Another 'Guardian'

Handwoven fabric mounted on collaged foam core. This is attached to a another piece of foam core which is wrapped with fabric.

In progress

One of the pieces I'm working on.

I've attached a piece of weaving onto a foam core board wrapped with fabric. The face is ceramic.

This is part of my 'Guardian' series.

Static

It's easy to get distracted.  Speaking for myself, of course.

I get distracted by limiting thoughts.

One of these is a ....why bother....train of thought. It's a negative riff that can go something like this...

"why bother...there are plenty of weavers out there making wonderful things...why should I bother?
or...who is going to like this piece...or will anyone like this...or is this good enough....or...or..OR..."

then I catch myself.     Stop.          Breathe.     Pivot.

Ask some good questions ala the Abraham teachings...reach for thoughts that feel better.

Why did I become a weaver? Because I love it.
Does it really matter that there are other good weavers?  No
Is it a good idea to try to imagine what someone else might think of a piece? No
Do you, Jan,  realize that there will always be some people who love what you do and others who hate what you do? Yes.
Therefore.....drum roll......the most important thing is that YOU, JAN, love what you do and do what you love!  YAY!

From the start...1966 or 1967 I was interested in selling. Nothing wrong with selling, I think it is a wonderful exchange of energy, BUT it can turn me outward a lot of times.  'Outward' thoughts are directed away from 'Self'. 

It is freeing for me to just make things to please myself and do my best not to pre-judge what I am creating. Also very important for me to cut loose the 'what will they think' thoughts because it is limiting to create under that thought-form.

Right  now I am finishing up a series of small wall pieces and doing it for me. I have no idea where I will show these pieces. I also have no idea what I would charge for them if I decided to sell them. It is very freeing to be doing this and I'm having a good time working on these pieces.

This issue is just one issue that spirals for me. I re-visit it and that's okay, too. Each tiime I re-visit it gets easier to turn myself around. Progress!

Solutions

My new shelving is coming together after some trail and error.

I bought and installed replacement hooks only to discover that the new hooks don't fit the old wire shelves. ARGH! Both are Closet Maid. Evidently they have made some changes in the last 15 years to the size of the wire used in the shelves. So it was back to the drawing board. If possible I didn't want to have to discard all the shelving.

I started thinking about how when I was in my 20's we used to build bookshelves using cinder block and boards. Didn't really want cinder blocks to support the shelves but then I had the flash to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond to look for plastic bins that would support the shelves, hold yarn AND be lightweight.

Bed, Bath and Beyond had the perfect thing. I'm loving this solution. Nothing is attached to the wall.

Not that I'm really surprised but this is a classic, small scale example of out of chaos comes order. I really liked my old shelving attached to the wall but it turns out that this will be better.