Creativity

I have been cogitating recently about creativity; this sometimes elusive feature of my life and on why it seems to appear and disappear seemingly at random.
I have never been able to summon it at will, can sometimes be quite overwhelmed by its sudden appearance and yet be anxious when it seems to have deserted me.
I have had various books recommended to me, all of which either state the blindingly obvious or set about recommending a punishing schedule of personal navel contemplation to to bring creativity back!
BUT ......
It has recently struck me that the analogy I need when trying to understand this phenomenon relates to mining for precious metals! Bare with me...........
Years ago I was engaged in the prospecting phase when I was discovering that I was quite good at making things and could come up with my own ideas rather than follow a pattern. At this stage I knew that creativity existed within my compass somewhere, but not necessarily where!
You need to dig down within yourself until you strike the seam that you have been grasping for - the thrill of discovering this rich vein - leads to the creation of all sorts of work; one is engaged by it; fascinated by the possibilities but like the vein it has a habit of abruptly halting, it disappears. You understand that it must still be there but now have to dig again to find where it has shifted to. Sometimes when you find the vein again it is thin and difficult to mine but intellectually I now understand that by following this thin vein I will eventually reach the main load and will be driven to create again and to enjoy the freedom I've gained.
This is a very affirming analogy and allows me to recognise that it is being open to the possibilities that makes creativity work! Now when creativity goes quiet I no longer panic but keep some aspect of making going until it pops up again!

The Great Northern Quilt Show

This is the first time I have visited this quilt show, a compact site with good facilities but generally the majority of exhibited quilts were very traditional. Beautifully made but not really my major interest.
There were however two stunning quilts from Hilary Beattie which stood out, head and shoulders above all the rest of the entrants.

Beyond these two there were two small, subtle pieces made in response to the Sutton Hoo Challenge

As usual I was seduced by some of the stunning fabrics available and some came home with me!

Celebrating Diversity

Just back from a trip up to the Quilt Museum in York. Really enjoyed this exhibition and the amazing collection of very different pieces.
All of a similar size, each country invited to exhibit two pieces of work that represented the diversity of their country. We were represented by a stunning collection of little squares designed by members of the Contemporary Quilt Group each depicting a different aspect of British life and by Sheena Norquay with a very subtle set of squares each with a variation of a spiral quilting design.
The stand-out pieces were "My own Venice" by Maria Luisa Comand with a canal view of Venice  representing Italy and "Swinging Amsterdam" by Rita Dijkstra of Netherlands. Both very detailed pieces with great depiction of water in both and very detailed pieced buildings.
No pictures as there was photography allowed.

Exciting news!

Contemporary Quilt have been asked to run the Festival of Quilts Tombola in 2013 and I am the project co-ordinator!
It will be a Bookwrap/ Book cover Tombola and we want everyone to take part and donate a Bookwrap. All the details are on Bookwrap Gems website .
I've started off with some experiments and added a few photos here:

I have even found a use for some of my 2010 Journal quilts which turn into lovely bookwraps!

Festival of Quilts 2012

Where does the time go, its been a week since festival and I'm only now catching up! Although I spent 2 days at Festival this year I really only managed to do justice to about half of what I had intended to see!
The most interesting galleries to me this year were: European Art Quilts; PB Retro; Masters 2; CQ @ 10; Anne Worringer and Kate Findley. They were especially interesting as my personal focus for this year was the surface treatments of the quilts, decorative stitching and quilting. In these galleries I saw work that was mind boggling; stunning in its simplicity and complexity in surface decoration.
This focus meant that I outside theses and the Art and Contemporary open sections I saw very little. I think that I am a great deal more selective about what I spend time in front of, preferring to educate myself rather than just gawp!
I was really interested in Angela Schenz's Dancing Leaves with her use of small rectangular tablets quilted and embroidered with a flurry of red organza leaves hovering on top.

Close up with details

 I have come away with some real food for thought the following is just a sample of the techniques that I'd like to experiment with in my work in the furure:

• Using short randon stitches to quilt, creating new shapes on the surface.
• Frayed edges to quilts
• Grids stitched on soluable fabric or paper and partilly removed
• Leaving abstract shapes unquilted, draws attention to these new shapes
• Shibori elements as surface decoration
• Use of regular repeated rows of simple hand stitches
• Using linen backgrounds
• Using markal paint stick on already quilted fabric.

I thought that the individual exhibitions at this year's Festival were of an exceptionally high standard and showcased some really exciting work. Having entered a piece for the CQ @10 challenge I was stunned by the exhibition and can so see why mine did not make it to the show! The curating worked so well to create a cohesive visual flow with such disparate creations. Well done judges and Hilary for doing such a wonderful job.

Geometric mistakes

Isn't it strange that you can only sometimes see the mistakes in a piece when you see it through someone else's eyes. It was only when I saw this piece here on the blog I realised how unhappy I was with the composition, and yet it was sitting on the design wall. How strange is that?
 Yes, it is a scrap quilt, but usual design principles still apply, although clearly not when I stitched these bits together!
I have tried some changes, short of starting again, which I think give better balance. The lesson I'm learning is that taking a photo and coming back to the photo a little later is better than the design wall. I know that in the past I've held pieces up in the mirror to get a different perspective on the design and that has helped. So perhaps a combination of filters is needed when you design on the hoof as I tend to do!

I have printing blocks to go in the blue square and some beading to add as well. I'll have a break from it while doing something else and make the next decisions in a week or so.

Geometric beginnings...

As usual, when major pieces are finished there is vast hole....... This time is no different!
To help overcome that feeling I am using us a collection of unused blocks and scraps to create a very abstract geometric quilt. This is just the beginning -

I like the use of the flashes of yellow and it will be interesting to see where this goes. If it doesn't work, I've lost nothing as they were scrap blocks anyway and it might be ok to become a Linus quilt if I can't pull something more interesting out of it!