Answering questions … bringing clarity

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about some wonderful memories that were brought to mind by answering questions for an online interview. I have to say, I’m still at it. Some days, I find it difficult to think about what to say. It seems to me that I need to be in “just the right mood” for it, otherwise it all sounds mechanical and shallow. As a consequence, I’m still trying to finish answering the questions.

While doing that, I get to think about what inspires me, how I work, my own preferences. One piece from finish to end? Two? Three or more at a time? Sometimes, the process of answering someone else’s questions about your work serves to bring clarity to your own processes and the way you work.

One of the questions is how your environment influences your creativity. I look around me and I see my studio where every nook and cranny is full of MY stuff. Gathered during travels, explorations, or just walks around. Books I love and refer to often, magazines that give me pleasure – be it because I have participated in their content, or because the images and content awake my creative self.

In answering those questions, I’ve been thinking a lot about how and why I create. When I create. How my creating habits have changed in the past few years. When I worked, I would create at night, after dinner. I stayed up for hours sometimes; sometimes just making one block, or sewing a few seams before going to bed to repeat the process the next day.

Covid came and changed all that. All of a sudden, we were at home with nowhere to go and no one to see. Some people had a difficult time adjusting to this new “normal”. Because of my own personal situation at the time, adjusting to the trauma of a sudden loss, grief and the shock of what surfaced after the loss, Covid was – for me – a way to hunker down, go back to basics. It allowed me to retreat into myself and work on me – getting back to who I was and who I wanted to be.

Since then, my work has been my lifeline. I’ve created a new routine that works for me. I get up in the morning, make a cup of coffee and sit in my studio to work. That may mean writing my blog, creating videos and content for Create2Flourish, or working on my own stuff. And I WORK. In caps and exclamation marks. Sometimes I go straight until 5:00 or 6:00 o’clock in the afternoon without breaking stride. I’ve discovered that once I take a break – let’s say for lunch – my creative mood is broken. That break may translate into hours until I feel that I can go back to work. So … I do not take a break too often, other than to make another coffee or a bottle of Sodastream. I know … but … it works for ME.

Some days, I stay on task and work on one piece. Some days, I’m all over the place. And go from squirrel to squirrel without landing on any tree. Does that make any sense? I have an idea that I start to work on, only to be distracted by another idea, or a spark here or there and have to go do something about it, only to go back to the original piece. Too many sparks, too much going on in my mind to settle. So to the question on whether I work on one piece or more at a time, the resounding Yes! is for more. Definitely. Definitely more than one.

As a matter of fact, I have a couple of such pieces “percolating” on my design wall. I’m trying to bring them through the finish line, but … hasn’t happened yet. They are not there. They are not working – for me. Not sure what they need, but I know that eventually, I’ll get there. In the meantime, I have 5 pieces to trim, face and put sleeves and labels on. And more pieces to get started.

Art needs to be nurtured. Creativity needs to be nurtured. It is up to us to do that. Walking into my studio is like opening the door into my own creative space. Messy, chaotic at times, full of stuff everywhere. That’s OK (until it gets on my nerves and I have to clean and organize). It may not be perfect for some. But it is perfect for me. What’s more, this space IS me. My process works for ME. And, when you think about it, that’s all you need. It needs to work for you. Not anyone else. YOU.

So here’s me, hoping that you have a space that feels like you. Where you can go and sit and just be. And dream – of pieces to create, fabrics to cut, stuff to make.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend with family and friends. I’m off to eat some chocolate. A good excuse as any …

Thanks for reading. Until I write again, I hope you find some time to sit, dream and create.

Ana

What wonderful memories!