I come from a long line of sign writers and am happiest with a brush and some paint! Add
paint to fabric and I get really excited!!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Making Time

By last Thursday I was pouting because there hadn’t been much time in the week for anything remotely creative. I told my husband I was simply tired of being responsible and doing all those adult activities that kept me from playing. To be honest, I didn’t get a lot of sympathy; he laughed. He did joke me out of my crabbiness though. And then I sat at my sewing machine for a few hours and felt balance being restored.

Yesterday I had another pouting/ranting session and this time my hubby cajoled me into taking a walk. I guess he figured I would either talk myself silly about what was frustrating me and eventually bore even myself with the topic, or, I would be so breathless walking and ranting that eventually I would cease and desist. 

Well, between the good company, the beautiful sunshine and his help in arriving at a solution to the issue sending me round the crazy bend, it worked. I arrived home a more relaxed, calmer individual. Thank goodness. That kind of mental state is just not productive. Or pretty.

There have been times in my life when I wondered if I would ever have another original creative thought again; if I would ever come up with another design, idea, thing that I just had to create. A small hiatus from a demanding, all consuming job showed me that physical and mental fatigue definitely served as the firewall to my creativity. But then I found I couldn’t sleep because I had so many ideas popping into my head, most between the hours of 1 and 5 am.

My son works in a demanding, all consuming job. He is a talented self taught musician and has a lovely refreshing drawing style. He is wisely starting to prioritize and find time again for creating and playing music and to also find some spare minutes to draw. I love when my computer or phone pings to indicate he has emailed me another drawing. This is usually in the wee hours as well - maybe the quiet hours are the most creative for this family?

He and I are collaborating on a project or two and one of the sources of my frustration is that I just haven’t had a pocket of time recently that would allow me to make some major headway. And the time I have gotten to work on it has been fraught with taking big......sliding....steps.....backwards. Sigh. 

I did eventually make some headway and I am committed to carving out some hours in the days ahead to devote to the next steps.






8 comments:

  1. Oh, I kind of know the feeling! For me though, I actually have the time, I'm just too fatigued to do anything, but my brain is full. It's very frustrating. It helps to have a sketchbook to at least get the ideas down.
    We have to learn to accept.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This looks interesting, did your son draw the owl? And then is it screenprinted onto fabric? I think your husband had the right idea. Sometimes you just need to step away for a bit and do some exercise, it helps with creativity. I just finished a major show, and I thought I would want a break now from sewing, but the opposite happened! Being around all those creative women only inspired me to want to do more!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's good to rant from time to time. I do that too. I have plenty of time but I find that I don't use it very well at all. My mind is always churning with things I want to do.

    Your owl is wonderful! I love his wing and the border is perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hear you, Holly! I have suffered from chronic pain for over 30 years now and I find the spirit is often willing, but the energy just isn’t there. I try to work through it, but it does get frustrating. I also have sketchbooks and moleskins packed with ideas and drawings and notes to myself. Then I have a huge morgue of inspirational material and a whole satchel of kids drawings to translate to fiber! Oh my. Guess we just having to keep pluggin’ away, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Jeanette,

    Yes, my son did draw the owl and then I printed it on fabric with my ink jet printer. And I hate to admit just how often my husband is right....lol...some days I am amazed he puts up with me and my moods. I tell him that is the price he pays for marrying an artsy-fartsy.
    Hope you did well at the show! My daughter, who is a student at Dal dropped into the last one and enjoyed seeing all the vendors.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am so glad I am not the only one who rants, Linda! haha Sometimes I just have to get things out of my system and it is usually better if I am home alone when that happens, to be honest!
    The owl is a drawing of my son’s and I printed it on fabric using my ink jet printer. I have 2 others in the works and hope to make them all up into pillows for him by next week. Now to find the perfect outside border treatment! I think I will keep it simple - he seems to prefer a more modern, contemporary treatment.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sharron ThreadpainterMay 1, 2013 at 7:47 PM

    Hi, I'm visiting for the first time and I love your rant !
    In reading your replies, I suddenly realized that my own chronic pain is the reason that I procrastinate, too tired to work and frustration builds. I have had pain so long that I know no other feeling ... it is nice to know that I am not alone !

    ReplyDelete
  8. Welcome to my world of rants and the odd bit of creativity, Sharron! Life with chronic pain is certainly not for the feint of heart. haha I try really hard to not always use it as an excuse for not doing something, starting something, being enthusiastic about a project or an activity, but my reality is that it often takes a toll on me and I need to pace myself. When I don’t, I pay a price. I think fatigue is the biggest obstacle.
    Thanks for visiting! And trust me, there will be more rants! I am a black and white kinda girl and this world seems to have an awful lot of gray out there....

    ReplyDelete