Another new beginning. I seem to repeat this often. Fact of the matter is that I always have some sort of new beginning because life happens to send big curves my way all the time. I am not really a dramatic person so is it just me? LOL
This past January Henry Glass and I parted ways amicably. Rapid changes in the industry have been going on. You can read a message from Scott Fortunoff, Vice-President of Henry Glass & Co. here. . In addition, each of our own visions and needs seemed to grow toward very different goals. I still love many of the people I dealt with in the past 15 years that I was associated with Henry Glass. Many of them became like family. After all I met one of the Design Directors, Karen, at my very first market. Thank you for that.
So fast forward to April. Where am I? I can say that I am excited and scared all at the same time. I believe that is a good thing for me though. I thrive on being uncomfortable and edgy. I have a million ideas flowing through my brain. Rushing is perhaps the better adjective. The more challenging part is putting it all together. You may have heard me talk about my design process in interviews that I have done. All of the ideas are in my head. It is arranged, designed and re-arranged up there in my noggin. A couple of weeks ago I flew away to see a couple of friends so that I could get grounded a bit.
Many things are influencing me right now. I purchased the magnificent book, Wonderland by Kirsty Mitchell. I felt the need to be moved in a profound way and Kirsty Mitchell's book did just that. Her story felt like mine except that it was my father who was the one who influenced me and the one who I miss. Her story was as strong as the art.
Photograph from the book Wonderland by Kristy Mitchell.
Photograph from the book Wonderland by Kristy Mitchell.
In January I felt uncertain about my future for literally two seconds. I asked around to see if there was a new home where I could fit into but it didn't feel like a road that I wanted to go down again in the immediate future. Of course if a perfect opportunity comes around and teases me, I will take a look.
I am working on my ideas right now. Some work will be commercial and other things will evolve from this process. I started out publishing patterns and writing books and I know something like that is still part of me. The differences are still evolving. Things are different in this quilting industry of ours. I have always been a bit of an outsider and sometimes I feel that social media takes away from the authenticity and value of our art. Don't get me wrong, I understand the importance of it all. I just don't always feel like I have to give everything away to get people to follow me or pretend to be something that isn't at the core of my being.
Tell me about where you are at. Do you like one art form like quilting, sewing, knitting, etc. or do you like to have a lot of things going one? Do you still buy patterns and books? Do you like video classes? Do you read blogs? Are you feeling inspired or are you in a rut?
xo, LLDB