Today is quite deliciously dreary. Aubrey and Orion have gone to attend a broadcast of "Carmen" at a local theater. I've just lit a fire in the hearth and am preparing (having coffee) to get back to the very mundane task of resetting the studio for the next wave of work.
Not a lot to think on here. In fact, I try to clear my mind during this sort of task. I'm listening to Loreena McKennitt. That, and my recent re-read of Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon have me in a mood that is close to reverence. After all, there is something spiritual about quietly attending to practical matters.
There is also something spritual about cherishing the things we own. In keeping, I ask you to look about you and find some dusty, unappreciated thing and remake it. (spouses, friends and pets are not included, please) Either make it look different, or clean it up and find a new use for it, perhaps in a different room. Or do both.
I 've chosen this ratty old basket hanging on my kitchen wall, unused for---a long time. I'll attempt to give it a purpose and new look.
I invite you to join me and send your 'before' an
d 'after' photos so I can share them here. Send photos and tell us about them to aubrey@poppetplanet.com.Now to share some studio snapshots from the week and get on
with the day. I wish you a most excellent Saturday.
I
9 comments:
I love the sleeping poppet - it's in exactly the position my child sleeps in, so I can see one of those in my future. We have a bit of a collection now; they live on the graphic novel shelf in the study, in front of the Neil Gaimans.
I like the idea of taking something unloved and doing something with it - will have to have a look around the house myself.
I too love the sleeping poppet, so cute!
Also, I know the feeling you mean when re-reading Mists of Avalon. Wonderful book..
Looking good Mama!
OK - I just need to say that Mists of Avalon is one of those game changing books for me. One of the big ones - when I read it as a teenager it didn't open up another world for me, it opened up this one.
It opened me up.
Can't even explain it -- too complicated -- it's that deep to me.
All fiscal rationality would leave me if there was a Poppet reading Mists.
Grace London: Thank you. I like pairing the sleeping poppet with the reading poppet, having read many a child to sleep (my own and others'.)
I look forward to seeing what you re-create. There's a word for re-making something in this way, but for the life of me I can't remember it. It was the inspiration for Poppet Wisdom, for sure.
Lindsey: Avalon has many lessons. Some of the things said by the Merlin and Viviane are as well spoken as the golden rule.
Ben: Indeed! Much nicer than the messy space it was.
Drinne: oops. see how we are? Now I'll have to make two, because I don't think I can bear to part from the one I made.
Fascinating. Dune was the game-changer for me, very closely followed by Fahrenheit 451.
But I read Mists well after I read Dune, so while it resonated strongly, the things it would have changed had already done so, then evolved from there.
I'm often struck by how much fiction can affect a person's life, and I laugh when I hear some (non)reader remark scornfully how they ONLY read non-fiction. Heh. They simply have no idea.
Wonderful idea.
I love books that enchant.
And that music would indeed go wonderfully with The Mists of Avalon (a book I have read three time when at University - I would read it in parallel with the revisions for the end of year exams in order to keep a balance of sanity).
Have you listened to the songs in Ancient Muse? They are a little repetitive but Penelope's Song and The English Ladye and the Knight are haunting.
Stacey, you are so right. It can come from anywhere, you just have to pay attention. i want to put down here one of my favorite little bits from one of my favorite books:
Not mad, Arin. Now you're there. Now you've learned. Say it.
"Random."
Say it all.
"Random universe."
Again.
World without meaning beyond its existence.
"Without meaning."
Ego irrelevant?
"Yes."
Now, said the wolf, meaning has meaning. Build, make your own, clean as the arc of Forever.
Arin, the wolf whispered, fading, you've just gone sane.
- from _The Masters of Solitude_ by Marvin Kay & Parke Godwin
I love Loreena McKennitt. I love the Marion Zimmer Bradley. I love the poppets. And that basket... is awesome. I can't wait to see what you do with it.
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