Thoughts and projects


I think the knitting pattern looks so beautiful on the inside that I wish it could have been a reversible doll Today I’ve been working on an art doll while listening to this music we’re rehearsing at the choir.

 

I live on a very loud and busy street. We have a window facing the west so we can watch beautiful sunsets and at nights I can hear peacocks calling out from a neighbour’s house.

Top view of the bottom of the doll's body, made of a very tight knit and seed beadsNight time is by far the best, it’s the only time close to something peaceful, because there are still noisy cars at night. But usually the temperature drops and it’s  pleasant.

The picture on the right is a part of the doll’s body, I was actually attempting to catch a view of the inside which is very pretty -as well as the outside of course- although the interior will no longer be visible once the body has been sewn up.

The picture on the left is the bottom part of the body and the faces are 2 of my favourites, I finally made up my mind and will use the one on top for this doll.

I’m always thinking about so many things while I craft.

Handmade and hand painted doll face over the knitted and beaded body on the making

Last Friday during Latin class this verse by Sor Juana came up:

En perseguirme, mundo, ¿qué interesas?
¿En qué te ofendo, cuando sólo intento
poner bellezas en mi entendimiento
y no mi entendimiento en las bellezas?
In hounding me, world, what do you gain?
In what do I offend you, if I only seek
To put things of beauty in my understanding
And not my understanding in things of beauty?

And it’s been going around my mind for several reasons. The first one is that when I listen to 17th century songs in Spanish I can’t help to think about her because she contributed a great deal to some of the most beautiful 17th century Mexican songs, which brings me back to beauty.

While I can’t say that I fully understand the true meaning of her verse I do feel that I’m constantly seeking to understand everything I’ve seen and experienced in life. I also feel that I’m permanently drawn to beauty and I look for it everywhere all the time.

I need to see it, touch it, kiss it, and to understand it and put it into objects or words.

the finished body looked like a glove's finger so I had to try it on my pinky!I love words, I need words to think and I would like to learn so many more and their meaning to be able to think and understand so much more than I do, to name all my feelings, so that I can say so much more and do it in a beautiful way.

To live a better life, a much fuller and meaningful one.

I draw most of my deepest feelings from my childhood, it was a time when I could feel very intensely. I had many hopes and dreams, the same ones I have today, I wanted to learn pretty much the same things, languages, music, poetry.

Sor Juana grew up not too far from where I did, but she had nicer weather (for my taste) than I did, because she was closer to the volcano Popocatépetl, and she also had the wonderful smell of the woods surrounding her. Sometimes I can’t understand why there isn’t a forest at my door and I feel perplex for a fraction of a second when I first open the door.

Close up view of the knitting, tightly crochetedI wish Sor Juana and I had known each other during our childhood, I keep thinking she would have been an extraordinary playmate because children can dream and create freely. The days seemed so much longer when I was a little girl, and the sky was darker at nights and the stars so much brighter.

I hope for really long and fruitful days, like those of my childhood.
I have a collection of dreams in my mind that I dreamed when I was a child (while asleep) and I would like to put them into handmade books, I also have poems that need to be worked on. I don’t know the process, I have so many unfinished projects wanting to take shape and surface.

I came across the next song while looking for blogs to link to my “Inspiring blogs” suggestions.
I liked the strings and the rythm felt exotic, like México must have been in the 16th and 17th century, a bit spicy, a bit classical, a blend of so many different expressions
This song left me with a dream-like feeling and I hope it may also make you dream :)


14 responses to “Thoughts and projects”

  1. I love the colors of this new doll… And I would love to see a handmade book filled with dreams from your childhood. That idea is so inspiring.

  2. Kira!!! I'm so happy to see you! :)
    I've been surfing your blogs. Thank you so much for your comment! ^^ I'm still working on this same doll, he seems to want to do a lot of things!

  3. My goodness — you have a beautiful blog! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I look forward to reading more of yours.

  4. Hi Karen! Thank you very much for your kind comment! I really appreciate it.
    I loved your post about the quilt you're putting together :)

  5. Hi Maggie! Thank you very much for your comment, I'm browsing your blog as I type this, you have beautiful pictures! :)

  6. Estuve escuchando las sugerencias musicales mientras leía tus reflexiones… muy buena música, la calma y la vital! También pienso que ya haces muchos de tus sueños realidad… y ya tu día es mucho más largo que la mayoría de nosotros… jajaja… tu creatividad es tan grande que te desborda, ojalá logres concretar los proyectos como deseas y lo muestres por acá… por ahora espero por el resultado de la muñeca… se ve todo tan bello, pero no logro hacerme la idea ya terminada! Un abrazo!

  7. Hola Alice
    ¡Me encantaron las mallas a gancho que le hiciste a los frutos de tu jardin y a los pesos para guiar tus enredaderas! :D

    Te agradezco profundamente tu comentario. La verdad espero estarlo haciendo, a veces dudo si en verdad lo hago o no.

    Hace algunos años me dijeron que tenía cáncer, no fué cierto, pero me puso a pensar seriamente en lo que estaba haciendo con mi vida.

    ¿Sabes? Creo que voy a escribir acerca de eso mañana, por lo pronto te dejo un enlace al set de flickr donde tengo fotos más actualizadas de éste muñeco :)

  8. Guau! acabo de ver el flickr…. te pasaste!!!! es precioso! con tantos y tantos detalles… es algo tradicional? o es solo tu creatividad? yo nunca vi algo así! bellísimo.
    Los zapallos colgando los coseché esta semana… se veían muy locos con el crochet… pero fue muy útil para sostenerlos.
    Espero tu post de mañana… un abrazo!

  9. ¡Hola Alice, qué bueno que te hayan gustado las fotos,me animan mucho tus comentarios! :)
    El muñeco no es algo tradicional que se haga donde yo vivo, es un intento de invento.
    No he comenzado el post que dije que iba a hacer, me da un poco de pena, aunque tal vez me atreva a hacerlo. Llevo varios días tratando de hacer uno con las nuevas fotos del muñeco, ojalá mañana lo termine o.O
    A los zapalloa acá les decimos calabazas :D los tuyos se veían súper lindos y originales, ¡nunca me habría imaginado algo así si no hubiera visto los tuyos! Otro abrazo y ojalá coincidamos un día por acá en el chat (:

  10. Well – you just went and did it – the title is yours! You are the Wizard of Whimsy ~ congrats! (in case my email wound up in a junk folder)

  11. Thank you so very much! I'm really thrilled!!! Gotta love an awesome title like Wizard of Whimsy!!! XD

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