the why

why?

"Art is something that helps me overcome my weaknesses and face the world with a sense of hope" Yayoi Kusama

With my husband retiring this coming May, my original plan was to get some job and continue to pretend the best I could that I am a functioning adult. A couple of months ago I was trying to figure out how to contain all the ideas I wish to share with the world through my beloved (to me) little column in Cloverdale Connect, which I did for 5 years. As the paper continues to grow - which is AWESOME - I realized I couldn't do it anymore and was trying to figure out how to let it go and ease into the next chapter of being more responsible, getting a job, blah, blah, blah. I caught my reflection in the glass as I was sitting at my desk one night and thought to myself, you silly girl, that will simply not do. I noodled on it a bit and decided, if not now, when and decided it was time to launch a website where I could continue to share ideas on creativity without the limitation of space, or to be frank "rules."

It is simply too long and boring of a story to retell, but my husband and I had already renamed the little casita my mom had lived in for 6 years SPeS, an amalgamation of nicknames for one another. On a lark I looked up what "hope" translated to in Latin as I am obsessed with Latin words and to my delight; hope in Latin is in fact spes. I am not kidding. I literally just looked it up again as insecurity of looking like a total tool reared its head as I doubted the memory and yes, it is in fact spes. Going further down the rabbit hole as I have a tendency to do, I decided to see if SPeS Cloverdale's Creative Corner was available as a domain name and sure enough - it was. Credit card out faster than when the nursery has a sale, I locked it down and planted the first seed. As the insecurity of what in the F did, I just do, tried to rear its head I channeled the support my husband Brodie has poured into me for the past 10+ years and smiled.

Now I should point out here as I am sure it will become blindly obvious; I have never created as full of a website that I wish to do here. There will be mistakes. It will take time to develop each of the sections I wish to give life to. I ask anyone who checks it out to remember it, like me, is a work in progress. But before I dive into the mistake's abyss, I shall attempt to explain the why. We are all currently living, surviving and muddling through the sh*tshow that the world has been since 2020, or rather, when we all got plunged into being made aware whether we wanted to or not, what was going on around us in this beautiful country. One of the side effects of being cut off from one's normal existence is that we get to discover or be smacked upside the head of the realities around us. The conversations with co-workers, school mates, neighbors that create such a beautiful diversion from the realities of life disappeared for a while. I did not realize how important the silly conversations I had with the gals at Goodwill or strangers in the line at grocery stores actually impacted my day. HUGE. So as recovery from those couple years of being cut off I found myself turning to art more and more. Not just as something to fill the time, but an outlet for whatever I was feeling at the time. I have managed to hold on to my child like whimsy, which I view as one of my best accomplishments in life, but I started to approach art like a child again. The difference this time? Mom was no longer in charge of the purse strings for art supplies and Brodie is not only also an artist but has the same impulse control issues I do - our tiny little room I had once used as a massage studio metamorphosized into what some might call an art supply center, warehouse, chaotic mess, you get the point. This long dormant part of my brain escaped the cage I had unconsciously created for it and was ready to play. What could be more fun than that for a creative soul? Sharing it with others!

This website will over time become a warehouse of creative ideas with more involved descriptions on how to make some of the projects I share and photos for those more visually inclined. There will be as you see buttons on the front page, spaces for art, blog, community, DIY projects, featured artists, shop & why not. We actively invite engagement and letting us know what you would like to see or how to make something - feel free to email cloverdalecreativecorner@gmail.com and share your thoughts and ideas - especially if you would like to be one of the featured artists! A reminder here for those who may have or continue to struggle with calling themselves an artist; this is a safe space and if you like creating and making then you ARE AN ARTIST. As I mentioned this will unfold over time because although my enthusiasm is high, I remain a 50+ year old woman who is continuing to learn technology and your patience is appreciated. At some point we will also be creating videos on how to make things as well and creating classes for people to participate if they have an interest.

For this first month my project I am working on is a quilt rack for dear friends of mine. Have I ever made a quilt rack? Nope. Perfect time to try something new! This project will undoubtedly span over the next few weeks as life continues to rear its head, but I shall post as I go! I shall be posting pics and random commentary on project under DIY projects.

To all in town Happy New Year and a huge thank you to Cloverdale Connect & in particular Dana, for including me back when the paper started. Let's see what we can do and make!!!

Christy Anne