Thursday, April 13, 2006

Erika Carter

The week is getting away from me and has been full of one interruption and distraction after another. So, list or no list of goals, I'm struggling to stay on track and accomplish what I'd hope to this week. Today was a total wash, my mood - unmotivated, my desire to do anything productive non-existent. In other words, I have nothing to show for today except a little fabric brought back from the shopping trip with my neighbor. So instead, I thought I'd send you to look at some work by Erika Carter.

I run across her work now and then in books, and did so again last week. It goes like this: I'm scanning the pages of a book or magazine and spot a work that makes me stop and linger, admire and feel calm, at peace. I check to see who made it, and it's one by Erika. I know one of the reasons I enjoy her is that so many of her pieces include trees, the kind of trees I enjoy working with. The thing that always strikes me is the level of sophistication of her designs, something I've come to think of as "quiet sophistication."

One of my goals for this year is to elevate my own work to a more sophisticated level, and I got an inkling of what that might be when I made "Changing Seasons." But since then, I can't say I've made much progress that direction. Seeing one of Erika's pieces last week reminded me that I meant to emulate her and develop my own style of "quiet sophistication."

I notice in the biographical info on this website showing Erika's work, she is a year younger than I am. For some reason, I've always thought of her as much older than me. Guess I should have started applying my self much earlier if I expected success by now! However, she says, "My sense of success is fleeting...I don't stay comfortable for long. The times when I feel the next step is almost impossible is when is when I am closest to making it successful. This journey, this exploration, this process is evidence of the creative life within." I may not have her level of recognition and success, but I certainly share that sentiment.

1 comment:

margaret said...

Erika's work is gorgeous. Read somewhere lately that she says your work should arise from things that are important (personal?) to you -- well, nothing new, it must have been the way she said it and that got lost in my reporting! It's true though, and important. And you seem to be on that route.