Sunday, May 3, 2015

Feeling grateful with the grid

I realise how fortunate I am to have a studio space where I can leave pieces-in-the-making around, and even more fortunate to have a husband who is also an artist.

I began preparing these grid pieces a while ago and really enjoyed them to begin with; and then lost my mojo. I couldn't see that they made any sense except as something nice to look at. So they sat and they sat and they sat. I kept walking by them, looking at them, wondering about them.

And then I started walking by them without looking at them. Not good.


They were very nearly scooped up and thrown into a drawer for another time, when Barry and I sat down to a cuppa together and he asked how they were going. I explained that I was almost ready to give up! He went on to rhapsodise about them and the story he felt they told, and how things really did come together.

I can't explain it all just yet, but he was right.

I felt so re-energised by that chat, that I dived in and moved things around, I worked out how I could tell the story I now wanted to tell, I burnt more squares, changed the paper, changed the layout, got the sewing machine out and told a story.

What a relief.

So here is how they look now.  Still not finished, still with more layers of story to be told, but they have morphed again into a new and different piece. Stronger and better. And the story is there, just not fully revealed yet.

For all of which, I am grateful.








20 comments:

  1. Oh Fiona! Gorgeous work! So glad you finished it!

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    1. Thanks Roberta - it feels good to have solved this problem!

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  2. Very striking! I love it when a piece you had almost given up on takes flight and morphs into something amazing. Raising a glass of red to Barry for re-energizing your story :-)

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    1. It's an amazing experience to have the work take off in a new and beautiful direction Robyn - and thanks for the glass-raising, we celebrated a wee bit ourselves! Go well.

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  3. I find them very pleasing to look at and I am sure they are more powerful when seen in reality.

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    1. Thanks Irene - they are quietly striking I think. Go well.

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  4. I love these Fiona. There's something about the small squares, the burn marks, rusty bits and connections that are so appealing...and mysterious. I'm eager to hear their stories and see the full piece.

    Pam and I are considering playing with paper again at the 6th annual artist retreat at the end of the month. Maybe I should pack a bit of incense... We'll be thinking of you and Susan, talking about and to you as if you were there with us.

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    1. Oh if I could click my heels together! Incense is wonderful if the windows are open...
      The combination of pieces is now working well I think - giving them all a bit of individual character. Have fun planning the retreat!

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    1. Thanks Jo! Hopefully it will be on show in October-November.

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  6. I liked the cogs on small pieces of burnt paper when you first posted them. Now I really like the way the layers are developing.

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    1. They are developing I think, maturing in a way, into special little pieces. Thanks Jac.

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  7. These are wonderful. I can't wait to hear the story.
    Sandy in the UK

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    1. Thank you Sandy - I am friends with them again now!

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  8. I will also raise a glass to Barry too for helping you on your way with this piece. I loved it when I saw it but am glad you have found a story to match it and moved forward. Good fortune to have another artist by your side. x

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    1. It is indeed great good fortune Susan - we just had a mother cuppa and I ran another idea by him - feeling energised again!

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  9. Fiona, I think that Barry ought to be hired out as a consultant! Sometimes we are too close to something to see what is right in front of us and often another pair of eyes is needed. Well done that man, I say! I can feel your energy in this post and feel the drive to complete the work. I love the geometry of it. So many angles and layers. Such precision. Fabulous.

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    1. He'd be a great motivator and find your way thru-er type person I must say! I did get very excited once I took his thoughts and made them mine - in the nicest possible way. He sketched an outline and I filled it in. It is important to sometimes have other eyes look upon our work - we do get so close that we can no longer see...go well.

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  10. What a great team you and Barry make, Fiona! This is such a beautiful project - I'm delighted to see it gaining new impetus.

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    1. Thanks Carol- I feel very fortunate to have a creative partner! We are a good team as you say...go well.

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I appreciate your thoughts and comments; thanks for taking the time.