Gathering the Ghosts
Just the other day I was innocently walking to the train station to meet Matthew for lunch, when I was hit with a book. The story, the imagery, the title, all of it just landed in my head as if it was some big thingy that had fallen from the sky and bang! 
Now it was in my head. It nearly stopped me in my tracks and I had to laugh out loud. I told Matthew when we met up at the train, “I just got hit with a book!”
I don’t know exactly where it came from, but as always, once it came it felt like it had always been there. It was so obvious that it was clearly mine.
As with nearly everything, I just noticed its presence. Hello, I said to this new book in my head. And I let go. I have so many creative bits land in my head that it has taught me the practice of letting go. If they push to creation on their own, then so be it. But I know that I can’t force it myself or I will most certainly make myself mad!
Much like its dramatic arrival, this book Continue reading »
Filed under The Creative Process | Tags: book process, children, creative process, creativity | Comment (0)Hats for the Head
Here it is November and I’m waiting for the cold to hit so I can start wearing my warm hats! I will use any excuse whatsoever to create. And one of my favorites is “having a head!” My head affords me the constant excuse to make hats, crowns, horns and soon masks! Who knows what else my head might need?!
I have loved hats ever since I was a kid. Wild hats! An old lady friend of the family once gave me a large box of hats she had left over from the 40’s and 50’s. Out-of-this-world hats! Hats with feathers two feet long and spirals of ribbon and fake flowers piled high…you name it! What an era! I wore those hats for years and I can see now that they left an indelible mark on my psyche.
Here are some of my hats: crocheted, knitted, felted, ribboned, furred and flowered. I have so many more in the corners of my brain just waiting to sneak out…but for now…
Red Hat: (left) This one is made from a sweater vest from Zai’s babyhood. I wore it all last Christmas season. I have two huge poinsettias I clip onto the back. Tis the season!
Green Hat: (right) Someone gave me a big bag of vintage hand knit socks that had been worn many years and Continue reading »
I Know the River Loves Me
When we see ourselves reflected in our environment, something happens within us. We are calmed, soothed, validated in a way that has no thoughts or words. An osmotic communication that we are, we belong. So fundamental that it goes without saying, it is about being, being here now.
In the classroom, I have had the privilege of working with what I call the “stressed out” kids. Many of whom not only don’t see themselves in the white faces in the books at school or in the library, but sometimes not even in the few brown faces that exist. Their experiences are complicated and layered. Beyond their childhood awareness, their lives are rooted in the basic power dynamics of our culture that relate to race and economics and how those dynamics often affect communities and families. They are children, so they are brave and resilient and have taught me a great deal. And they have reminded me of many of my own lessons as a child and much of what my father taught me.
When I was asked to write and not just illustrate children’s books I was immediately drawn to share what sustained me as a child. In my first book, My Colors, My World/ Mis Colores, Mi Mundo, I began the conversation of finding one’s self, one’s reflection in nature. My father didn’t have words for what he experienced in the United States as a child. When he was 5 years old he was placed in an all English speaking school when he spoke only Spanish. There were no bilingual books or teachers or parents. Only him. From his stories I sensed that although he didn’t find himself reflected in the dominant culture around him, it was through Continue reading »
Filed under Power of Reflection, The Creative Process | Tags: children, creativity, reflection | Comments (2)
