This weekend we're listening to neighborhood fireworks + also listening to Ibram X. Kendi + Jason Reynold's Stamped: Racism, Antiracism + You. We're eating a rustic, blueberry tart + also taking recipe inspiration from Jamie Oliver's 5 Ingredients: Quick Easy Food. (There is quite an index here as well.)

A red tailed hawk has been living in our neighbor's tree for about a month (it's impossible to ignore its loud squawks or the squirrels' + birds' frantic warnings to each other). It swoops + sails inches from our windows some days. 

A little decluttering motivation.
​Sacred place...never willingly relinquished.
We need the storm, the whirlwind + the earthquake.
​The beauty + resilience of our people.
Made in the USA.

May this weekend inspire us to fight for recognition of the injustices this country is founded upon + to fight for the inclusion of every one in our efforts toward freedom, justice + our collective happiness.

Love,
Jane

This weekend comes after a heavy week. I'm looking forward to feeling the sunshine on my skin, to moving my body, to making smoothies + to hugging my people this weekend. 

If you care about the working poor, racial justice + climate change...
Evidence that individuals can take action out of altruism + integrity.
For the visually inclined...maybe start here? 
The answer has to come fast, if it's going to come at all.
Culture's got jump leads on my consciousness...sending signals that are not helpful.
​Darkness has its teachings. Love is never leaving.

Hope your weekend offers a little taste of sunshine + warm breezes! Be gentle with yourself.
Lots of love,
Jane

There are a lot of feelings to be had right now. What feels so pressing + all encompassing one day can feel distant the next. One thing is for sure...we can all share love + hope + light with another. This is meaningful + good + life sustaining work. 

We have the ability to change our narrative whenever we choose.
Benefits from a small hobby.
Thirty-four more rollbacks in progress.
​Hope is a non-negotiable.
A rational evaluation of cost + benefit.
So much to gain.
You're like a real rockstar to us.
​Quarantine quarters.

Have a lovely weekend, friend.
Love,
​Jane

I had a conversation with my sister today. When she asked me what's new with us, there was a pause...and then we both just laughed. In a way, we are blessed to have no exciting news to talk about. Our families are healthy, and we have an income. 

Until the last day or two, the weather has been cold + rainy...so I hadn't been venturing outside much or felt too productive. I have managed to read + watch a few things that I enjoyed. This sort of thing is usually the stuff of a weekend dispatch, but what constitutes a weekend has blurred a bit lately...so...

:: a case for making paint 

:: connection + motivation    

:: mrs america (related...I learned that I greatly admire Shirley Chisholm from this)

​:: exposing holes (again)

​:: like a cathedral  

Lovely photos via links.

Love,
Jane

Honestly, I'm not sure what attracts me more to Ruth Asawa...the undulating shapes of her wire sculptures or the photos of her surrounded by her children as she works. Both Ruth's work + her life have an artistic quality about them that just seem to touch my soul. 

I've been thoroughly enjoying this book about Ruth's work + life. She training at Black Mountain College under Josef Albers who encouraged his students, "Open your eyes and see." Albers prized work and repetitive process over self-expression, believing that self-expression would be the natural outcome of the creative, hands-on process. Words + concepts like these make me stop reading often to write in my journal...and will inform my view of making art going forward. ​

Molesworth says of this photo by Imogen Cunningham, "In Cunningham's picture the central female figure is neither allegorical, nor is she a 'typical' mother. She is neither exclusively concerned with her children, nor is her identity as an artist in any way at risk. Rather, what the picture makes abundantly clear is that Asawa fully inhabits the role of artist and mother with seeming ease, without sacrificing one modality to the other. This interests me deeply, for it seems to offer a way out of the impasse of thinking that motherhood (and by extension other forms of labor historically gendered female) is either antithetical to being an artist, or is not a form of labor equal to the labor of being an artist."

Amen.

Love,
Jane

This rings true for me, + I appreciate that it highlights habits to nourish.
No safety measures in place.
Like many environmental proposals now, the bill is facing strong opposition from the executive branch.
Indigo.
​Climate change has become a defining factor.
​Buy + sell secondhand fabric online. (I'll add this one to the fair fabric post that can be found linked at the bottom of the ethical brands page for future reference.)
California, Oregon + New York...

After a trip to the fabric store this week, I think I'll be doing a little bit more sewing this weekend. We're also looking forward to spending some time outside in the springlike temperatures. Happy Leap Day! Hope your weekend is full of lovely moments!

Love,
​Jane

Reading :: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse + Fibershed by Rebecca Burgess
A favorite meal lately :: curried vegetable soup with jasmine rice
Also :: trying not to let frigid temperatures keep us from leaving the house

Working with what she has.
When we restore our attention, we make better decisions overall, and for the earth.
France is doing it. China too.
If we don't give it a try, who will?
​Car-free by design.

Enjoy the weekend, friends!

Love,
Jane

Often, by the time a book I put on hold arrives at my library, I've forgotten how I came across it. All About Love by Bell Hooks stands out as the book Brene Brown referenced in the piece I mentioned yesterday. It does not disappoint.

​Minimalist health.
A very good use of my time.
Sustainable.
Identity crisis.
Don't buy it if you don't need it.
A simple wardrobe.
Use what you have.  :)

Yesterday we wished we could send our rain to Australia. Today snowflakes are falling outside our windows. Wherever you find yourself this weekend, take good care of the world.

lots of love, 
Jane

Love is the only sane + satisfactory answer to
the problem of human existence.
~Erich Fromm
(via this read that I loved)

Not only are the photographs in Making a Life beautiful + transporting, but the words of the artists are thought provoking + stretching. This is a book about the why of making rather than the how. 

Simplicity often prods me to think about the necessity of objects being made + where sales come into the picture. Yes, I receive value from creating beautiful things, but do those things have value in + of themselves? Do they have value if they are not necessary? How much stuff do I need to bring into this world? 

At the same time, what do I lose by not making?