So, Color Challenge behind me (but still contemplating further embellishments to make it “sing”), what’s next? Well, to say my mind goes in multiple directions creatively would be an accurate statement. I guess once you get the creativity turned on, it just becomes a way of thinking that self perpetuates. Motivation, on the other hand, is a different thing. Typically this is where I risk drifting into a stall pattern – that time between projects – not for lack of ideas, but in taking the time to choose which one to move on to next and making the first steps.
In the last few years I’ve tried to foster the habit of sticking with one project (or sometimes two…) to completion. That was perhaps inspired by monthly challenges as part of the Art Quilt Group. It’s always rewarding to be able to come to group with a finished product, although the scale tends to be smaller as a result of the one-month timeframe.
I’ve now begun the next in what will eventually be The Pod Series. I’ve only made one so far, but the ideas are gathered somewhere in a sketch book…and in the back of my mind. I don’t recall where the original inspiration came from, and maybe I should keep better track of that since people continue to ask. There’s always some inspiration, but once an idea crystallizes, other generations just occur naturally, as least for me, and somewhere down the road I don’t know what the original spark was. Consequently people often act amazed at seeing a new piece and question how my mind works and where I come up with my ideas since it must appear the ideas come out of nowhere when I can’t answer specifically.
Even though the first pod wound up with leaves, a stem, and orchid-type flowers, The Pod Series, while meant to be organic (and even alien), was not necessarily intended to be representational of seeds or plant life. The original concept had more to do with what was inside the pods, and I think the one I’ve just started working on will be closer to my first sketches. Stay tuned….
The first pod creation was an idea I pulled from my sketchbook to apply an Art Quilt Group challenge to. The theme that month was Monochromatic. Each of us brought a collection of monochromatic fabrics and findings which were then randomly exchanged so no one knew what color or fabulous finds they were getting. Mine turned out to be green, and I coincidentally already had green in mind for one of the pods, so that just worked out.
I like to stick with the parameters of each monthly challenge, so “The Green Thing” as it came to be known stayed within the monochromatic scheme (see picture) and only later had a long wire stem with pink orchid-type flowers added as a finishing touch.
