expropriate friction geochemistry

"We are our own worst critics",   Angela Waters

With advance apologies for all the darn WORDS today

OLD BUSINESS
Yesterday I quoted Picasso's famous statement but got to worrying about if it was actually his or my Swiss Cheese memory was in effect again.  So I googled it and came up with the actual quote (1) as well as an interesting (2)explanation:

(1)Creating something new usually requires us to let go of something old. As Pablo Picasso said, 

“Every act of creation is first an act of destruction.”

Transitions are painful because they destroy the status quo, pushing us beyond our comfort zones. Times of change are most excruciating for those most deeply vested in the old way of doing things.

(2)Every act of creation is also an act of destruction. The creation of something new and different, something that has not yet been, demands the destruction of the old and the typical, what is now and what has come before. The presence of destruction is at the core of the creative process itself.  Our most serious difficulties with being creative as human beings are not a result of deficiencies in imagination nor are they principally due to apathy or indifference. While these are often central factors, the ultimate problem lies elsewhere—we don’t want to destroy, we don’t want to participate in destruction. Because we will not destroy, we are unable to create. Because we are unwilling to become destroyers, we cannot become creators. One could in fact say that we don’t dare to imagine new possibilities and realities as doing so inherently destroys our cherished but limiting actualities and current modes of being. Apathy and indifference may just be an insidiously clever disguise to escape the call to create through destroying.

Couldn't have said it better myself.  This project is clearing the decks of things that no longer interest me, perhaps preparing for my Grandma Moses stage of life.  I'm living somewhat under the Sword of Damocles these days as the years of flipping by.  I still want to be involved with art and artistic pursuits but I really feel like all the previous work is holding me back.  I really am not interested in making new quilts- it just doesn't fit any more with what's going on in that world.  I haven't even been entering things in shows because it's sometimes just too much work to get it there! 
I felt this same way about being a traveling teacher about 15 years ago when I decided to quit because of all the work getting the jobs and then getting TO the jobs.  Sure, it was way fun doing the actual teaching but we are talking about maybe 5 hours out of five days of preparations, gathering stuff from far corners of the studio and packing it in as small a bag as possible,  making sure the family was covered, and food the refrigerator.  Then there was the night-before-travel insomnia, the actual travel, the meeting a host or a ride or the board or whoever was responsible for me, staying up late for the free crit the host always expected, eating casserole after casserole of white food-  the kind of gooey cheesy stuff from a pot-luck cookbook.  Then there was the really fun day of teaching (and eating a wonder bread sandwich with more cheese and mayo!)

whine whine whine

Reverse, and go home to family messes.  So I quit so I could use my energy in more efficient and productive ways.  I have never looked back and not missed it in spite of loving the actual class time and students.  And the bonus is I now have a real life not defined just by quilting.  

Making this tower is simply a way of moving on, saying a final goodbye all the things I was thinking about as I made them, all the things I was trying to comment on with my art, and downsizing the crap in the process.  So far I've saved back a few of the more game-changing pieces but I really think that after I hear what the upcoming crit show is going to require I'll be able to get to those quilts too.  Initially it was a piece from each decade-  so maybe 4 pieces.  I am also slow to cut up things I've made since the turn of the century (Seems funny to refer to it that way!) Though I most certainly have rotary cut up a few I wasn't that happy with anyway.  

OK, too much talky-talk.  We need an ART PART today before I go trooping off to a nice lunch with a friend who is only here for a week.  That requires a shower and some make-up and a cleaned up house since she hasn't seen the new digs yet.  

 Shinji Nakabais a master of carving carefully into miniature objects, creating skulls and other anatomical forms from pearls no larger than the end of a finger tip. Nakaba considers these works “wearable sculptures,” as each pearl takes the form of a ring, necklace, or pin. Although he uses precious metals and stones for his high-end jewelry, he is not against mixing in more common materials. Nakaba has been known to also incorporate aluminum from beer cans and trimmings from plastic bottles.

(My first ten years of quilt making were done with David Letterman late at night-  the only time the house was quiet and no demands were being made!)

Loved being part of the night-people!