I keep my Rick Rack cactus on the kitchen window. Mostly because I love looking at it. But it also thrives in the north-facing light.
It has grown so much since my friend Emily gave me the cutting over a year ago. When it first sprouts it looks more like a regular cactus with spines from out of the ridges. But as it matures it turns into Rick Rack.
Often when I look at it (which is several times a day) I think of the box of rickrack I have in my studio. It’s a collection from many different people and someday, I know I’ll figure out how to use it all.
I’m not sure why I’m so fond of rickrack.
Maybe it’s because my mother used to sew it on the clothes she made for me when I was a kid. I can still picture it on two different smocks and on the back pockets of a pair of blue velvety bell bottoms.
Or maybe I just like that squiggly line it makes in so many different colors and that toothy fabric it’s made from. I like saying it too….Rick Rack. It just sounds like fun.
I think one of the reasons it’s hard for me to use is because it feels like it belongs to a specific time and anything I put it on will speak to that. I guess the challenge for me is to be able to use it so it says something new as well as keeping its history.
