On New Ideas

It’s OK to do something no one else is doing. Even the old ideas were new once.

Sometimes I get worried, anxious, or scared that the art pieces I make are “too weird” and they do not conform to the traditional styles of quilting, don’t use the traditional techniques, and therefore cannot or will not be liked, respected, or appreciated.

But I’m torn because I like what I make even if no one else does.

I came to a realization one day that art (any medium), just like ideas (of which art is a physical symbolic representation) is often new, pushing the boundaries. People are uncomfortable with it for a while until they aren’t. Sometimes it is just a matter of repeated exposure, other times it takes a generation or two to feel nostalgic for what was new when they were young and in socially formative years.

The ideas we have grown accustomed to and that we accept as normal and traditional were at one point in history also new ideas - and therefore treated with suspicion or disdain.

This notion is comforting and has allowed me to pursue my own artwork, even if I have to remind myself of it periodically.