Then I took this photograph and and I SERIOUSLY dislike it. I really don't like the "exploding" effect.
This is a dreadful stage of the creative process: you start out SO excited and inspired, work feverishly to manifest what is in your head. You lose track of time and have moments of Flow. It's such a high. Then you reach a stage when it just looks dreadful and you hate it. It's nothing like the amazing picture you had in your head. The risks you took with the direction it wanted to take, have failed. You've put all that work into it, and it's a flop. You've lost something you invested so much in.
Often I put it away at this stage and just try to forget. Start something new to get back the high of the inspired feeling. Or numb out the disappointment on Facebook.
This time, I knew what I didn't like and luckily most was still pinned and I'd only sewn a little. I sighed over the futile effort down the drain, and unpinned 2 evenings (roughly 8 hours) work. There was still too much I didn't like, so I unpicked about an hour's worth of the already sewn part. I'm much happier with it now. I may even unpick a bit more, but will wait until I've built up the empty parts.
The process resumes and it's amazing how your disappointment then vanishes into thin air, like a cloud on a sunny day: you've managed to Save it. All those hours, going in the wrong direction, are totally forgotten. The possibilities are open again and you're back to riding the high once more.
I now have a pile of cut-up-in small-pieces "Precious Fabric I've Been Saving For One Day And Just Can't Bear Cutting Into". Quilters will know what I'm talking about! Ahhhh well, it's only fabric and that "One Day" is TODAY, I remind myself. There will be another work in the future, they'll be just right for.
And there's a sunny Sunday afternoon ahead. Streaming Radio 702 from South Africa on my laptop.
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