Art of living

Jewelry and fabric crafts

Fall is time for crafts.

September redirects our attention from the exterior, nature and outdoors to fashion, home decorations, preserves, books, recipes… Despite modern life-style, these cycles of seasonal activities still hold, like an ingrained rhythm of moods and sensibilities repeated through changing weather and traditions of the past.

I love the season – regular fall visits to Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Muffled in simple luxuries of country auberge accommodations, hunt for hand-made lavender soaps, spreads and cheeses made by monks in Abbey Saint Benoit du Lac, nature spawned perfumes, hand-crafted candles and pottery studios.  Not to mention magnificent lakes reflecting bursts of fall colors, delicious bakeries and hearty dishes of Quebec cuisine. Carrying along a mysterious novel of Louise Penny.

We are bringing this season’s heartiness to our late September workshop.  Transfering into it a dash of summer in fabrics custom- printed with ‘Art Garden’ motifs. They turned out spectacular – in the next iteration we will make silk scarfs. At the worshop, we are making environmentally friendly, reusable waxed covers for food and gifts, flowery and cheerful.  Just need to make some jams and pickles later…

No fall workshop without jewelry making would be complete; back to work, we have to display,  discretely or overtly, our fashionable ingenuity.  Polymer clay experiments are raising to the next level – combining extruder techniques with wire wrapping- who could even anticipate the results?

Many unsettling circumstances envelop us in these times of turmoil…this – art, friendship, creation – is our oasis and our art of living.