comfort

I admire this picture everytime I use my phone. It makes me so happy to see my babies so loving and sweet. I wonder where they get it from? In many ways, my little brother Andrew and I are alike. One thing we have in common is our sensitivity to the 'outside world'. We tend to cacoon ourselves, carefully avoiding the ugliness and sensationalism that plague our society. Everytime I hear about something terrible, it seems like all I can do is think about it for days and days, wishing I were more useful. Of course that is a fairly depressing line of thought, but is unavoidable when you make pretty things for a living and the world is in need of heroes. So, Greg and I try to use our skills in creating beauty for good. We are very pleased to have contributed 300 dollars from our last two shows to help the tragedy in Japan. Greg has spent a lot of time on the road these past couple of months, which means my studio time diminishes quite a bit. He is so nice to take Max for a few hours to let me have some time to myself. I took this pic from the top of my studio stairs, after spending a pleasant afternoon making a little teddy bear. I guess they wore temselves out! I made this bear from a pattern I found on an etsy store called The Old Pincushion. I was inspired to sew it after gazing at vintage Steiff bears I saw at a toy show. They felt different, sturdier, heavier, with jointed limbs. I've always found stuffed animals charming, a sweet symbol of childhood innocence. It was a tactile pleasure working with the fur, cotton stuffing and wool felt. This was my first creature and I have a feeling I'll be making more.