"Add Your Voice"

There is a journal, "Add Your Voice", sent out by Dottie Moore that is traveling about the country. Dottie is collecting the voices of women of all ages. She wants to know your dreams, insights and wisdom. Who are you? What role does creativity play in defining who you are? Tell her about a person or an event in your life, that you would like to pass on to a younger woman? If you are a woman age 18 years or older, she invites you to e-mail her with your journal entry at dottie@creativetraces.com.

That journal was brought to Knoxville in 2003 by Kate Cox and I had the opportunity to add my voice:

At the age of 30 I thought, "if I'm an artist at all, fiber is my medium." It wasn't until the age of 50 that I could comfortably proclaim (but not too loudly), "I am an artist". Now at the age of 60 plus I can say it confidently with the realization, "I'm the medium for art to be expressed through."

I can think of no other explanation for the phenomenon that happens so often during most every piece I make. At some point in the process of creation the piece begins to "speak". When this happens I feel there's a dialog between it and me. The consequence is that I intuitively know the color, the line, the shape, the texture, etc. that is required. I'm not saying that I breeze through the decision making process. It's just easier to recognize the placement, the color, the thread, the fabric, or the embellishment that is needed.

I wish it were possible to explain how to get to this way of working. The things that I do know that may help to get "here" is to establish a personal foundation.
- To know your medium ... its possibilities and its limitations.
- To develop your skills and craftmanship.
- Don't be too detail oriented at the beginning of a project. Leave room for an idea to expand and develop.

And the most important thing is to do all of the above with a sense of play and exploration. Remember the journey can be more exciting than the destination.

It's all a wonder! I thank God for the vision to see and the talent to express.

The photo is the center of "Into the Light" that I had described in a post this past March.