Posted by Marci Molina on April 7, 2012 under Marci Molina | 
Half Marathon Training Update
Countdown: 42 days
Training: week 7
Longest run: 8 miles
Fastest 5 mile pace: 7:42 min/mile
Cross-training: Yoga, Pilates, Elliptical, Bicycle, Walking, Weights, Stretching, Foam Roller
Running Mantra:
Strong Core, Fast Feet
While I am running, my mind is focused on everything and nothing. My body knows what it’s doing but I check in with it often … shoulders down, strong core, neutral pelvis, elbows in, fast feet … the list goes on. How’s my breath? I check my time and pace. Then, my mind floats away … green grass, birds, cracks in the pavement, rocks, wedgie, sweat in my eyes, cars, flowers … where am I going today? Shoulders down, easy focus. I am creating jewelry, ads, newsletters, photos, my blog … I am inspired. What’s for dinner? How’s my pace? Fast feet … 1,2,3,1,2,3 … shoulders down, strong core, neutral pelvis, elbows in. Almost home. I don’t want the adventure to end but I know it’s time to stop, stretch, and rest for my next run.
Tags: art, artist, breathe, creative process, easy focus, Etsy, inspiration, jewelry, Marci Molina, Marci Molina Designs, nature, now, photography, playful, running
Posted by Susan Bradford on April 5, 2012 under Susan Bradford |
I spent three days with this fabulous group of women over last weekend, weaving this fabulous Tahitian Market Basket out of a beautiful material called Lauhala. We all came to Shaw Island, and not only did we weave together during the day, we all stayed over at the guest house of one of the women (the only one not in this picture). So we cooked together, ate together, drank together, worked on the basket well into the night, and got up early to do it all again.
None of us finished the basket completely, so it will be interesting to see how they look once they are embellished with various trims, shells, etc. But each one already has its own personality, and that will only develop more in the last stages of completing them. Out teacher, Lei McCornack, is in the middle of the back row. I have my arm around her in gratitude, love and admiration. We are a strong and close-knit group of women, and Lei did a wonderful job of jumping in and teaching us this very challenging basket, in her laid back, very Tahitian way.
Challenging? Make that very challenging. Many steps along the way. It’s a double-walled basket which means that you weave an inside and then start all over again to weave the bias-plaited exterior. And there is sewing involved. And trim to be made by hand. All using this sensual and amazing Lauhala to weave with. You see it at its thickest on the exterior of the basket, but it can be stripped down to it’s thinnest and will fit through the eye of a needle to sew with.
As the work progressed, we all had our individual moments of challenge. I hit my own wall at about 3 pm on Friday afternoon while working on the bias-plaiting. I got incredibly frustrated, and cranky. I wanted to just rip the basket apart and throw it away. I wanted to scream. I hated everybody in the room, and of course, I looked around and saw only perfection in their baskets, while mine was a pice of shit! I told my dear friend, “Don’t talk to me!” It was not pretty! Not pretty at all. But I went off and sat by myself. I drank a lot of water, and started to breathe. I looked at the basket with acceptance, and began to pull and tighten, and pull and tighten again. Yes, there are some weak areas. But I began to love the basket in spite of them and maybe even because of them.
And I got to have a quiet little melt down in the midst of one of loveliest, most supportive group of women you’ll ever hope to find. I got to be real and vulnerable, and that alone was worth it all. We all got to deepen our friendships with each other, and we all accomplished a Herculean task in making this incredible basket.
Tags: artist, basket making, bias-plaiting, breathe, creative process, double-walled baskets, group workshops, honesty, lauhala, native basket materials, Susan Bradford, women
Posted by Marci Molina on March 31, 2012 under Marci Molina |
It’s been a very busy and exciting week in my studio – I received my first wholesale order for my shrink plastic jewelry! At first I thought that “wholesale” might take the creative feeling out of my work. As I prepared the order, I was happy to find that I enjoyed the uniqueness of each piece that I created.
Posted by Marci Molina on March 24, 2012 under Marci Molina |
“Let us dig in our gardens and not be elsewhere;
Let us take long walks in the open air.
Let us bathe in the rivers and lakes.
Let us indulge in games.
Let us be more simple:
simple and true in our gestures, in our words,
and simple and true in our minds above all.
Let us be ourselves.”
– Robert Linssen
Posted by Susan Bradford on March 22, 2012 under Susan Bradford |
In early January, I decided that I would make a mandala for each of the four seasons, and that I would complete each one during the actual season it represents.
True to form, I finished the one for Winter on the first day of Spring. OK, so I was one day late, but I think that’s not bad. And the weather cooperated with me totally. Here on Orcas, it was a gray, cool day, with high, howling winds. A perfect day to sit down with a hot cup of tea and, work in the small, tight way that these mandalas demand. A perfect day to finish this project that I have been pondering, doing sketches for, and finally drawing for almost three months.
It was the kind of blustery day I have been longing for all winter. We have had a pretty mild winter, with not enough of the drama that I look forward to so much. No loss of electricity since Thanksgiving. No cancelled plans. No sense of that deep quiet that I count on for renewal. No compelling reason to rest.
It has been a challenge to sit down and find that place of deep winter stillness within myself, and even more of a challenge to figure out what that “looks” like. Isn’t the whole concept of stillness the absence of imagery? How could I make something that is still and visually interesting at the same time? Within that challenge, I got to a place of conditional peace. Within my busy mind, I willed stillness to come to me. I breathed it into my yearning heart. I wanted this mandala to be dark and a little mysterious as I perceive winter to be. But of course, I wanted it also to reflect the promise of light and warmth both inside and outside my true self.
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