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Altogether my hobbies, the things I love can be summed up in one word. Beauty. I love to see beautiful things, I love to touch beautiful things, I love to find beautiful things.
Most of all, I love to create beautiful things.
Gardening.
There aren't words to describe the feeling I have for this popular pastime. To begin with one's hands in the soil, pulling weeds, tilling it and mixing in fertilizers to prepare a good bed for the seeds. To watch the tiny seedlings appear, grow and finally bloom into beautiful adult plants. I never tire of this exhausting and intensely rewarding "work".
Embroidery.
This is a new one. I received a "Martha Stewart" embroidery kit for my birthday and have not been able to stop. An old, almost forgotten craft (there are machines that do everything these days!), hand embroidered items not only make wonderful gifts, the process itself is both frustrating and rewarding. It forces one to slow down from the hectic and fast paced world around us and focus on the details that make things beautiful.
Drawing and Painting.
Random doodles that turn into greeting cards or posters, decorating just about everything from lunch bags to tape cases with paint pens or markers and brightening up drab wall space with Ivy, flowers, stripes or just bright colors. Yet another way to beautify my small corner of the world.
Sculpture.
As I mentioned in "Education", I am fortunate to have studied sculpture in Florence, Italy. At the time, the focus was on clay sculpture which I loved. Since that time I have had the opportunity to experiment with other mediums, most recently, wood. There is something truly magical about wood that cannot be found in other mediums. While it is part of the living tree, it breathes in all life around it, soaking in the earth, air, water, minerals, even the animals that take refuge within its comforting arms. Then, when it is time to carve into a piece of that tree, if one is patient and looks closely, it will show you how to bring out the essence of all it knows. To bring it to life again in a way that can be shared with the world. Forever.
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