Sandie and Everyone

 

I think that the Christmas Exchange is a very good idea, and I am sitting here thinking about how jealous I could be for not being able to participate in this one also.  But given the whereabouts, and the fact that I am a "homeless waif" determines that I cannot be involved.

 

Last night was one in which I could not sleep, and at 3.30am, I was sitting at my computer, typing and waxing philsophical to you all about various things, on how my trip was affecting me, and the fact that the first leg of it was almost over, and how sad it was making me, considering that I had met so many wonderful people, and formed such great relationships with heaps of them, when I hit a wrong button on the computer, and LOST THE LOT.  So, seeing as how it was the time that it was, I was very upset that my words, of which I was so proud, and could have been a great read, so I thought, were now in the vast world of cyber space, and I did not know how to retreive them.

 

However, I did start by saying that I thought that the samples put up on the photo album of the ATC swap were great, and I thought that everyone should be very proud indeed of the works of art that they can acheive when put to the task.

 

I find it also strangely comforting, Sandie when you said that one of the pics that you made, was one that you did not particularly like.  I often have some of the same feelings, and feel somewhat inadequate when I see some of the beautiful and unusual, clever and talented works of art produced by others.  Then I realise that some of these works are presented to the rest of the world with the same feelings of trepidation by the artist, that we have with our own works. 

 

So, I have come to the conclusion, that we all have a different style of interpreting our art, even if we are all working with the same media, and what we perceive of ourselves, is definitely not what others see.  I carry around with me, lots of samples of my work for others to see, and each time, they are put out on display for the classes to see.......I feel so used to them now, that I am totally bored with them and would like, if I had the time, the studio, and the other things that it would take to create a whole new range of samples, I would do so, and put away those others, because to me, they have become tiring.  BUT, every time someone new sees them, they pore over them, saying how beautiful they are, and compliment me on the standard of work, etc etc.   So, I begin to realise that even though it is old to me, someone out there has not seen it, and appreciates it more than I do.

 

To give a small example, at my last workshop, one of my most capable and hugely clever and talented feltmakers saw my Shibori scarf, and would not go home without buying it.  She paid my asking price for it without flinching, and I was glad to see the back of it, knowing the tribulations that that particular peice had put me through (I actually had a real distain for it in the end), and she was desperate to purchase it from me, because she adored it.  So now it lives with her, and I am richer in finances as well as in the firm knowledge that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that we are all far too critical of our own work than we should be.

 

So, all you clever and talented feltmakers out there.........keep up the good work, try to think out of the square, and take a look at the wonderful inspirational Tee shirt that one of my students wore to one class just recently.

 

Best wishes for some wonderful Spring Creations coming out of each and every studio in Australia, and keep producing lots and lots.

 

Warm wishes

Julie