Well it's been awhile since I posted something. When the "stay at home" orders came out in March 2020, I thought I would have all kinds of time to do stuff like clean the house, bake new things, create new art, and blog. But here we are 8 months later and well better late than never? Looking for Part 2- The making of a gnome? Scroll down and click on Gideon's picture.
Last year I started painting rocks for a local project, Sweet Buffalo Rocks. (You hide painted rocks with uplifting themes around town for folks to find, and if you get lucky they post them to the Facebook page.) Back in the summer I harvested 20lbs of rocks from our local beach to paint and there they sat until last week when I went sliding down the Pinterest rabbit hole looking for inspiration... and I found Gnomes!
So I started sketching some ideas and found I really loved drawing these little creatures. They are relatively easy for starters; big nose, floppy hat, floor length beard; but they all have unique personalities. Friendly & non-judgmental; a little disheveled, just a bit off kilter; perfect in their imperfectness. And just what I needed to distract me from the weight of all that is happening outside. Fast forward to that bag of rocks and the creation of Finneas, the first Gnome to move from sketch to rock.
Now it's post Thanksgiving and people are putting up trees and lights and I'm over here thinking "I should do that." and then "Man, that's a lot of work." Part of my personality avoids doing the same things twice and decorating can be one of those things. Once I see something as a task, my motivation runs in the other direction in search of an adventure. So back to painting rocks I went, then I remembered seeing a pin for a large outdoor gnome made from pine branches and BOOM! A decorating adventure has presented itself and I'm 110% on board. So I put my paints away and venture out on Black Friday to brave the Dollar Store. My quest, treasure in the form of cheap materials to create...you guessed it...Gnomes. Now a little bit about my creative process so hopefully you don't think I'm crazy. I get a grand, over the top idea and pair it with an insane need to spend as little as humanly possible to make it happen. I also love to break down the shapes and structure of things to see what will work. Hence most of my projects begin at the Dollar Store or a flea market. My husband says often "There is the right way, and then there is your way." Oh well, it's worked for 50+ years, so I see no need to change.
Now I know I need a cone shape (the original pine bough gnome used a tomato cage), material for a hat, something beard-like and a nose. (thankfully I remembered doing a soft sculpture project in middle school using pantyhose, fiberfill and a sock to make a cheerleader doll, so thank you Home Ec. for teaching me the particular life skill of nose sculpting.) Below is picture is what I found. Full disclosure, I struck out on the beard material, but luckily I had spent some significant time at JoAnn Ect. buying fabric for holiday masks, and remembered standing next to this incredible soft loopy yarn that was a doorbuster. So I went back and bought some. Everything else came from Dollar Tree.
Now what does this have to do with anything. Well when I craft, I am completely all in. No distractions, just all out creative processing. Creating something from pieces, parts and an idea is an exciting, frustrating, confidence-boosting, cathartic self-care experience. I think that's why I jump from project to project, always chasing that feeling. Creating, whether it is writing, baking, cooking, drawing, painting, gardening, or making something from nothing, forces you to focus and shut out the noise. It is something we all need to do much more often. We have to live our lives in moments, not tomorrows, next weeks or "when this is overs." If not, we miss so many opportunities to find beauty, to recharge ourselves and to appreciate what is right in front of us. One of my favorite quotes is "Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself." Pay attention to the moments that create you...Be in the Gnomement!
To see how I made my new Gnome friends see part 2 by clicking on the picture to the right (BTW...his name is Gideon)