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| so many choices |
For those who face a roadblock in getting ideas:
Brainstorm. This is not the time for censoring, this is the time for wild and crazy possibilities. This is the time to sit down with a piece of paper and 30 minutes, the challenge rules or concept , and just get some flow.
I choose to sketch or write out ideas in groups of 12. These are quick, rough sketches, one leading to the next. Sometimes it's just words, thoughts, like "I want it whimsical, with lots of thread, all in reds" "what if I took a close up of a petal, showed just the veining, and only used paints" and just go for a list of 12 ideas or 30 minutes whatever comes first. I review at the end and decide if any of the ideas are worth tweaking or all evidence should be destroyed and never spoken of again.
The discussion of how to get more ideas will be for another day, such as magazines, friends, music, poems, experiments, combining ufo's, etc.
For those of you with too many choices:
Sometimes you just feel closer to one over another. Sometimes you want to try a technique so you'll try that one. Sometimes the deadline is so close you just pick one and go with it. Keep the list for later and there is always another chance to use your other ideas, so you aren't abandoning them.
When you choose an idea to try, start with the components that are the easiest, and just start.
I am comfortable not knowing exactly where I am going. I have worked from a detailed sketch, but I'm not the person who draws out a pattern, as it becomes a ball-and-chain to me.
I feel free to change mid stream also.
The piece changes as it grows, and so far I usually like the finished piece.
Ideas swirl, they bloom, one comes from another, if you LET them. If you sensor them, they will be sporadic, they will go into hiding. Do not despair, they are always there in your head/ psyche/spirit.
The muse may be silenced temporarily by your inner critic but I think if you find a way to quiet the critic, the ideas will flow. The ideas may be disorganized in your mind, so you need a filing system (idea journal) Be like a gold-miner and let most of them flow past, but catch the gold ones and make something.
Next time, perfectionism
LeeAnna giving it to you in a sound bite, little by little
you may also like to see the other roadblock discussions CLICK HERE
I saw your note on the quiltart list and thought I'd stop by. I haven't been to your blog for a few days. I enjoyed all the eye candy and thoughts on creating. MY problem is a pretty stupid one. I have all kinds of ideas but don't follow through with them because I wonder what I will do with the 'stuff' afterwards? I've given away quilts and dolls because once they were made, they only collected dust.
ReplyDeleteI have several artsy pieces that are just hanging around or folded into a box somewhere. Sacrilegious isn't it? I don't know what I will do about it. I sometimes think I need to pare down my studio to a smaller room. Perhaps too much clutter, although it is organized, is leading to my brain being too cluttered?
But no...it is because I don't like thinking about what will happen to the quilt, the doll, the placemat, the table-runner, the bag, the 'whatever' when I have made it! I like the process and rarely like the final outcome.
My problem is too many ideas and not enough time. After working all day outside the house, I come home and do all those chores (cooking, washing dishes, feed and walk the dog, maybe some laundry) then it's almost 7:00 pm and it's hard to feel creative. I force myself to sew, usually some mindless piecing at this point, but I feel I've done something. It's so hard to cram everything that I want to get done into a weekend, they fly by so fast then back to work. This doesn't allow for any in depth exploration of techniques, if something doesn't work out, I usually abandon it, and that makes me feel bad.
ReplyDeletewell, since your time is precious right now, don't let yourself feel bad for throwing something away. You sew for your spirit, so just do what makes your spirit sing and that's enough. Finding time is harder, sometimes it's setting an appt, and not answering the phone, not talking to anyone, but setting aside time just as IF you are as important as chores, tongue in cheek. It's a balancing act until you retire!
DeleteMe? I just gave up doing housework so I'd have more time to sew.
LeeAnna