I got the photos back from my photography session last week and I’ll be sharing the images and posting them to my website this week. I’m having a little trouble coming up with a name for the quilt at right, which is unusual for me. It’s pieced from purchased hand dyed fabric and hand quilted with perle cotton. I really enjoyed the process of making this one–somehow the asymmetrical spikes really speak to me and I like the idea of having the curved borders on only two sides. I can see that I’d like to revisit this concept and see what else I can do with it. I’m not sure if this piece is part of my Color Block series or an entirely new one, so we’ll see where it goes.

Which brings me to thoughts on creativity and chaos. I’m not by nature neat when I’m working on a project, so my studio often looks like a tornado hit it when I’m working. I often have several pieces in process at any one time, so if I get stuck on one, I can move on to another while the ideas percolate in my subconscious. There comes a point, however, when the chaos overtakes the creativity and I can’t think because there are too many piles of fabric and snippets of scraps littering the landscape of my studio. I’ve been spending time the last week or so in between some traveling and family obligations trying to get a handle on the chaos so my creativity can reemerge. And it seems to be working. I’ve got some sketches and some new ideas to try–now I just need to find the time to get started on them! I have several shows and exhibits coming up in the next few months, so I really need to get going on creating this new work. I’m excited by the possibilities, so stay tuned.

What do you do to jumpstart your creativity?

6 Comments

  1. Carol on May 18, 2010 at 2:18 pm

    I like to tidy up a bit as well. And tidy up my stash. Somehow the tactile quality of the fabrics and seeing the colors and patterns that may have been hidden for a bit is really inspiring. Also, sketching or dying fabric. I have had to use so many different things to jump start…lol. But it is nice to have a few tricks up my sleeve. ;D
    Love your quilt. I am quite taken with your color palette and the wavy borders on just the two sides.



  2. clara on May 18, 2010 at 3:43 pm

    Call it: New Mexico Sky



  3. Liz on May 18, 2010 at 10:56 pm

    Just be open to when inspiration strikes. It can come at strange times as well as in the most ordinary circumstances. As a fellow creative type, I just know when I have to produce something, the best thing to do is just start on it. It (art, writing, quilting) never starts out perfect but it gets there eventually.



  4. Karoda on May 18, 2010 at 11:03 pm

    hi, came to your blog from a FB link…but I’m experiencing that in between place of chaos and creativity and my take is to keep plugging when I can steal away into my space OR either give myself a break and read or visit other artists’ works with the belief that I’ll come around just in the nick of time.



  5. Bob Davis on May 23, 2010 at 11:45 pm

    This piece suggests a symbolic abstraction of an ear of Indian corn. So it is a symbol of “Regeneration”,”Hope for the future” and “Fertility”. Because the kernels have many colors it might also be about “Harmony” and “Integration”.



    • Cindy on May 27, 2010 at 4:31 pm

      Thanks for the feedback! I’m always interested to hear what others see in my work.