My Dear Friends!
We have Arrived at the last 3 months of what has been the most Astounding, Remarkable, Chaotic, Mystifying, and Grace filled year of our entire lives……I am choosing the word “Grace” because of the many people who “Rose to the Top” like Cream to help people in need. My Heart has Swelled with Pride at the Kindnesses of Communities and Collapsed in Grief at the Horrific Injustices and Struggles…we have been tossed around on a WILD Sea of Turbulence….and yet, we continue to endure and overcome all the obstacles……this year has been a real testament to Human Resilience, Kindness, and Courage on every level imaginable…
I continue to believe That Creativity is one of the most important gifts we have, and can give out to the world at this time. Helping and Inspiring others to find their gifts and their “magical power” in this world, one day at a time…….
One of the “Magical” things I did this year was to create 2 new gardens in our immediate “backyard living space”.
The first garden is a Rose and Dahlia Garden. I have not grown Roses in 40 years and I never grew Dahlias. It’s a very simple affair with 9 rose bushes and 13 Dahlias….we live in the middle of a Pine Forest at 4000 feet with Herds of Deer and Trots of Turkeys migrating through our property on a continuous basis…we also have a number of hanging Chimes and a large Red Healer (still young at 4 years old) that has kept the Rose and Dahlia garden intact.
The Second garden is a “Dye Garden” a small 12 X 12-foot space where I am growing an “odd species” of Geranium from bulbs, Raspberries from My Sisters Garden in Woodinville Washington, Lavender, Coreopsis, Rudbeckia, Flax (1 plant), 1 Echinacea, Madder, and Japanese INDIGO (Persicaria Tinctoria)
…I have been dyeing with Indigo since 1990. 2020 is the first time I have ever grown it….and OMGODDESS! what an incredible DELIGHT it has been….for those of you who have taken my Indigo classes in the past, I always liked to read the story in the back of Yoshiko Wada’s Shibori book about the Husband and Wife Indigo Farmers…it was such a poignant story and the idea of Indigo being a “way of life” always seemed so beautiful to me…
These two simple gardens brought me so much joy in the course of this wild and chaotic year…The real “beauty” of these two gardens is that every plant in them can be used for Botanical Printing and/or dyeing. (Roses and Dahlias included)
This year with the Pandemic and “stay at home” mandates showed me it was time to make some changes about the way in which I wanted to teach and inspire others in 2021. I have completely revised the Dreamtime Atelier portion of my Website and distilled it down to a simple “essence”. www.melissaarnoldtextiles.com
I am still not ready (or willing) to do “Virtual” learning. The important part of teaching is being in contact with people and being able to share the energy of the moment. The Creative Processes I teach are so “hands on” that I am stubbornly refusing to do it any other way…. (at this time.)
For 2021 and beyond, I am offering some new and exciting workshops in the processes I have been exploring in my own personal creative evolution/journey for the last 2 years.
Each workshop offering is an “Exploration” on “what happens if” stepping outside our comfort zones and shifting perspective……always inspiring, joyful, meditative, and a delight to the heart.
Our current world is in an uncertain place, no one knows what our future holds, or how we go forward from here. I am refusing to let that “Fear” of uncertainty guide me in these times, and 2020 has been my year to do exactly what my heart has desired to do……. Engage daily in creative explorations and putting as much Beauty as possible back out into the world.
I was asked to do an Interview with Chris Zielski at www.makesomethingmeaningful.com She found me on Instagram and I am so honored to have the moment to talk about my work.
I wish you all a very safe and healthy remainder of 2020 and a very positive and joyous 2021 and beyond!
Blessings to you all,
Namaste,
melissa