Sunday, November 30, 2008

The Unexpected Farm

Adrian's cold from a few weeks ago finally caught up with me so I spent the long holiday weekend feeling miserable and whiny. By Sunday I was starting to feel a bit better so I spent the day finishing up my BJP page for November while curled up on the sofa and enjoying a Harry Potter movie marathon. I finished sewing the backing on the piece by the time Harry had defeated the dementors, rescued Sirius and rode off on his Firebolt.It seems as if my November page took a very long time to complete. Probably because it's sort of an extension of my beading in October or I should say my lack of beading in October. I was in a terrible blue funk for the entire month, depressed and stressed over the cost of groceries, the economy, the impending election and a whole list other things. I started and abandoned three separate pieces of beading. I desperately struggled to bead about the autumn landscape in October, something that usually brings me great joy. It's my favorite month here in Minnesota and I usually spend it camping and hiking and enjoying the gorgeous fall colors. But my heart was just not into beading about it and by the end of the month I decided to put October's beading away for a while and get a fresh start on November. With the election over, I began to think more positively about the future and I was able to shake the gloom and anxiety that I felt in October. For my November BJP page, I wanted to bead about the farmlands of Minnesota. I was thinking about the harvest and Thanksgiving and gratitude for all that the land provides for us. I envisioned beading a stark oak tree with rows of fields behind it. I wanted to convey a sense of closure of the growing season. So I began my beading and guess what? The piece fell totally flat. It was boring and ugly and I hated it. At this point I began to panic and I was worried that I'd never be able bead anything again and that I'd have to hang my picture in the BJP hall of shame. I know, I can be a total drama queen, but it thankfully doesn't last very long. So I took a deep breath and bravely started over. I laid one bead down, and then the next one and the next one. Before I knew it, my piece was coming together in a most unexpected way. It looked absolutely nothing like what I'd imagined and it seemingly had nothing to do with farmlands or harvest or anything that I had originally intended. But I liked it anyway and I kept at it, adding row after row of beads until one day I glanced at the almost completed piece and there before my eyes emerged something totally and completely unexpected:A crazy, funky beady farm! I saw beady rows of crops and beady barns and strange shiny silos and beady rows of trees. I saw bee hives surrounded by clover, a crazy round chicken coop and apple trees heavy with fruit. It was a birds eye view of a busy little farm! Okay, so maybe it's a farm that you'd see after walking through a field of poppies on your way to Oz, but it's my farm and I love it. It's the farm that I will one day live on and it makes me insanely happy. This crazy funky unexpected farm may not represent any farm that you'd see in real life, it's more like a landscape from my imagination. It's a place that builds and nurtures and grows for the future. A place where you can be thankful and smile with gratitude for all of the wonderful unexpected joys that life brings.

15 comments:

Tracey Leeder said...

GORGEOUS!!!!! Pam this is spectacular. I can see why you think it looks like a farm, because it does! I can see it too. I love your colors. It is fall completely. I am in the same funk this month that you were in last month. I just dont like my page and frankly dont want to finish it! I know I need to pull myself up by the boot straps (if I had any) and keep going. I will get it done, but I dont have that cant wait to see it finished attitude. I love your piece, you should be very proud!

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

Pam
First of all regarding your comment on BJP..there is NO such thing as too much coffee!

Your beading is exciting. Yes, exciting to me because I am a new bead embroiderer. I want to learn what you do. Laying down beads in a swirl of activity. I love it.

Brenda said...

This is beautiful, the colors, the shape, the movement.

abeadlady said...

Double Wow! Pam, this is stunning! Not only did you use my favorite colors, but the beading is exquisite. Nice comeback from last month's funk.
Arline

Sue Thomas said...

It is truly beautiful, Pam!!!! I hope you're feeling better!!!!!!

a2susan said...

Your piece is stunning! I love everything about it, and am glad it came together for you in the end. I think that part of the process of creativity is the fits and starts of working on something and you have to keep at it until it feels right.

pam T said...

LOL! I love your cowgirlese (?) and I really love your November page - the colors, the whole beady farmland! I love your whole story to go with it, too! this is stunning, and nope, your pic shall not hang in the BJP Hall of Shame. definitely not! :)

Penny said...

This is beautiful and shows that beading has to come from the heart through the hands.

Dee D said...

What a beautiful piece

beadbabe49 said...

I loved the piece but I love it even more after hearing your story about it...and incidentally, there is NO BJP hall of shame, lol...this may be the only shame-free site on the web, thanks to the ever-gentle, always forgiving robin A.!

Sabine said...

Very, very nice, indeed! The accompanying text is perfectly in keeping with the beautiful piece.

Sabine

Robin said...

This is just about as wonderful as it possibly can get!!! I love it!!! Totally!!! I love your interpretation of it, and can recognize all the aspects of bird's eye farm that you mention. Ordinarily I discourage participants from "starting over," but in this case it seems you made a very good decision. Yay!!!

Do you know the other Twin City BJP members? They get together sometimes to bead... You might enjoy meeting them. Brenda, who commented above, is one of them.

I'm so proud of all the Twin City BJPers!!!

Robin A.

shebaduhkitty said...

I think it is wonderful and the rows due lend themselves to the farm idea. I makes me think of when you are flying over the middle states and you see lots of little farms next to eachother.

Padparadscha said...

It's a very beautiful piece. It seems just like Harry Potter you defeated the dementors :o)

heidibeads said...

This is absolutely wonderful! I'm glad you worked through it because it is really wonderful. You should be proud. I hope that your mood improves, I think we all have gone through the grocery, gas, economy blues and are working our way out. Love Harry Potter, too. Keep beading -