Is it art?

My mind is swirling with images of textiles and fiber, colors and textures... I just want to create! I feel surprisingly brave.

I've always been 'crafty,' according to my mom, and into making 'that craft crap' says another relative. I like sewing, crocheting, and other crafts. I love re-purposing old items, used items, and giving them new life. OR new materials and textiles.

(Here are a few examples of the awesomeness I can't get out of my mind. Check them out and then come back here, OK?)

I love the art that Deborah O'Hare makes, check out her technique blog here. Amazing!!

And Kayla Coo's embroidery on felted wool makes me want to lay down and roll in her beautiful fields - no that's not a euphemism.

And it's not all nature inspired, check this piece of goodness out! Love it!

I want to sew words like supercutetilly!

And birds like Tara Badcock! (She does these freehand with her machine and hand embroiders embellishments! Holy cow!)

And houses.

And funky flowers.

And pretty poppies for a friend...

The big question seems to be, "Am I a looker, just an appreciater and pinner, or do I have the guts to try something artistic?" I want to try! I just had my machine tuned up and a tension issue fixed, and I bought a clear acrylic flat-bed table for it. I purchased these cute little curtain clips and hung a line next to my work area:

Because who wants to sit in a corner looking at a plain wall? I'm hoping this will help keep me motivated if I can see projects in process. Right?

I'm finally working on completing teacher gifts for Grace's last two years (she had the same teachers so it's not quite as bad as it sounds! Stinkin' gorked up tension!). These will be little wall hangings. They are some of my first attempts to free motion draw and use some of my favorite materials, re-purposed jean fabric. Yeah.

I think they'll be cute. But I can't really say I'm happy with them. They'll be OK and I think it'll be hard to give them away. Not because I can't bear to part with them, but because I hate not giving away something PERFECT.

Micheal says I'm to hard on myself and need to channel a little Bob Ross. If he made a 'mistake', it was just turned into another tree, or a cloud, or a rock... He just went with it. He said:

People look at me like I'm a little strange, when I go around talking to squirrels and rabbits and stuff. That's ok. Thaaaat's just ok.

You can do anything you want to do. This is your world.

People might look at you a bit funny, but it's okay. Artists are allowed to be a bit different.

The secret to doing anything is believing that you can do it. Anything that you believe you can do strong enough, you can do. Anything. As long as you believe.

We don't make mistakes, we just have happy accidents.

Maybe in our world there lives a happy little tree over there.

Here's your bravery test!

Any time ya learn, ya gain.

Fine, some of those aren't applicable, but they make me happy. Can I be OK with less than perfect? Can I just go with it? Can I show someone without exclaiming over all the mistakes they can't see?

Can I have the courage to start, knowing it won't meet my high standards?

I've registered for the Wild Courage e-course facilitated by Stephanie Levy, and I'm excited! If nothing else, I hope to become more and more motivated, and become braver, bolder, and filled with courage to try my hand at artistic textiles. I might even document some of it here.

And I'm going to try to be OK with whatever the end result is, however people label, and enjoy the process.

Well, the little clock on the wall says we're just about out of time. God bless you my friend!   ~Bob Ross