Work this Week

I had an epiphany recently about how I work, or rather how I want to work. I had been feeling like I was waiting for something to happen in order for me to move my own creative process forward. I had made a list earlier this year in my notebook "be the thing you want to be" and "enjoy what you are doing" were two directives I had written down.  The thing I want to be is boundlessly creative and to follow it where it takes me. Make and do without worry. "Enjoy what you are doing", had a question mark after it. I was asking myself the question. I used to separate my activities and my time, everything was either work or not-work. Not-work played second fiddle to work and I wasted days feeling pissed off instead of inspired. Well I feel done with that notion.
 
So if work looks like painting type on a wooden cabinet in my carport all week I have decided that is valid. If it means sewing a suit of clothes to attend an event, then it is valid. If it means designing elaborate promotional pieces teaching a curious public how to deal with graphic designers, then it is valid. If it means feeling joyful all day, then it is valid.

So in the interest of total authenticity and integration between my multiple creative selves and wanting to work the way I enjoy working every day, I embarked on an unusual project for the Bellingham Farmers Market. I volunteered to freshen up the market's information booth and signage. The first phase was to reinforce, scrape, and paint the base cabinet. With a fresh smooth surface to work on I transferred the projected type onto the cabinet, and tomorrow I will fill in the all the letters. When that is all done I am sewing some bunting flags to hang above the piece and below the overhead sign. The flags will be up-cycled from tea towels made for our 20th Season last year.

It's been glorious in the afternoons for working outdoors and we keep getting little glimpses of the enlightenment that comes with summer and personal evolution.

P.S. I could not have done this project without my partner in crime, he took the pictures too.

Making Friends

In my perpetual quest for a satisfying life this question has been plaguing me lately. How do you make friends in a new town? As kids, if you move to a new place you have the arena of school in which to sample the various flavors of friends. As an adult if you move with your job, the workplace offers an instant supply of personalities to connect with. Time and routine also create friendships. I have lived in Whatcom County for 16 years and have made friends in a handful of places, the library, the grocery, post-office, the farmers market, work interactions.

Mark bought his place in Abbottsford with one singular reason in mind, to be closer to me. He works at home by himself as I do. 6 years have passed and I look around this town and think how the hell do we meet people here? Don't get me wrong, I have many friends. I am not forlorn and friendless unable to connect with other humans I just want some friends here in Abbottsford, someone to play cards with on Saturday night over drinks. It presents an interesting sociological problem. How do a couple of people in their 40's make friends in a town where they don't got to church or school, or even work, not to mention that we spend a lot of time away.

I am solution oriented personality so I think what can I do. What if I put a little flyer up around the hood that read, Professional married couple seeks similar for light social activity, cards, tennis, rides in a big red car, BBQ-ing. And our phone number. Seriously what would happen? Swingers is what comes to mind for me, freaks, and other lonely misfits. So sad, I need a friend, will you be my friend? It's more complicated than all that of course, developing friends.

I walk the dog in a park near us and occasionally I see someone who looks nice and we might stop and talk about dogs. But then it's time to go and it seems so socially awkward to suddenly blurt out, I need a friend here in town. Here's my card, call me anytime. Well not anytime because I am not actually here that often but sometimes I am. I met a woman with a really fat Weimaraner and thought okay now we're getting somewhere but she lived up the coast. Thwarted I was.

Yesterday I ran into a woman who attended the same dog obedience class as we did 4 years ago when Luna was a pup. She had a little fuzzball dog called "Butters", a name some of you will recognize from the long hours you spend watching "South Park". She barely recognized me but was happy to chat once I explained who I was again. The whole time we talked I was thinking, give her your number she is funny, you could be friends. She lives in town and probably has enough friends already, that's the other thing, by this age people seem to have all the friends they can manage, why take on more?

I have 259 friends on Facebook. According to Mashable this is the optimum number any one person can hope to interact with in a meaningful way, which really means that of that 259, about 40 of them actually participate regularly in normal FB activities, posting pictures, making status updates, sharing links. I like Facebook but it is a slightly empty experience after a time and sometimes I just want to encounter a real person. But how?

At my place we have friends near and far who are happy to come over. We go to town occasionally and meet friends there for music and meals and holiday parties. When we got to Vancouver we have a mix of friends and family we routinely encounter. Occasionally some of the Vancouver people pilgrimage out to Abbottsford but it is a long drive home especially if you have been well fed and watered. Our American friends don't come to Abbottsford often, I feel it is an imposition to invite people up because of the border crossing, not everyone is comfortable with the scrutiny and frankly some people just can't cross so I don't ask.

Again, what to do? Join something? A quilting group, museum boosters, tennis or running club. It all takes time. I just want to see some nice couple who sort of resembles us in natural fibers out with a dog and at the risk of coming across as completely strange, say hey there, need a friend? Me too, here's my card.

A little Work

Inspired by a 1950's cookbook cover, this is the second in a series of two posters adapted for a newspaper insert for the Bellingham Farmers Market. For the background I painted a board with green gouache, scanned it and then darkened the edge in Photoshop. The type was a little too clean for me so I printed it out and sanded off some of the surface of the letters and then rescanned it. I bet there is a way to do this in Photoshop but somehow I prefer the old school simpler technique.

It's Alive!

Check it out! After months in the making the new improved Bellingham Farmers Market site is LIVE. Thanks to Market Director Caprice Teske who loved my design and to the godlike Syd Cole and her team of evil geniuses at Mindfly in Bellingham for making happen so efficiently. It's got some cool features, like the Flickr feed which allows us to easily update photos so the site always looks fresh. The Twitter feed allows Caprice to easily keep everyone up on what's happening up to the minute, gotta get those fresh veggies out to waiting customers. The vendor profile pages offer a mini-site option for those without websites, and there is even an opportunity for vendors to advertise within the site itself. All in all it is a great improvement and will be a good tool for all the Market members and customers alike. Enjoy!

Community Supported Agriculture

Holistic Homestead Bounty

Spring is coming and everyone is talking about planting and all that good stuff. Times are tight and I know loads of people are starting their own gardens which is a good thing. After my fore´ into the world of food growing last year—I really barely got my toes wet—it is clear to me I am not one of those food growing types. My whole gardening philosophy is to put in things that need little care, this is not a good approach when growing food. My solution is to support one of the local organic growers in my neighborhood. With cash in my hot little hands I gave my deposit check to Gretchen Woody of Holistic Homestead . Her farm is located about 8 miles from my house and last year when my farming efforts were failing I signed up for a half season with her. It was awesome. This year I thought I would get a jump on it, these farmers need cash come spring so I was happy to give it. I take pride in serving my family healthy food that is grown near by and I am also proud to help another small business person. If you love vegies, consider a CSA, there are many of them in the area and farmers are grateful for early sign-ups. Seeds cost money you know and farmers need to eat so that in turn we can eat.

The Week That Was

The juggle is not over yet. I am halfway through the book I am toiling over. It is coming together but with all activities that involve organizing information in a visual framework, anomalies arise and have to be dealt with. Blocks that must be stumbled over and righted. Thank heaven for these long days on my own when I can focus on little else than the project at hand.

Have not been to the farm for days, have not spoken to Nancy. Will try and get down there over the weekend to finish what I started in the greenhouse. All the starts need to be planted out in the field, the pumpkins, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, the kale. God save the kale. At least all this shitty rain we have been having is good for my beet seeds because that watering by hand was really sucking. I have a whole new respect for CSA programs at the moment.

Had to light the wood stove tonight, the house was freezing. I refuse to burn anymore propane in there, it's June for pete's sake. The sun did come out late in the afternoon and I went out and let it shine right on me. Mike and Val stopped by with the kids and I gave them some of the surplus eggs. Ever since they moved off the property I have really had to work to give all the eggs away. My new tenant is allergic, dang!


Look at the time, it's time to lay this redhead down. Have a good sleep internet, oh right, you never sleep. Poor thing.

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Why I Vend

As the weekend approaches, specifically Saturday when I often vend at the Bellingham Farmers Market I have to pause and remind myself why I do it. I work alone and have done so since 1994 when I quit my job at A&M Records in Los Angeles. I get a little kooky spending all that time on my own and I decided a few years ago that I should get involved with the Market. First I was on the board and donated my time as a designer. That turned into a paying gig and after a few years I decided I wanted to try my hand at vending. It's like playing store but with real money and credit cards. Many Saturdays between April and October I show up at 8:30am with my car laden with things I have concocted in my studio to sell. The real highlight though beyond selling things I have made is the connection I feel to the Market community. I don't attend church, I don't really volunteer, I live a limited existence going between my house and Mark's house and Pearl's school.

The market is open for 5 hours between 10am and 3pm and it is non stop chit chat with customers, vendors and of course friends. I have been bringing Pearl with me too, not every week but some. I get great pleasure in watching her world expand via the Market community as well. The monetary gains may be dubious but the wealth of connection is palpable.

See you saturday.

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Not Exactly Working but feeling Inspired

What a weekend. Saturday was the first day of the farmers market and it went quite well. Sold some stuff and also connected with loads of cheerful market types who all seemed thrilled to be there. And the best part, it didn't rain, not one drop. Maybe there is a god after all.

Just toodling around the web today, getting an Etsy page set up for the heck of it. My own online store is getting built and should be up and running soon. Will be excellent to have that new sales venue.

One of my favorite market vendors Libby from Moth and Squirrel was the reason I got over to Etsy and I also found this amazing link to Whip

Here's to all the creative people out there making things not only because they want to but because they have to. With every piece our souls are free-er.

Sunday I worked hard all day at Marks dining room table, never went outdoors once. Luckily for Mark I did find time to shower.

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