creativity - Karen A. Chase

JamSession — An impromptu jam session popped up one year when snow hemmed us all in for the party. The accordion player was in from Argentina visiting one neighbor, and the bass player, Mark, lives across the street.

Each year, Ted and I host a “Leftovers Party” on Friday evening, the day after Thanksgiving. We held it the first year we moved to Richmond, because we didn’t want to cook a turkey just for ourselves, and figured someone would surely bring it. No one did.

However, what they did bring was exactly what the party is called: Leftovers. Friends and neighbors brought whatever half-eaten casserole, straggling pie slices or day-old stuffing remained in their fridge.

What they also brought to our house was a sense of community. Both Ted and I were starting over here in Richmond, in our first home together. We had no family here and only a few friends. We had no shared traditions yet for the holidays.

This will be our fourth Leftovers gathering, and we now have a place that feels even more like home each year. We begin the holiday season, decorating in time for the party. I love this event because it’s casual, we donate items to the Foodbank, and no one has to cook a thing. By sharing in our own plenty, we have plenty of reasons to be thankful for one more day.

WhippedShortbread — A holiday favorite from when I was a kid, I made these whipped shortbread cookies and had them for the party. The recipe is from my mother, so some of my own holiday tradition is baked into ours.

What does a dairy farm have to do with the creative process? Nothing. And everything.

I recently toured the family farm of fellow designer, Candace Monaghan. Beaver Dam Farm has about 120 dairy cows. Naturally, there are boy cows who are also born, bred and sold, but the farm primarily produces milk. We wandered over her family’s property hearing stories about how Candace and her sister grew up crawling around inside of hay-lofts. They rose early along with the sun over rolling hills tinted with fall gold. They worked alongside animals and nature. It’s a magical American youth that is lost to most of us. There’s even a goat, Fred, who was simply dropped off on their property one night. He now happily follows workers around like the family dog.

While the tour was a social visit in many ways, my creative process is often enriched when I experience things that have nothing to do with what I do. I saw colors and a view I rarely see. I smelled things both beautiful (air, hay) and foul (manure) that educated my sense of smell. I saw how this life influenced Candace, and it explains why her photography is so stunning. Her eyes see things through unpolluted, beautiful air.

It’s important to step away from what we do, so we might find new stories and new perspectives. Or, as Monty Python says, “…and now for something completely different.” As for Fred, he just might make it into my book.