On Less Intuition and More Direction

Over the past four years I have made a large number of art quilts. I have made a lot of crafted quilts and other items, too. More than I realized until I took inventory!

One of the things I have noticed about myself is that I work differently when I make art than when I make crafts. When I make crafted pieces, I generally create a plan: I design and draw out my piece, whether it is a lap quilt or a bookmark, and I am deliberate in my approach to working from start to finish.

However, when I create a work of art, I tend to follow an intuitive path, allowing the art to take me on its own journey and show me where it wants to go. That has resulted in some pretty amazing and interesting art quilts!

This year has been a year of transformation for me. I've opened myself up to many more paths and possibilities in all areas of my life, including with my art. It has been a delightful year so far.

One thing I have done is to slow my art down and take a more directed approach with it. This really translates into having more patience and putting in more planning into how I want the work to look, rather than just how it makes me feel. By no means does that mean I have banished all intuitiveness from my creating, though! The art still has a lot of say in how it will turn out.

I think this is translating into my art quilts taking longer for me to finish since I “Have Plans” rather than just letting it take off on its own. But in trying to have a better balance between my art and my crafts, between my creative side and my business side, and between the journey and the end, I think this is a good approach.