Waiting for the Mouse

I got an e-mail today that my quilt, 'Lotus Eaters' is now hanging in the Permanent Collection room at the New England Quilt Museum! Take that, you people who don't think I am still a quilter!

Also, I got a whole bunch of new things up on Etsy-see the link to the right under Ways to Waste Time. See if you 'need' anything or want me to make something specific for you- just e-mail me with special orders and i'll quote you a price based on how much I like your e-mail .

Horror-scope for today: "Apply your critical eye to the problems of others and you'll provide great help."

Well, I certainly can supply that 'critical eye', so I am gonna talk about CREATIVE BLOCK today. Someone on the QuiltArt list was having trouble getting at it and asked for advice and since I am just paddling like crazy to get out of that pond I thought it would be something to share with perhaps **both** of my readers

About a year ago I applied to the Art Quilt Web Ring to give myself a push back into quilting, but I was REJECTED. This, after 30 years of being a quilt artist and probably 300+ quilts out there in the universe. I had taken time off from quilting without even realizing it, and was doing some other things that were related, but not quite under the same umbrella. I know I am an artist but have defined myself as a quilter all these years. Now I found out that maybe I am NOT just a quilter and had indeed moved on (a lateral move, not a move up!) to other adventures with paint and glue.

So, while I wasn't perceived as a quilter, which seems so negative, I WAS a collageist, a clothing designer, an interior designer, a painter, and a printmaker. I made jewelry, I made beads, I helped design shows, and continued collecting vintage textiles. I made silk purses out of sow's ears and a few cigar boxes. I flirted with making non-traditional books and I was knitting after maybe 40 years of staying away (hey, the secret is gauge- something I wasn't able to take time for back in my 20's!). It took me a year to re-think who I am now, and what I do now. And to stop beating myself up for changing ponies at the end of my stream.

I really can't address those who are having a block due to physical or mental problems like depression- that's for a real doctor to address, and I don't even play one on tv. I found out long ago that my best work is done when my life is in a shambles, when something Really Big is going wrong I get super-productive. When life is calm and serene I go into a creative funk---SO, why am I bitching that I am not in a creative mode, especially when it must mean that 'things' are on an even keel? It's because I LIKE where I go when I am making things- it's a private little zone of my own and I miss it when I am not visiting regularly. One of the good things about quilts is that they take a lot of time so you visit the zone for hours and hours, sort of like going to a huge department store. When I do my 'other things' it's more like going to Walgreens- you race in, grab whet you need and get the hell out asap. So, what I miss most is the prolonged visits to the zone. But my life has changed, I don't have a real studio for 6 months of the year, I have my own Mr. Big, TY, lurking about the house for many additional hours and I already know:

I CANNOT CREATE WHEN SOMEONE MIGHT INTERRUPT MY ZONE.

In his defense, he doesn't know or understand how disrupting having him around is to me. After 33 years he deserves not to be locked out of his own house too. So my solution is to work on smaller projects again, things that can be completed in 'steps', some of which can be done in the same room as the continually news-blaring barking dogs of tv.

There are all sorts of steps one can take to get back into one's work. See the Richard Genn site or read Danny Gregory's posts. Julia Cameron is another popular block-buster. Read books on accessing your muse- there are a hundred of them and what works for one won't affect another. I don't have those books here in FL but will post a list when I get back home for a few days next week. Work in a different scale than you are used to, try something you don't think you will like. Take a class in something other than your regular discipline. Last year I took an 'extreme painting' class and had a ball, though admittedly I am not good at painting and never will be but I loved the abandon of throwing paint at a canvas with NO EXPECTATIONS. I learned a whole lot about lots of other things in that class because I had a great inspiring teacher and what I learned there infused itself into the things I am doing now. Learn to DRAW. This is a big one- too scarey for lots of people but believe me, an old art teacher, EVERYONE can draw. It is simply a *practice* and the more you do the better you get. Think of it like learning to write. And buy a Betty Edwards book if you can't find a class.

But, the most IMPORANT THING you can do with creative block is to slip around behind it and fool it by doing something else for awhile. The worst things that come out of creative block is that you get a clean studio and a new lease on your work! And yes, you might lose a little time but look at it as a fallow period, a time where all your experiences are fermenting together and coming up with new ideas and approaches. In your daily life you need to sleep to renew yourself for the next day- this is the same thing. So celebrate the fallow times and reacquaint yourself with old friends, go to those galleries you never have time for, shop for new art supplies, take a walk...start a blog, whatever. Learn to define your whole LIFE as creative instead of just your studio life.

I am temporarily laid up- cut off the tip of my middle finger making enchaladas the other night and the bandaids got in my way when I tried to remove a pan from the oven the next day- ended up burning my right hand too and the blister from that seems to be in a crucial spot. So, no glue for me for a few more days and instead I am knitting the last sleeve. I need those mittens they put on newborn babies so they don't scratch themselves.