more of what she shares on Instagram @jenna4nel

Follow me on Instagram @kathrynconeway to see more of my creative practice.  Below are 2 color wheels I created this week...

We can limit ourselves by feeling we don't have the right tools or training to begin a creative practice. 

When I teach, I see first hand how much limits open up creativity. Often, as the facilitator, by offering limits, I help people to get started. 

What might you create if you saw the limit of working with what is in your house now as an opportunity? I'd love to see.