January gets a bad rap. People complaining about the snow, the short days, the cold, the this, the that, like they had been promised something else. For heaven's sake, it's winter! It's supposed to snow, and be all those things that are making them so miserable.
January has its own energy … slow, soothing, comfortable. It's a time of introspection and turning inward. It's the perfect month to recover from the intense activity of the holiday season, to read a book with a hot cup of something, to bake bread, to watch the fire in the fireplace, or simply to find solace in the warmth of the house and do the things you'd never do in the summer - like putting your pjs on at 6:00PM!
There probably isn't anyone who hasn't heard of the Danish philosophy of hygge (hoo-ga). Cocooning is what I like to call it. All of nature is recharging… animals are hibernating, trees are quiet without their leaves. the snow blankets the earth in silence, and all is well.
Consider this lovely little poem by Robert Frost:
Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Nut followed
Consider this lovely little poem by Robert Frost:
Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
The studio, on the other hand, has experienced an abundance of activity and creative energy this month. From the six ladies who came out on a Monday to gather around Mitch's slab and learn to print from clay, to the single gentleman who had taken a workshop with Mitch in the past and wanted to get reacquainted with the process. Everyone brings something special to the studio.
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