Category: Living Creatively

Distractions and Resolutions

I’ll work on this when my life calms down. Have you ever said that to yourself? I certainly have.  The problem is—my life never calms down. Something always comes up: people schedule meetings that I have to attend, my dog needs more allergy medication, my disabled son needs my help, or I have to go […]

Live Storytelling

Sometimes the things that distract me from writing are good things, such as preparing to tell a story. There are few things that I love more than telling stories to live audiences, but it does take time for me to perfect a story and practice telling it. In the last few months, I have told […]

Benefits of Neurodiversity

To be honest, not all things that distract me are important. Often, thoughts pop into my head or someone says something that sends me down a rabbit hole, and my productivity goes out the window. This isn’t really a surprise considering that I am ADHD. Doctors use the term “internal distractibility” for the distracting thoughts […]

Dealing with Stress

I’ve been quieter here than I’ve wanted to be the past couple of months. Partly it’s due to something positive that has kept me busy—editing a collection of female-centered stories for my group, the Jewish Women’s Storytelling Collective. Our first book will come out in the fall of 2025, and I have a number of […]

Creative Self-Care

When I searched for ideas to reduce my stress and anxiety, I found tons of information on the importance of creativity. Articles in ScienceDirect, Psychology Today, MQ Mental Health Research, and other journals all say the same thing—the arts play a huge role in our mental and physical well being. Each article discusses how scientific research shows that […]

Dance

“Everybody is a dancer. Everyone can dance.” This is what Elizabeth Wartluft said to me in a recent conversation. Elizabeth is my yoga and tango instructor, and she has dedicated the last forty years to teaching the art of movement, mostly in dance. While she admitted to me that she doubts her own creativity as an artist (even she has an […]

It begins with a conversation

Last month, when I spoke with silk artist Diane Fredgant, I asked how she starts a commissioned art project. “It begins with a conversation,” she said. People engage Diane to create designs for the milestones in their lives. Often she is asked to create a tallit (prayer shawl) for a Bar or Bat Mitzvah, but people […]

Traveller’s Eyes

Diane is not the only artist to begin a project by changing perspective to see deeper. So does Jess Walter, the award-winning author who delivered the closing keynote at the Willamette Writers Conference earlier this month. Prior to the conference, I had the good fortune to interview him for the Willamette Writers blog. He told me […]

Quiet Space

Since speaking with both Jess Walter and Diane Fredgant, I’ve thought a lot about the how changing my perspective impacts my own creativity.  When I write stories, I like to delve deep into my characters and understand their reactions to people, places, and predicaments. Sometimes, though, I realize that I don’t truly grasp their motivations […]

It Was Magic

Recently, I talked with silk artist Diane Fredgant about art and creativity. In our conversation, I learned that Diane didn’t start as a fabric artist, nor did she seek to become a silk artist. It was as if the medium found her. Diane began her creative endeavors as a sculptor, working in stone and wood. She also earned a […]

Living Creatively with Gail Pasternack

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Recently, I talked with silk artist Diane Fredgant about art and creativity. In our conversation, I learned that Diane didn’t start as a fabric artist, nor did she seek to become a silk artist. It was as if the medium found her.

Diane began her creative endeavors as a sculptor, working in stone and wood. She also earned a living in the healing arts. Over twenty years ago, she ran a massage studio in Albuquerque, NM. She joined a drum circle that was run by a woman who, in addition to being a musician, made hand painted silk. Diane was so taken by the pieces hanging in the woman’s studio that she decided to commission her to make a wall hanging for her business. 

When the silk artist came to Diane’s massage studio, she said, “Usually I get what I’m supposed to make for someone, but what I’m getting from you is that you’re going to make this yourself.” 

At first Diane just laughed. But then she took workshops and learned how to paint silk herself. “It was magic,” Diane said.

She still has the wall hanging she made all those years ago, and she still has a passion for working with silk.

Has something like this happened to you? Have you ever felt as if an art form called to you when you least expected it?