deborah fay

Hello Friends!

“A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”
― Virginia Woolf

(image: In Her Studio: Spaces and Stories of Creative Women, Aug/Sep/Oct Issue 2019)

“The answer really, is that in my quest to create and command a space of my own, I have been able to do so through the support and inspiration of other women. “
-Janice Lowry

(image: Where Women Create, Winter 2010, Janice Lowry studio)

(image: Where Women Create, Winter 2010)

(image: Where Women Create, Winter 2010)

When we make a commitment to listen and follow the heart’s compass, part of the process can be recognizing how long certain dreams have been sitting on the periphery of one’s life; waiting, waiting.  It is sobering to see the pages that I’ve had pinned to my bulletin board of Janice Lowry’s studio, a dream space (pictured above) ripped from a magazine I read 10 years ago.  A decade! True, each dream has its own timeline, but I admit to feeling saddened when I let myself think about what might have been if action had been taken sooner.  Still, the dream breathes and I am midwifing her into the world NOW.

Driving this dream is an increasingly obsessive need, in the last year especially- to make, to create actively with my hands, and to be with other makers.  There are the things I’ve made (mostly knitted pieces, but art journaling, too), the things that want to be made or at least played with (dyeing with natural elements, upcycled clothing, bags, jewelry; crocheting, felting, weaving, sacred tool-making, shrine building, mixed media canvas work, iconography painting, mixed media assemblages and always more books and journals….) and especially important, a place dedicated to the making itself.  Included and important too, the space would host- other dreamers to dream, makers to make, kindred spirits to be, healing practices, sessions, gatherings to transform. 

Getting out of the house is a burning priority.  To be within a nurturing, beautiful and supportive space that is mine isn’t a luxury, it is a necessity. Home loses it’s haven-ness and becomes a distraction (think laundry piles, mounds of dirty dishes, the empty cupboard that needs filling, parched plants desperate for watering, precarious stacks of stuff that overwhelm) leaching productivity, focus, inspiration…..it is the double edged sword of the home based self-employed, no? 

( more images from In Her Studio)

Working from home means battling the seductive lure of rabbit holes (think the BBC’s 5:30 pm newscast, in my case)  and how easily one show bleeds into another and all of the sudden that quick 1/2 hr. break becomes 3 hours- the sun has set and one is sitting in a darkened room with a few informative headlines but not much else to show for it.) Dragging oneself up from that screen stupor and back to the study is usually impossible!  

And so, the first dream of studio space not only for my own making needs, and healing practice, but for classes and workshops (gatherings like: The Mindful Maker, Mindfulness + Meditation, Sacred Maker are a few + a healing circle and more) has my full attention and energy. 

Some ways this could manifest:

(another inspired space vision- one for us to gather and create, image: In Her Studio: Spaces and Stories of Creative Women, Aug/Sep/Oct Issue 2019))

~Space in a renovated mill building already dedicated to art studio work or not
~ A portion of a barn suited for art/healing/classes
~ A room that could be fixed up or repurposed within an outbuilding on an estate or home 
~A Baba Yaga woodland cottage 
~ Room within an existing healing arts center
~Space share with another creative/healer
~Or another venue that would support and allow this work to flourish and thrive

Funding for this space could come through a part-time work gig, barter, work exchange, benefactor donation, or other creative collaborative win-win.

Like Janice Lowry, I affirm the power of invoking and inviting the sisterhood into our manifesting.  We as women naturally jump in when a need is brought to our attention:

~We put on our thinking caps,: “Who do I know that I can connect you with?”
~We roll up our sleeves :”When are you moving? I can give you a couple hours.”
~We toss out ideas and helpful suggestions; ” Have you considered looking here?” 
~We rifle off a text to someone who knows someone
~We shoot emails to brainstorm
~We post on our social platform for each other b/c we believe in the magic of synchronicity and trust the process of how the universe connects the dots.
~We love the feeling of making a difference, helping a sister, joy begets joy,
~Good Karma- what goes around comes around

And so, dear sisterhood, readers, friends, and all those who have read through and are still with me- you are part of my dream circle.  I am asking for your sharp ears, wise eyes, nimble texting fingers, your divinely wired connections, your creative + out of the box thinking and good will.  If you have a place, person or scenario that comes to mind, let’s visit!

Sister dreamer, I leave you with this as we grow in making what we love real:

In praise of boldness, genius, power and magic,
Deborah Fay