There Are No New Beginnings

In the last few months, I've been exploring a new direction with textiles. It started with art dolls, evolved to bears, moved into birds, and has finally arrived at vessels or three dimensional sculpture. This seems to resonate. My mind is bubbling with ideas while my hands are learning new techniques although everything I've already learned is a part of the tool box I have brought with me to this new journey. That's true with creativity and it's true in all areas of life. There are no new beginnings, perhaps just continuums and resets, since we cannot leave behind what we already know.

A mentor once told me that the longer we're in a particular form, the harder it is to find fresh. It's true. That's exactly what I was experiencing. I was feeling bored and stale and wondering where the enthusiasm was. How was it possible to both be in love with and hate the work I was doing... or not doing... to feel like something essential was missing? In June 2024, I started working through the bits & pieces of potential in my studio deciding what stays and what goes while at the same time looking for a new playground. It had to be something I'd think about while driving, that would keep me awake when I wanted to be asleep, that would wander my mind off in an entirely new direction unaware that I started thinking about something entirely different. It had to have depth. I refer to the last year as The Make Down Challenge. As time went on, more and more containers emptied, shelves were bare, and there was open space everywhere in my studio, almost too much space, I started to worry that the stash would all go with nothing new to take it's place. In the end, I eliminated all the sideroads I'd explored with mixed media, polymer clay, metalsmithing, handbags, and more and settled back to my first love... fabric. And then, it found a new direction. I am grateful. Talk soon -