The Darkest Point
You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path.
Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path.
You are not on your own path.
If you follow someone else’s way, you are not going to realize your potential.
~ Joseph Campbell
Crazy Sh*t people have said to me at Craft Fairs
I absolutely love going to meet my customers in person at exhibitions and craft fairs.
I love talking about my work and why I create it, and I love hearing from them how it makes them feel.
But, it is a truth universally acknowledged that, once you display your work in public, you can have no control over what people say about it … and sooner or later you will attract the attention of more than one crazypants.
This is no less true for me than for anyone else.
When Things Fall Apart
It was the last thing I expected and quite humbling to know that all the ghosts of our past failures are still sitting there with quiet menace, waiting for a moment of neglect, waiting for a crack to appear so that they may rush in again.
How taking self portraits helped me come to terms with being a creative introvert.
“I don’t photograph myself because I find myself beautiful. And I don’t always photograph myself exactly as I am. I manipulate myself just as readily as I manipulate everything else. Because it’s not about my physical appearance. It’s about something much more vulnerable than that. It’s about my need to be understood, to be heard. And it’s about my need to believe in the interconnectedness of all things.”
The perils of fitting in
It is a terrifying thing to create a piece of artwork that really expresses something very personal and close to your heart.
It is even more terrifying to stand in front of the general public with that artwork, hoping that personal expression will be understood and not judged.
It’s almost like the naked dream (you know, the one where you suddenly realise you are naked and everyone else is dressed) except there is no waking up.
36 things it has taken me 36 years to learn (I’m a slow learner)
1. If you don’t learn the lesson the first time around, it will keep coming up until you do. It’s a whole lot less hassle to just learn it the first time
2. Sometimes the only cure for what ails you is a 3am dance party in the kitchen, preferably with hats.
“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain” – Lessons learned from the Wizard of Oz
For my part, I would rather my ruby slippers take me back to Oz, or to Narnia, or to Wonderland, rather than back home. I would rather dream in Technicolor. I would rather suspend my disbelief. I would rather talk about the why, rather than the how. This is why I will often disappoint those who ask me how I have accomplished a particular effect. Because seeing the man behind the curtain means it’s time to go home. And I want you to stay a little longer with me.
A note for those who sometimes get lost along the way….
Being new at anything requires a tremendous amount of bravery. We have to accept not being as good as we’d like to be. We have to keep practicing with faith that results will follow. Not always an easy thing with something like flexibility or say, art, where we are taught to believe that ability is something we are born with….or not, in my case.
The Thorny Issue of Price – Why Print Prices Vary from Artist to Artist
If, like me, that thing you have made is a representation of your very hopes and dreams it can feel like you are lying naked on the table, alongside your precious work, just waiting to be poked and prodded like tomatoes on the greengrocer’s table.
Sometimes, the easiest thing is just to make it very inexpensive so that no one can tell you that your dreams aren’t worth what you want to charge.
Exit, Pursued by a Bear, Or Why I Love Fairy Tales
When we begin a fairy tale we are thrust, often forcefully, into the story of a character we don’t yet know. There is a tension, a darkness looming and we know that soon they will be asked to step up and fulfill their potential. The question at this point is merely “are they up to the challenge?”
And then everything goes to hell. They fail. Often repeatedly. Life generally sucks and nothing is what they thought it would be. They are unable to make a difference. They are only one small person struggling against the forces of darkness. And, in the most authentic fairy tales, someone invariably gets eaten.
Sound familiar? Ok, so it’s a little dramatic but isn’t that kind of how you feel sometimes? Minus the eating.