Now you'd think that at 55 and being a quilter for 30 years, I would be over people having this prejudice against our art. Apparently not, since it's been 48 hours and I'm still pissed. I think the problem lies in the ignorance of some in the art community. They hear quilt, they think of 100's of years of a traditional female dominated craft. They think home, warmth, and security. All of which are true.
But, as most of you out there know, it is so much more. In fact, when I started this blog, the title of it came directly from this debate. It's Art, it's craft...it's whatever. I do what I do. I did not want to get hung up on the idea of labeling what I did. Now, once again someone else has done it for me. Idiot.
Like I said Idiots.
So now I know exactly how Andy Warhol felt when people told him his work wasn't art. Hmmmm that didn't stop him and he seemed to have landed on his feet.
And this one man's ignorance is not going to stop me either.
There I feel better...grin. Rant over!
So What Have You Been Up to Creatively?
During Jennifer Reis's class we talked a bit about motivation. I mean anybody who takes a look at her work knows that it take hours and hours of hand stitching. When asked how does she get a piece done, she mentioned she has several going at once. When she gets sick of one, she grabs another.
Since I've had an obvious lack of motivation in 2020 that is running right through 2021, I thought it might be nice to come up with some ideas that would help!
HOW TO MOTIVATE YOUR QUILTING
Now I don't want to give the impression that I think these are easy, because obviously if they were I would have gotten a lot more done. BUT it's a start and a start is all anybody can ask for!
So What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?
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| Jennifer Reis stitching her latest piece |
This time, I was lucky enough to snag a spot in Jennifer Reis' Embellishment class. We spent the week first learning (or refreshing) all sorts of hand stitched embroidery skills and embellishments. In fact, we learned so much that first day, my head was spinning! After that we could work on our piece. Luckily I had brought a piece I had made in Emily Richardson's class in 2019 which was perfect to embellish and stitch down. Little did I know that I would only get about 20% of it done in 3 days! Handwork is inherently slow, but me feeling not my best made it even slower.
Not to mention, I spent the week whiny, which is NOT my norm. Normally, John C. Campbell is my happy spot. This year...not so much. Due to on-going blight on our life, we had to wear masks in all buildings including class. Our class was limited to 7 people, all of which had to social distance at least 6-10 ft apart behind ... plexiglass! So here we are hand stitching all week in this big beautiful studio masked up, behind plexiglass and too far to talk comfortably. It led to a week of silence.
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| You thought I was exaggerating right?!? |
See I'm whining again just thinking of it. Jennifer's class was great and I would highly recommend it if you would like to learn a new twist on hand work. She's a great teacher but really one of the few highlights of the week is that she's a great lady. She always brightened my day.
Also the campus was as beautiful as ever. In August, it wasn't unbearably hot with plenty of seats in the shade. We stayed at the Rock House which was treat! Our room was spacious and really, really comfy.
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| Detail of Jennifer Reis work in progress |
Anyways, I am feeling better everyday and ready to get back after my piece. Jenn managed to spark my love of handwork. But the biggest thing I learned from the experience is that although I go to John C. Campbell's to learn, the real draw for me is the socialization. I mean I can work in silence at home as well as eat dinner every night with my husband. I go there to be with people who understand what I do and why I do it. That was really what I was missing this trip. Hopefully next time we'll be back to normal!
So What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?
