I used to think the best thing to spend money on was something that you could keep, hold in your hot little hand...and take with you always...something tangible.
But then you end up with a house full of STUFF!!
Lately however I've been reading and thinking (as usual!!) lots of cogitation goes on around here...
One of the books I've just read is The Practicing Mind
by Sterner and while (as with any so called self help book), there's a lot of padding and iteration of things we already know but havn't paid much mind to...reading these afresh does bring them to the forefront.
Sterner reminds us of just a few important things - but they are well worthwhile spending a little time considering.
In the last chapter (of this very short book!), he talks abou the importance of spending time, effort and money on developing your skills and your knowledge rather than getting a bigger car, a fancier kitchen, another gadget for the studio, a newer and better sewing machine. Improve yourself rather than your sewing room.
We are lucky in that the tools of our trade are really quite few and can be very simple - we don't need more in the way of objects. We really don't need as much space, even though I do envy those gorgeous studios that people have!! Slavering over the wooden floors, the space, the long moveable design walls, the lighting, the separate areas for cutting and sewing, the floor to ceiling windows looking out over the lake - well you get the picture!! Oh yes and the infinity pool!! And perhaps a grand piano seen through a doorway at the end of the studio into the main house..but ...BUT....those are objects, surroundings, they are not you. They actually don't benefit you one iota, they don't help you to grow as an artist or a person.
" Thank goodness I got the Super Swifty Nobble Bong! it enabled me to finally get into that amazing Quilt Show! "
Or rather was it learning something new and then practicing it and developing your skills?
Getting to observe yourself in action as an artist, taking your time, bringing your feelings and abilities to the practice of your art (whatever medium) is so much more rewarding than those rows of objects.
Take your time each day to enjoy what you know, what you can do...minute by minute, enjoy the practice. And if you want to spend money, spend it directly on improving yourself, not your equipment, developing your knowledge and your ability to put it into practice. The best sewing machine in the world in the most glorious studio will not help you to move forward so much as putting your own time, effort, practice and thought into your work and yourself.
If you have been, thanks for reading! Comments...please!!! Elizabeth
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19 comments:
I love reading your blog! You always bring thoughtfulness into my day. I love learning and spending time and money to improve my knowledge base. A class of any kind is a good time! Often though, I find myself lamenting days where I feel like I'm creating 'department store arts and crafts' and not art that is meaningful to me. It's hard not to get caught up with the easy way of things instead of taking time to think things through and make it better. You are always a good resource to remind me of that. Thanks!
It's like the house full of stuff...once one has a cupboard full of "dept store" quilts, then you wonder if you shouldn't slow down and think a little more!!!
Thank you for the reminder. Great post.
In the group of 40 local quilters that I know - so many of them have gorgeous, well appointed studios. Some have 3 high end sewing machines. It all looks so nice and shiny and pretty. But sadly, these machines don't get much use. Don't get me wrong - I love a good gadget and having the right tools for the job is nice - but it's the creative part that drives me. There is so much to do and experience that I simply can't fit it all in. I oftentimes (daily!) have to slow my 'rat on the wheel' tendencies down and consciously enjoy each moment.
On a different subject - do you sell most of your art or storage it? How do you decide what to keep and what to part with? Perhaps you've blogged about it and I've missed it.
Wonderful details of stitching and thought-provoking ideas!
I love my old sewing machine the best, a Bernina 830 that is probably at least 55 years old - runs like a charm - even free motion quilting. Buying new stuff means you have to take time to learn how to use it -- there is a limit as to how many hours you want to spend learning instead of creating. I don't want to buy new because I don't want to "waste" time learning how to do everything although there are times I wish I could add a needle threader and/or cutter on to my old favorites. And some of the new rulers are wonderful but we don't need them all. It is a constant thing to remind yourself when you are out and about with a bunch of quilters not to get in to the "herd mentality" and take 1/2 yd or so of every pretty fabric that everyone is buying. We sometimes need to just take a deep breath and wait.
And challenge ourselves to use what we have and challenge ourselves to make it work. Thanks for all your insight - wisdom - and humor.
I'm totally overwhelmed with all my stuff. Way too many machines, rulers and fabric. I don't have time to use most of them and also spend too much time on "dept store crafts/kits/quilts instead of working on the creative stuff I keep pining for in my head! thanks for the reminder....
Excellent post. I completely agree!
my long-arm purchase has certainly helped me move forward in my quilting, enabling me to use the quilting to enhance my telling the story of that quilt.
i agree with Marg saying beware of just buying fabric because everyone else is. i have seasons where i work mostly from others' donations of fabric eg upholstery and denim. i love how creative i need to be to make these textures work well.
Thank you for this post,so true... It cheers me up!
Good reminder that we make art by looking inside ourselves and bringing it out. Spending time in the studio is much more important than buying more stuff to put in the studio! Thanks for your wise counsel.
Excellent points. I do think art things and studio space must be a bit like money -- even living simply and frugally, you need a certain amount to get along and not have every day be a potential disaster. Once you get past that, lots more doesn't make you happy or a better person or quilter. On the quilt side, I think having a space, even a tiny one, that doesn't have to be disassembled and put away in order to cook dinner or go to sleep, is important. Beyond that, I think more doesn't necessarily help. Sometimes a little adversity is the mother of inspiration.
It is important to have good tools, even if you don't have many of them. My sewing life changed when I got rid of all my previous cheap machines and bought a Bernina.
I discovered that I wasn't a bad sewer, my machine was.
You are so right! I have to remind myself every once in a while of what you just wrote. The little green envy worm loves to squiggle his way in when I see the beautiful, perfectly appointed studios online. Sigh. I must continue to tell myself how fortunate I am to have a dedicated space at all. Many quilters work at their dining room tables or in a corner of a room. And many of them make beautiful quilts, traditional as well as more artistic. I have an overflowing, small room, but it works great! Thank you, God.
AMEN! (But I would like some better lighting...)
I have plenty of space, and it is plenty partly because I have not filled it with stuff! I agree with others' comments, that having good quality tools and great lighting is important. My tools (machines, etc) are not top-end but they suit me well, not so fancy that I need to spend a lot of time simply learning how to use them or fussing over settings. My stash is relatively small and it is turning over to suit my current tastes. It's hard to change the character of a large stash, meaning more acquisition is required to meet current needs.
But as to investment of time or effort into skills, few of the comments have addressed that issue. You've written about classes that are poorly taught, and I agree many teachers/artists don't know how to articulate their thought process, but merely wave their hands. Others focus on techniques, but might show them only in context of their own projects. I haven't taken a lot of classes, and surely spending some more time & money on that would do me well. But I do spend a lot of thinking time about how I want to spend my quilting time, what I want to make, and how I want to feel about that. I think a lot about what I like and don't like, what works well and doesn't, how to try something differently the next time. This is effort that pays off. My quilts are recognizably mine, not designed by someone else. And they continue to evolve in ways that please me.
Blogger Jeanne Marklin said...
"Good reminder that we make art by looking inside ourselves and bringing it out " Spot on JM!
Great post and great comments. I too am the driver of a wonderful Bernina 830 Record that does my zigs and zags and she free motions like a dream. I also have my mom's Featherweight 221 from the late 1950' set up for straight stitches at the other table in my small and comfortable studio. i love that i can maintain them with simple steps like oiling, delinting, rethreading and needle changing for the most part. My mobile sewing machine guy come out occasionally and rehabs them, mostly sanding rust off as we live near the sea.
One summer at an art festival where i annually show and sell my work, a gentleman walked up to my display where my well used singer F.W. sat among my hand painted fabrics and after looking on my wall display of larger art quilts he began...
"you mean i didn't really need to buy my wife that expensive newest fancy machine to get quilts made?" I replied slowly looking at my work, "Apparently not." I added "it seams often it is the driver not the machine..." Thanks for your thoughtful postings
On of the most productive and beautiful quilt makers I've ever known had just a corner of space and a small storage cupboard down in the basement of the family home she shared with her husband and his man cave. I count myself fortunate to have a room of my own that I don't have to share when family or other visitors are in the house. I have a Bernina 1008 and a little Elna Lotus (highly portable dual voltage) - neither of which are computerised and both of which suit my life circumstances living here most girls learned sewing skills at school and from their mothers and grandmothers most of whom sewed for the home and their children. I learned from people who had good basic sewing skills, and as a teen and young woman then mother made a lot of my own clothes and young kids clothes. I so agree with this wise post and the comments that follow.
Great comments! Thank you to Alison, Jeanne, Melanie, Elsie, Lynn K, Kim, shilsenbeck, Kathy, Ellen, Bella, Sonja, Marj K and Kris R for you very thoughtful responses.
My old Bernina 830 runs just fine too - I bought it many many years ago for 100 pounds! - it does have a new motor...I do get through a lot of walking feet though.
Thinking about the work is so important, totally agree with Melanie on that one. Sadly our current life styles make thinking time hard to find!
Re selling or storing - I definitely sell all I can, it's pointless (I think!) having it rolled up hidden in a cupboard. Actually I do also show as much as I can - not so much the "high entry fee" shows with shipping, but local opportunities. Currently I have quilts in a gallery in Atlanta, in the local public library, in an art Centre in the N. Ga mountains, in a local school, in Earlville NY history center and probably a couple of other places I've forgotten about!
Love reading the comments and the dialogues.....feels good!
Beautiful work and inspiring blog .. I can also envy those with a studio but determinedly see my work as my life and therefore my home is my studio .. Having a studio does not produce great work just because it is there!
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