Living with chronic illness is mostly really the pits. But I have found that the sheesh-awfulness of it has honed my radar to notice and dive into the beautiful moments that unfold in unexpected and wonder filled ways.
For instance, one of our neighbors is the loveliest person… you can feel him quietly walking down the street with his dear little dog. He has a – hmmm- what to call it ??? a perceptible quality of lightness and contemplative presence and palpable kindness that is a joy to behold.
( My husband has this same gentle, loving, powerful presence.)
Being grateful for these lovely people (and ALL the precious ones) who carry the energy of peace inspired me to weave the Woven Woman, “Peace” .
It may look like she is alone, but if you look closely, you will see that there are actually 3 figures all interwoven…. all 3 of them are Mermaids and perhaps the 2 smaller Mermaids are the gifts that Peace brings… perhaps they embody the wish for Peace to flow like the oceans…..
Oh! This reminds me of an adorable moment yesterday… I had stepped outside to say goodbye to my daughter and grandson as they drove away from afternoon tea with us. I was chatting with our next door neighbors and we were utterly delighted when a gaggle of little kids burst out the front door, brandishing various bits and pieces of their Halloween costumes, and flew off the porch. The lead child trumpetted: Imagination for the win!!!!
And, we three adults all simultaneously put our hands on our hearts and swayed slightly and nodded: That’s what it’s all about!
About 7 years ago, I began working on 2 of the larger figures in the Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos Woven Women by drawing a large Goddess figure in pencil on a piece of paper that was over a meter (a yard) square. I then took very heavy wire (fencing wire- probably 6 or 8 gauge) and with pliers and wire cutters, freeform shaped the ‘Patience and Perseverance Advise the Ancient Ones.
The rest of the Oracle of Stillness Woven Women evolved from her, so she is the Mother of all the pieces in the show.
I find it amusing that she was also the last of the Woven Women to be finished… I was frantically sewing the last of the tiny Goddess figures to her as my husband, Jim and our grandson, were unwrapping the other figures all around me in the gallery!
She evolved over the years… she hung in the window of my studio for several years, as I watched the shadows that she cast and tried different ideas out with her.
Then a few years later, just before Covid hit our family, I asked Jim to please weld me a heavy weight version of the large Goddess, so he took my initial drawing and carefully cut and measured and welded a version of her. He used 1/4 inch steel rod to formulate her and whew… she is hefty!
This iteration eventually became: “Flourish, Yes, Even in the Middle of All This”.
She is very dear to my heart, as our daughter, Chloe Findlay-Harder, who is a fused glass artist, taught several workshops to our family and I made the face for ‘Flourish’ in fused glass…. I have painted many layers of oil paint over the initial face to arrive at the final face. I loved our classes with Chloe and have made many elements in fused glass for the Oracle of Stillness figures. Lots of them have fused glass faces and butterflies and other elements.
Chloe’s husband, Clancy, and I had a wonderful afternoon one Sunday when our family were gathered for our weekly dinner together. Clancy and I spent a long time talking about ‘Flourish’ and how she needed to evolve. He and I circled her and shifted elements and talked about the impact of color and texture. It was a wonderful and inspiring time of deep connection…. and, shockingly, not long after, he died of a blood clot caused by the Covid virus. Needless to say, this is a piece that I will never part with.
Clancy also made me a fused glass piece that represented a loom, and I had his permission to include it in one of the Oracle of Stillness figures.
It is the rectangle at the base of “Remembering”, which is a tribute to his golden heart and beautiful presence.
Her face is fused glass as well.
“Flourish, yes even in the middle of all this” and “Patience and Perseverance Advise the Ancient Ones” both took years to complete…. I would work on them, and live with them and come back, over and over. They each are about a meter tall by a meter wide.
After I had a dream in which I discovered that the Oracle of Stillness Woven Women all needed wings, I designed and crocheted their wings and then built wire armatures to stretch and secure the wings in full expansion.
I love the shadows that they cast on the walls behind them.
They are on display at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton AB until the 22 of November.
These 3 figures are love songs to sing sorrow into compassion and grief into a larger love, as love opens and blossoms and transforms in unexpected, heart-rending miraculous ways…. ❤
The opening on Oct 17, 2025 at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton of my solo mixed media show of Woven Women Tapestries: ‘The Oracle of Stillness- Weaving Coherence in the Chaos’ was wonderful.
I made a wobbly little video after the show was hung but before the lights were set, so some of the pieces don’t show up too well….
Here is the explanation of the show:
This little video by Noreen Crone-Findlay is a glimpse of her solo show of mixed media weaving: The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos. This series of Woven Women tapestries were created by Noreen Crone-Findlay over many years and include many mediums: fused glass, steel rod, steel and copper wire, beading, Teneriffe lace making, Tatted lace, lace and tapestry and narrow band weaving on looms specially constructed for the show by Crone-Findlay, thread, yarn, painting on wood, painting on watercolor paper, found objects, leather work, crochet, wire work, carved Tagua nut, and carved wood. The Oracle of Stillness speaks to the heart about navigating grief, sorrow around personal loss and chronic illness, as well as the shock of living in social and cultural upheaval. Noreen Crone-Findlay works with her dreams, meditations, prayers, poetry, and deep conversation to create Woven Women who embody presence, mystery, magic, The Great Beauty and the Feminine Divine. The Oracle of Stillness Woven Women are immersive, textural, layered and complex. Each one has taken hundreds of hours to complete and invite the gaze of the viewer to listen with their hearts to find the ‘ring of truth’ and point of Stillness int the quiet of the journey ‘Home’. Noreen hopes that you will find a moment of wonder or Beauty in the Oracle of Stillness Woven Women and to follow the complex threads that lead to the very center of our Being-ness. There is love in every stitch, every molecule of each of these mixed media weavings. May they bring healing…. with love. Please go to http://www.tottietalkscrafts.com for more information
Our dear friend, Andrea Gray took photos at the opening, and oi vey, when I was captioning the pics, I spelled her name wrong! For crying out loud! I had one job to do….. sigh… my apologies… its’ GRAY not Grey….
The gallery was packed to the rafters, so it wasn’t easy for her to get the photos and I am grateful to her! ❤
Anyhow here are the pics:
Just a note… they were taken at the end of the evening and I was exhausted, so I do look mighty droopy!
I will keep working on getting photos of the individual pieces up here and on fb and ig.
I wanted to make something special to wear to the opening of my solo show- The Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos.
I’ve been weaving this fabric on many different looms for about 5 years!
I worked my chops off to finish the last length of it, and then agonized over what on earth I would make with it…. a vest? a tunic? a shirt? a smock? a tabard? ack….
Finally, I settled on a coat-ish, duster-ish, big shirt-ish sort of a thing and cut out slopers and spent a whole lot of hours basting it together, trying it on, pinning new seam lines, basting them, snip snip snip
over and over and over until I was happy with the shapes:
I played around with fitting the various pieces of fabric onto the slopers
And, then eeeeeeeeeeeek I cut out the shapes! Hmmm something horrible has happened to the colors in the photo below… sorry about that!
Then -the long slow process of hand and machine stitching all the fabric components together…
I don’t like the raw edges of hand woven fabric, so I cover them with bias tape:
and hand woven narrow bands:
Every seam is sewn at least 3 and often 4 times (and of course, I zig zag stitched all the raw edges before doing anything at all).
It’s a slow and pleasant process- very meditative and contemplative.
And, of course- it has pockets! Pockets are essential!
Here’s the back:
It’s a very simple construction of an easy going and comfortable coat/duster/big shirt that I plan on wearing for years.
But first… to the opening of my show on Friday night at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton.
Hmmmm…. what to wear under it? Probably basic black shirt and pants, but jeans are tempting, too….
I am pretty sure that I have enough of the fabric left to cobble together a vest, too…
It reminds us to be observant- it can signal a sense of contentment, of knowingness that this place, this time, this feeling is lovely and perfect in and of itself.
AND- It can also signal a sense of dismay, of knowing that this relationship, this place, this time, this feeling is totally wrong and must end.
Both ‘enough’s are turning point moments…. One tells us to bask in the perfection of the moment, and the other insists that action must be taken. Both are profoundly healing and life affirming.
We have to move into the ‘Still point’ in our hearts and minds to process each of the ‘enough’s and then
to remember that: This Too Shall Pass. Life moves in swirls, eddies and flow… this too shall pass….
Enough….
This Woven Woman mixed media weaving feels like one of the most important pieces in my “Oracle of Stillness-Weaving Coherence in the Chaos” series.
The ‘Oracle of Stillness’ exhibition is at the Harcourt House Gallery from Oct 17- Nov 22.
Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of the year- Canadian Thanksgiving feels very much like a Harvest celebration, as we turn to face the oncoming winter (which has actually arrived for some of us already… shudder) and say heartfelt THANK YOU for all the amazing goodness and miracles that still, astonishingly, surround us!
So HAPPY THANKSGIVING to everyone here in Canada, and also I hope that there will be beauty and peace and harmony flowing out in unexpected and lovely ways all over this precious planet!
I was thinking about which of the Woven Women in my “Oracles of Stillness-Weaving Coherence in the Chaos” series of mixed media tapestries, wondering… which one says thank you most clearly, and I realized that ‘Webs of Connection’ pretty much says it all….
Each of the pieces in this series is a kind of blessing, a kind of healing and I hope that people will feel the loving intention that is woven into every stitch of them!
They are at Harcourt House gallery (opening Oct 17- everyone invited 🙂 )
Today, I was talking to a dear friend about the incredibly difficult time that she is going through.
I told her about something that has been really helpful to me when I am in a crisis or challenge or other misery…. it’s a powerful, but simple way of getting through the suffering…
I quietly tell myself: One breath and then another, one step, then another and sometimes, count to 3 and repeat, then repeat again…..
This is the Woven Woman mixed media tapestry that I wove for my ‘Oracle of Stillness: Weaving Coherence in the Chaos”, to illustrate and illuminate this healing practice:
“One breath and then another, one step, then another” is one of 50 Woven Women that I have created over many years for the Oracle of Stillness collection.
Not all 50 of the tapestries have made it into my solo show that is opening Oct 17 at Harcourt House Gallery in Edmonton (the collection is too big and the space can’t hold them all).
If you are in or near Edmonton on the 17th, please come to the opening- my beautiful husband and 2 of his close friends (they have been ‘The Jim Findlay Trio’ for 21 or so years) will be playing for the opening.
It’s going to be special!
I’ll be posting more photos of the pieces in the show as I can gather up the energy to do it (life with Lupus and Long Covid is a challenge and I have to manage my energy reserves-‘taint easy, but like they say: Tis what tis).
AND… I hope that, in these astonishingly unsettling times, the practice of
One breath and then another, one step, then another
The Kindred Spirit Dolls are sweet little beings that are meant to be a comfort and a delight to you as you make them.
And then, if you choose to give the Kindred Spirit Dolls to your family, friends and fellow travelers, they will carry your good wishes and kindness that are woven into every stitch of these precious little dolls!
The Kindred Spirit Dolls are small- not quite 3 inches (7.5 cm) tall so they can go everywhere with you.
Because the Kindred Spirit dolls have Noreen’s signature hugging arms- they are ready to give a hug at all times, and they can also hold onto small things, too.
The Kindred Spirit Dolls have optional wings, made by following the instructions for the Kindness Butterfly in the video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A11F11Lsp8 that is then stitched to the back of the Kindred Spirit Doll.
Their hair can be made in many ways. They all have embroidered bangs and side wisps, and if you like the simplicity of the ‘Pixie’ style hair, then don’t add any extras.
But, if a more elaborate hairstyle is your cup of tea, then feel free to add twisted topknots and braids or ponytails and fringes.
I hope that the Kindred Spirit Dolls will bring happiness, comfort and good feelings into your life!
The links for all the Weaving Kindness projects, videos, how to’s & etsy shop ordering info is at:
I have designed a 2nd way of making the small Kindness Loom for the Weaving Kindness Project.
The link to order the 2 PDFs of Step by Step Instructions for making both of the Kindness Looms is: LINK
The first PDF shows how to make a Kindness Loom using pins to weave on
and the 2nd PDF shows how to make a Kindness Loom with mat board and cribbage pegs .
Both versions of the Kindness loom work equally well for all the projects I have designed for the Weaving Kindness Project.
The Weaving Kindness Project is about weaving small tokens of caring, kindness, comfort, wishes for good luck, sweet peace and blessings!
To see photos of the Kindness projects that I have designed to weave on the Kindness Pin Loom and links to order the PDF instructions for making them, please go to:
In Springtime, we watch for the return of the migrating birds with anticipation and delight.
I have been hard at work, designing and weaving Tiny Birds of Hope (and other good things) on the Kindness Loom. These tiny birds are very small- in fact they fit into a chicken’s eggshell.
You can order the PDF instructions from my etsy shop at this L I N K
Here’s a closer look at the flock:
In celebration of Springtime, there is the Tiny Chick.
And in hopes of Peace, there is the Dove of Peace and Harmony:
Since life is a dance between the Birds of Sorrow and the Blue Birds of Happiness… here they are:
And speaking of the dance, we all need to dance as wildly as we can manage at times, so here’s a little Flamingo with awkward legs to trip along in a small, but hopeful dance:
Pigeons have a lot to teach us about unexpected beauty (look closely at their iridescence!) and their clever persistence.
And, on a personal note, my daughter’s beloved Quaker Parrot was almost 25 years old when she crossed the Rainbow Bridge a couple of weeks ago. So, it was really important to me to weave my daughter and grandson each a Comfort Tiny Quaker Parrot in homage to and memory of a dear little Feather Friend that we all loved so much! (yes, I did shed tears in the weavings of this Tiny Feather Friend)…
Feel free to weave up Tiny Birds of Hope in homage to your favorite birds, real or imaginary. The Tiny Birds of Hope can hold things in their Hugging Wings or hang out on the end of your pen or pencil or on a houseplant or in a pocket and give you a hug whenever you need one.
Happy Weaving!
The Tiny Birds of Hope are part of my Weaving Kindness Project that is all about saying to yourself and to everyone in your life:
“You matter! I wish you well! Take and give care!”
May the Weaving Kindness project be like a lovely cup of tea ,that brings refreshment and healing and restoration to all concerned. Hugs all round!!!!
All the links for the Weaving Kindness Project are at:
Tottie Talks Crafts Blog 