It's me again, groovyholly, your host for Interview Tuesday this month (and next too!). I've featured a couple of my creative friends and I thought I would honour one of the most creative and encouraging people I know, my very own mother, susanna! She is not a blogger, but she is a talented knitter, spinner, textile artist, story teller and speaker. Nobody else has been such a great inspiration to me and has always been supportive of all my creative endeavours, just this weekend she gave me two bags full of old magazines, artsy postcards and used candy wrappers (collagers get this, nobody else does!). So without further ado, allow me to introduce you to my mother, susanna.
1) Could you please tell us
a little bit about yourself, your home, family, hobbies and interests?
Oh my goodness, where do I start? I am a work in progress,
ever learning, ever growing. I am back at school (again), well actually it’s seminary
not normal school, because I believe I am called to ministry. I am a mother, a
grandmother, a wife, a friend, a teacher, a counselor, a spinner, a knitter, a
gardener, a birdwatcher, a hiker (not enough lately), and a writer/book maker.
My home is a century
cottage in London Ontario (for the moment), but I may be commissioned to
another region. If so, we are hoping for something more rural, near trails,
maybe mountains and waterfalls. Then I will fulfill another dream and have a
dog (or two), some bunnies (jersey wooleys, angoras) and maybe even a couple of
goats (cashmere – so that I can spin their coats).
My family immediately is
me and my husband, Jeff – a marvelous nature photographer btw. Then together we
have 6 adult children – two in Dayton, Ohio (Tara, a nurse, is married to
John and they have 3 children, Lucas, 6; Noah, 4 ½; and Ann , almost the big
ONE )[these are Jeff’s children] – two in Windsor, Ontario – Holly who is
married to Kevin and has a 9 year old son, Hayden and Dan who just married Mal
last Saturday – two in London, Kate who has a (almost) 3 year old son, and Tony
who is partnered wth a sweetie named Stephanie. Kate is my knitting buddy and
Owen is Papa’s boy (Jeff is Papa). We don’t see any of them enough, but when
everyone gets together it is wonderful – lots of teasing, lots of laughter,
lots of new memories.
2) Who was the person that
influenced your life the most as a child growing up?
This is going to sound pretty weird to most of your
readers, Holly, but first “Aunt” Lexie at the boarding house where I spent the
first almost 7 years of my life and then when mum remarried and we moved away,
it was Jesus. I used to talk to him like he was a friend sitting beside me. I
have very fond memories of church since I was 2, so perhaps it isn’t as weird
as it sounds because with an imagination like mine and all those songs,
pictures, verses and stories he was likely more real than anyone else to me.
Next it would be
teachers. I loved school! It was a place where I could shine. I especially
remember Mr. Willford (he’ll forgive me if I misspell his name) He taught me
second grade and then art for the rest of my elementary school years. At that
time, most little girls wore those smocked dressed with the sashes that tied in
the back and we would untie them just to go up to his desk so that he could
retie them. Mr. W. never rushed me in art and he seemed to understand that I
had to do things “just so” or I wouldn’t be pleased with the result. In grade 8
(eighth grade to those sound of the border, well, north if you count Detroit,
but I digress…) I did a stained glass portrait of Jesus with a crown of thorns
– he let me work on it when I had the rest of my work done so that I could get
it just right and it hung in the gymnasium art display for years. I think he
gave me permission to be me, and the art was just a part of that.
3) What are some of your
passions? How did you discover your
talents?
Story telling is one and I’ve been doing that since I was
a wee girl. I sewed and knit since I was tiny too. I also love the feel of
fleece and the smell of it and the way it takes up a dye – I just did a batch
with marigold flowers and it turned out so nice. I’ll knit me some mitts and a
hat and maybe felt it and embroider it; the colour will always remind me of
summer even when the winds blow cold and the snow whirls around and pulls at my
hair. I won’t cringe or complain cause I’ll be warm in woolens. Threads, yarns,
stitching…that’s a winter pleasure for me.
Birding is something that
fills my heart with joy. Jeff and I have sat for hours over the past few days
and watched a pair of hummingbirds enjoying the trumpet vine at the back of the
deck. So that leads to hiking in the woods. Ahhhh, heaven. And I do believe
that heaven is here, there and everywhere.
4) Is there any special
place you go to, an area that fills your soul when you're running low?
Well, the back deck when it’s nice weather. I sat for over
an hour and worked on a meditation vest this afternoon.
Near to Owen Sound and
Wiarton the trails and some friends’ B&B (Kepplecroft – check it out – they
have the most wonderful gardens and a “stone henge”). I feel so at home up
there.
We visited North Carolina
this spring and I fell in love.
And when I’m low during
the school year I love to go sit in the chapel.
Lastly my study/studio –
surrounded by books, ink, pens, watercolor pencils… ahhhh focus susanna, focus.
5) How do you keep your
creative fires burning? Do you have any
tips you can recommend to the rest of us?
Tea is essential – but only if you actually have a tea ceremony and use
your best pot (I have a wonderful glass infuser that I get out for company and
a little thatched roof pot that I use just for me and one friend) and savour
the tea, think soothing thoughts.
Another thing that I do is to knit meditativel—tonglen
knitting I call it—where I pour prayer into whatever I am knitting and then
give it away to someone I will never know. Gets you out of yourself, you know.
You don’t have to knit, but tonglen meditation is wonderful. Each breath has a
word, a mantra and the focus you achieve is so freeing.
Reading. Reading. Reading. But of course, what you read
matters. There is great literature in all the genres from feng shui to art
therapy. And speaking of art therapy,
sometimes when you are stuck, you must just work. Writers have to just write. I
have written 4 full pages of “j” words on some days. I think it is Natalie
Goldberg who says, “keep the pen moving”. Eventually the jam will break and
then creative new ideas just jumble on through.
Another thing I like to do is visit a gallery or a book
store or even the library. Our little village library often has mini art shows.
Seeing the creativity all around you gets your fire going.
Lastly, a walk. I prefer a natural setting, but others
love the bustle of the city. I know that when I was in Windsor I would walk
from Riverside (near my house) to the University on a nice Sunday afternoon
with a friend. The endorphins and adrenaline mix to a wonderful boil and you
have to rush to your desk to get down all the great ideas.
Warning: most of the time, I try to steer clear of the
internet. It’s a trap for me – too tempting to just waste time playing some
silly game and then you feel worse when 3 or 4 hours fly by and you are still
no further than the bottom of that black hole.
6) Tell us about one place
on earth you would love to visit? Why do you want to go there?
I’m not much of a traveler. I’d like to get back to North
Carolina when I could stay a little longer. I’d like to be commissioned, so that
I can feel that I am settled for a time anyway. No there’s no place like home
for me. But … I almost forgot when I am working on the second phase of my
educational program I’ll have to go to Nova Scotia for 6 weeks in the summers
and I am looking forward to that – both for the change of scene and the
stimulation of new profs.
7) What has kept you
motivated on your journey?
Lots of times, it was my kids. Even in my darkest moments, I had to try to
pull myself up by my bootstraps. But not in a negative sense do I mean this;
they always were willing to humour me and play my games, laugh at my stories
and antics, be silly and share a cup of tea with me.
My strong connection to the Ground of All Being, I call
God has held me through some black times too. And even now, I can hear my mum’s
voice. We may have been miles apart theologically and philosophically and
certainly, intellectually, but when she was really being herself, she could
always make me laugh. And no matter how sick, sad, or angry she was, I could
always make her laugh.
8) What words of wisdom do
you have for those of us trying to find our passion, change careers, or just
plain do what we love?
Think it through, be certain that you know what it is that
you want, and go for it. I say this, not to discourage anyone, but because
there will be hurdles, obstacles, and times when it is far easier to just give
in, give up, and move on to the path of least resistance and if you have really
committed and know the whys and wherefores of your decision it can help you
through. Oh, and write it down! Put it where you can see it! Look at it every
day! And pray.
9) Where do you see your
life headed in the next few years?
By 2008, hopefully, I’ll have my own little flock (the people kind), a
church somewhere. I’ll still be in school, the program is called M.Div. in
ministry. And most Sundays you’ll find me in the pulpit or wandering among the
congregants sharing my learnings and leanings on “the Kingdom of God at hand”.
10) What's your favourite
quote?
I don’t have favourites, but I have lots of them that I
like for different occasions – here’s a few:
“Art, like life, requires
us to draw a line somewhere.” (words left on the blackboard of my classroom by
an art teacher at Village Green Community Church)
…writers do not write to
impart knowledge to others; rather they write to inform themselves. (Judith
Guest in her forward to Writing down the Bones, by Natalie Goldberg)
”You can safely assume
that you’ve created God in your own image…when it turns out that God hates all
the same people you do.” Anne Lamott
and last but not least…
“….laughter is carbonated
holiness.” ~ Anne Lamott, Plan B
I'm so glad I asked my Mum for an interview. I've learned so much about her. It's fun getting to know someone for who they really are, not just as your mom, I'm learning so much on this journey through adulthood. Hope you all enjoyed getting to know my Mom as much I as did. Thanks Mum. I love you! A special thank you to Jeff (my step-father and Mum's husband) for the great pictures. I couldn't find my Mum's photos of some of her awesome dolls and other artwork, so I used wonderful pictures that Jeff took.
