Looking

Grid of mesh © Karen Thiessen 2011

This week I started going through Corita Kent & Jan Steward's book Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit. Corita Kent (1918-1986) was a nun, an artist, and a teacher. Her book features many of the exercises that I learned in my foundation art courses, but I am learning that it is good to return to the basics now and again. Sandra Brownlee returned to the fundamentals during a ten-year hiatus from active weaving and it restored her soul and reinvigorated her studio practice. Monkey see, monkey do.


Yesterday was a snow day. A storm came through and dumped a foot of snow. Shovelling was vigorous and fun and with perfect packing snow and I was tempted to make a snow fort. Instead, I made a big pot of carrot, sweet potato, and ginger soup before heading to my studio. Sister Corita's "looking" exercises were in my head as I worked in the studio.