I wholeheartedly believe that the world responds to each of our individual and collective acts, both concrete and abstract. The more good we emit, the larger the net positive and fewer negative impacts for us all. This goes for the smile you offer to the stranger you pass on the sidewalk, as well as the fossil fuel we burn, that in turn fuels extreme weather.
I was looking forward to sharing an update on the Harvard Square Oktoberfest in this month’s newsletter, but I didn’t end up drawing anything. The street chalk festival was canceled because of the Nor’Easter (a storm of high winds and soaking rain or snow for those of you outside of my area). I was already en route when I got the news, my teenager and friend in tow. The plan was to drop them off for a day of thrifting on my way to the festival. So, I naturally became their third wheel and even came home with a pre-loved woven cotton belt to replace the one I’ve been using for years (decades?) that is reaching the end of its usable life.
Thrifting is so important. It’s one piece in the circular economy, which is much kinder and gentler to the Earth than the status quo. If more of us lived more simply and thought about people and planet before profit, imagine our world. The new-to-me woven belt is a nice personal symbol to my recent return to woven sculpture with locally foraged fiber.
Art making with non-industrial materials helps me to minimize my own impact and conserve resources. I am currently working on a piece made of fiber from my own yard, including yucca, daylily and hosta (my three hyperlocal favorites). I am mentally experimenting how I can incorporate soy pig on linen with the weaving, but this might end up being a pure sculpture. I am following its lead as the piece develops and speaks to me. My deadline for it is mid November. It’s an interpretation of a Mobius strip with a worm hole. I’m just now realizing as I type that it mirrors the circular economy I seek. Stay tuned for developments…
For now, would you like to join me in the movement? I bet if you are reading this, you’re already a thrifter. How about curling up on the couch with a cup of tea to darn that pair of socks with the holes that have been in the back of your sock drawer for a year? (Next on my list.)
Until next time,
joç
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