Threading thoughts ... on figuring it all out ...
Thursday, April 04, 2019
This came
to me today - inspired, I think by two areas of thought. The ever-pressing depression, helplessness, anger, hair-tearing desperate nightmare of the Brexit situation joined the sadness at hearing of the death of Rose Hilton, and speculation about talent perhaps under-developed - although I am a great admirer of her work. I drew the figure from a photo of Rose Hilton.
As usual, this popped into my mind when I should have been working on something else.
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Evocative. Glad you followed through on the idea that came to you. Hopefully it has made you feel a tad better, getting your feelings about things out visually like this. I constantly struggle with keeping on track, i.e. working on what I'm supposed to versus following up on a new flash of an idea. I know from experience that if I don't give that flash some attention, it will fade away and be forgotten. Perfect example is my decision to move forward on a specific fountain idea, with fabric selected and sketches done and decisions made. And then I dyed up some fabric, by chance layering two I'd not otherwise have paired on top of each other and suddenly I have before me a near complete idea for a different fountain quilt. Discipline says work on the first one first, but inspiration says don't let this one slip away!
ReplyDeleteSheila, I know what you mean about new ideas fading if not followed up. I am grateful for the discipline I had to embrace when publishing - different books had to be dealt with at different stages all at the same time. I'm a great one for allocating individual days or times of day for specific kinds of task - yet always ready to break the rule, should something more pressing come along. For instance, in general the evenings are for steady hand stitching progress, weekends for binge reading, Mondays for housework. That way, if I break my own rule, I have the structure to return to and nothing should slip away completely. That's the theory anyway!
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Schedules are a great help, a structure to make sure one gets to the many different aspects of daily, work and creative life. That is what I've felt I've lost over the years of getting a handle on my medical issues that among other things, include debilitating fatigue that threw the schedule out the window. I'm a bit lost without one and am slowly building things back, somewhat amused that after decades of being out of school and out of the workforce, I still treat the weekend as I always did - days off and time to do laundry and housework! I'm thankful for the twice weekly yoga classes I take because they do provide a constant, as well as my forever habit of doing the grocery shopping and some errands on Friday. The schedule I can't seem to reinstate though is the studio time. I've tried various approaches but nothing seems to stick. I struggle to break my computer and tv watching habit (from when that was about all I could handle), have put that on somewhat of a schedule but allow the studio time to be low priority, continually "running out of time" even on the days when I think I will get to it. Discipline - I am sorely lacking it, but on the other hand, was so disciplined for so many years that this feels somewhat like a welcome vacation from it. When I do get into the studio, the time there is more relaxed. Deadlines really drove my work ethic for so long, creating a lot of stress and even blocking how to take the next steps on a piece. I find it a good thing to be learning how to work without them.
DeleteInevitably, I have always worked on more than one piece at a time and found that a good thing too. I recognize what you are describing from your publishing days. And I am finally getting comfortable with that idea of breaking my own rules in terms of what overall schedule I have in place and find it is actually energizing to mix it up and, say, shop on Saturday rather than Friday! Oh we humans are such creatures of habit that a simple shift like that can really shake things up!
Of course now that we are not working for a salary we can do what we want. It is indeed fascinating how we stick to weekends and other habits - although with the former the society around us and tv schedules do incline us that way.
DeleteI share both your observations entirely. I can add a few choice words on the Brexit debacle, for instance: - a power grab, a deception, an omni-omni shambles, an intolerant response and totally stupid decision making. I am an historian and can think of only two other country-changing events in the past - the Norman Conquest and the English Civil War but they cannot be really compared as the circumstances were different and they did not set out to cut off their own arms, legs and heads (except for Charles 1 - a consequence of the war).
ReplyDeleteI agree also with your other observation about Rose Hilton. We saw her work at Messum's only a couple of years, or so, ago and one wonders what she would have achieved if she had not missed 20 years looking after a rather unpleasant husband. Still,she managed an exciting life, all in all.
Jenny, I wonder if being an historian makes the whole Brexit situation even worse for you. I managed two days last week with absolutely no input about politics - sheer bliss!
DeleteAt least there is art to give us joy and hope.