Lucky 13: Dancing with Ghosts

I first stumbled on Ghost Dancer while looking for divine feminine inspiration on Instagram.  She had posted beautiful pictures of Georgia O’Keefe along with the caption “Use your hands.  Use your hands to create that which has no word, use your hands to love, use your hands to heal, to redefine your perception. Use your hands to leave your legacy and use your hands to bring out the good in humanity.  Bring on the hand woven, hand blessed, heart in hand felt and hand made revolution.”  It was exactly what I was seeking at the moment.  The beautiful words matched her incredibly intricate weavings and jewelry.  But what I admired most about Rhiannon was her respect for the women who have come before and her ability to incorporate their stories into her art.  Her Lucky 13 interview is as eloquent and insightful as the caption that first captured my attention.

1.What are you working on at the moment? Presently, all of my attention is devoted to prototyping the fall/winter 2014/2015 collection of woven textile jewelry. I released my first collection of tapestries this past April full moon and it was a new exciting endeavor for Ghost Dancer. Switching mediums from bead work to woven art begs for full attention and experimentation.

2.What drives you to do what you do? That is the ineffable force that is the heartbeat of the universe, that which I like to think of as the cosmic fuel in every living thing. Creating anything just feels like the wind blown down some starlit tunnel channeling into me and it pours out of me. I believe it’s an obligation to share a gift that lifts people with joy, inspiration and beauty so creating what I do and knowing it touches the hearts of the wide open world makes me feel good.

3.What is it like to be a woman in your line of work? Awesome. The art of adornment has been carried both by men and women around the world through the ages so this path seems quite natural.  I’m a woman and I’ve got sensibilities that strengthen me to hack my way through a male driven world and walk my path confidently. When it comes to designing jewelry, as a woman, I’m designing for a woman and I can say twisting my perception to cater to men has been a challenge I haven’t overcome yet. I hope to do so with the alliance of men who have a hawk eye for detail.

4.Do you have any regrets? Taking life too seriously at times. I’d like to say that whenever faced with self doubt, I’d say I gracefully encourage myself to trust in the larger picture and that seed of truth replaces any dark seed of regret or doubt.

5.Do you have any scars? I have a heart shaped scar on my left hip from flying off of a scooter on a bridge in Greece years ago. After landing on dry gravel, the wound formed a little misformed heart. Any emotional scarring finds resolve and strength with time..and the willingness to heal.

6.What do you believe in? Just be.

7.What is your best dream? Impossible to share one but I frequently imagine myself with a ranch in New Mexico, raising rabbits and using their hair to spin and weave with.  I imagine my ranch fully sustainable with a wood working studio, ceramic studio, weaving, and casting foundry for jewelry/home furnishings. Arabian horses, a black Frisian, a Palomino,and 25 miniature horses are absolutely necessary along with wonderful friends and a good community.

8.What could you not live without as an artist? The reflection of those dearest to me.

9.What is your guiltiest pleasure? A full bag of salt and vinegar chips and devouring before anyone else gets a hand near.

10.Who is your Woman Crush Wenesday? Petecia Le Fawnhawk. She is the ethereal fawn from a different realm, somewhere between elvin forests and dust bowl prairies. I really love her voice and the artist splendor that emanates from her.  Very dreamy.

11.Which woman artist out there today would you love to shine the spotlight on? I would happily say Le Fawn Hawk. www.lefawnhawk.com

12.Where can we stalk you?  www.ghostdancercollection.com is my personal website, pardon the need for a site update. My tumblr blog is connected to my website too.  My instagram is : TheGhostDancer where I share musings, recent work and beauty.Ghost Dancer on pinterest as well.

13.Anything else you’d like to (over)share? I love meeting like minded artists and muses in the area so I always welcome new friends.

 

How To: Hammer

          

What is it? A Hammer

noun: a tool with a heavy metal head mounted at right angles at the end of a handle, used for jobs such as breaking things and driving in nails.

verb: hit or beat (something) with a hammer or similar object.

There are many kinds of hammers, in the GingerPino Werkshop we have a claw hammer, a mallet, an upholstery hammer and a chisel hammer.

How do I use it?  Hammers can actually be really dangerous, trust me I hurt myself a lot!  Let’s just trust the experts at WikiHow on this one

When do I use it?  When can’t you use a hammer?  Miss MorningWood uses it to pull nails out of lathe and to push our lathe pieces into place on our panels. We use it with a chisel to chip bark off logs and we use it with nails for…many things. You should absolutely use both “hammered” and “nailed” as verbs as often as possible.  If you are a lesbian, you will certainly need to use a hammer once or twice in your life to impress a girl.  We suggest splitting wood for a fire while sporting a red flannel (which should work for men trying to “nail” straight girls too.)  Check out The Family HandyMan for a few other uses and the amazing Hammer Like a Girl blog for inspiration!

The muscle behind Miss MorningWood

Sarah Cobillas tells us why she does what she does, proving that she is more than just a pretty face and a strong arm:

 

I believe that women are mentally and physically stronger than the limitations that society has put on us. I believe that women are strong enough to make lives that challenge the status quo. I believe that as a woman, the art that I create can inspire other women to have the confidence to also create. I want to learn about sustainable design and master my craft so that I can teach women how to make things for themselves. I know first hand what a transformative experience it can be to create something from nothing.

 

As a girl who was interested in things that are traditionally dominated by men, I was always told I would never be good enough to compete. Looking back at my career in the military, in a position where women were rarely represented, I proved to myself that not only could I compete with men, I could also surpass them. My life in the military was incredibly challenging, but I am grateful for the wisdom I gained after my experience. It opened my eyes to the limitless possibilities that myself and other women can achieve. At the end of my enlistment I was given a chance to move up the ranks and become an officer. I turned down the offer because I believed that outside of the military I would have a greater chance to impact my community.

 

I am creating my own ideal of what success can mean for me.  I know that creating things and helping people is what fulfills me. My goal is to make sustainable design accessible.  I want to open the doors for the women who never imagined they were strong enough to handle machinery and create quality pieces for themselves.  I want to create beautiful and affordable furniture for people who never thought that they could afford to own a piece of art. I want to be a part of the movement of sustainable design, not only to preserve our environment, but also to sustain our most under-priviledged communities.

 

My art is a process of renewal and transformation. I try to infuse new life into discarded objects whose fates are otherwise limited to decay. In this same way, I want to inspire people to unearth the blessings in their alleged deficits. My dream is that people like me realize that our perspective is necessary in the art world and our lives are worthy of beauty.  I believe that creativity has no limit and by supporting one another, instead of fighting each other, we all have the ability to unlock our full potential.