SandyBreckenridge.com

Sandy Breckenridge’s career as a maker, designer, and artist span over 40 years.

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To Plant a Garden is To Believe in Tomorrow

February 14, 2021 By Sandy Breckenridge 2 Comments

Flower Meadow Flowers Nature Summer“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.” – Luther Burbank

Spring is a little over a month away. We’ve all experienced a challenging year avoiding exposure to the coronavirus and most of us are finding new ways to stay emotionally balanced. So many of us have adopted the stay close-to-home requests and have been limiting our social time.

Now we are experiencing our second springtime coping with social distancing and mask-wearing while seeking safe ways to engage with others. We’ve had to find new ways to exercise while gyms are closed or are operating at minimum occupancy. Our prescribed social interaction is best left to the great outdoors.

Walking, biking, and running along while safely gathering in very small social bubbles in the outdoor air is mostly our chosen exercise. A walk with good conversation is a blessing.

Beauty In My Shelter

This last year I was invited to join an online group named “Beauty in My Shelter”. I am wholeheartedly thankful for the invitation and love what this group offers. The thoughtful moderator cheers on our posts and the members offer so much kindness. We share images from all around the world reflecting each individual’s environment.

Sometimes an image from a walk, a simple cup of coffee in a beautiful mug, a contented pet, a creative offering, or even a beautifully set table can bring each of us a feeling of comfort and connection—reminders we are not alone. The space we have created together is emotionally uplifting.

Having a positive and kind space in which to interact can help fill many of our senses. It’s also an invitation to connect with the beauty all around us that we normally might overlook.

Finding and Creating Beauty

Before COVID, I had planned on remodeling the bath in the master bedroom. After COVID, I had to create a new plan.

An ugly old stump in our front yard had been bothering me. I came up with the idea to dig it out using my tools and remove it, including all of the roots. I wanted to build a raised cut-flower bed. It could bring joy by providing flowers all spring, summer, and into the fall.

What a great way to get exercise while landscaping and creating beauty at the same time. Those who know me well understand I am a maker and I love to transform spaces and make beautiful things.

It took me about seven days to dig around and under the stump. Then a kind neighbor (I love my neighbors) came over with his chainsaw and detached it from the roots. He also lifted the stump out of the ground and took it to the green dump. 😀

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The next week I dug out the rest of the roots and was ready to build the raised flower bed. I already had most of the materials from an earlier deck remodel and was really happy I could repurpose some used lumber.

A Sharing Garden

During the time I was digging out the stump I remembered to order seeds online that were recommended for cut flowers. Because of COVID, all the flower nursery stores were closed and I had to make an appointment to get soil for the bed. It was an easy chore. I paid over the phone, drove there at my appointed time, they filled my little truck bed, and before long the raised bed was ready to plant.

I was getting a late start on the season but I had hoped my chosen plants would mature and bloom. At the beginning of May the seeds had germinated, and they were ready to go into the ground. I was pleasantly surprised it didn’t take long before I could share the blossoms from my labor.

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Through the last bit of spring, all through the summer, and into the fall I picked the flowers from the yard and the raised bed and created bouquets. It was so fun to be able to share beauty with others who I knew appreciated their essence. I was able to share my bouquets in person and virtually with my old and new online friends!

It’s so true that giving and receiving are the same. It’s reciprocal energy that goes round-and-round and is a beautiful way to fill our souls.

In closing, here is a wonderful quote from Audrey Hepburn:

“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.”


 

Finding the Silver Lining

December 30, 2020 By Sandy Breckenridge 10 Comments

70s hippie jeans
My hippie jeans from the 70s.

Curious people often ask me when I knew I was an artist. The answer is not a simple one and so the story goes:

When I was in my late 20’s, I had no idea that my life would eventually take a huge creative turn in my 30s. I was busy learning about life, relationships, and how to find my place in an ever-changing world. Throughout my hippie years–from ‘68 to around ‘75–peace, love, and freedom were at the forefront of my heart and mind.

I am very grateful I lived during this innovative time. The hippie uprising embedded the value of kindness and a deep belief that we are all inner connected at the soul level. It was obviously a time of vast artistic expansion in all corners of our culture. Music, art, media, clothing, haircuts, architecture, home decor…all these influences and more were creatively revolutionized.

During the early ’70s, I dabbled in creativity but it was just an afterthought. Remember those embroidered hippy jeans? Or the halter tops made out of doilies? Yep, that was me. I’d sit at my sewing machine, smoke a doobie, and “just make up” clothing designs. Money was always tight and I really didn’t know what a “maker” was but I was already demonstrating an interest in creating something from nothing.

The Nuts and Bolts of the Early 80s

Technical illustration of bolts
A drawing I did attending vocational school while learning technical drawing

Then in the late ’70s, my life took a turn. I had tried out marriage for a brief time but it didn’t take me long to learn I married for the wrong reasons. Jumping forward a few years to 1979, circumstances lead me to a major pivot point.

I was working in a job where I was required to lift and bend all day. You have to understand I am only 5’1” and weighed about 110 pounds at the time. I was fit, but the repetition my work required lead me to experience a long-lasting back injury. I could no longer work a regular job and I spent a year visiting the doctors and practicing physical therapy.

Because I acquired an on-the-job injury, vocational rehabilitation programs were available. I was accepted into a program that allowed me to go back to school. I had to choose an interest where I could sit rather than stand. One choice was a course on isometric and technical illustration that included basic 2-dimensional graphic design. The idea was to get me career-qualified for a job at Boeing where I could make a decent income.

Choices, and More Choices

Learning perspective
Learning technical drawing of perspective also applied to life choices

I did remarkably well during that year and a half in school, which was a nice surprise. I had no idea I had talent in that area. Down the hall from our classroom was a Washington State Department of Vocational Rehabilitation office. This is where I would check in weekly and hand in my progress reports.

The people in the office were very kind and supportive. They truly took an interest in my hard work and accomplishments. At the end of the course, they could see I had excelled. One day at the end of the course before graduation, they called me into their office for a serious conversation.

Before telling you what was discussed, I need to include that both my instructors were graduates of the Burnley School of Professional Art on Capitol Hill in Seattle. This school was a Seattle landmark and had a reputation as one of the best schools on the west coast for learning art and design.

It was now 1982 and one of my instructors was actually teaching at Burnley at the same time. Both my teachers would share stories about Burnley, the eccentric instructors, and the Burnley ghost who was reported to haunt the halls. They also discussed how hard students worked and how a career in commercial art could open so many doors. I began to dream of attending. Working at Boeing just didn’t sound very exciting to me. But financially, there was no way I could afford five semesters of books, supplies, and the course fees.

OK, getting back to the day I was called in for that serious conversation. I had no idea what they wanted to discuss other than my graduation and grades. I sat down in the chair across from my vocational counselor. He smiled and congratulated me for doing so well! Then he asked me what I wanted to do now that I could apply at Boeing. I hemmed and hawed and said how grateful I was for everything I learned. Then he interrupted me.

So, I see here how well you did and we want you to know how happy we are about that. Have you ever thought about continuing your education?”

Hmm, I was a little confused. This isn’t the conversation I thought we were going to have.

Gary and Tom (my instructors) tell me you would like to go to Burnley. What are your feelings about that?”

I explained to them it sounded like a life-changing direction but I had no way to pay for it. And then came the what-ifs.

What if we could help you?”

OMG, I thought and I responded with a big, “What?”

My counselor went on to explain that if I paid for my supplies one semester they would pick up the cost of the course, then the next semester they would pick up my supplies and I could pick up the course fees.

I felt like I was on a cloud. It had been a challenging few years and this was certainly the silver lining. I stated I had no idea how I would manage it but absolutely I would figure it out!

An Artist Was Born

Illustration of Burnley lobby
One of our assignments at Burnley was to do a perspective drawing of the lobby.

So this is my story on how I became an artist! I completed the full course studies at Burnley and graduated in ‘86. I can still say that hurting my back was a blessing. It brought me to make choices that lead to some of the best years of my life.

After all this, I still had a bit of that hippy spirit. I didn’t decide to apply for a job in the commercial art field. Rather, my bohemian spirit led me to start a line of hand-painted silk scarves and blouses. I’ll save that story for another time.

SandyBreckenridge.com Launched!

December 29, 2020 By Sandy Breckenridge 2 Comments

A new day

During 2020, the isolation brought on by Covid-19 was not all bad. As the world, and especially our nation, struggled to find balance, many individuals found comfort staying home and working on projects that had been lingering at the bottom of their to-do lists.

For lots of people and businesses, productivity actually increased, especially from introverts. This describes my husband and me, who find solace in staying home and have found our time filled with creative projects.

Finally, the birth of SandyBreckenridge.com. You can plan to see many new creations. Since I am a maker, you won’t get bored viewing what I am currently working on each time you visit. It might be a digital painting of birds, plants, or elements in nature. It could be my graphic design course, which is free to all who are interested. Or it might be the development of a logo or graphic design.

I’m also interested in home renovation. I hope you follow along with one of my home remodeling projects. I love building useful things, like planters, birdhouses…hmmm, what will I be up to next? (Hint: Building something useful with one of my many favorite tools.)

Please, visit often! Make requests of what you would like to see or learn more about.

I have also added an online shop that offers many types of items this year. My hope is you will find something you might enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by. ❣️

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