challenge

My fiber art group Focus (http://www.focusfabricart.com/) and 2 other regional fiber art groups decided to work on a common challenge and exhibit it as a group in a gallery in Seneca, SC, in September 2008. The link between each piece is a "river" or line made of the same blue fabric. The small quilts will be hung around the gallery so that the river elements connect. I think it will really be a very neat exhibit.

At first (a number of years ago) I was intrigued and really taken with the idea of challenges. However, I am finishing my piece and as I worked on it, and actually when I worked on previous challenges, I realized that this type of activity is not for me. I know that some people thrive in working within given parameters. In my case, I find they stifle my creativity and I have seldom, if ever, been satisfied with what I designed for a challenge. I do not experience them as a way to push the boundaries and learn something new and I also feel they take time and energy away from the work I really want to do. And even though I make them with as much care and attention to quality and details as any other work, I feel dissatisfied and somewhat frustrated. I assume I cannot bring myself to do commission work for the same reasons.

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, it is really interesting to see how creative minds work, what makes them tick and what frustrates them. And in the end, I think it is important for each one of us to become aware of how we work, what allows us to grow and what will boost our creativity and, based on this awareness, decide what we want to participate or not participate in.