Craft for Misfits: An Interview with Michelle Riley

This month's special guest in my Creative Soul Circle is Aussie Artist Michelle Riley of Threefold Designs: 'Craft for Misfits'. Sign up here for the Creative Soul Circle ~ it's free! Michelle Riley: Craft for MisfitsInterview with Michelle Riley

What aspect of creating your art do you find the most enjoyable?

The design and execution of my art is the most enjoyable to me … especially stitching!

What originally got you started?

I went to Art School after high school, but although I knew I wanted to be an artist, I hadn’t found a medium I ‘clicked’ with.  It was only afterwards that I was inspired by the designs of Kaffe Fassett, and realized that needlepoint was the medium that suited me.

Who has inspired you the most creatively, and why?

The aforementioned Kaffe Fassett (www.kaffefassett.com), who is a creative and colour genius!  I am also inspired by hearing stories of other artists who have made a living doing what they love.

How did you decide what medium to work in?

I’m not sure why needlepoint struck a chord with me – I think it’s because wool is so earthy, grounding and textural.  I also like the fact that needlepoint isn’t considered ‘cool’ – it’s a challenge convincing people that it can be ;)

What message, if any, do you want to convey with your art?

To be honest, I’ve never really thought about conveying a message at all … I just do what makes me happy, and what is aesthetically pleasing to me.  If others love it, then that’s fantastic!  I do like to encourage people to learn cross stitch though.

If you had to choose a fruit or vegetable to describe yourself, what would you choose and why?

Rambutan – it’s weird looking, some people really love it and some people really hate it!  And yes, I can be a bit spiky at times ;)

Michelle Riley Stitching: Craft for MisfitsIf you had to choose one other medium in which to display your creativity, what would that be and why?

Woven tapestry!  This is what I am studying at the moment (in my second year of a 6 year diploma), and I hope to create one-of-a-kind pieces that complement my needlepoint kits.

What advice do you have for others who are just starting to develop creatively?

Seriously, just do it!  Don’t sit there thinking ‘oh, I’m not good enough’ – get out there are do what makes you feel happy!  Don’t worry about what other people think – the judgement is only as relevant as the judge ;)

What role does spirituality play in your creative life?

An enormous role!  My designs are ‘given’ to me by particular entities that want to make themselves known to me.  My very first design was Moon Phases, and I did this when I started studying Astrology.  Other designs came about after I was ‘visited’ by entities wanting their portraits done … for example, Hathor wouldn’t leave me alone until her design was done.  One day I set it aside to do something else, and the whole frame came crashing down (I still don’t know how!).  All was well when I started working on it again!

Do you have any business or marketing tips for other artists/crafters?

I’m probably not the best person to ask, since I’m still learning this myself!  If anyone reading this has any suggestions, I’d be glad to hear them ;)

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Life is all about doing what makes you feel good!  If you are thinking to yourself ‘I’d always like to be trying that’, then get out there and do it – you’re never too old, or not good enough to find your passion in life.

Michelle's Links: Threefold Needlepoint Shadowplay (Michelle's goth/dark wave radio show)

Each month in the Creative Soul Circle you'll meet a different guest and have an opportunity to interact with them in person. The Circle also features a Moon Musing Group; a support group for women.

Aries Crone Moon Musing

Aries Crone MoonJune 23, 2011 4:48 am pdt

Today is the beginning of the Waning (Crone) Moon. Every new/full/crone moon I post moon musings here in our Moon Musing Group with guided exercises, meditations, challenges and actions to help guide you on this Divine Feminine Journey into Moon Musing.

At the previous Full Moon many of us connected with your primary archetype. Well, now we're going to release ALL limitations, fears, burdens, etc. so we can move forward at the upcoming New Moon in Cancer on July 1.

Creative Soul Action: Let go of all labels, archetypes etc. so that you are standing on your own. Then pick a Creative Soul Card®. Take a moment to allow yourself to resonate with your card on a deep level. Then when you're ready I want you to embody the card on a deep level knowing that you are letting go of all you do not need or want.

Questions:

  1. Describe how that feels.
  2. How will you nurture this side of yourself?

How does your card tie in to the Crone Moon and also to the intentions you set at the previous New Moon?

To join the conversation in a group of Soul SiStars please join my Creative Soul Circle ~ it's free!

The Six Polarities

My moon-work is based upon the particular sign of the zodiac that the moon enters during it's cycle and I keep in mind the six polarities pictured below for each moon phase.

The diagram below is from Barbara Hand Clow's book titled The Pleiadian Agenda.

The Six Polarities

Barbara writes: The zodiacal system of twelve is simply an arbitrary division of six 4D polarities, six of the night and six of the day, which is a good tool for decoding fields of emotional experience in 3D. This lexicon of energy forces shows how 4D ideas trigger events in 3D. Each poloarity is a spectrum from dark to light. Each individual system of twelve is unique and is triggered out of its own unique center, its 1D beginning point. Dimensionality is vertical, and the system of twelve divisions are horizontal planes. ...the division of twelve is the one that facilitates harmony on Earth, as has been extensively proven by John Michell, co-author of Twelve-Tribe Nations.

Geocentric astrology - viewing the solar system and beyond from a location on Earth - is the most advanced tools you have in 3D for decoding the time and quality of your unfoldment. As we have said, the fourth dimension is where your emotional body resides. It is profoundly ruled by the archetypal planetary forces of your own solar system. The qualities and relationships of these planetary bodies actually do express your personal unfoldment. Literally do the cycles of Mars generate your feeling of power and anger! Without geocentric astrology, it is very difficult for most of you to master your emotional bodies, to be objective and observational about your day-to-day activities...You can examine the planetary cycles, delineate their qualities, and prepare yourself for various periods in your life.

Astrology enables you to look at how the drama of life is artificially pressed into past, present, and future. This enables you to gain perspective on emotions as you feel them - to watch the feeling realm to detect agendas, dramas, potentialities, and spirits impulsing you. Once you master this level of self-observation or self-reflections, then you realize that your access to other worlds is available precisely in these feelings. Feelings are awesome because they are your nonphysical vibratory field that is resonating in 4D through 9D. Once you attain that perspective, you cannot be impulsed or jerked around by any vibration. Many fascinating patterns rise out of your emotional and spiritual richness and give you access to scintillating pools of dark creativity and dance of light dynamics.

Excerpted from The Pleiadian Agenda by Barbara Hand Clow.