Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I hope someday for Artquiltmaker to be the blog of the day. In the meantime, I sometimes look at the blogs of the day, just as I did today. The Tarts Come to Tea is back on the wall, so I have hot drink imagery on my mind. I liked this image from, what looks like a cafe’.
Clipped from coffeemessiah.blogspot.com
endurance
bearing their fortune*
“We may have great fortune or bad, but we should patiently bear both.” Trees bear what comes: the weather, development, etc. We may receive criticism on our work – fair and unfair, correct and incorrect, astute and not. We must bear it, but not let it change us. It should inform us, but not change us. “No matter what, we must always be true to our inner selves” and the direction we want our work to take.
I think it is important for me to consider that I don’t have to only bear things that happen to me; that I can also direct new things to happen. I think what the book is saying is that things happen and we have to take them (absorb them??) and that we shouldn’t fret and worry and rend our garments as a result. We should learn from them, too.
*I may, on certain days, post words related to the word of the day, or even only brief thoughts. Some words are harder than others!
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I am very pleased to have my new felted wool sculpture Super Suckler included in the upcoming exhibit Natural Blunders. Come say hello at the opening reception on January 24th, or check out images of the work at www.stephaniemetz.com. Thanks, Stephanie Metz The de Saisset Museum at Natural Blunders January 24 – Like artists throughout history, those in the Natural Blunders exhibition use nature as a departure point for compelling and resonant works of art. Uniquely, the Natural Blunders artists address the historically antagonistic relationship between humans and nature, highlighting the recent trends toward cloning and aggressive breeding techniques. In this exhibition, you will see a broad range of responses toward the environmentfrom veneration to more critical responses toward our traditionally Western adversarial relationship to nature. Ultimately, the works in Natural Blunders can be viewed as an artistic rebellion against what is essentially a world out of balance. Curator Karen Kienzle Opening Reception Featured Artists: Alastair Bolton, Cheryl Coon, Lauren Davies, Susan Felter, David Hevel, Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor, Misako Inaoka, Ernest Jolly, Michael McConnell, Stephanie Metz, Paul Paiement, Jane Rosen, John Slepian, Kathryn Spence, Tara Tucker, Sarah Wagner, Gail Wight Also on view: Futurefarmers: Nearby Nature and Flora and Fauna from the de Saisset Museums Permanent Collection curated by the SCU Biology Department de Saisset Museum 500 El Camino Real 408.554.4528 FREE ADMISSION TuesdaySunday, Closed Mondays Please note: if you would like to be removed from my mailing list, please reply to this email to that effect. You are on my personal email list, which is not shared, sold, or viewed by anyone else. stephaniegmetz@yahoo.com
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The book suggests that something destructive or shocking happens before new life emerges. Spiritual Literacy by the Brussatts talks about the bricks used to build houses in Hiroshima or Nagasaki we made from clay from the mountains. In the bricks were dormant seedpods. After the houses were destroyed and the bricks crumbled, the seedpods were free to become flowers in the midst of the rubble.
It seems to me that, after doing a big clean up or tidy (ablution-Jan 2) at the beginning of the year, the way is cleared for new projects or ideas. These ideas emerge because there is space for them emerge.
255 California has a small show of works by Debra King. Her work drew me in off the street with her quilt block-like shapes. Her pieces use Ruth McDowell’s concept of pressing carefully to highlight certain details. Within the quilt realm, her pieces are moderately sculptural. She is represented by the William Trophy gallery.
Sound is something that I know affects me in different ways. Things that are too loud or jarring make me want to get away from them. In my quiltmaking routine, I have certain radio shows that become background for the creative process. Other sounds and noise, even other, less familar shows can interrupt, or take time to adjust to their rhythm. My house is, usually, very quiet as is my neighborhood. I find this helps the creative process. Strangely, I appreciate the quiet, but like a little background noise.
“True stillness comes naturally from moments of solitude where we allow our minds to settle” is one of the lines in the reading on reflection for today. This is the feeling I find in my workroom: solitude, peace, positive ideas, possibilities. It does not come easily and having only bits of time to work is not conducive to finding that state of stillness where I can “listen” (??) to my creativity. Also, if I have not engaged in some kind of tidying (ablution??) before leaving my workroom the last time or before starting this newest session, and the place is a wreck, that stillness does not want to join me. Frankly, I don’t blame it!
I find that my mind leaves the dustballs and junk behind when I touch fabric, cut and sew. My mind begins to shake off the cobwebs of everyday life and bureaucracy and finds the space to see new ideas the longer I work.
The book also says “neither water nor the moon make any effort to achieve a reflection. In the same way, meditation will be natural and immediate.” For me, stillness takes time. I have found over the past couple of weeks of being free work and freeing myself from the must-dos has allowed me to work better. I didn’t ask it to come, it just came after a certain period of time. I was able to see quickly that the Hop, Skip & Jump pattern was not achieving my goal. I think it was, partially, because I had so much time to think about my colors and their relationship; to engage in the creative process. That is worthwhile.
According to Wordle.com, this is what I talked about in 2008. I am wondering about ‘like’ being almost the same size as ‘quilt.’ I’ll have to try not to say like as much in these posts. 😉
The book says “if we have devotion – total faith and commitment to our spiritual [substitute craft for spiritual here!] path – our determination will naturally build momentum. Fewer and fewer obstructions will come before us. Our path becomes like a crooked one made straight. No matter what tries to keep us from our purpose we will not be deferred.”
I looked at this and thought creativity is totally about devotion, but had a hard time getting past the spiritual part until I realized that devotion means everything to me in terms of quiltmaking. There are different kinds of creative people who can all be said to be devoted to their craft or art. I think that the devotion truly comes when the person works on their creativity every day. The person devotes time every day to working on their creativity, art or craft.
Creativity is in all of us, but comes to the surface much easier with practice. It doesn’t mean, necessarily, that you get in front of the machine every day. It does mean engaging in some creative effort each day: reading quilt magazines, doodling, drawing, planning a new project, looking out the window of the bus at the world in terms of line, shape and color, ironing fabric, and, of course, cutting and piecing as well. The more one practices in some manner, the more easily the practice of creativity becomes.
Some regular activity keeps up the continuity of creativity.
These are the fabrics that I started with. As I was cutting the FOTY pieces, They fell together and, as I said, I wanted to do something calm and quick-ish with them. I still like the fabrics together.
Here are all the pieces cut out and ready to sew. The contrast between the two photos (first photo above and the photo directly above) is striking. The photo of the cut pieces does not convey the look I was seeking at all. I think the dots was the right background choice from among the three I pulled, but I think the background strips should have been thinner.
Above is one pieced block.
Above are 6 completed blocks. I decided that these blocks are the sum of the Hop Skip and Jump blocks I will make. I am not getting the look that I want with this pattern. The blocks are pretty small and I would have to make at least 24 more to get a lap quilt. This is more of utilitarian quilt pattern and I am not interested in making it as a wall hanging. I enjoyed the sewing, but when it was time to cut more pieces I couldn’t face the work and decided to cut my losses. Perhaps I will make someone some small placemats since I didn’t sew the blocks together.
Tomorrow I am making a tote bag!
I have to apologize to those of you who took me seriously when I said there was minimal ‘religion’ in this book. It is a Taoist book and today’s word does have quite a bit of the Taoist beliefs associated with it. I am not going to go into much of what the book said, but give you my interpretation. I wasn’t happy that this was the word of the day, but that’s life so I tried to think of ways ablution applied to quiltmaking.
The book talked about cleansing. When I go up to my workroom after several days of not being there, or after the end of a project, I have to tidy up and put things away. Sometimes I get so engrossed in a project that I have to tidy up in the midst of a project (especially if it involves lots of fabric!). I think that this is a kind of ablution in the quiltmaking process. While putting everything away, I often find myself thanking (I know this sounds dumb) my tools and supplies for their good performance on the last project while preparing my psyche, the space and the tools and supplies for the next project. It is a kind of ritual for me.
If you are thinking about your resolutions, read the post on Christine Kane’s blog, Resolution Revolution.
I have a book called 365 Tao. I have had it for several years and decided this year to read one page every day, and think about the word of the day in order to get inspired. Where appropriate to quilting, I will post the word of the day here for you to ponder as well.
Beginning:
It is really no big surprise to me that the word for the first day of the year is Beginning. It seems appropriate on January 1. The book says that before anyone can begin they have to make the decision to begin. This seems so basic, but I never thought of it like that. If I don’t decide to start a new project, I can’t begin it. Interesting to let rumble around in my mind.
The author writes that the beginning of a journey is always filled with hope, wonder, anticipation and excitement. This is also true, if you think about it. I was thinking about this in relation to the Hop, Skip & Jump quilt I started yesterday. Before I physically begin a project, but after I have decided to begin there is a lot of hope on how it will go (fast? easily?); wonder at how yardage can be turned into something different, comforting and useful; there is anticipation on the feel of the fabric in my hands and the skillful wielding of tools as well as the pleasure of seeing the pieces go together; and, finally, the excitement at starting a new project, using new fabrics and a new design.
Once you have started the project, the bloom is off. I face the reality of making the quilt; the maker is in the process. The hope, wonder, anticipation and excitement still exist, but they are very much in my head while the process is actually something that I physically do. Sadly, physical actions have to comply with the laws of space, time, physics, etc. For the HSJ project, I found that that the pieces had to each be cut individually because they use templates. It was not a surprise, because I looked at the book carefully before I started. Cutting pieces individually using templates is not bad, just different. I thought about whether or not to change the pattern to make it easier to rotary cut, too, as I mentioned and decided to leave the project as it was rather than modifying it. There is a certain calmness to templates. They force me to slow down somewhat. It is all just part of the process. The reality is always different than what is in my head, and often a splendid surprise.
Good word for the day, I think!
This picture, as you can, probably, see, is taken at a very interesting angle. I like the way the stitch lines in the bottom right corner take on the look of a road. It is also interesting how one can see the center coming together and which way the pressing was done.
