Hone: Knowing And Maintaining A Tool

I use different scissors for different tasks in the studio just as I use a variety of knives in the kitchen. Practice informs me which tool works best for a particular task.  Experimentation increases the scope of usefulness for each tool I own. Recently, I have begun to regard my screen images as tools.  This set … Continue reading Hone: Knowing And Maintaining A Tool

The Beginning is Not The Starting Point

In the beginning.......God created.......In the beginning........was the Word...... In the beginning of 2016, I stalled out. In the midst of stacks of fabrics, committed projects, commissioned work, beckoning ideas, and pots of paint, I struggled to create a plan and to write a schedule that would contain and direct all these good things.  The elements … Continue reading The Beginning is Not The Starting Point

Chiseling The Craft of Business

There are many woodworkers on my family tree.  I have an appreciation for the medium and for the work.  It is my delight to have a local woodworker as a friend and business buddy. Ron Light creates wood furniture and accessories here in the Northern Shenandoah Valley.  About once a quarter we meet up in … Continue reading Chiseling The Craft of Business

Creativity, Irony, and the IRS

Creativity: CreativeSprint's prompt on day 8 instructs me to flip to a random page in a book at hand and make something inspired by the first sentence you read. Irony: the sentence is "Marry well," which I did less than 6 months ago.   The IRS?  As I cut out the rings for N and … Continue reading Creativity, Irony, and the IRS

Sister says “Share!”

Beth Nyland, my sister, chastised me when I hesitated to post some of my recent work. She said I needed to work on the discipline of sharing. Noah Scalin's Creative Sprint appeared as an opportunity to follow Beth's advice and to have some fun creating and sharing. Today the task was to make something that will … Continue reading Sister says “Share!”

Advent Interlude 3

Let every heart prepare him room. Some years, preparing room is as simple as changing the sheets in the guest room.  Other years, the room has been renovated.  But this is a year that requires an empty space. The tree is decorated.  Presents are wrapped.  Packages are shipped. I need this empty little stable with its one … Continue reading Advent Interlude 3

Update: Clerical Stoles for Smaller Budgets

In mid-September I posted about my studio challenge to design one of a kind artistic stoles at a more modest price point than my current work.  The solution must maintain the standards of construction that I use for the rest of my work. After I selected fabric from my inventory, I prepared each selection to be … Continue reading Update: Clerical Stoles for Smaller Budgets

Listening Together

The Terpening siblings met face to face in this month; we usually meet monthly via video calls. We talked about work environments.  We visited in Paul's workshop.  We discussed Beth's stand up desk. We are confident that for all of our days we will share creative chat, that we will listen to each others' creative journey.  … Continue reading Listening Together

A Year of Listening: Week 23

What it comes to is that anybody can win with the best horse. What makes you good is if you can take the second- or third- best horse and win. -- Vicky Aragon These few words evoke great connections for me: my daughter loving an odd little horse, my Grandma Alice combining the remains of Sunday … Continue reading A Year of Listening: Week 23