A Magazine-aholic!

I have to admit that I am (and always have been) a 'magazine-aholic'.  Is there such a word?  If there is, I am it!  I cannot resist a magazine.  As a child we used to visit my cousin's house on Sunday afternoons.  He was an only child and got to buy any comic book he wanted.  I would find a corner and curl up with all of his comic books - coming out of my hole only to have dinner with everyone.  As a young teenager we would visit one of my grandmothers.  She lived in a wonderful old California house - Spanish style with nooks and crannies and rooms that didn't seem to have any purpose at all.  She also had a huge selection of "Life" magazines. These were the original "Life" magazine with photos that took your breath away and that opened the world to the reader.  You have to remember this was a long time ago - well before anyone had even heard the word 'Google' or 'news 24/7'.  I would find a niche, stack up a bunch of pillows and a bunch of magazines and be lost for the whole afternoon.  Then came late teenage years when I discovered "Seventeen" and "Glamour".  I dreamed over these - shared them with friends - planned my whole fall wardrobe based on that fabulously thick September issue.

As a young wife and mother I was an avid reader of "Good Housekeeping", "Woman's Day" and "Family Circle".  Recipes were clipped, beauty tips were followed and tips for cleaning, cooking and child rearing were pondered.

You could say that the current creative part of my life began because of a magazine.  That magazine was "Somerset Studio".  The first issue I picked up, quite a few years ago, had a theme of Alice in Wonderland and it certainly was a wonderland to me.  Here people, just like me, were creating marvelous, inspired pieces out of paper and paint and found objects. I was hooked!!  Also during this period I began to pour over "Cloth, Paper, Scissors" and "Quilting Arts" each of which showed me the manipulation of fabric in ways I'd never imagined before.

Now I am a beader -- and there are bead magazines galore out there.  Unfortunately for me there isn't much beaded embroidery shown, or discussed.  Sometimes I can get ideas for my work from jewelry pieces but for the most part, these days, I get my inspiration from books instead of magazines. The magazine I now turn to is "American Crafter".  Not that they have much of anything regarding beads - but I'm trying to train my mind to see future beaded pieces by looking at a particular piece of pottery that appeals to me, or a figure, or a tapestry.  I try to translate what I see into bead form - almost as if I was translating from one language to another.  It isn't quite as satisfying as curling up with magazines strewn hither and yon and me in the center - but for now it will have to do.

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination". - Henry David Thoreau