Wednesday, January 26, 2011

It's a thought...


I've been deconstructing silk ties with the idea that they can become background for a bunch of 5" squares leaf -printed nearly 4 years ago. Yes, I do let my ideas and materials age. These two ties are from the ones that came at Christmas; I hadn't taken a close look at them until yesterday and I was surprised and pleased to find that several of them (including these) are Jerry Garcia designs. Ooo, just love them!

Last year I think I wrote about my collection of silks and silk ties, being drawn to work with them and then stopping short because they weren't ready to use. Ties must be taken apart, washed and/or ironed, stabilized with fusible interfacing (at least, that's the way I prefer to work with them). All this takes time, and when you're working on deadline, or anxious to get going on a project, you might not have the patience to wait for this prep to be done. I always say, someday when I don't have anything else pressing, I'll get them ready. But of course, someday never comes. I nearly turned away from them again this week, feeling slightly under time constraints and thinking I don't have the time to fool with them. Bah! If not now, then when? The other idea I thought I might work on for the exhibit coming up in March is still not gelling in my head. But the idea for the leaf prints has been fully formed for a long time and I'm motivated to take them up. There is time, I just had to convince myself.

Here's more proof that to get better you have to do the work: as I pulled out stitches and worried that I didn't have big enough pieces or the right combination of fabrics, another way to put together the background popped into my head. Without the ties in hand, the leaf prints before me, the subconscious brain working away, it would not have occurred to me.

2 comments:

Sherrie Spangler said...

When the kids were little, we gave Dave a Jerry Garcia tie for Christmas. You know we're Deadheads, don't you?

Cate Rose said...

Great ties, Sheila, and what a good idea deconstructing them!