Sizing It Up

Glorious after Raven's trick changed her appearance.

This weekend I thought about the size of cloth with which I work. After reading Janet Bolton's book (last post) and noting that her finished works, unframed, are small, I realised there must be good reason for this. Afterall, she is an acclaimed artist in the field. I also realised anew that many of Jude's works are of small dimension too. Likewise, she is an expert in her field. So why is it, I asked myself, that as a novice, I tend to become entangled in much larger cloth?

There are clear advantages to a smaller cloth: less stitches, less to undo or discard if necessary, and less 'loss of face' to oneself if ending up scrapping the whole project, easier to change little bits of colour, a stitch here or there, alter a section of border, less waste of fabric trying things out. There is psychologically less risk with designing smaller cloth - especially for a cautious beginner. So why would it be that when the psychological cards seem stacked in favour of small cloth I lean towards the larger, unwieldy cloth? Just the fact the results are quicker, one would think, would be incentive enough to learn with small cloth. I think the answer lies in a deeply rooted drive towards clutter that plagues my creativity. Small cloth limits clutter and that is scary.

I see it like this: a small cloth, say 6 inches by 6inches, immediately restricts. The designs I have in my mind have several main characters and because I am not yet making one or the other more main (in my mind and design plans), I want to spatter each of  them respectfully all over the cloth. Physical spatial necessity dictates that I gravitate to a larger cloth, which I guess, makes an unwieldy attempt at story expression certain of achieving unwieldiness in cloth form.

This is what has happened to my current work - "How Raven Wrecked a Wedding". Furthermore, to ensure that all characters are included, I have added cloth, thus making it even bigger. While it is not huge at approximately, 20 x 15 inches, it feels that I have lost the plot, so to speak. These things in themselves are not bad - they show flexibility, awareness of design, and desire to communicate.  However, I wonder if I would be able to project the essence of a story on a much smaller cloth? I wonder if tending towards bigger, more difficult cloth is in a way self-sabotage because there is less chance of being successful (balance, hue, projection, eliciting of response). Perhaps I am scared of success.

I am going to work on this cloth, as it is, today, then leave it for awhile and try a few experimental small pieces. Some exercises in design. See what I can find out about myself.

Oh, I have so many things to say, I am busting. I'll get them out in good time though.

Have the best stitching day, Gilly.