March 2013 – Page 2 – Christina Fairley Erickson

Only 3 more 5 x 7 pieces to go for my Salsa series! They’re looking good all together. I was a little worried that this red background might be too dominant with the rest of them, but it turned out fine. I wanted the complementary color to the green of the avocado, and the dark skin of the fruit allowed me to use something quite bold… there’s no way that the pieces will fade into the background. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to tie all the pieces together- I’m leaning towards black sashing that is freemotion quilted throughout. I’d love to hear any thoughts or suggestions you might have about putting these pieces together into a quilt.

Yesterday I was reading one of my old favorite inspirational books, Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathnach. Each day of the year has a separate little essay that looks for finding joy in your everyday life. I’ve had this book and referred to it for probably about 15 years (it was published in 1995.) It’s a lot like a wonderfully inspirational blog! Anyway, the entry for March 4 is called “Priming the Pump for Inspiration” and uses the analogy of how you used to have to pour water into a pump to get it started. Likewise, as artists, we need to feed ourselves images and experiences to keep the flow of creativity.

Similarly, Twyla Tharp, the famous dancer and choreographer, talks about setting rituals to get your creativity flowing. If you set up a structure of doing the same thing each time you sit down in your studio (or on the way to your studio)… something that is inspirational, or centering, or creates peace for yourself… you will start to get greater access to your creative side.

I can’t say that I’ve got this process of ritual down at all. I do lots of things to “prime my pump”, whether it be taking photos, cutting out images from magazines and putting them in sketchbooks, or reading books and blogs which I find inspirational. But, typically I feel a little pressed for time and that I need to produce when I’m in my studio. I’m rethinking this. Perhaps I would be better served creatively to take the extra time, slow down a little bit, and follow a set ritual each day to start opening up my right-brain creative side.

You Might Also Be Interested In:


Developing the Creative Habit	Peppers and Avocado	Cilantro – Si!

Some of my Favorite Blogs:

Leah Day’s FreeMotion Quilting Project

Connie Kresin’s Freemotion by the River

Nina Marie Sayre’s Art Quilts

Freshly Pieced

Quilt Story

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Quiltsy

Do you feel like you are meeting your potential? Or do you feel like you haven’t quite made it or like you aren’t really even sure how to get to what you think your potential might be?

This question is on my mind after celebrating my son’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor yesterday. I made a slideshow for the program, with pictures of my son’s scouting activities- from first grade through his Sr. year of high school. It hasn’t always been an easy road… he was even asked to take some time off from scouting at one point. However, I can now see how all the effort (on both his and my parts) has paid off. He’s made a great step towards meeting his potential.

“By a Nose” by Christina Fairley Erickson
My quilt won a 1st place at an Equine Art Show… however
it’s done with a technique I learned from Noriko Endo…
does that then truly represent my artistic voice?

One of my quests this year in my 5 x 7 Challenge, beyond the concept of how making art each and every week will help the quality of my work, is to find my authentic voice as an artist. Finding your voice as an artist seems to be a tricky thing for many of us. I’ve tried many styles of quilts and am still working out how to have my work represent who I am, and not be something you look at and say… “Oh that looks like ____________(put well-know quilt artist’s name here) work.” My work should look like Christina Fairley Erickson’s work.

I’m clear that I like pictorial or representational work. I also like stitch, both machine and hand. So those are the areas I’m exploring. But the ways in which I put them together need to be my own.

I thought I’d share another of the artist’s work from the Bellevue Art Museum’s “High Fiber Diet” exhibit. Maria Shell, of Anchorage AK, spent a year exploring the potential of variations of pattern over the course of many grid pieces. Each of the nine pieces is made from vintage and contemporary commercial cotton textiles, hand-dyed fabric, batting and thread. So, your basic quilting components.

Maria felt that by limiting the structure of her work to the grid, she was able to fully explore color… how to make color vibrate on the wall. She discovered that the proportion of line and shape in the relation to color evokes different experiences in each piece. The shot below is looking at a towering 20 foot wall of her quilts. Each piece is approximately 5 -6 feet square.

From left to right, starting upper left: Picnic, Holey Rollers, 36 Ninjas, Speedy Higgins Play the Drums, Solstice, Get On Up, Deep Blue Sea, Funky Monkey, Habanero by Maria Shell

How do we find our authentic voice? Creative choice is at the heart of authenticity. So when making our choices, we are exploring our own voice. However, if your choices are limited or you feel constrained by things you’ve learned from other “experts”, it’s good to also question when to break free of doing things in someone else’s style.

How are you living up to your potential this year? Are you striving to find your authentic voice or do you feel confident in your artistic direction? I believe that through exploring these themes and types of questions, we become closer to finding our real selves. Through that, our artistic voice will come through.