Friday, 7 August 2020

Navigating through life's complications

In the previous blog on our Lockdown Life, I mentioned how the strangeness of the situation had led sometimes to a feeling of being 'stuck' creatively as well as literally, and how inspiration can come unexpectedly - but what do you do if you hit a creative block?

In her introductory Q & A session here on the blog, Vicki gave us a few clues to her approach with these words: 'Usually, when I'm in a creative fug or bored with what I'm working on, I'll find something else to do and experiment a bit'. Describing her style as 'haphazard, intuitive and organic', she said she was 'trying to navigate through life's complications', dipping into 'years worth of materials to make things'.

The following recent images show her further exploring process. With a love of the rhythm and repetition of stitch and the history around different techniques, she has been taking inspiration from traditional crafts and the rhythms that distract and comfort - but combining them with materials that render them impractical.










In my introduction, I didn't mention that the other word Vicki used to describe her style was 'lazy' and, looking at all this work, I have to politely disagree! I love all these explorations and I'm fascinated by the ideas behind them. I look forward to seeing how they develop over the coming weeks and months and will keep you all posted ...

"Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play"
Henri Matisse

Cath