Yes, I am a window shopper. I like to look at almost anything for it all looks like art to me. I very selldom buy anything.
But I am all for going out to be creative anywhere. My creativity that I have in my heart is singing so I carry a little tiny guitar with me all around and I sing everywhere. I’m in two choir and two songs circles. I love to listen to you sing.
I love to go to fairs and just go to the art area so you can see all the beautiful quilts and paintings and drawings and anything else anyone can think of.
and you are right. We need all the tender heartedness and softness we can create. Places to heal and to feel joy.
I love this article. It brought back so many memories and emotions. Thank you!
I love the supply stores, which I tend to wonder in for longer than necessary. But, I also love thrift shops like The Depot in Goshen, IN and Thrift at Woodland Crossing in Elkhart, IN. You never know what you will find. I am an artist. A print maker and I make books out of my prints so I'm always looking for interesting things to add to my books and journals.
My dad was a woodworker and I spent so much time watching him turn boards into things like furniture for my bedroom and artistic things also. He's been gone since 2003 but he is still with me. I built an art studio on my farm during covid. Dad is with me there and in the herb and market gardens always cheering me on. Giving me new ideas for prints or book structure. So do spend a lot of time in the studio listening music, podcasts, and dancing while I create.
I went on an adventure at the beginning of the week and visited the print studio of Gwen Frolic in Benzonia, MI. I is an amazing place that still holds the energy of the artist within.
Yes! My father's best friend owned a hardware store when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I loved to go with Dad on Saturday mornings to visit his friend...as they chatted, I would wander the aisles, breathing in all of the interesting smells of the things that people use to make and mend things. The hardware store also sold art supplies because Grover's wife and daughter were artists. And that is how my mother got the idea to send me to drawing and painting classes after school, while my friends were doing their homework or playing outside. Thank you for this compassionate post about making and mending things! Makes me want to take up knitting again.
YES! Art supply stores, hardware stores, the LEGO store with the wall of colorful bricks to choose from , and especially yarn shops. Would you share your lamb poppet pattern?
Yes especially in craft markets and gardens. Thanks for the reminder and will definitely think of you all in the US as you navigate the election queues and dramas of the next week or two, asserting your voices and gifting the scared and the anxious with you kindness 🎻
Although I don't get lost in hardware stores, I do in art supply stores. I just love looking at all the paints, brushes, canvas, etc. And I'm not a painter, but that might soon change. I've decided to try acrylic painting starting with landscapes. I guess I just want to have a tactile, creative hobby that I'd enjoy. So I'll see how it goes. I love writing novels and making films, but doing these activities are really my regular work. Painting would just be fun. I do photography as a hobby, but it's not as tactile as painting.
So many kinds of art is made of ephemeral stuff. Music is mostly made of air and spirit. So I also like to make things that have a physical form. Art supply stores are heavenly. AND good for you trying out painting my friend! I do a little watercolor and mixed media painting and it’s so satisfying.
My husband and I love to go into hardware stores in our travels. He more than me but I also love fabric stores. Not the chain stores but some little tucked away quilt store. I remember the store when I make a quilt with the fabric from that particular store. We once owned a picture framing store next to a hardware store which was very handy for us. Bill, an employee, invariably said “I just sold the last one” of whatever we needed. It’s still our insider joke 50 years later. Loved that man. Thanks for reminding me.
I love old hardware stores, in part because I associate them with time spent with my dad when I was a little girl. That was his “happy place”, and he would take me along and we would wander the aisles together. He would have long conversations with the old guys who worked there, and I would scamper up the long flight of old wooden stairs to the second floor, where there was a terrific old-school toy department; there I dreamed dreams of Christmas and my birthday and what presents I wanted. The third floor was an attic storage space, but in winter it became the skate exchange, where he took my sister, brothers and me to trade in our outgrown ice skates for a “new” pair of reconditioned ones in our that year’s size. We spent a lot of time ice skating in the winter at the park, and on the rink our dad would create in the backyard for us and the neighborhood kids. He even put a spotlight on the back of the garage so we could skate at night. My relationship with my dad wasn’t always golden, but those are all happy memories for me, and I still smile when I walk into an old hardware store and take in the familiar sights and smells and “ambience”.
Oh Julie Ann, Ioooove this description of your dad’s “happy place” hardware store. So many lovely details and memories. What a great idea to have a skate exchange! Yes….love is simple, but people and relationships are complicated. So I’m glad this post reminded you of some of the memories you cherish.
I LOVE hardware stores--they are an instant balm when I'm overwhelmed. As an artist, few things are more inspiring--especially the glue section. There's nothing that soothes the way making a quirky little something for a specific someone does....the perfect therapy.
I too love hardware stores but, alas, I am not a "handyman" Sometimes I just browse and wonder "what does someone do with that?" while constantly being in the way of those on a specific mission to fix a toilet, window or a thousand other things that need mending. I am inspired by your post to dive into my love of music tonight!
Yes, I, too love hardware stores! I am still a little girl of 66 yrs and have been learning and experimenting with fluid art painting. It is amazing what kitchen colanders, glass marbles, tiny funnels, plastic paint combs, flip cups and yarn/ string can be made into such wonderful art work. Creativity comes from with in those unexpected places if you step in those doors.
Years ago, before I retired, I had an assignment in Huntsville, Alabama. While there I visited a truly antique hardware store. Packed with authentic old time items and all for sale. Nothing shrink-wrapped. I did some Christmas shopping. I hope it’s still there
Yes, I am a window shopper. I like to look at almost anything for it all looks like art to me. I very selldom buy anything.
But I am all for going out to be creative anywhere. My creativity that I have in my heart is singing so I carry a little tiny guitar with me all around and I sing everywhere. I’m in two choir and two songs circles. I love to listen to you sing.
I love to go to fairs and just go to the art area so you can see all the beautiful quilts and paintings and drawings and anything else anyone can think of.
and you are right. We need all the tender heartedness and softness we can create. Places to heal and to feel joy.
I love this article. It brought back so many memories and emotions. Thank you!
I love the supply stores, which I tend to wonder in for longer than necessary. But, I also love thrift shops like The Depot in Goshen, IN and Thrift at Woodland Crossing in Elkhart, IN. You never know what you will find. I am an artist. A print maker and I make books out of my prints so I'm always looking for interesting things to add to my books and journals.
My dad was a woodworker and I spent so much time watching him turn boards into things like furniture for my bedroom and artistic things also. He's been gone since 2003 but he is still with me. I built an art studio on my farm during covid. Dad is with me there and in the herb and market gardens always cheering me on. Giving me new ideas for prints or book structure. So do spend a lot of time in the studio listening music, podcasts, and dancing while I create.
I went on an adventure at the beginning of the week and visited the print studio of Gwen Frolic in Benzonia, MI. I is an amazing place that still holds the energy of the artist within.
Yes! My father's best friend owned a hardware store when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I loved to go with Dad on Saturday mornings to visit his friend...as they chatted, I would wander the aisles, breathing in all of the interesting smells of the things that people use to make and mend things. The hardware store also sold art supplies because Grover's wife and daughter were artists. And that is how my mother got the idea to send me to drawing and painting classes after school, while my friends were doing their homework or playing outside. Thank you for this compassionate post about making and mending things! Makes me want to take up knitting again.
YES! Art supply stores, hardware stores, the LEGO store with the wall of colorful bricks to choose from , and especially yarn shops. Would you share your lamb poppet pattern?
Yes. Not only yarn shops and craft stores, but kitchen stores. All the endless gadgets, tools, cookbooks and linens just filled with possibilities.
Yes especially in craft markets and gardens. Thanks for the reminder and will definitely think of you all in the US as you navigate the election queues and dramas of the next week or two, asserting your voices and gifting the scared and the anxious with you kindness 🎻
Sadly, I can get lost in Costco! I have to take a list and stick to it, otherwise I spend hundreds of dollars on things I like but don't need.
Love your poppets! Great idea!
Although I don't get lost in hardware stores, I do in art supply stores. I just love looking at all the paints, brushes, canvas, etc. And I'm not a painter, but that might soon change. I've decided to try acrylic painting starting with landscapes. I guess I just want to have a tactile, creative hobby that I'd enjoy. So I'll see how it goes. I love writing novels and making films, but doing these activities are really my regular work. Painting would just be fun. I do photography as a hobby, but it's not as tactile as painting.
So many kinds of art is made of ephemeral stuff. Music is mostly made of air and spirit. So I also like to make things that have a physical form. Art supply stores are heavenly. AND good for you trying out painting my friend! I do a little watercolor and mixed media painting and it’s so satisfying.
My husband and I love to go into hardware stores in our travels. He more than me but I also love fabric stores. Not the chain stores but some little tucked away quilt store. I remember the store when I make a quilt with the fabric from that particular store. We once owned a picture framing store next to a hardware store which was very handy for us. Bill, an employee, invariably said “I just sold the last one” of whatever we needed. It’s still our insider joke 50 years later. Loved that man. Thanks for reminding me.
I love the story of the “I just sold the last one”! And yup…fabric stores (especially the local ones) are wonderful! I can get lost in those too.
I love old hardware stores, in part because I associate them with time spent with my dad when I was a little girl. That was his “happy place”, and he would take me along and we would wander the aisles together. He would have long conversations with the old guys who worked there, and I would scamper up the long flight of old wooden stairs to the second floor, where there was a terrific old-school toy department; there I dreamed dreams of Christmas and my birthday and what presents I wanted. The third floor was an attic storage space, but in winter it became the skate exchange, where he took my sister, brothers and me to trade in our outgrown ice skates for a “new” pair of reconditioned ones in our that year’s size. We spent a lot of time ice skating in the winter at the park, and on the rink our dad would create in the backyard for us and the neighborhood kids. He even put a spotlight on the back of the garage so we could skate at night. My relationship with my dad wasn’t always golden, but those are all happy memories for me, and I still smile when I walk into an old hardware store and take in the familiar sights and smells and “ambience”.
Oh Julie Ann, Ioooove this description of your dad’s “happy place” hardware store. So many lovely details and memories. What a great idea to have a skate exchange! Yes….love is simple, but people and relationships are complicated. So I’m glad this post reminded you of some of the memories you cherish.
I LOVE hardware stores--they are an instant balm when I'm overwhelmed. As an artist, few things are more inspiring--especially the glue section. There's nothing that soothes the way making a quirky little something for a specific someone does....the perfect therapy.
I too love hardware stores but, alas, I am not a "handyman" Sometimes I just browse and wonder "what does someone do with that?" while constantly being in the way of those on a specific mission to fix a toilet, window or a thousand other things that need mending. I am inspired by your post to dive into my love of music tonight!
Yes, I, too love hardware stores! I am still a little girl of 66 yrs and have been learning and experimenting with fluid art painting. It is amazing what kitchen colanders, glass marbles, tiny funnels, plastic paint combs, flip cups and yarn/ string can be made into such wonderful art work. Creativity comes from with in those unexpected places if you step in those doors.
Thinking of your small knittings and how loved they may become:The Softening
February 21, 2022 by Rosemerry
I carry it with me now, everywhere I go,
this softness, this limp unstuffed toy, a puppy
with a thin square body made for snuggling.
I carry it in my purse where it mingles
with my wallet, my glasses, my lipstick,
my loss. When I’m walking, I reach in
and let my fingers rub its soft, worn fleece.
When I’m watching a movie, once it’s dark,
I pull it out and let Skinny Puppy settle in my lap,
as if its brown embroidered eyes could see.
I know it’s just an object, but it’s a well-loved object,
some small proof that my boy was here,
that he loved, loved hard, loved long.
I remember how he carried Skinny to school,
clutching the small brown scrap to his belly
when we would say goodbye. I remember
how long after the toy trains and model tractors
and even the complicated Legos had gone away,
Skinny still slept on his pillow.
It’s been worn down by love, this old friend,
and made even softer by the loving—
like me, an old woman who has become
frayed, sentimental, slightly tattered,
distressed, but so shaped by love, and softened,
yes, softened. Even more myself, only softer.
What a beautiful poem, thank you so much for sharing it.
Rosemerry is just one step below Saint Mary Oliver. See https://ahundredfallingveils.com/
Favorite stores to wander are charity thrift shops like Salvation Army or local churches to find surprises, bargains, and help good causes.
:-)
Years ago, before I retired, I had an assignment in Huntsville, Alabama. While there I visited a truly antique hardware store. Packed with authentic old time items and all for sale. Nothing shrink-wrapped. I did some Christmas shopping. I hope it’s still there