Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Narrowing it down

Yeah, we all have things we need to narrow down. My waistline, for example. And the number of activities we volunteer for, for some of us... What I'd like to know is this: How did you narrow down your hobbies and your artistic interests and settle on the thing you're doing now?

As I was growing up, and in my early 20's, I dabbled in floral arranging, decorating tee shirts, creating greeting cards, making jewelry... pretty much whatever came along. I took watercolor classes, thought about becoming a graphic artist, made my daughters sweet little baby clothes, hand-decorated baby onesies with fabric paint. It seems like I don't run across a craft idea that I don't like.

For me, the biggest filter is time. I don't tend to want to do anything that will take hours and hours to get from start to finish. If I'm sitting down at my craft table, I want to pick up some stuff and make something and have a finished product to show for my time when I get up. I think that's what draws me to sewing. Although I sometimes have to leave finishing bits for later, when I'm making my Snowfolk or tote bags I can get quite a bit done in one sitting.

I'm going to be getting started on some collage and assemblage art pieces in coming weeks, and I anticipate a lot more time spent on these. I work best by just sitting with my supplies and getting inspired - but there will be a lot more detail involved with collage work, so it will likely take me a while to complete one. But that's okay, I'm looking forward to something new.

What made you choose the craft or art you make? Or how did it choose you?

1 comment:

Anne said...

You mean I have to choose? I think of myself as going through stages. When I was in high school, I dabbled with making jewelry. Then, in college I tried my hand at painting but I was sadly no good at it. Then, after I got married I found sewing and it felt goooood. From there, it was just a short walk to quilting. I liked playing with color and found the repetitive nature of some of the seaming to be strangely satisfying. Then my daughter came along, and all my time for sewing and quilting went right out the window. Right now I'm into paper and felt, I think because the projects are smaller and take less time to complete. I can sit down and in 30 minutes have a complete scrapbook page, card, or little mini-collage. With felt, all the hand stitching takes a little longer but it's all very portable, which is good for taking along to the park.

Wow, this was a long response! Sorry for being a screenhog...