A new year

Why is it that a blank slate can be so darned intimidating? That first mark is so difficult to make? I've been sitting here, fingers poised on the keyboard, looking at the computer screen and trying in vain to figure out what to say in my first post...oh...for the past 10 minutes at least.

Lots of things have gone through my mind. Like I knew at 8 yrs old that my dream was to be an artist. That I grew up with a mom and grandmother who quilted, sewed, crocheted, cross stitched, etc. That I still have all the Barbi clothes that my mom and aunt sewed - including sequined gowns! That growing up surrounded by fiber, fabric, color, texture and craftsmanship ensured my love of craft and all that it entails. Is it any wonder that I became a fiber artist?

I currently find myself at a crossroads in my creative life. 

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That last line from my first ever blog post back on January 10, 2010 gave me a good chuckle this morning. Is there ever truly a time in an artist's life when we don't feel that at some sort of crossroads creatively? There may be moments of surity, yet how fleeting are they? Or is it only me? For 9 years later, that sentence still applies.

I've been absent from the blogging world most of the last 2 years. A bit of the sabbatical can be attributed to the ease of Instagram, but the real reason was a confluence of events and topography that left me in a deep depression beginning in October 2016.

Waiting = Stitching, red circle #7, 2017, Jennifer Coyne Qudeen

 
All I seemed capable of for months was sitting on the couch, watching tv and hand stitching red circles.

A black hole had engulfed me and it took a literal change of scenery -

a family vacation to Whistler, British Columbia - 

to jostle me out of the hole...or at least close enough to the rim that I could begin to figure out how to get out completely. 

I'm still a work in process...and most likely will be for quite a while. One realization has been that I am not only a person who loves open spaces and abundant sunlight, but am one who needs them to be happy and thrive.

 
So I get myself out of the house more often, taking this big guy for walks, 

enjoying the view at Wilton Library while doing administrative type work,

meeting friends for lunch or chatting on the phone,

and watching my daughters ski. Ellie took first place this past weekend in the first race of the season. She's the cutie on the left. We're looking forward to the day that both our girls are on the podium. There's another race this Sunday...

A new year brings new attitides, new beginnings, new plans and new possibilities.
Here's wishing you all a very creative, inspiring and joyful 2019.