Susie Monday

Artist, maker, teacher, author, head cook and bottlewasher.

Sign up here for monthly newsletters from me!

The art I make is the result of a life-long love of pattern, texture and color. How I teach is a skill honed by experience (I started teaching creative arts to younger kids when I was 12). After earning a B.A. in Studio Arts from Trinity University, I helped lead an internationally recognized educational foundation, designed curriculum exhibits for schools and other institutions, wrote and edited for a major daily newspaper, opened the San Antonio Children's Museum and then, a dozen years ago, took the scary but essential (for me) leap to become a fulltime artist and art teacher.

About This Blog

This weblog is about the maker's life. The teacher's path. The stitching and dyeing and printing of the craft of art cloth and art quilt. The stumbling around and the soaring, the way the words and the pictures come together. Poetry on the page and in the piecing of bright scraps together. The inner work and the outer journeys to and from. Practicalities and flights of fancy and fearful grandeur, trivial pursuits and tactile amusements. Expect new postings two or three times a week, unless you hear otherwise. 

To reach me, leave a comment after a post, OR email me at susiemonday@gmail.com 

 

To receive a notice of new posts in your email, scroll down this column to the end of the page and subscribe via FEEDBLITZ or add this blog to your own subscription service. You can search the blog with any phrase or word, by typing it into the seach window below:

Subscribe .. Or Write Me!

Subscribe to a email feed of this blog by filling in your email address in this box. Your email will not be sold or shared with others.


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz
 
  

This form does not yet contain any fields.
    Login

    Entries in play (2)

    Thursday
    Feb172011

    Pop-Up Adventure Playgrounds

    Doesn't this just make you want to go and play?

    "On October 3, 2010 as representatives of the New York Coalition for Play, we brought giant cardboard tubes, string, swaths of bright fabric, boxes, a broken set of blinds and lots more to host a Pop-Up Adventure Playground at The Ultimate Block Party in New York City’s Central Park.  Some of the adults who came were a little skeptical at what they saw as the mess and chaos of the place, but children immediately understood that it was for them.

    “You can do anything you want with anything here,” we said.  They gave one businesslike nod, then set to making a series of dens, thrones, obstacle courses and musical instruments.  They made new friends, and there, in the middle of the city, they made a beautiful ruckus.

    Over the day the crowds of children ebbed and flowed, cardboard cities rose and then were felled by play earthquakes.  Play was tidal, following its own rhythms and signals, producing eddies of deep and rich play.  Within the 17 x 81 ft. Pop-Up Adventure Playground, children created a thousand tiny worlds."

    I've been trolling around as I work on a resource book and report for the International Program SEED that I work with at Palo Alto College. I want to have one of these at my house (for grownups!).

    http://popupadventureplay.wordpress.com/example/

    Friday
    Apr092010

    Rest, play and work, from Martha Beck

    This came along in an email newsletter from Martha Beck just at the right time.

    Past experience has taught me that although we all have the same amount of time in one day of our lives, we can put a great deal of life in our days by re-establishing our natural rhythm. It's not about working harder, smarter or faster; it's about working in harmony. (Check out this month's telecourse below to get Terry and Susan's take on this issue)
     
    The rhythm of our essential selves is like almost every other rhythm in nature. It has two phases which I call "rest" and "play." When you rest in harmony with your essential self, you feel as drowsy and contented as a cat in the sun. Right now, look back on a wonderful lazy day in your past. Maybe you were falling in love or you just finished a huge project. For some reason, you've given yourself permission to just goof off.
     
    For the next ten minutes, give yourself that permission again. For me, it helps to pretend I'm in the company of "resting buddies." These are real people in my life with whom I've goofed off in the past. As I picture them, that energy of loving relaxation comes back easily. It can also help to be around an animal -- a horse, an iguana, or a dog -- who is just being.
     
    As you stay connected with your essential self through rest, there will come a moment when something piques your interest. You will want to get up and investigate, or you'll be thrilled by the idea of exploring some area of your life - familiar or unfamiliar. (For me, this often takes the form of something I want to write.)

    Hers is one of those newsletters I'm always happy to see in my inbox, and when I take the time to read it there is always a gem or two. Yes, sales pitches, too, but a girls gotta eat.

    Here's what I did in my 10 minutes.

    Stepped outside on the (windy) deck

    Watched the wind play in the cedars

    Thought about my blessings and made a gratitude list for the morning

    Noticed the spring green and the blue sky

    Filled up with the wild energy of the moving wind