Forward, March

“Creativity takes courage” ~Matisse

My week at the Studio Center opened a door that won’t close tightly again. And that’s just fine. I approached my time there as a portal for experimentation, and now I realize that there’s no going back; it’s a one-way path.

While I don’t have any idea where exactly I’m heading, let alone what it is I’m seeking, my goal is to figure out how to “stitch” previously learned lessons into something new. For all I know, I may eventually circle back around to a point very near where I left off. But for now I’m feeling the need to stretch, and it’s equal parts liberating and scary as I jump in with no specific end-point in sight.

With that in mind, I stumbled across a couple of resources that have been both encouraging and reassuring. Maybe you will find them so as well.

Nicholas Wilton often shares nuggets of good advice on his blog, but this quick video about breaking through to something new in your work couldn’t have come at a more timely moment.
Finding this 2014 issue of NEA Arts, “The Art of Failure – The Importance of Risk and Experimentation”, was a score. I haven’t made it through the whole issue yet, but the interviews I have read are illuminating. Don’t miss what Perry Chen has to say on “Improving Through the Creative Process” on page 09. It’s good to be reminded that plenty of others have been on this path before me (us).

©2018 Elizabeth Fram, detail, Stitched-resist Dye on Silk, 10 x 25 inches. What I find most exciting about this process is it seems to be equal parts careful planning and pure serendipity. The dye acts as both a partner and an opponent, but its unpredictability is the secret that makes the process so rewarding.