Sharing and Snooping

Next weekend I will be at the SAQA Conference in Portland OR – Fiberlandia! Hopefully I will see many of you there!

This morning I was very lucky to attend the dress rehearsal for the Boulder Philharmonic’s concert tonight, featuring Zuill Bailey playing the Dvorak Cello Concert – my favorite cello piece and one of my favorite classical pieces. It is such a gift to hear pieces like this live and in person. Tonight I will get to hear it again, for the official performance. Twice in one day – what an inspiration!

Those of us who love and support the arts, really appreciate when we have a “behind the scenes” experience like this. Here in Boulder we have an event called Open Studios (many of you may have them in your towns too!) which is a fantastic opportunity to visit the workspaces and studios of working artists. In fact many local textile artists open their studios here each year, and it is fascinating to go and snoop around to see what sewing machine they use, how many spools of thread they have, what types of fabric make up their working stash, etc.

Seeing a Work in Progress can be a great learning experience, whether it is an orchestra rehearsal, or an art quilt in pieces on a design wall. I love taking painting classes where you get to watch the artist create a whole painting from a blank canvas. Similarly, most of you know how fun it is to take a class from a talented quilt or fiber artist, and watch their creative process and special techniques as they build up their work of art.

Participating in a small Creative Circle can be a great way to share and learn as your own creative process is developed. If you have a small group of 5-6 artists who meet once a month, to share your work and your process, it can be just the stimulation and deadline-driven motivation to keep you moving along in your development as a quilter/artist.

How are you sharing your work with others?

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