Winged Motivation

I'm super excited to be displaying my work in the very cool shop Hive and Forge in Salem! I feel like Salem is the  PERFECT place to sell my rather macabre work. Hive and Forge is an absolute DREAM to my sensabilities! I am leading a CHARMED life!! They did SUCH a good job displaying my work. I think it fits right in. :-)

My daughter is such a joy! She makes these very cool pots! And, I can't help it, I'm sooo proud of her!! (You would be too)! I'm so lucky to be able to feature her work at Tales of the Whales!

This whale mobile is a custom order. I hope to make more mobiles. I love putting a few elements together to tell a story.

"In the town where I was born, lived a man who sailed to sea... Full steam ahead!...Everyone of us has all we need!"

I spent some time in Ogunquit and Wells and was lucky enough to find these whale themed elements that I just HAD to have for my shop! I love them sooo much!!

I'm so glad my gorgeous talented daughter has daughters too! That's how I wound  up with Selah, who designed the metal plate I used to emboss mermaids for the mermaid festival! She decorated this denim shirt with BLEACH to make this design! There will be MORE of her original work in my shop SOON!!

I made another blimp/dirigible! This one I dyed traditional leather colors I added a couple of eyes in the sky on the basket. There are ladders that I crocheted so you can climb back up if you fall out. The propellers spin really well. I used metal washers this time. I burned the word "whaling" around the 8 seperate pieces sewn in to make the body.

Everyone knows that sheep say, "baaa!! I'm pretty sure goats say, "Maaaa!"

I sheared one of my goats! I had intended to get both of them done, but I ran out of energy. This is STILL a huge chore for me! But I get a little better each time!

This reminder hangs in my studio where I can see it everyday. I just need to remember to look up!

Never say never. Well what I SAID if I remember right is I was gonna make an airship before I made another hot air balloon. So I made a submarine, which is sorta like an airship! USE YOUR IMAGINATION! I just WANTED to make this, my biggest and best hot air balloon yet! 

I crocheted a net for the top and also some stairs to hang over the side. I added neat steampunky elements. The sides of the "basket" are embossed with a map of Moose Island, Maine. 

I'll be officially opening my shop on Memorial Day. For now, I'm open on the weekends, mostly... I've added cards and mostly sustainable stuffed animals to what I had last year. I really love having a shop! Mostly I love talking to the people who stop in and getting to talk about Whales and my art. 

My daughters are AMAZING, CREATIVE women. I'm so so proud to realize that their strong spirits are here with us because I chose to have some kids! The mug on the left was made by my daughter, the Potter extraordinaire, Christa Ladny. The eggs on the right were collected at my daughter, Katie Mitchell's homestead! How grateful I am that these lives exist!!  I'll be carrying some of Christa's pottery in my shop in Eastport.

The view from my home and studio is simply stunning. The quality of light at sunset reflecting off of Deer Island, Canada simply takes my breath away!  This photo was not edited! What a beautiful world we share!!

My dear friend, Leigh Ann Crimmings hosted a yoga retreat at my house for the Total Eclipse on April 8th. It inspired me to make some eclipse themed art. On the left are ornaments - "hangy-things" as I call them. On the right is a simple and pure bar of soap.

Willy Wonka stands in my foyer/mudroom to greet all who enter here, where imagination is pure.

This is me sitting in my new shop the first summer I was open. I'm excited for my ideas for next year. It was really fun. The best part was meeting so many interesting people. There was alot of love and laughter in this space.

I really love my leather art. But sometimes I just want to stay at home and knit! I come back to knitting over and over again. I finished this sweater made from wool spun by Luna Muse! It's all wool and was custom made to match my hair, but my hair has really yellowed since I first got this wool. I think the water makes my hair yellow. 

The sweater is super heavy and warm. I made it with the idea of wearing it out on the whale boats. I've already worn it a few times walking on the breakwater looking at the lobster/scallopers. 

I found a pattern for an anchor and was inspired to make another fisherman's sweater with this cable in it. I just don't like the color of this gorgeous and crazy soft alpaca wool. 

This storm caused trees to fall on my power lines and I was without power for over 5 days. I have a woodstove and tried to keep a fire going this whole time. I didn't have lights or water.The highs were in the mid to upper 20's. The sky was completely dark by 4pm. So I used this headlamp to get a few things done. I also sat in a chair nearly all day one of the days, just staring into the fire wondering why it wouldn't heat my whole house. It got down into the 40's at night. And still, I am alive!

I decided living with the woodstove was the perfect time to dye this alpaca wool. I've had this wool for over 7 years and I had knit a sweater but ripped it out. The color, though glorious is something I know I'll never wear. But the wool is so nice I haven't been able to get rid of it. So I decided to get some walnut husks/hulls and make a natural dye from them! I am sooo excited about this dye. I'm gonna use it on leather too. I intend to switch 100% to dyes I make from natural ingredients. The process makes me happy. And I feel good about using what Gaia has provided with no chemicals added.

I added water to the crushed walnut husks just to cover and boiled it for a couple of hours and on and off of the wood stove for the next week or so since I was using the stove to heat my home.

First I had to take the balls that I had rolled years ago and make skeins so that the dye had a chance to get to every fiber. This was challenging and something I'd never done before! I'd taken skeins and rolled them into balls plenty of times, but reversing the process was a puzzle. The two chair idea seemed smart but I got dizzy and my back ached from the odd height and walking around and around! Ha!

I settled on using this boat cleat that I had put up for a hook and wrapping the wool around this chair with slats that Christa had carved when we lived together before I moved to Indiana. It actually worked pretty well!! I unrolled 4 large balls. 

I'm doing some things with this sweater that I've never done before and some things I haven't done in decades. I'm starting from the top down, adding my own cable designs and knitting it in the round. So far I absolutely LOVE the color! The dying was the right choice!

It took a crazy long time to get a color I liked. The top color is after a FULL WEEK soaking in the dye, most of that time the dye was hot from sitting on the wood stove. 

The middle color was after 3 days. 

The bottom is the color I started with.

I had to rinse the wool over and over until it rinsed clear. Then, of course it was wet and had to dry over night. But then...I could KNIT!

I can't believe it took me so long to figure out to make these Whale Tails!! They are bloody PERFECT!! I can put nearly any decorations on them, from my carvings to embossing...

I dyed them with the walnut husk dye I made for the wool. My intention is to eventually switch over completely to all natural dyes that I can make from things collected here on the island. 

This page and "Projects" are where I'll post my ideas that I'm working on, in whatever capacity that may be. I love making weird things and I love sharing my ideas here. I add the newest thing to the top of the page.