Creative Prompt #1: Beginnings

The Creative Prompt project was inspired by many people and blogs. I started thinking about it after listening to many of the Creative Mom podcasts. Just FYI: I did a review of the CMP as well. I have some ideas for creative prompt projects that don’t involve quiltmaking, but this latest phenomenon just exploded on to the scene. A few people started talking about it after I wrote the Illustrated Journals post. Suddenly, the idea became something. I am pretty excited: excited because of the enthusiasm shown my Linda and Sherri, excited by the support shown by Julie and excited to just do it, like the Nike ad says.

Here is what I am going to do:

1. Every week (probably Friday) I will post a creative prompt. It may be words or pictures or something else.

2. I will do a drawing or some kind of creative endeavor with that prompt

The rest of the gang have said that they will:

1. Do a drawing, doodle, collage, write poetry, jot down a few words, origami, whatever every week.

2. Post a link to their efforts to the comments section.

Just see what you think of for the prompt and draw, write, collage, sew or whatever something. If you don’t like the prompt, look around and let something else inspire you.

If you want to join in, please feel welcome. If you don’t have a blog or website, open a Flickr account for FREE and post your work there.

There is more information on the Creative Prompt Page.

We’ll see how long it lasts and what comes of it.

_____________________________

The first creative prompt is Beginnings.

Anna Maria Horner talks about Beginnings in her blog post.

Illustrated Journals

Gabriel Campanario sketch Feb 12, 2009
Gabriel Campanario sketch Feb 12, 2009

Words are important to me. I like to use the correct word for the correct item, thought or feeling. “The quilt on the back of the couch,” for example, is much better than “the thing on the back of the other thing.”

TFQ and I had a discussion about visual journals a week or so ago. A lot of stuff had been rattling around in my brain. She was obviously thinking about these issues as well, because she clearly and cleverly articulated what I was thinking. There were some of the central points of our discussion:

  • Both of us have writing journals, which we use to rant and rave and explain and digest.
  • Neither of us wanted to try to express our feelings in art in addition to doing it in the journals mentioned above.
  • We agreed that we both wanted more of a daily art practice.
  • Both of us want to try different techniques that we read about in blogs and magazines. We don’t always know how to do these techniques.
  • We are both having trouble getting started.

The conversation, a subsequent letter to TFQ as well as a variety of comments I have made in my journal have all been working towards getting myself started and clearly articulating the issue. It has all been the product of stuff floating around in my mind as I try and resolve this issue for myself. I have decided that what I want is not to do visual journaling, which for me means explaining or working out my feelings and commenting on my life using media other than words. I want to illustrate my journal – or a journal. By illustrated journal, I mean that I want to sketch little vignettes or paint scenes that have nothing to do with my words. I want to do this to inform my quiltmaking and to inject more creativity into my life.

I use the sketch above from Gabi Campanario as an example of my idea. He sketches what is around him. His sketches don’t seem to have anything to do with how he is feeling. He obviously has taken it to an art form, which I am not planning on doing. I want to test ideas and sketch for myself. My quilts are really for others.

My biggest issue is starting. I need someone to hold my hand. I thought that decorating the box would kick start me into shape. No dice. It was hard, it took a long time and didn’t dry very fast. I did enjoy making it, though.

I thought getting some creative prompts, like from the Creative Mom podcast, would jumpstart the process.
No dice.

Finally I told Julie that I needed her to hold my hand. We haven’t set a date yet, but I am hoping we will both have time soon.

In the process of this hand wringing, I have identified a couple of issues:

  • My stuff for non-quilt creativity is everywhere. I have to haul it out in order to do anything.
  • I have supplies that I don’t know how to use.
  • I don’t have a messy space in which to work (and it is Feb and raining outside).
  • I still want to focus on quiltmaking and fiber. I want this endeavor to be a little extra.

I did some sketching in 2008, but stopped for some reason, so I guess I could consider this small amount of work the start, which means my real problem is continuing….

Quilting By the Sea #2

The second CQFA Retreat was the weekend of January 25, 2009 (read about the first retreat here). What a great weekend for sewing. You have already seen my completed top, FOTY 2008, but I thought I would share some of the highlights of the trip and other people’s projects with you. I highly recommend going on a weekend retreat once in a while, especially if you normally don’t get several hours of uninterrupted time to do your sewing.


On Saturday, I went out for a walk and to get some food and saw this flower, which I thought might make a nice sketch or a “Big Idea” for a quilt.


Terri, a talented writer whose books you should go out and buy right now, is also a talented quiltmaker. Above is her Kaleidoscope project. Since I had recently completed the Eye Spy top, I gave her some unsolicited advice on putting the top together. One of the things that I enjoy about the retreat is that I like seeing what people are making. Terri uses a very different color palette than I do, but it was great to see how she worked on the hexagons.

CQFA has a free fabric connection. Julie went and got some free fabric and made the above couch throw out of it. I love the cabbage rose feel that this top has, mostly because it is not too sickly sweet.

I didn’t crop the photo above, because I wanted you to see the set up. Julie and I were working at the table on the left side of the photo. You can see FOTY 2008 on my portable design wall in the background. Dolores was working on the right. We had nice big tables to work on.

Dolores, the organizer, had a goal of getting to know everyone better. Last year people did introductions and everyone talked about how they got into quiltmaking. This year she asked everyone to talk about what inspires them. Above is a picture of everyone gathering around one person’s work.

Debbie talked about taking a summer course at Cabrillo College with Richard Elliott. The class was called something like Frankenstein Fabric and they learned to manipulate fabric in new and interesting ways. The fabric above has been manipulated so that it has little puffs all over it.

The fabric has a high polyester content. Debbie does really interesting things with fiber and is very involved with SAQA.

All in all, the weekend was a big success. I certainly got a lot done and was pleased to be able to spend some extra time with Julie.

Journals for Today

I am now following an artist called Michael Nobbs on Twitter (he followed me first!). On his site, he has an ad for journals called Myndology. I liked hte colors so I clicked on the ad and then watched the video. These journals are so cool, because you can rearrange the pages and add pages from different sized journals. Not only that, but the colors are tempting I have the feeling that I have to try one! Just call me magpie!

clipped from www.myndology.com
journal
note
  blog it

Word of the Day: Orientation

The description of orientation didn’t turn out the way I thought it would. When I saw the word, I thought of the way I orient pieces in a quilt (one track mind, I know).

“Most of us embody disparate aspects in our personalities; these are our forms, the way we take shape. If we aren’t careful, we can become confused by such complexity. We should not deny any part of ourselves. We should arrange them. All elements are valid – they must simply be placed in the right context.”

I know that I have different aspects to my personality. The description of orientation in the book is a good passage to think about in relation to achieving balance with all of those different parts. Within quiltmaking alone are the following aspects: the art quiltmaker, the quiltmaker who is inspired by old quilts, the quilt historian, the machine appliquer, etc.

“…a diverse personality problematic only if some aspects dominate to the exclusion of others.”

I think what happens is that we try to feed all the different aspects of our quiltmaking personality and don’t see projects through. I am facing this a bit with the Tarts Come to Tea. I feel strongly that I should have powered through that project back in the day and to move forward with it now will mean incorporating the updated, new and emerging aspects of my personality that have changed and developed since I started the project. That means lots of ripping. I think though, that, after deciding it needs to be finished (versus abandoned) that I need to let those new aspects of my personality have some time in the sun and if that means ripping, so be it. I am reminding myself to be about the process and not the finished product right now.

“Just as the sun is the center of our solar system, so too must the mind of wisdom be the center of our diverse personalities. If our minds are strong, then the various parts of our lives will be held firmly to their proper courses, and there will be no chance of deviation.” There will be balance.

Word of the Day: Lovemaking

Oooh! Scary, love and sex in a quilt blog! I guess that is the breaks with a Word of the Day type project.

“Too many layers of meaning have been imposed upon sex. Religions straitjacket it, ascetics deny it, romantics glorify it, intellectuals theorize about it, obsessives pervert it. These actions have nothing to do with lovemaking. They come from fanaticism and compulsive behavior.”

“Making love is something mysterious, sacred, and often the most profound interaction between people. Whether what is created is a relationship or pregnancy, the legacy of both partners will be inherent in their creation. What we put into love determines what we get out of it.”

Word of the Day: Scars

Another difficult word….

“Throughout our life, but especially during our youth, many scars are inflicted upon us…Others arise from bad education…Unless we recover from these injuries, the scars mar us forever.”

and

“The only way is through self cultivation…The true course of healing is up to us alone.”

I think that poor teaching, and thoughtless comments are the root of scars and lack of confidence in the quiltmaking world. People are flexible and can learn anything. If one is told s/he can’t, shouldn’t, won’t, or musn’t, the small nicks and cuts that lead to scars are inflicted and internalized. Often these comments come from the utter’s own lack of confidence. I must avoid the possibility of getting more scars or inflicting scars on others by gaining confidence in my own skills and being supportive and not critical of other works.

Word of the Day: Accountability

“Eventually, someone has to be at the top. And who will that person turn to? Let us invoke not deities but pragmatism. It is experience that is the ultimate teacher. That is why wise people travel constantly and test themselves against the flux of circumstance. It is only in this way that they can truly conform their thoughts and compensate for their shortcomings.”

I think that the jist of this passage and word of the day is that being a leader means that you have to guide people through uncharted territory and not let your ego lead. It is easy for me to let power go to my head, but is definitely not best for most situations. I think that quiltmakers who have achieved some success forget what it is to lead. In quiltmaking, participants need leaders to guide through the creative process while allowing participants to head off on their own as well. Participants need to respect their accountability as well and not suck the leaders dry.

Word of the Day: Feasting

When I saw this word, it conjured up a bunch of knights in shining armor around a big table covered with food having a grand time eating and toasting some victory.

“In the past, feasting was a way to bind. Whether they are cultural gatherings, times of group worship, or even special dinners with friends, we all need moments where we come together and reaffirm the importance of our group.”

On the CQFA quilt retreat we had a big dinner at Ma Maison in Aptos. the table was set up like a big square donut so we could all see each and talk together. It was a celebration of our group, the retreat and our creativity, in my mind.

The ‘feast’ part is so simple, too. Everyone has to eat, so celebrating while eating makes sense.

Word of the Day: Adoration

The book talks about adoration in terms of imagery and icons in religion. The author says “external worship is merely a means to point within the true source of salvation.” When I saw this word and read the associated piece I immediately got an image of sitting at the sewing machine ripping out a bit of stitching and then sewing it again. For me, stitching is a meditative process that allows my mind to swirl around touching on parts of my life that need attention.

Word of the Day: Uselessness

“Useful trees are cut down. Useless ones survive.

The same is true of people. The strong are conscripted. The beautiful are exploited. those who are too plain to be noticed are the ones who survive. They are left alone and safe.”

This gives those of us whose specialness has not been validated by the media the opportunity to do great things. As a blogging-quiltmaker I can share what I know so others can enjoy this creative process.

Word of the Day: Renewal

“…just find a little quiet time each day to withdraw into yourself…none of us can maintain the fertility of our beings without renewal.”

I recently started a course of career counseling, not so much to find a career, but to find my place within my skills and career. One discussion we had was about how I get energy. I think this is about renewal. How do you renew yourself in order to infuse energy into your quiltmaking. I think that this is an important question and is what helps us move on or ahead in our quiltmaking.

Word of the Day: Communication

“We cannot communicate directly from mind to mind, and so misinterpretation is a perennial problem.”

“….we know no absolute truth in the world, only varying forms of ambiguity.” There is a lot of ambiguity in the quiltmaking world. Every quiltmaker thinks s/he knows best and is the best judge of good and bad quilts. It is easy to judge, but because communication leads to ambiguity, perhaps it is better if the works speak for themselves?