Catherine Schoenherr Basics of project: Saami inspired bracelets
What drew you to this project? A desire to learn about other cultures and ways of living and being.
What has your project given you? A connection to my Norwegian ancestors and so much more. I’d like to share my artist statement: “If you want to see the mountain you are standing on, you have to climb the far mountain.” The far mountains for me are the cultures and crafts of my northern ancestors who inspire my art today. In the land of the northern lights, midnight sun and reindeer, the indigenous Saami people live on and so do their crafts. Centuries ago, the Saami people developed a way of spinning metal thread and then began embroidering it on reindeer leather thus creating wearable art that celebrates their ingenuity and connection with the animals who have provided the Saami with sustenance and longevity. Studying this culture and their crafts I am once again reminded that there are many different ways to live and be. When I stand on my mountain, I look down and see myself rooted in the history and art of the far mountains. It is my hope my bracelets reflect that connection. Please enjoy wearing this art on your journey!
Lauren Cummins Basics of project: This project is called Self Care Solitaire. Through collage and graphic design, I am creating playing card decks that can be used as self care guides. The first of three upcoming decks is the Journey Deck, which I’m designing as an atlas for spiritual adventure, to help satisfy wanderlust. The images and words that will be printed on each card are meant to evoke a fascination with the unknown, and inspire exploration of the external and internal worlds we inhabit.
What drew you to this project? I am a psychotherapist, and I consistently notice an absence of self-care in the lives of my clients (as well as the lives of my friends and family.) I find that much of the clinical work I do involves helping clients come up with ideas for activities, mantras, and new thought patterns that allow them to meet their own emotional and spiritual needs. This project evolved out of a desire to inspire others, whether they are in therapy or not, to develop a practice of radical self-love and care for themselves in the way they deserve.
What has your project given you? Working on this project has helped me to expand my own toolkit of self-care options. The process itself, of collaging magazine images onto cardstock and then adding words through adobe 36 MAKE IT MINNESOTA
illustrator, has allowed me to explore the link between selfcare and creativity in a mindful way. This has been incredibly rewarding, and has opened my mind to the diverse array of options we all can access in order to care for ourselves.