Settling My Mind

With all the medical activity in the past couple of days - test in which I feel violated followed by other tests in which I feel violated, it's been difficult to work on the book. Fortunately I have my crafting to fall back upon.

It's funny... others say that they could not stand to do what I do. Sit hour after hour, day after day, beading or spinning or knitting or whatever. "Too boring." is the universal response. But I love it.

I love the tedium that goes with it. It settles my mind. And in the end, I have a wearable piece of art that others envy.

I'm currently working on a new purse for myself. Starting with a skin of buffalo, I constructed the purse, glued assorted scraps of leather down in a mosaic, and am embellishing them with beads. The beads are not only beautiful, but are functional too. On my last purse, they were simply for beauty, but did nothing structurally. Over time, the leather peeled back and had to be reglued. On the new piece, I am sewing them directly to the base leather, then freeform (and sometimes not so freeform) peyote stitching more of them in such a way that the embellishment leather is secured.



Time will tell whether this process works as well as I think (hope) it does. It may be a month or more before the purse is even done. But irrespective of time, the work is doing it's job well right now. Between issues and visits of medical, I have a process into which I can meditate and relax.