Button Reveries: Evoking Memories, inspiring creativity

I have a passion for buttons:

Not only fancy, schmancy, top of the line, tons ‘o money buttons, but also, plain and simple, humble and ho hum buttons.

Buttons, to me, are full of stories.

I have one of the buttons from the corduroy suit my mother wore the day she walked me to my first day of school.

When I hold that button in my hand, I feel the  full gamut of emotions that I felt that day.   One little button can trigger a lot of memory!

I have boxes, bottles, jars, baskets, tins, envelopes and bags of buttons.

When I travel, I love to go to second hand stores, and am simply over the moon if they have old buttons by the bucket.

I run my hand through them, and I imagine the  stories the buttons might tell:
“Ah! I was the last button on the old man’s coat… his brother gave it to him, and he wore it until it was no more……”

And, “I was the glittery gem that graced a dress that brought joy to a young woman’s heart”

And: “I was the button on a shirt that softened with age and was worn with love till shredding”….

The buttons in the picture came from a second hand store in Quebec City.
I was visiting a dear friend, and was delighted when we found a treasure trove of grotty old buttons in a bin in her favorite charity shop.

The 2 large round button ‘Ancestor Portraits’ came from the same little store.
They had been donated and had lost their stories, so I adopted them.
They hang in my studio now, and have a tendancy to slip and slide on the wall.  Perhaps they are a little weary from all those years of being buttoned up?

We are in the process of downsizing.

Our children have grown up, have wind under their wings,
and are planning their weddings and building their lives. Joy!

Jim, my husband, and I, are running our hands across our possessions, asking:

” Do you accompany us on the next stage of our journey?
Are you still a treasure and a blessing,
or have you become a burden?”

In this ‘downsizing/clearing out process,
I have come face to face with my buttons.

I decided that I had to get creative about how I use them, and so, I am now exuberantly, wildly embellishing all manner of things with my beloved old buttons……..
Dolls, vests, bags…… you name it……..

For me, buttons are not about sentimentality or nostalgia.

They are about a deeper kind of remembering.

They remind me to ask the questions
about what I carry with me,
what stories do I tell myself,
and other people -
about my life,

about what is important,
what needs to be cherished,
what needs to be forgiven
what needs to be released……
what needs to be carried forward.

I think that these are essential questions for us to ask ourselves at every stage of our lives.

And, now, when so much is hanging in the balance,
perhaps a simple button can be the trigger
that ignites our imagination,
inspires our creativity,
and helps us to see the world in a whole new way………
perhaps………… perhaps………… perhaps………

Peace……..
hugs all round,
Noreen
www.crone-findlay.com

Please feel free to send people to this blog, but don’t copy the images or text without my permission…….. thanks so much! Blessings!