This year's favourite Christmas song

I haven't posted any quotes in the last two weeks, because I don't have anything appropriate to this moment of my life - I have many I wrote down years ago, but somehow none of them seem right. I used to read 2-3 books concurrently and to slow down my reading jot down the bits I liked; now I usually struggle to get through one book for a long time and avoid the ones with the complicated plot or too many characters.

However, today I have a musical one. I was tired of hearing “Jingle Bells” over and over again from my daughter, who learned it at the kindergarten, therefore got us Ella Fitzgerald’s “Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas” CD and fall totally in love with “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” – you’ll probably be able to tell why I feel sentimental about it if you listen to the words.

Random quote

22:37 - Tired after a busy day and almost three hours of painting, so a random quote from The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran :
You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons, and to step out of life's procession that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

An artist

All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.
Pablo Picasso


Katya's drawing of my sewing machine. The wiggly bit in the bottom right corner is the presser foot lever and it looks almost exactly like the real one. After trying to explain her drawing to me without much success, Katya finally climbed onto my table to be able to point to my sewing machine and the parts she drew.

Katya's drawing of a mushroom. A new friend (she has a son, who's only one month younger than Katya) gave us pryaniki (Russian gingerbread biscuits) made in the form of the mushrooms and I think they made an impression.

Not in control

There is so much beauty, knowledge and wisdom hidden in the blogosphere that when I need advise or information I often turn to blogs instead of books. And that's my excuse for not blogging for the last few days - I went a bit crazy with reading the archives of the new blogs I found. I'll label the time spent as research and learning instead of wasted.

Allow me to enquire how man can control his own affairs when he is not only incapable of compiling a plan for some laughably short term, such as, say, a thousand years, but cannot even predict what will happen to him tomorrow?
The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (I think I'll re-read it again sometime soon)

I'm trying to come to a decision on something and the more I read and think about it the more I know that I already decided long time ago and now just need to let go of the desire to pretend that I can control uncontrollable and start following the path I choose long ago.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

I wish

Here’s the truth: if you want something, you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you’re willing to risk failure.
from Clockwork or All Wound Up by Philip Pullman

Some wishes are carelessly uttered and are as easily forgotten. Some dreams are harboured deep inside for a long time and become part of our being. I had few of these hidden dreams for a very long time. They grew and shrank as my life followed its unique course; sometimes they hid away even from myself; occasionally I would re-examine them only to put them away again for later. And now I have the chance to turn them into reality. But remember that old saying “Be careful what you wish for”? So I need to think carefully about the implications of finally living my dreams and how they will affect the rest of my family. And to help myself focus and to find some time for contemplating my future I created a little dream book by altering an old kids board book.

The stamping of the flowers didn’t work, especially after the little hands grabbed the book before the stamped images had time to dry. I didn’t want to repaint the cover, so used some of Katya’s glitter and shiny shapes to fix (or at least somewhat hide) the problem. The butterfly was crocheted from one of My Picot’s patterns and hand-dyed together with some fabric using Procion MX dyes.

I know it sounds silly to spend time on altering a board book in order to carve the time required for the self-reflection, but doing something with my hands helps me to relax and switch off from daily tasks and worries.

If you want to try your hand at modifying an existing book for your own purposes Art Junk Girl has a post with Chunky Book Tips on her blog.

Quote for my husband

The artistic temperament! What nonsense! There's no such thing. Only amateurs have temperaments. Real artists get on with the job and don't fuss about it. If you hear anyone talking about the artistic temperament, you can be sure they don't know what they're talking about.
from Clockwork or All Wound Up by Philip Pullman

Summer week

This week I was grateful for the shade these trees provide.

After two damp grey summers I'm glad to have a lot of sunny days to enjoy, but at the same time I'm realistic about my ability to deal with heat, which is pretty low. So we mostly stayed at home playing in the new sandpit, splashing in the tiny paddling pool and enjoying picnics on the newly made picnic rug (Tutorial is over here).

All week I was planning to make a skirt for Katya and maybe one for myself, but at the end of each day I didn't want to be anywhere near a hot iron. Eventually over the weekend with the help of the intended recipient and following very clear, detailed and illustrated tutorial from Erin of House on Hill Road I made the Strawberry skirt.
Actually the Picnic Blanket tutorial is also Erin's - she writes great ones, specially good for beginners like me, who have to be told all the steps. Maybe I should make her Sunny Day Dress or Top? Or maybe I should start thinking about autumn and knit Them Apples cardigan? I'm still a horribly slow knitter due to the lack of practice. I was thinking a lot lately about my inability to concentrate on one craft, yet with every new skill learned the more I notice the relationships between various things; the easier it becomes to pick up a new skill; the more appreciation and understanding I have for the work of others and the more I want to learn. Maybe one day something will capture my interest and hold it for the rest of my life, but even exploring the depths of one area I'll always keep in mind words attributed to Socrates:

The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know.

Virginia Woolf

On Thursday I finished reading A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf and had a strange desire to hug the book. I also felt a profound sadness knowing that the author killed herself. I keep on wondering what other books would she write if she lived; what female writers and poets would she have a chance to read and enjoy; what would she think about the rate of change in the lives of women.

On Saturday we visited the Monk's House, her country retreat, and walked in the surrounding countryside, which only raised more questions and increased my desire to find out more about Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell. Here are some quotes from the book and photos from our visit.

... a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction...

Virginia Woolf's garden writing room at Monk's house

So long as you write what you wish to write, that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.

River Ouse, in which Virginia Woolf drowned herself

When I rummage in my own mind I find no noble sentiments about being companions and equals and influencing the world to higher ends. I find myself saying briefly and prosaically that it is much more important to be oneself than anything else. Do not dream of influencing other people, I would say, if I knew how to make it sound exalted. Think of things in themselves.

Tulips in the beautiful garden of Monk's house

Time is fleeting

My friend, let's not think of tomorrow, but let's enjoy this fleeting moment of life
Omar Khayyam

--
I thought of time when I saw "fleeting" to be last week's topic of the Illustration Friday. With every year time seems to pass away faster and faster. There are so many things I struggle to get done each day and many more for which, week after week, I'm unable to find time. Yet lately I keep on returning to the importance of stopping the mad rushing and savoring the present moment, enjoying my surroundings and the company of all the wonderful people, who make my life so magnificent.

Poppalina recently wrote a beautiful post about Life and Death. Hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I did.

P.S. I usually use the quotes I wrote down while reading books, but today's quote was found at http://thinkexist.com