Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Reinvention

I have one of those horrible head colds, which makes you want to crawl into bed, but in all reality I have to keep my nose to the grindstone because if I don't I shall lose impetus. I know  I  often say  I struggle, and sometimes people don't want to hear that, but the artists life, whilst it has many freedoms has its down side in harsh economic times. I would trade for a steady job  any day and would have done so  for quite some years now. But the reality is , no jobs, so I have got to keep going at this. Some weeks I don't even know where money for food will come from as the rent in Geelong is high, energy costs are high, ( and despite a new hot water service being installed in the house I rent, I have to boil water to do my dishes, and yes I have complained but nothing can be done...),, running a car is expensive.... but my daughter must finish high school and the school where we lived previously just wasn't sufficiently supportive. I did not have a mobile until very recently, much to kids consternation, because I simply could not afford it, and my eldest daughter gave me her recycled one. I have tried to use every skerrick of material from years past, and what I can't use I have sent to better quarters. And then I am writing a book- I hope it will be worth it in the long run, but meanwhile  it's difficult to make things for sale because I need them photographed for the book and for styling shots.

 So the last few days I have spent thinking about how I cna change things. I think I need to devote daily time to making small pieces for sale and to spend at least 1-2  days developing entirely new things.I need to be more marketing savvy but I am my own worst marketer. I like to talk but I find blowing my own trumpet difficult and Imust admit there is a fine line between too much trumpeting and  simply being proud of what you have achieved and there is nothing wrong with feeling a sense of achievement.Also after my daughter finds out which university she is going to  I can look for more affordable accommodation.. my shed, even though I would rather have sold my block of land and moved elsewhere- it is not my most favourite option.

I have befriended a number of people in Geelong, been president of the Patchwork and Quilters Guild and am convening the  exhibition later this year. I have initiated a project called Envisioning Geelong which will be part of the exhibition- it asks people to  project their community in quilts.The Sentinelle project is also starting to grow and looks like it will get good exposure.All of these things have been enjoyable and at times take up time but they don't exactly earn you money, but if I want to belong to this quilt world I also need to contribute, and often the rewards are greater than the energy spent.

So one of the things I plan to do  is hold a last Travellers Blanket Class frm home- after February I will be going to Europe to work ( and I am hoping  I can snare a grant of some sort to at least cover my airfares)The class consist of 5 lessons in theevening and we will be starting Monday September 16.  We get together in the first session to dye the fabrics and then will get together 2 weeks later to make a start on the project. Each session is 2 hours and the cost is $110 for all 5 sessions and includes the cost of the dyes. Please email me if you are interested. The project is entirely hand stitched.

And I have made some small poppy pieces for sale.They are designed to fit into the Ikea Shadow box Frames. The poppy pieces have been transfer printed on lutradur and then  machine stitched, you could say they are embroideries. I wondered how these pieces would look in the 8 inch x 8 inch format ( approx) because all the other pieces have been bigger, but I am happy with them - they are quite luminous. The prices is $50 AUS inclusive of postage.



I have to send my Voyageart pieces off to theNetherlands soon as they will be shown inVeldhoven in Ocotber of 2013.

And this morning on our morning walk this wondrous piece of nature....


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