Let's Talk Gatekeeping on Off the Wall Friday

Ain't THAT the truth!

It's an odd place to be.. .a 35 year veteran of one craft .... quilting and a rank amateur of another... rug hooking.  After doing something for 30 years, you get to know most of the answers.  Diving in deep on rug hooking, the more I know, the more I realize I don't know.  Luckily, I've found a circle of ladies that are happy to share their opinions on things (and let me tell you, rug hookers are strong in their opinions).  One of my favorite 90 minutes of the week is the Saturday rug hook-in sessions, Cindi Gay hosts.  There anybody can bring their project and just hook and listen and

Psalm 12, Nina-Marie Sayre, 2001

chat...and it's free.    It's amazing what you can learn when you listen in on one of these hook-in's.  They are so free with their knowledge.

Recently, I heard the story about how when a new hooker asked another hooker if she could try her hook to see if she liked that kind....the lady promptly said no.  As you can imagine, the asker was taken aback and embarrassed.  The story brought back memories of older more experienced quilters being "mean girl" cruel to me.  It also brought memories of the class 25 years ago where fellow classmates Phillipa Naylor and Christine Fries generously filled in the gaps of my limited knowledge, so I was able to make my first art quilt.  Not for the first time, do I wonder, where would I be if they hadn't helped me that year.  That quilt gave me hope that I too, could maybe become an artist.  

That's why gatekeeping really boils my blood.  For those of you not up on the latest slag:

I don't think we find it so much in quilting, but I have heard of it more in rug hooking.  There are teachers who are afraid to teach too much worrying that a student won't return if they've learned too much.  There are people who will call copyright on the simplest designs.  For that matter, in the world of rug hooking, if you buy a pattern, you are only allowed to make one rug from that pattern.  I could go on, but I don't want to malign all rug hookers under this rant because there many, many generous ladies...  But still, I've seen it enough where it makes me do a double take...like What did they just say?

I find the whole idea of gatekeeping foolish and counterproductive.  In the words of Mother Teresa, "As we serve others we are working on ourselves; every act, every word, every gesture of genuine compassion naturally nourishes our own hearts".  You never know what you'll learn by helping someone else, but you do know you will learn.  Gatekeeping your knowledge will just end up with you creating in a little box of your own making.  

Not to mention, why do Gatekeepers think they know so much and only they are entitled to that knowledge.  Like everyone knows there is nothing truly original in this world.  I mean how did they learn it?  Someone - somewhere had to open a gate to teach them right?

From How to Steal like an Artist, by  Austin Kleon

Like I said, annoying!  I could rant some more, but I'm choosing to be the kind of rug hooker that lays it all out there for the world and to that end....

On this week's

Rug Watch....I finished the Melon and now it's on to more grapes.  This time I got smart and am doing all the same value grapes at once which makes gradating them easier.  Looking at my progress, I'm noticing that I should start designing my next.  I have a good idea what it's going to be but I'll save that for another post.

So, What Have You've Been Up to Creatively?

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