Heat Is Good

"What's a guy thinking, I asked somewhat impolitely, when
he's painting virgins in the dim former strip club light of a
Pittsburgh January, in what's essentially art for art's sake?

'I was thinking I'm glad the place is heated,' he said."

The above quote is from an article written about artist Jim Levendosky from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. My husband and I met Mr. Levendosky last summer, during a trip to northern Maine. Each year, Levendosky rents space in Eastport, Maine and fills it with his art. When not selling art in Maine, he drives around the U.S. in a ramshackle truck filled with his work. He gave Erik and I two articles written about him with the scrimshaw-inspired resin piece we bought. The articles summarize the life of a person who doesn't exactly seem to fit anywhere in particular except where his art is. The idea of living perpetually surrounded by what you love inspires me and, to be honest, makes me feel a bit envious.

I've been filled with lots of questions recently about the direction of my working life. I am a mental health clinician by trade, originally trained in expressive arts therapy. A few days ago, I passed a big, awful (thought truth be told, not so awful) exam in order to become independently licensed in my field. I'm immensely relieved that the studying, worry, and exam have ended, but I'm questioning continuing work in the field. What career is in the middle of driving around the country in a truck full of art and a 9-5 day job? While I'm figuring that out, I'm going to take some advice from Levendosky and be glad that my place is heated.

While I've been battling with this evolving existential crisis, I've been trying to hold up the creative end of the bargain. The purchase of a tablet computer inspired me to make a case for it--which I planned out in my brain weeks before actually owning the tablet. I used felt, cardboard, fabric glue, and embroidery thread. First, I measured and cut out 4 book ends, using cardboard from a box in our recycling bin. I then measured and cut out 4 pieces of felt needed to cover the boards. I glued the felt, front and back, to the cardboard using fabric glue (AMAZING stuff). I left approximately a 1/4" border so that I could sew the edges together. I used a blanket stitch, which I learned to do from a post from the Futuregirl Craft Blog. For the back flap, I cut out two triangles from a different color of felt in order to create a way to hold the tablet in place inside of the case. I attached the triangles to the back cover of the case with a blanket stitch. I then measured and cut out a strip of felt for the binding of the cover. I glued the strip equidistant between the two covers. In order to make a closure for the case, I sewed a spare button I had to the center right edge of the front cover. I cut out a smaller strip of green felt, made a slit in it, and then glued a small portion of it to the outside of the back cover. And voila!  From start to finish, this project took me between 3 and 4 hours, mostly due to the time it took to learn the blank stitch and sew the pieces together.

Other than the tablet case, I've been crocheting away. below are the results of the past few weeks. I've been working on a yoga mat bag, and will post the end results of that project soon. As for other crafty news in the world of Soul Glue, I reclaimed a giant binder I had filled with study materials for the above-mentioned exam and made it into a fabulous craft project book. Now all patterns, pictures, and random ideas for crafts I have gathered over the years have a centralized home. They're making friends. It's neat. Anyway, I am going to endeavor to make another Soul Glue post this week, and maybe even attempt to begin selling some items on Etsy--I'll keep you posted on that one.

Yay for cowls!!