Saturday, June 2, 2012

Contemplation Time


This morning, I had a Skype session with Pam and Jennifer. They are nearing the end of their annual retreat. After we worked out some technological bugs (but not all), I got an amazing tour of their week of work, along with a tour of Pam's studio and the Annex where a lot of magic happened.

What was interesting to see was how sympatico the work is between these two artists. Earth and water. It would make for a beautiful, engaging show. You could see the satisfaction on both Pam's and Jennifer's faces, as decisions for new directions were made and even some pieces completed.

Although, I was thrilled for them, it did bring into fuller focus that I am in the midst of a direction change myself. This has been happening for at least a year...which is the last time I created a doll. As I struggle to think about completing another doll for Chautauqua, I am beginning to wonder if that phase of my artistic life is finished, or at least finished for the time being.

A new phase has yet to take complete form and that is always unsettling. I have been working on fabric resists for over a year and making the fabric is always exciting. Pam and Jennifer keep urging me to work larger, as I did for the Caos fabrics.

I have many ideas and many obligations. I am not the best at paring down. I love many aspects of what I am doing...teaching, designing new classes, experimenting with new techniques. My issue right now is the format for my work...what ultimate shape it will take, what it will be and try to say.

A long walk after our talk and I am realizing that some monoprints I did off of the wet paint on some resisted fabrics spoke more to me than the final fabrics.



I also had some thoughts about working with the weeds in the garden for the future F.I.N.E. exhibit. I may try exploring some of them tomorrow.

4 comments:

  1. Great to see you (via Skype ) this morning! Never fear, we have all been there...in that undecided, gray place while making transitions. I have no doubt that you will find your way....just trust the process. Here is a quote I keep on the design board, but I am sorry to say that I don't know where I stumbled upon it.
    "the timing of progress is like the tides -- they will shift according to their own rhythm."

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    1. Thanks, Pam. It was really inspiring to see what you did over the course of this week. I do like that quote (and so appropriate with the water theme). I just have to keep on and eventually will find my way. Seeing you makes me realize how much I miss you!

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  2. A breakthrough post! You've put it out there in the universe and cyberspace now...there's no going back.

    I truly believe that if you follow your heart, your soul, you can't go wrong. Keep listening to yours and trust that it will lead you in the right direction. It knows where it wants to go. It's the getting out of your own way that gets tricky at times.

    We need more trio Skype sessions so hurry up and update your version!

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  3. Thanks, Jennifer. It was a little scarey to put it out there. I know that there are some things that are VERY important to me (and not all in this post) and I've always had a hard time letting the old things go...like hedging my bets... It's difficult when you've been known for one thing for such a long time and haven't yet totally switched gears into the new thing because it hasn't yet made itself clear to you... I would like to figure out a time for the 3 of us to Skype on occasion. Yes, time to get it updated!

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