I should have expected week six!
Really, after all these years, I should have expected week six.
A little panicky yesterday. You see, it's week six of my sabbatical. In the big picture of things I guess 6 weeks isn't much, but I can't help but feel that I have not been pushing myself hard enough creatively. It is too easy to get caught up in the everyday chores and routines, and put off the making. Somehow I used to manage to do most things and work full time, so there is no excuse really. I just know that washing clothes is much easier than designing clothes.
This week six anxiety is exactly what I usually see in my students! Week six is a marker - just a week off of mid term - and the point at which the enormity of what they have gotten themselves into hits home. The adrenaline of starting the program has worn off, and the heavy load of the work to be done becomes clear. The break week helps them catch their breath and then the same thing happens again around week 10. I mustn't forget about this!
So what it means to me is that the honeymoon is over and I have to get down to some more difficult and/or involved work.
This week will be the last of the tube scarves for a while (except for a few orders I have for Christmas). I've really enjoyed having the time to revisit this material and technique, applying dying and bleaching techniques. It is exactly what I wanted to be able to do. Up until this year, all my work has been one off; learn something and run to the next thing. Having the time to make the same thing over and over with variations has been great. For a bit there, I could really feel myself getting into the zone of the creative process. You can see my latest versions in the following post.
On the up side, I am really looking forward to the courses that I am taking at the Creativ Festival in Toronto this week. The timing for this event is absolutely ideal for me! I'm expecting that something(s) will kick start me into new projects and directions.
The courses I'm taking include a full day class in textile collage, half days on new directions in stitched surface design and alternative closures (with Kenneth D King) and a course on the use of a product for removing colour from fabric and replacing it with another colour in one step. This last one should replace the 2 step (and too variable) work that I have been doing with bleach and dye. And bonus - doing the shopping floor at the show with my good friend and creative catalyst Sheila Greenland.
I'll post about the Creativ Festival courses next week.
Right now I have a bad case of workshop envy. I just read a blog entry by a woman who attended Marcy Tilton and Diane Ericson's Design Outside the Lines in Santa Fe last month. This was a workshop that I had really wanted to attend, but in the end decided against due to the very high cost. It would have likely run me $6-7K for the 4 days of classes and travel, etc. I still think it is a lot of money, but I'm regretting missing out on the experience. Looks like it was a group of incredibly interesting women doing very interesting things with fabric, printing and more. In Santa Fe. *sigh*
There are two more of these coming up in 2013 in different locations. I'll have to seriously consider whether I am going to afford one of those.
A little panicky yesterday. You see, it's week six of my sabbatical. In the big picture of things I guess 6 weeks isn't much, but I can't help but feel that I have not been pushing myself hard enough creatively. It is too easy to get caught up in the everyday chores and routines, and put off the making. Somehow I used to manage to do most things and work full time, so there is no excuse really. I just know that washing clothes is much easier than designing clothes.
This week six anxiety is exactly what I usually see in my students! Week six is a marker - just a week off of mid term - and the point at which the enormity of what they have gotten themselves into hits home. The adrenaline of starting the program has worn off, and the heavy load of the work to be done becomes clear. The break week helps them catch their breath and then the same thing happens again around week 10. I mustn't forget about this!
So what it means to me is that the honeymoon is over and I have to get down to some more difficult and/or involved work.
This week will be the last of the tube scarves for a while (except for a few orders I have for Christmas). I've really enjoyed having the time to revisit this material and technique, applying dying and bleaching techniques. It is exactly what I wanted to be able to do. Up until this year, all my work has been one off; learn something and run to the next thing. Having the time to make the same thing over and over with variations has been great. For a bit there, I could really feel myself getting into the zone of the creative process. You can see my latest versions in the following post.
On the up side, I am really looking forward to the courses that I am taking at the Creativ Festival in Toronto this week. The timing for this event is absolutely ideal for me! I'm expecting that something(s) will kick start me into new projects and directions.
The courses I'm taking include a full day class in textile collage, half days on new directions in stitched surface design and alternative closures (with Kenneth D King) and a course on the use of a product for removing colour from fabric and replacing it with another colour in one step. This last one should replace the 2 step (and too variable) work that I have been doing with bleach and dye. And bonus - doing the shopping floor at the show with my good friend and creative catalyst Sheila Greenland.
I'll post about the Creativ Festival courses next week.
Right now I have a bad case of workshop envy. I just read a blog entry by a woman who attended Marcy Tilton and Diane Ericson's Design Outside the Lines in Santa Fe last month. This was a workshop that I had really wanted to attend, but in the end decided against due to the very high cost. It would have likely run me $6-7K for the 4 days of classes and travel, etc. I still think it is a lot of money, but I'm regretting missing out on the experience. Looks like it was a group of incredibly interesting women doing very interesting things with fabric, printing and more. In Santa Fe. *sigh*
There are two more of these coming up in 2013 in different locations. I'll have to seriously consider whether I am going to afford one of those.
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