email from Annabel
Fiber Artist Dilemma—How to Keep the Romance Alive
Here’s the scenario. You’ve come up with this amazing idea for your next fiber art piece. You plot it out, gather the essential elements to begin the process and you are so excited! You can’t stop thinking about it. It gives you a feeling of euphoria. When you are away from this project, you yearn to get back to it. While engaging in other activities, your mind is fantasizing about what you’ll do next in working on your creation. This is a wonderful feeling. You have begun a new relationship.
You and Your Creation. Like any relationship it starts off with excitement and then settles into a give and take pattern. As time goes on you may reach a stagnation period where the relationship is not progressing. You may be bogged down with details like having to hand stitch a thousand crystal beads onto the quilt. Meanwhile, your creative juices never stop flowing and you have an idea for another art piece. You want to start that relationship with the same euphoric feeling you had with the current piece you are working on. But you know how important it is to stay the course and finish what you started. So here lies the dilemma—do you stick with it or take a break and begin another relationship? And if you do start a new project, will the first one fall to the wayside or will you be able to come back to it?
There are times in my experience as a lifelong artist that focusing on one project is difficult especially when creative ideas keep coming and you are wanting to grab each one and start working on it immediately. I once read in a quilting book that it is ok to have 12 projects going on simultaneously. REALLY?!! I have at times had a universe of UFOs flying around my studio. At some point the enormity of it all becomes overwhelming and then I don’t want to work on any of them.
Over time I have worked on simplifying my life and that includes my art life. I now view my artwork as a relationship. Some of these “relationships” may last a weekend. But some, especially complex pieces may take a long time to finish and it becomes a commitment. When I decide I want to make that commitment I ask myself these questions: Do I have a goal in mind (Art Quilt Show), do I have the skills needed to execute the piece (or will I need additional learning curve time), and do I have the time to commit to such a relationship. If I decide to go forward with the project, I begin immediately. Strike while the iron is hot! This is a good metaphor. Do what you can during this first phase of the project. Be conscious of this thrilling feeling as you work.
At some point in the project, that feeling will wane as you are reaching a plateau in some way and have trouble moving over it. This is when you may get distracted by something else. For myself, I may decide to reorganize a sock drawer rather than continue the appliqué needed to finish the piece. OK, appliqué can be tedious, but handwork is usually a pleasurable exercise to me so instead of looking at the big picture, I try to enjoy this moment, the touch of the fabric, sewing with needle and thread, the meditative process. When you reach your impasse try to remember why you are creating this artwork in the first place and that thrilling feeling you initially had when you began the piece. Focus on the work at hand. You’re in this relationship for the long haul and not just a flirtation. It’s ok to take a break from the project and work on something else. This can be helpful, because when you come back to it, you will see it with fresh eyes and that initial spark will come back, hopefully. Just try not to leave it for too long. If for some reason the piece is just not working and you really don’t see it worth finishing, then it’s time to “break up with it” and move on to something new.
Every relationship takes work. It has its ups and downs, thrills and problems. But most great relationships withstand it all.
Wendy Laurel Buettner wlbuettner@gmail.com
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