SOLD
I finally got those taxes done- then went to load it onto cd to take to the accountant- no blank cd's - arggggh. So had to drive into town to buy blank cd's and will have to go into town again tomorrow to finally deliver it. The kids tell me they don't have school tomorrow- which means fights for the computer....
I have been asked by Zijdelings to give some mini-workshops at their Textile weekend in October in the Netherlands. I am very keen to do this- but they want somehting I haven't taught before- and that is when the crisis of confidence hit me. What can I teach that is "colourful" new and innovative? Everything I do seems to be the same old stuff- I don't really play a lot with the latest stuff that's available to buy, one through lack of money but secondly my work is much more concerned with content than with incorporating the latest technique or fad. I suppose that makes me a little old hat. I find that I usually set out with a sort of "vision" of what I want to make, though I don't explicitly plan, trusting that the process will reveal what is needed to match my vision- sort of make it up as I go.As I also live a long way away from where I might buy anything that is needed and I am often too impatient to wait for internet orders to arrive I tend to use what I have on hand and and improvise with what I have on hand. Other things that are newish take time- so the actual process involves a couple of days- not suitabel for a 2.5 hour workshop. So what now......
I made some more pomegranate cards thinking one little workshop might be variations of the one form. These cards are for sale ( measure standard postcard size) at $27 US inclusive of postage.
10 comments:
I don't think the crisis of confidence lies with you -- it lies with those looking for a solution in the technique not in the content. You helped me realize that I already had all the tools I need in my head and didn't need to add any extraeneous ones that are about dyes and glitter and rust, etc. Sure I'll use those things if they support my concept, but like you said, we don't need them just because they are there.
thank you for that reminder!!!
then again, it's always nice to experiment with things we don't know in order to be able to use them when the time comes!!!
I'm still learning to do with what I have.....
On another note, when you go to the Netherlands, will you be stopping by in France??? If so when and where??? I was very upset at missing your workshop in Palaiseau or Sceaux (I don't remember) last year, but I learned about it too late to change my schedule!!!!
Content over latest fad every time-I'm so glad to hear you say it. I'm sure repackaging what you do already with a twist will meet the requirement.
What always interests me is to see how an artist takes a technique and really pushes it , exploring all the possibilities. So often people have just a few samples to show the technique off (often lacking in soul and substance) but not a large body of work to back it up. Climbing on the bandwagon takes no imagination.
Your work may be "old hat" to you, Dijanne, but it'll be fresh and different to people who aren't familiar with it. I admire the way you take a design and make it in a myriad of different colours and ways. Many people would never have done that - perhaps you could base your class around the striking effects of repeating an image? (like wosshisname's Marilyn Monroe images)
Don't you dare have a crisis of confidence Dijanne! Everything you do is perfect in my eyes. Why don't you give them a 2 1/2 hour workshop on learning to improvise and use what they have? We are all finding it too easy to try all the latest gimmicks forgetting to try the old and tried in a slightly different way!
how could you teach anything that WASN'T colorful, new and innovative. that is who you are!
er ... what they said!
(in other words the others who commented here have already said it better than I can, and I agree with them ;-)
btw ... I am probably weird, and it is probably just me who can see it - but as soon as I looked at that bottom pomegranate picture I could see a baby in a womb! (there is a seed at the top on the right that sort of looks like a head and the seeds below it look a bit like a body, and the area around them looks sort of womb shaped ... maybe I have seen too many TV/etc documantaries about developing foetuses or something? LOL)
... it actually adds a whole other interesting dimension to the idea of pomegranates being a symbol of fertility ...
(I am sure it was just serendipity? and not intentional, because it doesn't look much like a baby once I look at the full sized image, but I quite like it!)
Andrea,
disorganised in Dunlop
i soooo would love to buy a pomegranate postcard! sooo yummy :) is there one left?
oh, and who says that the "new materials" make the artwork better. i know my fave quilt shop in munich concentrates on new materials, but it's not important to me at all. ok, i'm no quilter either. i LOOOVE what you do and once i get a better sewing machine, i hope to take a workshop with you.
Hi! Dijanne,
I love your work because to me it is innovative and to be able to iprovise with what is on hand would be a real gift of a workshop, it is surely what we all want.
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