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How creating works by hand opens the mind, establishes a sense of self and brings peace.

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Turner Houston

A woman with a deep curiosity about everything on earth--really, everything: how paper is made, what life is like for honeybees inside their hive, where wind comes from, how people choose what they do in their lifetimes--everything. Creativity is central to who I am: photography, writing, cooking, pottery, soap-making and, yes--knitting (but weird knitting, not "your mother's knitting.") So it makes sense that I should try to understand the magic of creativity and why it confers such gifts to those who make things...

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Seen, Tasted, Read, Liked

Shows, Sites and Galleries:

We Are Made of Stories: Self-taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC; July 1, 2022 – March 26, 2023

This deeply inspiring exhibit traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and bold self-definition became major forces in American art.

The blog of Báyò Akómoláfé

An African futurist, Yoruban healer, and amazing philosopher imagines a world I—we—cannot yet see. Such beautiful writing—every sentence an inspiration. Learn from him. “I am quite confidant… that there is a path to take that has nothing to do with victory or defeat: a place we do not yet know the coordinates to; a question we do not yet know how to ask.”

The blog of Kelly Kilmer, Artist and Visual Art Teacher

Kelly Kilmer is a traveling painter and a virtual mixed media instructor. She writes and teaches about: •Acrylic Painting• Art Journaling• Collage• Books• Film• Trees• Being a Citizen of the World and a Wanderer.

Craftiest Project of the Month: Make Your Own Fall Luminaries
Recently, I made some decoupage vases that were a LOT of fun. These fall napkin luminaries make use of pretty fall and Halloween paper napkins that you can find at dollar stores, big box stores, and even the grocery store. Really easy to do and QUICK.

Movies: Uncle Frank (Prime Video)
In 1973, when Frank Bledsoe and his 18-year-old niece Beth take a road trip from Manhattan to Creekville, South Carolina, for the family patriarch’s funeral, they’re unexpectedly joined by Frank’s lover, Walid. Directed by Six Feet Under’s, Alan Ball, this film was a pleasure to travel with and to watch.

Books:

The Sweetness of Water, by Nathan Harris
This story of the parallel lives of emancipated slaves, poor farmers, and wealthy plantation owners in Georgia during Reconstruction gave me a deeper understanding of the divisions between peoples that are emerging again in the present day. “Equal parts beauty and terror, as gripping as it is moving, The Sweetness of Water is an epic whose grandeur locates humanity and love amid the most harrowing circumstances.” Astonishingly, this was Harris’ debut novel, one of Oprah’s Book Club picks and one of President Obama’s favorite books of 2021.

Tasty + Good Recipes:
Warm Lemon Pudding Cakes, recipe by www.onceuponachef.com: My mother used to make these treats for dessert, and called them “Neither Cake Nor Pudding.” They are in fact BOTH cake and pudding, with a layer of lemon cake suspended over a warm, creamy, lemon pudding below. Easy to make and can be “showified” by making this in a bunch of little ramekins.

The Best All-Season Chocolate Fudge: [I’m leaving this recipe here for a longer time as a public service. This stuff cures what ails you!] What is it about chocolate fudge—especially fudge from See’s Candy? It’s very chocolate-y, nice and “grainy,” and you can’t stop eating it. So, since we are stuck in Purgatory for a while, why not make up a batch of an imitation from KeyIngredient, and eat it all yourself?

About

Turner Houston

A woman with a deep curiosity about everything on earth--really, everything: how paper is made, what life is like for honeybees inside their hive, where wind comes from, how people choose what they do in their lifetimes--everything. Creativity is central to who I am: photography, writing, cooking, pottery, soap-making and, yes--knitting (but weird knitting, not "your mother's knitting.") So it makes sense that I should try to understand the magic of creativity and why it confers such gifts to those who make things...

View Full Profile →

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