So many situations these days offer us reasons to be happy or sad, hopeful or fearful, grateful or resentful. You might even experience all of these feelings in a single day.

Today was to be the opening of Craft Boston Spring 2020. I was so looking forward to a wonderful weekend back in the Cyclorama with my sister/best helper Dulcie Flaharty by my side, connecting with friends old and new and being inspired by the creativity of artists from all over the country.

So today I am both happy for my memories of years past and sad not to be there now. But also grateful and hopeful. Grateful to my friends at The Society of Arts and Crafts for choosing the image of one of my necklaces for the show’s promotional postcard. (You can see a full image of the necklace, Meander II, if you scroll down on my One of a Kind Necklace Gallery page HERE.) The postcard never made it to the printers because, well, you know. But we live in a digital age. So there’s that. And I choose to be grateful.

And last but certainly not least… There are heroes out there in the world. Every day kind of heroes. Never more than today. More to be grateful for. And we will make it through this together. So I choose hope. Always hope. Please stay safe.

These are challenging days. My heart breaks for such loss of life and financial hardship for so many and I send out heartfelt sympathies to those who are struggling. By comparison, as the gallery opening and two juried shows I was looking forward to have been either canceled or postponed, losing the opportunity to share my work in person feels like just a temporary inconvenience. It is absolutely the responsible thing to do. I am, however, an eternal optimist. So I choose to believe that, mindful of the extraordinary personal loss for so many, the world will eventually return to some semblance of normal. And when that time comes, I hope to be back sharing my work in a manner more personal than on this website or on Instagram.

We all need to find some source of light in days that can feel so dark. Personally, pictures and videos of my children and grandchildren are the last things I look at before going to sleep and they give me the happiness and peace to rest. Professionally, I am spending lots of time in the studio. But for the first few weeks of self quarantine, I found that I needed to return to “mindless” knitting – a scarf, a baby sweater – the kind of soothing knitting I have done since I was a child. The urge to get back to my knitted jewelry is slowly returning. Ideas have once again begun to bubble up and it won’t be long before those creative voices will not be denied and I’ll return to “work” knitting.

But for now, I hope no one will take offense at my sharing what was a last bright, professional light for me as we entered into these times of concern and uncertainty. It was this necklace I made as a commission secured for me by my terrific gallery director Bruce Hoffman at Gravers Lane Gallery. A regular client had purchased a fabulous Sarah Nolan silk coat (pictured below, both front and back) and was interested in a necklace to wear with it. She admired my work in the gallery and asked if I’d be willing to design a piece for her to wear with the coat. She had fairly specific parameters but was fondest of another piece of mine that she asked I keep in mind when creating her necklace. I haven’t taken commissions in years because they too often resulted in work more to the client’s taste than mine. But the coat was so fabulous and the client turned out to be really open and excited about my preliminary proposal, so together we forged ahead. I was thrilled (and relieved!) to learn that the buyer is very happy with the result. So is the maker.

Please take good care everyone! We will make it through these times. All together.

Today, January 25, 2020, The Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, the country’s oldest non-profit organization promoting and supporting fine craft and the artists who make it, will close both its gorgeous exhibition space and retail gallery. The organization, facing harsh economic realities, has made a brave decision to step back and reassess the best way to move forward with its mission. In the interim they will continue to mount their two signature shows, Craft Boston Spring and Craft Boston Holiday. Please continue to support them and read this as a wake up call. The arts, all of the arts, need our support, now more than ever. Let’s all do whatever we can. No amount of support is too small.

On a more personal note, in 2007, in the very early days of my adventures as a new fiber artist, Craft Boston was the first high end juried show that invited me to exhibit my work. An emeritus board member even purchased a necklace. Her daughter later told me, “My mom has seen more fine craft than you can imagine. She loves your work and bought a piece saying that she’d never seen anything like it. Be happy!” That affirmation alone has fueled my resolve on days of doubt along the way. After a long foray into publishing designs, writing a book and teaching all over the country, I made the decision to return to full time studio work to attempt to gain entry into juried shows once again. And don’t you know that Craft Boston was the first show to welcome me back last year. I’ll be returning this spring (more about that in upcoming posts) and will be forever grateful to all those at The Society of Arts and Crafts for all they have done and will no doubt continue to do for artists everywhere. Thank you. And Onward!