Play? Yes!

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

It’s essential to be willing to break through the rules and conventions we set up for ourselves

and to be willing to try new things.

We need to be able to take artistic risks and

to suspend judgement long enough to experiment with new approaches,

new techniques, new thoughts…

or to look again at the ways we have always worked and

to see if there is a hidden treasure waiting to be re-discovered, re-invented, re-created.

So, give yourself permission to play, play and play some more, then step back and see what emerges!

The other day, I was thinking about writing about permission to play as part of the

Face of Joy Challenge.

I decided that I definitely wanted to include photos of  my ‘Permission’ doll. I tried taking boring old lay-the-doll-on-a-piece-fabric and shoot, pics.  Oh, borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrring………

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

Besides………. the monster wrinkles in the fabric were just ridiculous.

So……… I decided to be playful, and to give the Permission doll a new place to sit.

I figured I could ignore some rules about ‘where things go’ and then shifted some furniture around in the studio.

Voila! A new place to sit and weave with my small looms.

The cupboard on that wall of the studio had always seemed to be an impediment to using that space.

I decided…. what the heck…. the cupboard is full of Christmas stuff, and only gets opened to take the Christmas stuff out, and then a month or so later, to stuff the Christmas decorations back in.

Why not ignore it, hang a loom on the doorknobs, and enjoy the space?

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

The boss of the studio approves of her bench being in a new spot, and I think the Permission doll does, too….

And, one of the most delightful benefits of playing around with the stuff in my studio is that I have given myself a very pleasant place to sit and weave with my small looms.

Also, choosing to ignore the mostly unused (but useful) cupboard in the wall is an excellent metaphor about another issue that writing about ‘permission’ brought up.

I realized that I have been frustrated by the placement of this cupboard for the 15 years that we have lived in this house.

I had made a rule that I couldn’t block access to the cupboard, even though access is only  needed a few times a year.

By saying: That’s a rule that doesn’t work for me, I was able to re-claim a wasted space that I am simply revelling in now!

Ah…. those rules……… sometimes, we have to bump up against them before we even know they exist! It sounds so simple, and minor, but it was a big ‘aha’ moment for me……  so often, we define our lives by rules that we may have invented unconsciously, or have inherited from relatives, friends or ‘experts’.  If we don’t know the rule is there, it’s going to shape our spaces and shape our lives.

Playful exploration is a good way to shine a light on all kinds of corners in our lives…..

photo by Noreen Crone-Findlay copyright

I designed the Permission doll as a reminder that we need to give ourselves permission to be and do

who and what we are, what we love, and to approach life with joy, panache and zest.

So, go ahead and play, and give yourself permission to move things around, and to try out new things, and to ignore some of the things that might have felt like blockages.

AND…. please remember to enter the Face of Joy Challenge…..

Post from: Hankering for Yarn

What on earth does Jane Austen have to do with Panda Bears?

Here’s the scoop – I have been working on a new Jane Austen spool knitter for weeks now.

It really hasn’t gone well. I have drawn the face at least 7 times, and each time, I have ended up sanding it off the spool knitter. argh.

I ended up painting layers of gesso on the spool knitter and just leaving the white ‘ghost of spool knitter future’ sitting on my desk.

I asked Jim to turn me another Jane Austen and he looked significantly over at the verrrrrrrrrrrry blank one. Oh okay!

sigh….

I have also been having trouble with 2 other spool knitters.

I painted and sanded off the paintings and painted again and sanded off again… and again. Ah, phooey.

I was looking at my blank spool knitters and feeling like they were mocking me. But then, a whisper of an idea started to unfurl…. earlier in the week, I had seen a pic of a panda bear online.

I love panda bears. I’ve designed all kinds of homages to them:

crocheted: (from my book:

Crocheted Teddy Bears

and woven on the potholder loom : from my book:

Potholder Loom Teddy Bears and Monkeys, too

It struck me that the simplicity and charm of the panda bear face would be wonderful on the spool knitters.

Bingo! I was totally inspired! So, I sat down and started painting.

I painted a Panda Bear 4 peg spool knitter:

and since two Panda Bears are better than one, I painted another one! This time, a 5 peg spool knitter:

Painting the panda bears in just black and white was very liberating. It made me realize that I wanted to work with just black and white and grey for the troublesome Jane Austen spool knitter.

It’s really clear to me that the spool knitters are very determined that they are going to be what THEY want to be, and I have to stand back and let them flow through me. When I try to push my concepts and ideas on them, they push back and refuse. Sigh.

So, when I let go, the spool knitters come to life in a delightful way. Which is exactly what has happened with the new Jane Austen spool knitter:

Isn’t it neat about synchronicity and how one thing can lead to another in the creative process? It’s like one thought or image can become the doorway for a whole cascade of ideas.

Have you had a strange pairing up of ideas that helped you to break through a stumbling block?

What’s your version of ‘Jane Austen and the Panda Bears’?

Image Source: Noreen Crone-Findlay(copyright) 

Post from: Hankering for Yarn