AMY MEISSNER
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What we wish for.

11/18/2015

8 Comments

 
"Mama, your boobies are low and my boobies are high ...
... Why did you say 'Thanks a lot?' "

          Pelle, my son, age 3 1/2

I taped this quote to the mirror in my studio 5 years ago and I look at it every day. It makes me laugh.

​Ask a woman what she wishes were different about her body and she will tell you: a less jiggly rear, bigger/smaller boobs, longer legs, thinner arms, a flatter stomach, pretty knees ... 

Ask children this same question and they will be brutally honest about their wants. They will look you in the eye and answer:  

          Wings. 
          A tail. 
          Eyes that can see all the way to the other side of the earth. 
          Rainbow hair. 
          Fingernails colored red-pink-yellow, red-pink-yellow.
          A permanently attached spy kit. Right here.


Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com

Ask people what they wish were different about their lives, and many will say:  More time.

And different about the world? More peace.

I'd say this, too.

Below are images* from this last month, during which I've tried to make time and tried to be peaceful. 
​
I'll be writing soon about a maybe-big project I'm all fired up about, and will (gulp) ask for something I'd like to have, but I need to focus on that ask and get my thoughts straight first.

(Maybe you'll discover you have this something and would very much like to get rid of it  -- No, no, no, it's not a jiggly rear, I already have one of those. Geez, people). 

I'm looking for some specific old things, and I'll be giving them a voice. You could help if you'd like. More on that to come.

Meanwhile, it is 3 degrees Fahrenheit in Anchorage.
​
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com
Amy Meissner, textile artist. www.amymeissner.com

*If any of you are on Instagram, I'm @amymeissnerartist, where I post daily. 
​
8 Comments
Sharon Tomlinson link
11/19/2015 03:32:59 am

Can't wait to get your request. I have old things. Love the kid quotes. Thanks a lot for your post.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
11/20/2015 05:31:15 am

Sharon,
You are so sweet. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment here. The kid quotes are fewer and farther between and I'm forgetting to write them down. I keep fooling myself that I will remember everything they say...
XO
Amy

Reply
roxannelasky link
11/19/2015 04:20:32 am

After reading this, I wish I had written down more of that stuff. I do remember keeping a file folder (in the days before computers) of clever things they said or did, and had planned to illustrate a small book, one day...sometime. Would've been cute. Never happened and that file disappeared somehow in an ocd cleaning-frenzy moment. But you've made me, for this moment realize that I better enjoy that one of my children is in the house right now...for all it's worth.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
11/20/2015 05:33:48 am

Roxanne,
i wish I'd written more down too. It's amazing how little our brains retain. Seems like we forget lots of the good stuff, or at least the stuff that has the potential to becomes good over time.
XO
Amy

Reply
Dohnn
11/19/2015 08:03:18 am

I would wish for all the cars to go away, and the world could just slow down. Who knows, if we all stopped rushing around, we might see where we are and what we have, and get to know our family and neighbors.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
11/20/2015 05:40:12 am

Dohnn,
Thank you for the reminder. The people right in front of us are somehow the ones we most often overlook....how is that possible? I always appreciate your thoughtful insight and time.
XO
Amy

Reply
Maria Shell link
11/19/2015 02:01:59 pm

I don't know how you do it, but the photos of your life are in the SAME color schematic as your quilts. How do you orchestra that? And YES. I would like to help you.

Reply
Amy Meissner link
11/20/2015 05:42:54 am

Maria,
Huh. That's weird. Apparently, I live inside a Reliquary and force my family to as well.
Hope to see you soon--
XO
Amy

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    Amy Meissner, textile artist. Photo credit Brian Adams, 2013. www.amymeissner.com

    Amy Meissner

    Artist in Anchorage, Alaska, sometimes blogging about the collision of history, family & art, with the understanding that none exists without the other.

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