Our Last Photo
Quote of the Month:
Isn’t that the only way to curate a life? To live among things that make you gasp with delight.
~Maira Kalman
Each month I create cards to mail to family and friends for various occasions. With the loss of both my grandparents, whom I mailed weekly, my cards have been fewer recently. I certainly miss this practice.
Another last card
After losing my maternal grandmother on June 2nd, my paternal grandfather passed July 17th at the age of 97. Our families never expected to lose them both so close to each other. In some sweet way now both my parents can grieve together at their losses as they were both significantly involved in my grandparent’s long term care. As for me, well… I started this weekly creative and connection practice of mailing cards to my grandparents almost 10 years ago. Wow…this has certainly been my longest running and most consistent creative practice thus far in my life. I share the digital image here of the last card I printed out and sent to my grandfather. He never got to open it.
I guess it was bound to happen like this. The last cards that I sent, but they were never able to receive.
I don’t quite know how to end to section on my cards I have been creating for a very long time. But I do know that this was something special I won’t soon forget, and I believe things will grow from this practice one sweet day.
Our Last Photo
Both my daughters graduated this past school year. Roz from college and Lucy from high school. They were getting some photos taken together in their gowns and we decided to surprise my grandfather, we affectionately call Pawpaw with a visit so he could see them in their graduation gowns and cords.
It was our last time together with Pawpaw.
A creative practice of drawing digitally and learning digital brush use while also sharing them.
Digital drawings I share online that others can take a screenshot of and use as backgrounds on their digital devices.
This is a new weekly practice that I started 3 weeks ago and want to capture in my blogposts also.
Last year I purchased a tiny wheel to celebrate another year teaching in the classroom. I love my tiny wheel so much and though last summer I titled summer of the vase, I never truly stopped making vases when school started up again. I was not very consistent, but I did manage to keep the wheel going here and there. I was also not sharing my clay work anywhere and not even sure I was ready to share. Until now with this new posting weekly practice. Here is what I have been sharing on Instagram and Facebook.
One thing I have already realized is how much I enjoy curating my little collection and figuring out how to take interesting or neat pictures of these vases. It is a new obsession and of course how cut they are also!
recent youtube videos
Another emotional month for me, yet still finding ways to use my creativity as much as I possibly can. The summer is quickly passing and a move is still ahead this fall as we send our girls off to college and grad school.
Along with everything going on, I have been enjoying teaching kids clay camps at a local art community center. It has been so much fun working with a younger age group and seeing all their fun creativity with each project!
Hoping to enjoy a few more summer weeks, dig deep into tiny vases and just keep drawing.
Stay creative out there~
Hannah