Thursday, November 20, 2014

Leaving a Legacy

I have a few projects I have been up to lately. I seem to pick a hobby every winter, this one keeps resurfacing. This years hobby refinishing and repurposing. It's cathartic, the sanding, examining the wood, applying a new coat to find a new  piece of art almost. Last year was a dresser turned pottery barn-esque buffet,
 this year it's an armoir, and up and coming are a ladder and another dresser.

It's appropriate though. This has been my mother's  hobby for years, among all her other creative crafty hobbies. I've watched over the years my mother take hidden treasures and not only make them into family heirlooms but timeless statement pieces. One of my favorite pieces is a china cabinet that we call "the chicken coop".  My parents found it 35 or more years ago on the family farm stored in the chicken coop, covered in dirt with chicken poop and under that multiple layers of paint. Mom somehow stripped it and stained it.  It's now this gorgeous piece with original glass still, but my favorite part about is hearing what a piece of junk it looked like.  I love thinking of my moms gift of creativity and vision flowing in me.

So if I seem antisocial lately or if you wondering where my painting hobby has gone, I'm still painting. And sanding, and sanding more and stripping and staining or painting . And dreaming of the next piece of furniture to work on, my moms legacy is showing up in so many ways and it's so much fun to see where it pops up, and right now be able to share it with her.  Most recently I found an old paint covered ladder in my attic, came with the house! I can already see it will be a challenge but the original brass brackets call out to me 'fix me, clean me!' So we will see how it goes:-)

One of he hardest things about watching my mom endure this illness is her lack of stamina to take on these tasks. It's just so unlike her to not be able to keep or stay up. In have memories of the days before Christmas mom up most of the night working on that years hand crafted present for her sisters or Tara and I. The creative juices are still flowing in her, the ideas and half finished projects still waiting. Waiting for the strength to return to her hands and the energy to flow back into her body. But it looks like I am to pick up the sanders and the paint brushes now. Her legacy very much lives on in me, even in her weakness.

It's as if my God had planned this new hobby for me. There is something so healing about refinishing a piece of furniture, and continuing my mom's hobby. There is something in me that feels renewed or restored when I work out the old paint or the chips, find that old wood color, or put on a new coat of paint on or glaze a new face on something.  So here I am inspired with a new craft and a new gift I can carry on.

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