RE-WORKING OUR WORK - FEBRUARY 2024

"Don't think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It's self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can't try to do things. You simply must do things." Ray Bradbury

I had written an entire blog post for this month, then decided I wasn't happy with it.

How often do we decide we're not happy with our art or writings or whatever, then re-work it. Or maybe just live with it for a while before deciding on a fix. Or worse, realizing the last few steps need to be undone, like when we discover a problem with knitting or sewing and have to unpick dozens of stitches. Ugh!

And yet these are a normal part of the creative process. A writer is not done after doing just a first draft. It can take many edits before the author is satisfied with what they have written. That's what happened with my blog post. I'm not deleting it, but it will need to sit for a while before I decide what needs to be changed or removed or added. I don't know what it will look like or morph into - or if I will end up eventually deleting it. I know I can't force the post to happen. I just have to sit with it for a while longer. 

Which brings me to art we made years ago. You know, those pieces we liked (or not) at the time, but have now outgrown them. They may have been hidden away for a time. Maybe there are some unfinished ones. I don't like to just throw them out. So I've taken to having a good look to see if I can update them or maybe embellish. 

Two years ago I cut an older piece of art into strips and wove them together, adding in other materials and embellishments. I was delighted with the new piece (below) and included it as part of a gallery show by my Fibre 15 group. The original piece was neither a success nor a fail, but rather was created as a possible background for future art. By re-working, we can breath new life and possibilities into our art. 

"Woven Stories" Shown at Art Pontiac's Stone School Gallery in 2022

Another piece I cut up (below) to use as ATCs (artist trading cards). There is enough left to cut several more ATCs for an upcoming swap in July, and to which I will add some stitching and embellishments to complete them. 

Old textile art being cut up for use in artist trading cards

As I sort through lots of older art pieces and as I'm moving in a couple of months, I'm deciding which art and supplies to keep, which to purge, what I will probably never use again, what to give away, and what has potential to re-work into new art.

Until next month,

Anne

Related posts:

Broken Saucer Leads to Creative Discoveries

Artist Trading Cards: Deceptively Creative for Problem Solving Skills

DO SOMETHING YOU HAVE NEVER DONE BEFORE - JANUARY 2024

"...do something every day that you have never done before. This may be as small as having tea instead of coffee in the morning, or going somewhere you have never been".

What Would You Do If There was Nothing You Had To Do, 

Practices to Create Your Life the Way You Want it to Be. 

By Winslow Eliot

I spent the last days of 2023 and the first couple of weeks of 2024 house and cat sitting, something I had never done before. I've looked after oodles of times, but never while staying in someone else's home. My 2 little charges were the most affectionate cats I have ever met, wanting to cuddle and be on my lap (and happy to take over my yoga mat lol).  It was also some me time,  stitching and working on a new piece of fibre art, and some planning for the year. 

I brought a few projects to work on, including one hand-sewing and mounting mushroom-like fabric pieces onto a piece of barnboard, based on the photo here of mushrooms on tree bark. I have lots of lace I wanted to use for the edges of the mushrooms, and old upholstery samples I thought would be suitable for the main part. 

This type of three dimensional effect was not one I had tried before. My challenge was deciding how to mount the fabric mushrooms onto the wood. I made some with wire mesh between layers, and others without, not being sure how well they would attach to the wood background. After assembling the mushrooms I added a small crease at the back side and glued this crease onto the barnboard, then used a staple gun to further secure the mushrooms. This seemed to work out well. I quickly discovered the larger mushrooms definitely need the wire mesh. And a couple of pieces that I forgot to glue down first didn't stay on the wood very well, so I had to remove the staples and glue down first before stapling again. 

I also added liquid stabilizer to the lacey parts as they needed the added structure. I think this fibre art piece is now done and I am sitting with it for a few more days to decide if it needs more or not. I have a few extra mushrooms on standby just in case.

Mushroom Fibre Art

Detail of the mushroom art

I also have had my homework for the creative arts therapy class I'm taking, preparing the next set of assignments for submission. And stitching is underway on this gelli printed piece - stitching on paper is a favourite technique. I've been adding dark stitches to enhance the feathers, and hope to have this done in time for the class I'm teaching at the Ottawa School of Art Orleans campus on February 15th. 

Gelli Print of feathers - with some stitching added - in progress

Walks in nature were also on my agenda. I had hoped for some snowshoeing time, but with a green Christmas and New Year's, it was not to be (until a major storm yesterday that brought 20+ cm of snow). But we take what is given to us and I instead enjoyed some walks in nature even though it was cold.

Until next month, 

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