on the virtue of patience

I used to really panic if a piece wasn't working out right, franticly ripping out bits and trying other sections, will this fabric work? will that? should this bit be smaller? larger? until finally of course I had cut all the table legs down to stumps trying to make it balance!

 
The same with watercolours - I'd keep slapping on paint...and, of course, end up with mud.  Watercolor tells you pretty quickly if you're doing too much!
I've seen it in workshops often...a person tries every fabric she's brought, rushes down to the vendors...comes back with all sorts of trial bits..but none of them is quite right, back down to the vendors, prowling restlessly round other people's tables..either eyeing their stash, or despairing at the other person's progress compared to their own - admit it,  you've done it!!

 
But the answer is patience...eventually the right resolution will come..take your time, leave it a bit..look at something else..even put it up on another wall..if you've got the main structure and large shapes worked out right, there will be a solution.  With the watercolors I've found working on several at once helps me...of course with paint you have to wait for it to dry..but that is good, it forces you to wait, stand back, take a look at what you're really doing.  Is it working as a whole even if the details aren't quite right?  So, next time you feel that panic coming over you, stand back and let the fabric dry!!

 

 

It’s the winter solstice today!  Rejoice!  Tomorrow will be lighter (unless of course you’re reading this below the equator, in which case enjoy the midsummer rites!!  If you have been, thanks for reading.   Elizabeth