New Beginnings

I am gearing up for the fair. Londa and I have two booths which we will share. Paintings, drawings, and jewelry, that pretty much says it all.

I also have some books, in which I tore out the pages. Using strips of wood, I turned each book into a box. These boxes have a Scandinavian design, with little Nordic treasures. Sweden is also represented of which I am half. Half Norwegian and half Swedish. It is fun to try to find little treasures to put in these boxes and then decorate them.

I found some pine needles up north, which I am using to make a pine needle trivet, and small baskets. They take a really long time to make. You take six long pine needles which you find on the ground. They are brown, and they lay there like a soft carpet. The whole place looks like a cathedral, with the top of the pines reaching up into the sky. Thirty feet? Sixty feet? Sixty to nearly 150 feet, the Norway Pine is their source and is the state tree of Minnesota.

Six long pine needles are put through a tube. Some people use a cut straw measuring maybe 1.5 inches. The end of the needle cluster is then wrapped with wax thread and then coiled to make the base of the basket. Using a wax or tallow thread and a needle, you loop the thread stitching the coils together forming whatever your heart desires. There, now you know how to make a pine needle basket. You say Uffda Julie, I didn't understand any of that!

There is a lot of nostalgia for me now up on Minnesota Hill. Finding pine needles is just one part of it, grin.

I love making things. My brain seems never to shut down. In order to create, you need a clear head. I must be feeling good.

I have also decided to get back into oil painting. I painted with oils when I first picked up a brush, "or knife", which is how I paint oils. I maxed out my creative juice painting portraits, so I quit oil all together. It has been over 30 years since I opened one of those colorful tubes.

Well, I am going to return to my beginnings with a line up of wild horses running on a beach. The reflection of each horse is shown in the water beneath it, giving this panoramic place, with a glass like look. The pounding of hoofs, the spray of water splashing wide and high, the feel of speed, freshness, and massive power, will accomplish my purpose. I can almost taste this painting.

The fair is a place where I meet people, see old friends and make new ones. I love to get ice cream and hamburgers at the 4-H stand. Londa will be at the our booth during the day and I will be coming in around 5 and do the night shift. Wrapping wire rings is my usual thing to do, along with maybe whipping out a watercolor or two. I am always open to talk. Please feel free to stop at our booth. We will be looking for your smile.

Blessings.

Julie