Maria started working on her fiber chair more than a year ago, she takes the baling wire from the hay bales  each day and weaves them over and around the old rattan chair, which sits outside in the sun and rain and wind all day. Minnie the barn cat loves to sit on it. The chair is getting more elaborate and beautiful, Maria has a great discipline about it, she works on it every day for about five to ten minutes. I usually go inside then and start making breakfast.

At first, she would ask me if I was annoyed that she was outside working on her chair while I was making breakfast, and I was surprised by the question. Of course not, I said. Creativity comes first around here. And it does. I can’t count the number of times Maria has pulled the car over or turned it around while I spent long minutes trying to get a photo.

Creativity comes first here, that is our work.