Changing The Approach.

I would like to think I'm an innovator.  I would like to think that I do unusual things, change things around, try things out...  Yesterday, though, I realised just how conditioned I am to doing things a certain way.  Perhaps we all are. 

I'm still struggling with stamina, but I wanted to do something with my hands, so raked out an unfinished piece. It's a piece of hand dyed cotton, to which I'd embellished a piece of patterned silk, and a scrap of velveteen, with a couple of smaller pieces of  fabric added.  It makes me think of a boat at sail in a high wind, somehow, although the 'sail' looks like a landscape, with fields and flowers.   I decided to add stitch to it, and fished out some hand dyed perle for the upper area.  Here it is so far.  You can see the stitch in the upper right hand corner.

I chose irregular crosses; at the time, I wasn't sure why.  My intention, though, was to fill the whole of that upper area with these stitches.  And then, suddenly, I wasn't so sure. 

Those stitches, to me, looked like a flock of birds, swirling around in that area.  I didn't want to lose that sense of movement, though I admit it would be better in a stronger contrasting colour, but I don't have anything better to hand, and the contrast is stronger in real life than in the image.  Why, I wondered, did I feel that it was important to fill the whole of the area with stitch?  I think it has to do with traditional quilting, perhaps, which is where I started out.  Lots of small, even stitches, covering the whole of the piece.  I've never done small and even, in art, because I believe in the power of the random mark, though the few traditional quilts I have made over the years follow that basis...and for good, technical reasons.  There are no good technical reasons to fill this piece with stitch, however.  I don't need to hold layers together.  It will never be washed.  I don't need to concern myself with wrinkling or creasing.  This is about a message, the creation of meaning, not about structure or technique or anything else. 

And at that point, I was reminded of one of the women I worked with at Dereham Hub.  She took to stitch like a duck to water.  I'm not naming her to respect her privacy.  She gifted me with some of her work before we left Norfolk: here is an example.

I love this little square.  I think it's spontaneous, well balanced and joyful.  Instinctual. She took pieces of fabric that spoke to her, cut bits off and stitched them on using a series of cross stitches.  She hasn't worried about what side to start or finish the thread: there are little bits sticking out on both sides.  Some of the crosses, are real crosses, others are close, but not quite there.  I don't know if anyone showed her cross stitch, or if she invented it for herself, incidentally.  I like the way the stitches lie.  I suspect she used the first thread that came to hand.  I know that she had no real sense of utility in stitching; when she stitched a bag, she stitched through both layers, making the functionality of the bag useless...it was, though, a very attractive bag shaped, reversible hanging. 

I'd like to make work that is much closer to this piece, than to what I make at present.  Genuine mark making, without worrying about anything at all.  Doing what seems right, with no thought of functionality or even of practical consequence.  If I can do it... I can also work through any technical issues that that deed creates....though in truth, I can't imagine that any would arise.  How interesting that, in the end, this becomes a question of self belief, of letting go, of pure creativity. 

So...what of the piece?  I think that I've added enough crosses.  I don't feel the need to add any more.  I'd like to add some stitch lower down, in a darker colour, to reflect this idea of sea... might couch, might embellish... might do nothing at all.  At this moment, my money's on nothing at all.  The level of discomfort I have with it as it is, is less than I suspect it would be if I added more stitch.  Leaving it as it is ensures maximum ambiguity.  If you want to read it as a ship, you can.  If you want to read it as fields and a loch, you can.  Or anything else you see in it.  I'm not going to impose my map on the world on the piece.  I want the same, instinctual feel as the green piece has.  And now I need to find something else to do....

Making The Most...

of the weather.

I freely admit to being a creature of emotional extremes, though, as I get older, these seem to be calming down somewhat... I think that has more to do with top notch psychotherapy than age, sadly. But I admit that when it comes to the weather, I am a conservative wee soul.  When they threaten me with temps of 30 deg, and even above, I whimper.  But I thought I might as well make the best of it by drying some fabric painted work on the line (and it's not even 11am...smug, me?  Hell, yes.).  

I actually went out to add another layer of varnish to this floor cloth, made by members of the Hub...

...that is the third layer of polyurethane varnish... one more and I think it will do.  I think they made a great job of it. There is another piece to varnish, too, but it is for a wall, so I may use a spray instead of laboriously painting on the varnish (though it really doesn't take all that long).

I'm working on a rug for myself, though Milliecat thinks that it is Just Perfect As It Is...

I reckon these fabric painted pieces won't take long to dry, which is great, as I want to work on them today...but before I do, I better go rescue and clean the brushes I used this morning.  My new motto is... 'It ain't over til the fat lady cleans up'...

Flamin' 'Eck...

it's June...  already. I thought it was more than time for me to give the studio a Good Going Over.  Now, I'd like to say that this was a 'before' image, but it's actually a 'during'; I haven't got as far as 'After'.  A combination of sloth, heat and the feeling of being overwhelmed got to me, and they, combined, are bigger than the need to clear up, or even to get to work...

During is dreadful.  It actually didn't look quite as bad as this before I started, but I'm moving furniture as well as stuff, and it takes a lot of clear space to turn the big table at the back (that's it after the move).  It's now clear of stuff, is the table, and there is a clear path from said table to the door.  Yes, I have three easels.  Yes, I do use them all, though it's a while since I used all three together; two has been my limit for a while.  The bags are full of Stuff, there's a collapsed loom and a spinning wheel in there, too.  Whine.  I think this will take most of the week, just to sort out.

But there is an upside to sorting, clearing and tidying.  I knew, in the back of my depression fuddled brain, that I had far more lino blocks than I could lay my hands on... and look what I found...

I'd forgotten all about the wood block (front left).  The reason I wanted to turn the table is that there's a press on the far end of it.  I seem to have been making prints quite a bit, recently, so wanted to have access to the press.  I'm quietly working out what I want to do, and what I want to stop doing.  Oil painting, I think, might be one thing to go.  Whilst I love the texture of oils, I don't like the associated smells and the general complexity of it all, not to mention the long wait for the damn stuff to dry.  I had cut down on the oil paints considerably about two years ago, so gently moving them out will not be a problem, or indeed a heart wrenching thing to do.

Meanwhile, might take the blocks to the Hub tomorrow, and let the guys try out block printing and monoprinting... it would be fun.  We want to make a large floor cloth for one of the rooms...maybe printing would be a good way of adding some pattern.  (for those of you who don't know, I volunteer twice a week at a centre for adults with learning difficulties... we love trying out new things!)

Learning At The Hub

I volunteer twice a week at the Hub, a centre for adults with learning difficulties.  I thought it would be fun, and I was right.  What I didn't allow for, was how much I was going to learn from the people I was working with.  I'd like to show you something.

This is a wheelchair quilt, made by a very determined lady who loves sewing, but who doesn't get to do it very often.  She used the sewing machine, with a bit of help, to put it together.  She made all the fabric choices, and put it all together, and decided that the hearts would look great on there, too, so she added them.  Technically, this is not the greatest quilt in the world.  But it was made with joy, unfailing enthusiasm and passion, and it is fit for purpose...in this case, keeping her legs warm when she goes out.  And she is incredibly pleased and proud of her achievement, as she should be.  She's already planning her next quilt, this time for a baby who is due to arrive later this year.

I love teaching at the Hub.  Everyone I work with really has a go at things to the full extent of their abilities.  They hold nothing back.  They work fast, and with enthusiasm.  They don't self censor; the inner critic is a myth at the Hub, and so we get through at least twice as much work as I would expect a class to get through in an hour...which means I have to think on my feet, and improvise.  It's good for me.  This week we made badges.  I expected us to make maybe half a dozen... we must have made at least twice that in the time available.

What I love most of all, though, is watching what people do with the materials when left to their own devices.  They combine the most unexpected things in wonderful ways.  I think it's an extreme version of beginner's mind, that Zen concept that is so important to creative people.  The key, though, I think, is what I said earlier.  Everyone I work with has a go at things to the full extent of their abilities, no matter how limited those abilities might be.  All I have to do, is meet them where they are, and help them to express that inherent creativity.  Just imagine what it might be like if you did the same... have a go at things to the full extent of your abilities.  What might change?

Why not give it a go?  Think less, make more.  Do unexpected things, and don't worry about it.  Be proud of  what you achieve and accept it for what it is.  Above all...have fun.  I know we do.