when I was young and fearless vs being an old practical creative

Sooooo, deep down I kind of knew this but it came bubbling to the surface a while ago.
I was going to instagram a pic of a sweater that I had been working on out of scraps of yarn that I had inherited from various people over the years. It was sort of colour blocking, or intarsia, adding colours in here and there, making it pleasing to my eye. The caption I started to write was," tbt  to when I was fearlessly creative!!!" and then I stopped and thought, shit, when did I become fearful of creativity? I felt like I was still being a creative person, but when I really deep down thought about it, was I now behaving as a "practical creative"?

I never finished the sweater. I realized  that  I wasn't going to have near enough yarn to complete it the way I wanted to so I stopped working on it but kept it around almost like a piece of art because I had really enjoyed the process of adding colours here and there and I found it pleasing and inspiring to look at.

So, whats with  "practical creativity"? That's what I believe, after much soul searching,  is where I'm at right now in my creative life. Or, that's what I am delusion-ally terming it as. I will have an idea and instead of just excitedly going ahead and testing it out, I will run through the idea from start to finish in my wacky little brain and do a pros and cons thing. What is the usefulness of this idea? Do I have the material needed to work on it in my stash? How much will it cost to make it for reals? Will my neck/back hate me for days or longer if I obsessively work out this idea for hours and hours? and so on and so on until I wind up just sketching it out in one of my many sketchbooks and putting it aside.  I am definitely spending too much time thinking about the process instead of just doing it........Of course one of the reasons for this might be that physically I am limited by my neck and back issues and I do not have the luxury of spending hours of time in one position on testing most ideas anymore.

 Boo hiss I say, I need to just do it and keep being excited by the ideas that circle my head trying to get out!! Even if its just to draw it out, write it down. grab a scrap of this or that, REALLY, how do I actually know if the idea will work if I don't at least try it?? And most of all, its all just fun!! And inspiring and FUN to get an idea, and work it out to some extent, testing my brain, expanding my horizons........

Whats the moral of this little rant/story?? To stop being stifled by practicality and just get on with the trying, testing, playful fun of it all!!!

Hugs everyone, and happy just for fun creating!!
Suzanne

working on ............

So, this week I started another round of art classes

at Poppet Creative.

We worked on an exercise and this one

I brought home with me to finish. Lots

of grey circles filled with what ever I 

felt like. Very fun and relaxing.

Picked out some wool that I have in my Yarn cupboard,

yes a whole cupboard for yarn and needles. Well, at least 

half the cupboard is full of it. I had an idea to use up 

these 4 colours of similar weight wool so made up a swatch

to see how it would turn out. This is the back side. It is 

more exciting than the other. Not sure what it will be,

but loving the tester.

One more day left to the weekend, what else can I get up to.

ttynw (talk to you next weekend)

Suzanne

the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016

So, the last few months of 2015 saw a surge of creative ideas
flowing frantically from my poor brain.

I set up and had some of my poetry and short stories printed into the sweetest
little book for my family for Christmas. I even managed to sell a few.
I received very good reviews on the book. Of course it was all from
family and friends.

2106 is a year I have decided to try new things, finish what I start,
work on volume 2 of my little book, and research and develop a book of knitting.

So far in learning something new, I have successfully knitted a pair of
socks from the toe up.  To accomplish this I purchased some really pretty sock yarn
from the West Yorkshire Spinners birds line.
It took me a month, but I finished the project. Yeah!
(I have neck/upper back issues that limit my knitting time)

A lovely friend birthday gifted me a pretty ball of
Caterpillargreen sock yarn which I have started a second pair of
socks with.  So far so good.

I was also birthday gifted an art class. 6 evenings called Creative Sketchbooks.
We are being inspired to take some time each day and do something
creative in our sketchbooks. I am enjoying learning to work with a new
paint for me--gouache. Works like acrylic and watercolour. Very fun.
Even though I have painted/sketched all my life, this class is actually
getting me back into doing a complete project instead of just little
drawings here and there.

It is all ready February. I can't believe how fast the time is flying by.
I thought 2015 was fast, but it seems like 2016 will be even faster.

Lets wish for peace to all, and a healthy, creative, fun and fabulous year ahead.