Creator, creation, and re-creation

Women are crafty souls - their crafts come in all shapes and forms. Their domestic crafts reach beyond their homes into museums and galleries and, these days, on to the internet. To-day specialist stores spring up to meet the specialist demands of crafts.

The blogosphere has a strong coterie of craftswomen exhibiting, writing, photographing, swapping, meeting, moving up to join with other women in more global craft-encompassing blogs. Some - like Jane Brocket over at yarnstorm - are offered book contracts by major publishers.

Meanwhile, over at Photo Friday, the topic of the week is Texture.

The picture above reflects the lives of two women: Miss Eagle and her daughter, Herself. The baskets in the photograph are in the collection of Miss Eagle. Cane baskets and Miss Eagle seem to have an affinity and finish up painted in a shabby chic palette of colours. The larger basket contains a range of fabrics: some belonging to Miss Eagle, some to Herself. Some are used in upholstery, some are used in soft furnishings such as cushions. Sitting in the smaller, blue basket is a collection of old knobs and locks belonging to Herself. They have a utilitarian beauty.

Miss Eagle thinks of God's presence in her life: refashioning the raw materials; stripping away the gaudy paint and opting for a softer finish; sanding and smoothing the bumps and rough edges; and making the creation of the Creator beautiful and useful.

It is something Miss Eagle has thought of often over the years as she has made shabby old pieces ignored by other people useful and beautiful enough to find pride of place in the home. It is a reflection of God at work: and no-thing, no-one is ever so worn or shabby that the tender loving Spirit of God cannot make some-thing, some-one beautiful and useful.

Miss Eagle is so thankful that this is the case!

 
A Way of Working: The Spiritual Dimension of Craft