What in East Dallas is going on?
Take a listen as the team from the podcast What in East Dallas is Going On “invaded my space” and we sat down with a cup of tea together. We had a lovely conversation about my artistic journey from England to East Dallas, emphasizing the transformative power of art for healing and self-expression. We also delved into my philosophy that focuses on unleashing play in adults through creative activities, promoting mindfulness and therapeutic benefits. Listen with the link below or listen on any of the streaming platforms where you listen to podcasts.
Broken But Beautiful
Anyone else going through cupboards and drawers? I’ve been finding some old pieces that just didn’t work and reimagining them. As I have been slicing papers and canvases into strips, cutting them into new shapes I have so enjoyed the colors and detail in a new way. Oscar Wilde’s famous quote “Life imitates art far more than art imitates Life.” has really been rattling around in my mind.
These new compositions have been hitting me on a deeper level. Pieces I’ve created in different seasons of life, sparked by different emotions, experiences and stages of life are now getting a new lease of life. Pieces ready for the recycling are being made new.
Even little scraps are not being wasted; this heart is like a mosaic of left-overs and cast offs. In this season of reflecting and making plans, may you be inspired to embrace your past mistakes and various ‘scraps’ and reinvent and re-envisage the year ahead.
May you know nothing is wasted and there is much beauty in brokenness.
Our Studio is in a magazine!
It was such an honor for our Studio to be featured in the October 2023 edition of the magazine Where Women Create.
The full article highlights the journey of finding our studio space and the journey of it becoming a safe haven, here is a brief quote from the article about the process of bring Rachel’s English roots into her Dallas studio:
“When we moved from England to Dallas a decade ago, we brought with us random treasures I had collected from various antiques shops and family hand-me-downs. Crystal went “shopping” through all of these materials at our home and the fun began. We incorporated some unique pieces made by a friend into the design, including a huge semicircle corkboard to display unfinished work, inspirations and ideas. It sits in full view and works well as a huge portfolio to show clients and designers as well as a reminder to me of the many ideas going on in my head…. While there is a space for me to work and create, I intentionally crafted a studio that welcomes others to come create with me. My hope is that those who come to my classes and workshops or are just visiting the studio to have a look around are given permission to play without the pressure of producing and to see where their own creative journey takes them.”
Follow the link below to read the entire article.
My Daily Prayer
Today, may there be fluidity in which I can move smoothly from the various roles of mother, wife, teacher, daughter and friend.
May there be moments of calm, space for my soul to know, I am more than what I can achieve and accomplish.
May there be peace, a day where no one is resisting the journey but where we balance out each other’s differences and support each other’s dreams.
May there be harmony-, where the notes of our lives, different but yet together, create beauty so that everyone shines.
And may today, I see glimpses of the heavenly, glimpses of gold in the faces of everyone I meet.
Amen
This small collection contains 7 pieces, each called a different day of the week. They are more than my daily prayer, they are my daily yearning- for balance, calm, harmony and intentional rest. Often my heart needs to see fully what it desires, it needs to get a vision of where I am longing to go. Often my hands need to express what my soul is crying out for, my biggest cry is a cry for patience- patience with others, but mainly patience with my own humanity.
Although each day is different, there are the same elements that repeat in each piece. Mixed media embodying the mixed ways of my life, the mixed roles, the mixed people I interact with, and the mixed places our lives take us. The fluidity of watercolor, the gentle brush strokes, almost showing a dance of many different steps. Hand-dyed wools and silks from flowers given to me during seasons of deep pain- pain coming through and popping up daily.
Hard course antique hessian, handed down string and vintage embroidery threads showing different stitches, like different moments in time- those moments that hold all the various appointments and places I need to be. And lastly gold thread, which for me is a mark of the heavenly and the the angelic.
My bold hope is that these pieces will continue to pray these longings, and inspire, refresh and hold moment of calm and balance for whoever walks past them