Philosophy Friday - Ten Ways to Build Creative Momentum

" You must train your intuition - you must trust the small voice inside you which tells you exactly what to say, what to decide."

                        - Ingrid Bergman

How often do we start a project with great enthusiasm only to find after our initial breakthroughs we tend to get bogged down or lose momentum.  It happens more frequently than we would like but its been my experience that there are ways to try and overcome these obstacles:

1.  Don't let insecurities and perfectionism stop you or slow you down. The pursuit of perfectionism can cramp your style, rob you of your energy and can become obsessive. You would never create anything if you waited for perfection.  Put those thoughts of " it might not be good enough" out of your mind and give yourself the freedom and confidence to run with your ideas.

2.  Give yourself time and space to work on things.  Not everything comes in an " aha " moment.  Sometimes you just need to give yourself the gift of time and allow yourself to mull over aspects of the work in a less pressured manner.

3.  Assess your work - make notes or jots which document your progress - the positives and the negatives so far - what your initial goals or aims were - how that has remained the same or evolved.
Change is good -  it is a reasonable and natural progression in the creative process. Don't become a prisoner of your original idea.

4. Try some mind mapping or " word clouds" as that often gives you food for thought and allows your mind to " go with the flow".

5. If you can, skip parts that are slowing you down.  Set them aside for later if possible and move forward. Re-evaluate at a later time.

6.  Don't always look for other's approval and don't focus on being judged.  That is one of the quickest ways to slow down the flow of your work.

7. Give yourself a break and just let yourself " be" .  Don't censor your ideas or be overly critical of them - let them flower and be playful.

8.  Listen to your gut.  It rarely lets you down. Instincts are an " inner knowing" or a " subconscious comon sense" and can be a powerful motivator.  Learn to have faith in yourself and trust those inner feelings.

9.  Engage different parts of your brain.  Sometimes taking a break from the intense pressure of a one track mindset and doing something completely different can break the log jam.  Read a magazine on a  topic that is not your main interest.    Participate in a conversation with someone whose ideas and
lifestyle are contradictory to yours. Be open to diversity and other thought patterns that may enlighten you or stimulate other ideas you may not have considered or overlooked.

10.  Don't be afraid to eliminate anything that is not pulling it's weight.  Sometimes it only takes one small change or the elimination of one particular part of the work for the entire piece to suddenly all pull together.

A taste for Japanese Textiles

                                                                        

I have for some time had an interest in Japanese textiles and clothing.  It all started out when I was given my Gran's silk kimono that she used to wear when applying makeup for the theatre. It was retrieved from the rubble when her home was decimated in the blitz during WW11.  Needless to say it  incurred a great deal of damage and I have, over time, been attempting to reclaim it in some form.  I have been seeking out and researching kimonos and silk fabrics from the late 1800's/early 1900's as a result.

My pursuit has taken me to many areas and in particular,  I have had the pleasure of dealing with a company, Ichiroya, in Osaka Japan, owned and operated by a mother and daughter team. I search their site weekly for the one elusive fabric I require for my project and I am often sidetracked by the beauty of their incredible stock of kimonos, uchikake, furisodes, obis, fabrics and accessories.  On a recent foray into their inventory, I was struck by an amazing vintage men's haori and purchased it as a gift for my son, who is a lover of all things Japanese. 
                                                                 
                                                                                                                   
A haori is a light weight coat worn over a kimono.  It is not meant to be worn closed and is not belted. It is technically a kimono-like jacket, hip or thigh length, which adds formality to an outfit.
My purchase is a two toned dark brown silk of exquisite texture - the kind of soft silk that one could get lost in. It has a most interesting woven patttern on the back with a Noh mask of an old man and a Noh book, probably a script.

                   
                                          Rear View of Haori with Noh mask and book

Noh is a classical form of Japanese musical drama performed since the 14th century.  Many characters in the plays are masked, with men playing both male and female roles. 

           
                                                         Close up of mask and script

You will note that there is a large fold right down the middle of the back and although it looks
pronounced, in fact, it is something that should steam out easily enough with a bit of patience and care.

                        

                                        
 As is the case with most masculine haoris, the front is rather plain with little or no decoration. 

Now you may wonder how one can hang up these gorgeous specimens with the huge sleeves.  Certainly no ordinary clothes hanger would suffice.  But yes, there are special kimono hangers and
I've pictured one here for you.

                                                           Kimono hanger closed

 

                                                           Kimono Hanger Extended

                 

I still haven't found the silk I am looking for but in spite of my ongoing quest, I am loving the diversions along the way (-:

In a future post, I will discuss Boro textiles and show you a piece from my collection.

               

Philosophy Friday - Fashion and Art

It is the season for fashion weeks in North America and Europe and to honour this occasion, we offer a fashionable quote from one of the very best to give one food for thought:

" Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening. "
                                                                                          - Coco Chanel


AND so with our art - wouldn't you agree?

                                                                               

TRINITY - The story behind the blog background photo

 

 

                                                                       " TRINITY "


The background photo selected for my blog is one that has significant meaning for me.  It is a piece of work that has been ongoing for a couple of years and was finally completed recently.  It is aptly named " Trinity" as it embraces three generations of women in my family whose roots were firmly entrenched in theatre, fibrearts and the fashion industry.  The three women?  My beautiful grandmother, the actress Miss Kitty Carey , my equally gorgeous mother, dancer Miss Joan Clarke and myself, the end product of the triad, Mis(s)-behaving (-:

I'm going to show some closer details of the stitching with explanations of the techniques along with a little history of the photographs themselves.  It probably goes without saying, but I will, that this piece is entirely hand stitched. It is quite dense in that it is only 14" square.  The background or base fabric for the piece is black dupioni silk, as is the finished border. The front is backed with fused flannel to give some stability to the heavy beading and embellishments. Once the stitching was completed then a dupioni back was added and finely quilted through all three layers. The back layer was cut larger so that when the quilting was completed, I could then fold over the edges to make a finishedborder on the front.
                                                                       





          

                                    












Left front                                                                                                         Right front

                          
                              Gran's official calling card printed on to linen and embellished.
                              Below card - Silk ribbon flower of twisted layered stitches and
                              beaded stems with some moss stitched buds.
                              Frame to left -  edges are finished with simple chain stitches with bead
                              embellishment in centres.

                                       
                

                                        

                            Photo transfer taken from original Gaiety Theatre program in our archives.  Gran worked this theatre first on the boards and later in the costume dept. Hence I have surrounded it with needles and thread - actual brass needles and Kreinik gold cord.  Little flowers are satin stitched and beaded - border of pic is laced and accentuated with french knots.

                             
                             Daring and ahead of her time, Miss Kitty Carey, my Gran, in her Peter Pan costume circa 1905. The photo is edged in a closed blanket stitch and the left side is a build up of a meandering silk ribbon base with overlays of silk threads l looped through the ribbon with finer ribbon then looped through the  silk threads giving it dimension.  Overtop of that is feather                stitching, french & colonial knots topped with tiny glass stars.



 These are the only images of the three of us together as my Gran was killed in the blitz WW11 in London, England.  I never had the pleasure of her touch or had the joy of sharing our love of textiles and stitching together.  I was told by her sister, I have definitely inherited her genes, to the point I apparently even hold my needles and stitch in the same quirky manner that she did. However, I know for a fact that I do not have her  gift of genius in going up the high street with pad and pencil, sketching a dress in a posh shop window, coming home and making it up from scratch as she did for my Mum. In fact, my mother was so well dressed as a young woman, she was fondly referred to as The Duchess of Bedford Park by some of the lads in the neighbourhood. A title we have never let her live down!
The top right picture is of my mother at a very young age dressed in full regalia working at the Windmill Theatre in London.  The picture of myself to the left of her, is edged in wrapped and laced silk thread and fine ribbon.  Silk ribbon flowers finish off the top left corner. It was taken in my photographic studio.





  The bottom picture to the right is of the George Dance Duchess of Dantzic company.  Gran is second from the left. The edging on this photo is wheat ear stitch,  needled with two strands of hand dyed threads and adorned with a bead in the centre of each loop. It gives a lovely feathery effect. Right above that is a wonderful antique carved bone button with a windmill charm stitched in the centre, representing the Windmill Theatre. The brass bows were added as both my mother and grandmother had a " thing" for bows. Alas, I do not.


                                   


 In the picture left, Joanie is wearing an exquisite ruffled silk dress made by my Gran.  I understand it was  very pale lilac in colour with a thin sliver of silver silk ribbon on the ruffle edges. Joan said it made the most beautiful gentle rustling sounds when she danced and she felt like a fairy queen in it. Her toe shoes were a deeper purple in colour. Her photo is edged with bugle beads alternated with # 8 seed beads.
To her left is myself during modelling days wearing a white feathered hat.  The photo is edged in herringbone stitch with a tiny bead in the heart of each outside crossover.  The Coq d'Or is one of the clubs where I worked, often with the loveable rascal of rock, Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins,  to pay for my photographic studies.
                                                               
                                                
                                                                                              
       The next photo is of Miss Kitty Carey ( Gran) in her role of Catherine Upscher in the Duchess of Dantzic, a comic opera about Napoleon 1 and a laundress, who becomes a duchess by marriage.

Again I have created a dimensional silk ribbon piece in the same vein as previously described
but enhanced with montee rhinestones.Around the rest of the photo edges, I made colonial knots in Rajmahal art silk threads which give a rose like effect. The border for the Box Office Square is larger bugle beads with a seed bead between each one and then a couched effect created by running a thick silk stitch over each bugle.


                                                                                                               
The picture to the right is a close up of the dimensional beaded pieces
at the top of the overall work. These are started with a  wandering layer of manipulated black dupioni tacked to the base fabric.  Then a random  layer of larger seed and bugle beads intermingled with bulky french and colonial knots in silk ribbon and ribbon floss are stitched on top of that. Layers are built up with loop stitches and bridges criss-crossing one another, adding or taking away more beads as you go depending on how jumbled you wish the layers to appear. Larger beads are wedged in between loops which assist in holding them upright.
To the right of the beaded layer is photo edging consisting of alternate coloured threads laced in opposite directions resulting in a rather circular effect and topped off with a seed bead within each circle.




To close things off, I give you the formal and elegant, Miss Kitty Carey, surrounded by silk pansies and soft loopy laced stitched edging.

                                                  


I hope you've enjoyed this little tour of " Trinity" and getting to know a little about the wonderful ladies who have influenced me and my stitching and textile endeavours over the years. I welcome any questions or comments regarding any of the techniques involved or about the creating of this piece of work.