shrikeseams replied to your post “fabric

[dragonlady7]

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shrikeseams replied to your post “fabric collage”

Do you need a link to the to the Irsula Vernon certificate of permission to make bad art?

oh believe you me i’ve made a lot of bad fuckin’ art in my day, my problem is not that it’ll be bad, my problem is that there are only 24 hours in a day and if i’m going to spend hours on something i would like it to be something that i’ll either enjoy a lot or get something really cool out of, and I have an entire basement chock-full of all the bad textile art I’ve made poorly over the last 15 years and boy oh boy I have made a lot of bad art and I would like to make a good art, or at least something that is useful, for once in my goddamn life. 

gnomeicecream replied to your post “fabric collage”

Not being able to put the tasks in order and seperate them into steps is an ADHD thing/executive function thing

And yes, this is more my problem– that I just don’t know where to start. What kind of substrate should I use? Do I have the perfect thing? Ah, but if the thing I have is perfect, should I waste it on my first attempt? My first attempt is likely to turn out badly, just like the basement full of junk first attempts, so I should save the perfect thing for my second attempt which will be good, right? except that what if that first attempt turns out so badly because of inferior materials? and so i never make another attempt because I did it badly and it demoralized me, just like all the things I’ve finally gotten up the gumption to attempt and have wound up doing badly over the years?

Anyway I think I’ve found something to be the substrate, and I have a collected assortment of other bits that could be some of the layers to go onto it, but I just don’t. Really. Know how to go about it. But, I’ve shoved everything into an old pillowcase I also was going to cut up, and it’s in the car now and I’ll take it back with me to Rochester and maybe I’ll actually work on it! Maybe.

Comments

[dine]

and now I'm thinking of Victorian crazy quilts - all sorts of beautiful fabrics, ribbons and bits of embroidery lovingly assembled by hand. in high school I actually began a small one, but my access to gorgeous rich fabrics wasn't good, and I didn't know many fancy embroidery stitches, so eventually gave it up

[dragonlady7]

ah, I have a Victorian crazy quilt!! My uncle gave it to me, for some reason-- my sisters, he gave family quilts, but for me he had one he'd bought somewhere. It's dated 1888, I think. Some of the fabrics have deteriorated, and in a few places there are painted sections that have eaten through the fabric. So it's not suitable for use, nor is it really suitable for display, and I don't know what to do with it, but I do have it!
And yes, it was about then that I got interested in making a fabric collage, and he's been dead since '08 or '09, so I guess this is something I've been thinking about longer than I'm really admitting.

[dragonlady7]

ah i uploaded some photos I took a while ago of the crazy quilt here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dragonlady7/?

[dine]

oh yeah, that's exactly what I was picturing! how beautiful - too bad it's not usable/displayable

[light_of_summer]

One possibility might be to approach it as a photo staging project, before deciding about any permanent construction. You could just fold or maybe cut out pieces of different materials, and try arranging them in different ways, photographing as you go. That way, you might end up with some photos you like, and it might also clarify whether it would feel worthwhile to go further?

Good wishes for figuring out what kinds of experiments you feel OK-or-better about trying!