21 Nov Cats, Peacock Feathers and Thanksgiving – Roll Up Your Sleeves and Let’s Get Creative!
Can any of us believe Thanksgiving is here?? If you’re like me, you’re mentally and emotionally exhausted from the election and ready to kick back for an autumn holiday.
Mostly around this time we give thanks, and I will in just a minute.
But I’ve decided I’m going to take the entire Thanksgiving week off to truly relax and be present with family and friends, so I have a few important “self care” needs to share, cause maybe you have them too. It doesn’t hurt to be reminded that taking care of ourselves first is paramount before we can help others.
Here’s my Top 10:
- I want to “try” and stay off Social Media.
- I want to not listen to the news.
- I want to get out in nature and enjoy the pretty fall weather.
- I want to play board games with my family.
- I want to eat pie.
- I want to take a long walk with a friend.
- I want to go see a movie.
- I want to nap.
- I want to read a great book and magazines.
- I want to get back in my studio and create.
What do YOU want to do this Thanksgiving weekend?
The last one is very important to me because I never make enough time in my life to do the things I enjoy doing, like creating my art. Not a great habit, since it’s my business to make and sell my art, but I’m working on it, scheduling regular studio hours.
I just found out my artwork was not accepted into an international craft exhibition in Denton. Oh drat! Yes, I’m disappointed, but I’m also optimistic. It was my first large international exhibition to apply to and I produced some of my best work in a very long time, so I’m encouraged that perhaps I can create more.
To help me reach my goal of doing more studio time, I’ve been taking an online art course called Art Career Success System (ACSS) with Alyson Stanfield. I’m learning a lot about myself and my business practices.
- First, that networking and building relationships is always essential so never stop doing it (like tonight at a cocktail party I met a former painter who gave me great insight).
- Second, that “follow up” is one of THE most key business tasks to have a good system in place. (I’ve never felt I’ve had a good system beyond the personal “thank you” note. I never know what to do next to keep in touch without being in someone’s face).
- Third, that I must push myself even farther than I ever thought beyond my comfort zone. (I know most of you think this is easy for me, but just like any artist and solo-preneur there are things that are more challenging than others).
What I love about this online art course is that there’s a supportive private Facebook artist group and weekly accountability calls.
Now, I am NOT one to procrastinate, but I can have trouble focusing with all this multi-tasking going on (in fact, I’m convinced multi-tasking has damaged my brain and memory!) so I am certainly benefiting from these calls. It’s kind of like that book, Get Shit Done by Lauris Liberts. I’ve never read the book, but the title says it all to me (excuse the French) and that’s what I’ve been focusing on.
Thus,
- I’ve gotten back in the swing of attending art openings,
- I’ve joined two local art organizations, Women and Their Work and Austin Fiber Artists where I’m meeting some wonderful artists and making new friends,
- I’m back in my studio creating my pillows, and
- I have a Holiday Open Studio coming up Dec 3rd.
But the biggest thing I’ve learned so far, is that if you’re an artist, designer, or maker – stay true to yourself and get thyself IN the studio and CREATE!!
Below is a peek of The Alessandria, one of the three pieces of textile art I submitted for consideration in the art exhibition. This piece has a Russian flair with the vintage cream mink. I also used pieces of a jeweled vintage cocktail dress, French lace, Chanel chain, a vintage amber rhinestone brooch, and antique beaded embroidery. It was really challenging because I had to learn very quickly how to string beaded jewelry together, but so much fun to create! I really enjoyed restoring the antique beaded piece too.
Taking Alyson’s course has helped me put all of this, my artwork, in perspective. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed or not, but my brand new website Deborah Main Designs presents me (About the Artist) and my work (About the Art) very differently than my previous website.
My work continues to be sought after by luxury retailers and interior designers across the country (in fact a new store in Ft. Lauderdale now carries my work) but I’ve been expanding my scope by applying to art exhibitions and reaching out to art collectors.
I’m transitioning back to being the artist I am, doing what makes me happiest – creating beautiful textile pillow art for you to collect and enjoy in your life and home. And maybe even pass down to your children someday.
And its no surprise to me, that my art is not a conventional art form that fits nearly into one specific industry category. I never have fit into any box and I don’t plan to change that anytime soon. I’m very excited about future opportunities ahead, have some cool exhibition ideas, and I look forward to sharing them with you.
But most of all, I’m thrilled to announce I’m officially calling myself a “Textile Pillow Artist”!
More on that evolution in the coming weeks, but God, do I feel liberated!! All because I met and chatted with a woman who climbed Mt. Kilimengaro. Funny how life works. Clarity of purpose has a way of doing that and the support and discussion through ACSS, and with other artists, has truly helped. More on all that later!
Want to keep up with what’s happening in my studio, special offers, and details about my upcoming Holiday Open Studio and Sample Sale? Then please sign up for my quarterly Pillow Talk newsletter HERE . And follow me HERE on Facebook and get an event invitation. Or, email me your snail mail address to inquire@deborahmaindesigns.com and you’ll actually get a postcard invitation in the mail this week. That’s right, a real postcard personally mailed to you, and a beautiful one I might add.
Now, let’s get creative!!
Last Thanksgiving I read in one of my favorite award-winning blogs, Hadley Court, by Leslie Hendrix Wood, about taking personal and meaningful items from your home and creating a table centerpiece that tells your family story. The post was written by Leslie Carothers featuring inspiring tips from other designers. And, to my surprise, I actually did it last year!
So I thought I’d share my process of creating this centerpiece to inspire you to try it this Thanksgiving. I think it’s a fun project to do with your children too. My daughter was busy baking a cake but I asked her to come take a peek and give me advice (she’s such a fantastic stylist!). All she had to say in her understated way was, “Mooooom, what ARE you trying to do?!?” I guess I hadn’t quite mastered centerpiece design yet! ?
The really cool thing about creating this centerpiece is having to think of what collections, mementos from your home that you can use in your display to tell your family story. I eventually got the hang of it!
In the Thanksgiving tradition of being thankful in your life, the most important tip I took to heart was to honor the special people in your life by selecting a memento that represents them somehow.
That really spoke to me, because that’s what I try to bring to life and share through my textile pilllow art, to tell a story through the materials I select. The real challenge for me was assembling it into a centerpiece and not a pillow, as I do NOT consider myself a “crafty” person.
Read on, and you’ll see what my selections meant to me and give it a try. I’d love to see what you come up with, so please share it with me!
But first, I want to give thanks to you for following my blog, taking an interest in my work, and wanting to read my long-winded babblings about art, design, travel, life and more. It means a lot to me that you’re on this journey with me, thank you!! ❤
#1: First step is to figure out your base. What are you going to use as a base to create your centerpiece in (or on) to best tell your family story?
That one was pretty easy for me. I selected a large family heirloom silver tray with my grandmother’s initials on it, DKJ, for Dorothy Keely Jones. It had a beautiful shape, was my father’s mothers, had sides to contain my display, and I didn’t worry that it was tarnished. It would have taken forever to polish it, and it was going to be covered up anyways, so I let the patina add its charm.
#2. Next, think about your family, what mementos or collections you’d like to put into the tray or vase or basket you choose to honor or remember special people in your life. With our parents and grandparents deceased, I knew I could find something meaningful.
This is where I had the most fun! I walked around the house and selected different items that represented different people in my family.
I selected my mother’s crystal hurricane candlesticks and my husband’s mother’s antique blue and white pitcher (the cream and sugar set below was too small) to serve as the flower vase and candles for my centerpiece. How these crystal hurricane covers have made it down through the generation unscathed is remarkable to me, so I keep these in my China cabinet for safety and only bring them out for the holidays.
3. Then, as you walk around your home, keep thinking with an open mind, about your design. I kept trying to think, what do I have on hand that works in a floral arrangement besides flowers, but that would also have special meaning?
I couldn’t believe it when I remembered and noticed all the treasures I had put in the vintage Chinese vases I bought in NYC at Bunny Williams Treillage store before it closed. Everything in the vase was absolutely perfect for an arrangement!
I not only had peacock feathers from my dear friend, Austin milliner, Laura Del Villaggio of Milli Starr, but I also had pussy willows from my best friend Andrea Vanhoven. Pussy willows also happened to be one of my favorite bushes at my childhood home. And on top of that, the real piece de resistance, was I had real turkey feathers that my son gave me from his very first Texas hunt. A lot of meaning packed a punch in items from that one vase!
#4. Lastly, I also tried to think outside of the standard floral arranging box and you should too. I came up with several other very cool items I would not normally had thought of.
Here’s a few I chose:
- My nieces wooden candle holders from her wedding,
- My mother’s small glass paper weights,
- A Chinese snuff bottle I bought in Wuhan China when we adopted our daughter, and
- A wonderful demitasse teacup and saucer of my mother’s that had music on it. She was an opera singer, so that connection fit perfectly into my family’s story centerpiece.
My nieces wedding candle holders were wooden branches with their nuptual initials carved on the bottom. The tea candles didn’t quite fit, so I re-purposed the holders into flower bud vases.
Now that’s where cats, particularly our cat Zabel, enter the Thanksgiving centerpiece project. We all know how cats LOVE to be the center of attention!
Oh yes, he looks so innocent here below!
“What me? I’m not interrupting your project….I just want to make sure the water’s fresh, that’s all.” – Zabel
He was trying to drink the water out of the wooden candle holders that I turned into bud vases. Geesh!! So much so, that I had to get him his own gold rimmed crystal drinking bowl, and park it on the table right next to where I was working, so that he could feel part of the process. (Don’t worry, I brushed the table off afterward. Cats have a way of being everywhere, so whenever there’s flowers or candles, you can expect Zabel on the table!)
Well, at least he was happy and so was I. We had a wonderful cozy Thanksgiving with a small contingent of family (as our older children were in their respective homes), a meaningful centerpiece that told part of our family story, and a damn good cocoa cake made from scratch by my daughter.
I couldn’t believe how fun this project was! How meaningful it was to create a table centerpiece with special items from our home connected to missed family members who couldn’t be with us, and dear friends. To read the blog post that inspired my centerpiece last Thanksgiving, please read Leslie Carother’s beautiful post for Hadley Court “OUR TOP 3 TIPS FOR CREATING MEMORABLE THANKSGIVING TABLESCAPES”. I hope it will inspire you to “Get Creative” as much as it did me last year!
Enjoy the photos and I wish you and your family a wonderful blessed Thanksgiving! At times like these, in our crazy world, it’s so important to come together and be grateful for how blessed and lucky we are to have a home, a family and a bountiful meal. From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving! XO PG
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