by Emily
Chiska is a dear friend I first met in a feminist literature class, and then later became closer friends as roommates in London. She is an ideal travel companion!Chiska is probably one of my most creative and unique friends, and I love her so much. She has a sincere and generous heart. I want to introduce you, Bossy Readers, to her because she inspires me--and maybe she'll inspire you too! Leave a comment and you may even win her GIVE-AWAY! (it promises to be something cool and doable!)If Chiska were a character from a book, for her I would choose Sarah Agnes Prine from These is My Words. This is because both Chiska and Sarah are pictures of beauty and strength--and Chiska has had her share of strengthening life experiences. But we won't focus on those experiences (including a newborn hospitalized for months with a life-threatening condition). No, instead I wanted to ask her about something of a much lighter nature: creative pursuits. Chiska finds beauty and interest in just about everything this world has to offer, and inturn inspires those who know her. And, she has a rockin' cool name. Meet Chiska:
You grew up in Alaska. How do you think that has influenced your creative pursuits?I do more in the winter. Winter is the time for “hibernating” inside and making things. Summer is for outside playing as much as possible. I learned to make moccasins because of living there. The people I knew growing up were creative. I still want to be like them.
What are a few handmade objects that you treasure? What’s their story?Oh dear, “a few”. It’s hard to pick just a few.
I have some lace that my Aunt Janet made. I actually have several pieces, a table cloth and a bunch of smaller “snowflakes”. The tablecloth she made for my wedding.
This was something that she did for almost everyone who got married. I didn’t expect that I would get a piece since she had been so ill. She had talked to my Mom about finishing it for her because she was having a very hard time doing it, but then decided she wanted to finish it. My Aunt Joy blocked and starched it for me.
She said she knew that it was 90 inches because it took all 90 inches of her to get it blocked out. They’re both gone now and I love that memory.
The smaller pieces she made because
she told me she wanted to sit me on a chair 
and sprinkle them down on me so I would know how much I was loved. She never got a chance to do that, but she tasked my mother with completing the “snowflakes” and she in turn sent them to my husband who did the sprinkling while I cried.
She also sent me a small piece of lace which I framed while I was struggling at school. She sent it just because “it wanted to come to your house”. And we (she and my uncle) want you to know that we love you. I still remember the lift it gave me at that difficult time.
I have a number of things my mother has made that I treasure. 
Three stained glass pieces, a
tulip, a fish and a girl walking under an umbrella, and frame made from beach glass she collected and some glass that my husband and I had collected at an abandoned coal mine.
Another piece that it multi-generational is a picture with a piece of cotton tucked into a “vase” of material that one of my ancestors wove for her son.
She also made my wedding dress. It’s made of white leather and beaded with what
we call ice beads. They’re faceted beads that catch the light marvelously and truly look like ice. The dress is self is simple. She made a collar, cuffs and an octopus bag. The star-like piece is our interpretation of a mariner’s compass, the flowers are forget-me-nots and of course snowflakes. I like to use my bag now in object lessons because to look at it, it’s different and interesting, but nothing special. When you shine a concentrated light on it, it’s amazing. It truly makes you catch your breath.
My brother, Me, Wade @ Mendenhall GlacierShe always makes a pair of these for
grandbabies--these are my baby girls
[Jealous Readers: Chiska made a boyish pair of these for my little guy. I LOVE them.]
I have a bowl that she made when she was trying her hand a
t ceramics. It has lupines painted on it and says, “More beautiful because you came.”
I love how lupine leaves catch water in their center like diamonds. My Mom has something she calls whisper diamonds--moments that you catch as they come into your life through all the other muck that we have to wade through. There’s a story my Dad tells of picking nagoon berries with m
y mom in a torrential downpour. (Nagoon berries grow very close to the ground so you have to bend over to pick them) He says that just as the rain really started coming down and he was sure it couldn’t get any worse he heard my Mom say in an excited voice, “Look!” She was looking at the droplet of water that the lupine leaves had caught. She’s like that, always looking for the good and beautiful even in the midst of misery.
Lupine leaf w/ water droplet
When I returned to Alaska as an adult I’d told her I loved lupines. She told me that she didn’t like the flowers--which shocked me. So I told her what I’ve just told you. Her response was my bowl.
I have two wonderful quilts that my elementary school librarian has made quilts for each of my kids. The most recent is a fun storybook quilt.
I also have a piece of carved wood that my youngest brother carved for me. It’s a totem of sorts with the masks of comedy and tragedy with a rose on the top. It’s a curved piece--stick really that has a beak at one end and the carved “totem” as it were on the other. It was just something that he’d done to keep busy, but I loved it because of a writing project I’d just completed titled The Rose Connection about my sisters and I. He gave it to me after a debate about whether or not he would sell it to me. I love it now in part because he’s gone and it gives me a little piece of him to keep. 
I have a painting my grandmother made. I don’t know when my grandmother started painting, but I think it was later in life. I love this one particularly because an aunt and uncle gave it up so that I could have it. 
A story my husband wrote for me while we were dating and had is 7 year-old niece illustrate. How can you not love a man that would take the time to do that?!
Are you still with me? Last one I promise. My mother-in-law made an incredible cross-stitch of a World War 2 plane. She made it for my husband who bought the pattern for her. She in turn altered it so that it would match the plane that his Dad was a tail gunner in during the war. It’s representative to me of the special bond that my husband has with his mother and it’s amazing.
Do you think of yourself as a creative person--and good at it too?
I’ve only just started to think of myself as a creative person. Do I think I’m good at it? That depends on what I’m doing. I’m a great at cross stitch and I like it. I do pretty well with moccasins…the baby ones. I make a very nice origami lily. I love to try and make things work. I’m exploring that part of me more. It’s hard for me to slow down and try to do things well sometimes because I’m anxious to see the outcome. There’s nothing that “fills” me as much as completing a project…especially with help from my family. I love that!
What does it mean to you to be creative? How do you value this?
It means I get a chance to make or do something unique to me that connects me to others.
It’s a way for me to interact with others, to express my love and appreciation. It’s a way to honor my pioneer ancestor’s resourcefulness. I love it when I can make something from things I have “on hand”.
It’s a way for me to connect with my children and husband. Sometimes my little boy will climb up on my lap and sew with me as a break from his playing. (I have a needle guard so there’s no danger of him hurting himself) I love that closeness and he feels involved in a grownup project which he loves. My husband is great at helping me lay things out (as in quilts--2 so far) balancing color and shape. He’s also a great editor. It’s been fun for us to collaborate.
It also gives me a way to produce something when my job as a full time Mom gives me very little that lasts longer than a few minutes in the way of tactile accomplishment.
It gives me a space separate from my kids. My circumstances are such that true “breaks” from my kids aren’t frequent so I create breaks by encouraging their independence so I can work on a project--even if that’s only a few minutes.
My “studio” really a corner of our dining room
What kind of handmade objects are you working on right now?
Currently a wall quilt, some felt food, a cross stitch, a writing project that I’m trying to make time for and a pair of moccasins (well 2 pair actually--one of my very best friends got married 18 years ago and they’re supposed to be their wedding gift. I tried to get out of it, but her husband won’t let me.)
Working on can be loosely interpreted. I usually have a list a mile long and projects in various stages hanging about.
[L to R: Wall Quilt, Cross Stitch, What I Write With]
It's easy to let things get in the way of pursuing creative projects: the dishes need to be done, it costs money, I have no uninterrupted time, I don't know how, where do I start, I want to--but checking my email and blogs is easier to do and instantly gratifying, I'm just plain exhausted!...are these things you struggle with?
Absolutely! Some of my struggles are different from yours but distractions and exhaustion often get in the way. I find I go in cycles. Usually the winter time is a more of a creative production time for me.
The implied question here is how do I work around those excuses? One way is to make friends with people that I know make things. It’s been my experience that people who make like to share their skill. Not everyone certainly, but lots of people. Ask around. My Mom makes moccasins and is willing to teach anyone who wants to learn. So far no one has ever taken her up on her offer of coming by the house and learning. Make time for that. I also think that it’s creative to read blogs. I’ve gotten lots of great ideas from places online. It takes time to seek good things so remember that it’s ok to be reading.
Did your creative pursuits take a back seat when your little guy was born and spent the first part of his life in the hospital--or were you able to do things during that time, was it a good outlet?
Take a back seat? Absolutely they took a back seat. I did make a pair of baby moccasins toward the end of our time at the hospital. It gave me something to do when we couldn’t do much else. Ironically we were more involved in his care at that time than earlier on, but I just wasn’t up to much before that. When we brought him home he was on dialysis from about 5:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. I would come home from work and play and interact with him for about a half an hour and then we would “put him on” and have the evening to do things. It was great for my husband and me. We would visit and work on things--well he’d read and I’d craft. It was a great way of coping for me at that time. You always think when you’re going through something difficult that it’s hard to go through, but for me the aftermath has been more difficult. Some of that may be that there is no after in aftermath, but it is much calmer now and things are much more stable.
What sort of objects do you collect? (I know about your children's books, and now, placemats--which is such a great idea! Tell us about those, and others as well.)
Somehow in my youth I decided that I needed to collect things so I think I collect anything I can.
I love art, so pictures that “speak” to me get picked up from calendars, cards, posters, original work, photographs (my husband’s a great landscape photographer).
Original Oil by friend, Gwen Toomalatai You can get a better idea from her etsy website: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6377160Placemats--usually the cheap tourist trap plastic ones. It’s fun for me now when my wings are a little clipped and I can “travel” at my table and talk to my husband and kids about other places. I had to get some animal mats from Alaska so my little guy would be excited about them, but now he is.
Fabric (and I’m not much of a “sewing” person, but I’m learning to quilt)
Books, especially children’s books. I love the marriage of art and words in them. We have a “library” with about 7 bookshelves in it. That doesn’t count the ones in other rooms.
Prisms, I love rainbows.
Leaves, rocks--I once carried a rock that I named Herbert 3 miles. When I was traveling a lot I’d pick up flowers and leaves and press them. I made a book and put them in it so I could remember some of those fun times.
(Herbert pictured here)
Cool containers, formula cans, cereal boxes (great for making pattern templates). I have a hard time throwing anything away--it drives my family crazy.
Unusual generally small dangly earrings. In my younger single days I had a pair of “hiking”
earrings. That still makes me laugh.
Shells, beach glass, rock with barnacles and the edge of the frame my Mom made.
If you could be an apprentice to any kind of craftsman or woman, what would you want to learn?
I would love to learn print making, spinning, weaving, paper making and woodworking. I don’t know that I could choose just one. I have an Aunt who always had something she was doing in her hands. It didn’t matter where she was: meetings, riding in the car (she was legally blind and couldn’t drive), church, family gatherings. She could knit, crochet, and weave. When she died no one was interested in her spinning and weaving things so I got them all. So here I am a fully equipped spinner and weaver without any skill whatsoever and a little bit overwhelmed by it all.
I tried some crocheting for a while with some cheap yarn that someone else gave me--it’s a pile of cheap yarn so I thought I would make a multicolored who cares what happens with it afghan type of thing from what I remembered learning as a kid (with a few tips from passersby) It’s miserable, but it kept my hands busy when I couldn’t do much else. Can anyone tell me how to keep your edges straight?
Do you do this just for yourself, or have you ever gone commercial--craft shows, selling objects online, etc?
I’ve never been able to bring myself to going commercial. I don’t know that I could. I don’t like production levels of handmade things. I did once trade a pair of baby moccasins for some smoked salmon, but that’s as close as I’ve come. Most of what I do is for me and the deadline makes it stressful for me as I try to steal the time to do it from my day. When I can just go at my own pace if I have sick kids that need me for several days more constantly it’s ok.
I've always seen you as a person who takes in the world around you--embracing it in its beauty and harshness--Has becoming a mother dampened this (because you're so busy) or has it heightened it (because it is magnified through your children)?
Becoming a mother has rocked my world in positive and negative ways. I want one day to create some kind of masterpiece that shows the dark and light of it all. I think as a child I thought that for the most part life was light. As I grew I learned a lot about the dark, death, pain, suffering and sorrow, they’re all part of living. It’s not always fun, but it is always life. I still have to encourage my son through the pain of regular blood work--it’s not as often as it once was, but it’s still very difficult to tell this precocious child that he needs to cooperate with someone who’s going to hurt him. I want them to see that life is hard and good. I hope that some of what I make helps them to see that and to focus on what it good and beautiful while acknowledging what is bad and ugly. I’m certainly busier than I’ve ever been, but I still find a need really to express myself in one way or another.
What other "creative" pursuits do we overlook that can also be fulfilling?
There are so many things that can fulfill a person: cooking, throwing parties, writing, gardening, blogging, reading, being a mom, being a wife, being a woman, being a Dad, being a husband, being a man, being a friend--they all require us to take from the world around us and create something that is uniquely “us” and share it with others.
There is so much information out there, so much criticism, negative and positive, that I think you have to pull from all the different sources and makes what works for you work for you. Doing something that gets you excited, interested that’s what is fulfilling and therapeutic.
Staying at home full time is an incredible opportunity for creativity. A friend of mine pointed out to me that you have the opportunity to fill your day with whatever you want. You choose. It doesn’t always feel that way, but the reality is in no other job in the world can you make those kinds of decisions every single day.
I’m afraid I’m getting lost in this question. I have 3 sisters. All 3 have said that they “aren’t creative”. In other words they don’t make THINGS. One of them throws amazing parties for her kids. That’s one of her creative outlets.
Another sister is an amazing dancer and I think that’s one of her creative outlets. It’s what charges her batteries.
The other sister makes things, but she’s not as voracious about it as my mother or even I am.
What advice would you give to women out there--all kinds of women in different stages in life, experiencing different joys and sorrows--on how they might begin a small creative project and how it might help them?
I think I would tell anyone if you have the tiniest of interests in something pursue it. You may find you don’t like it or you may find a way to live and enjoy life.
Having a way to express yourself is so empowering. It takes time to learn things, take the time. Choose things that fit into the time that you have and once you have even the most rudimentary of skills make it your own. It can be a distraction, a way to reach out to someone, to connect with someone. It can be a simple as sitting down and coloring (with or without lines) something. Don’t worry about it matching what’s in your head, just do it. Then move on from there. I believe in coloring and I’m terrible at it. I’ll win no art contest or even the admiration of others, but it’s color and shape and me. Nothing else matters. It does help that my little man says, “Oh Mom, that looks beautiful!”
