Leni Wiener

Having faced my own obstacles in the past week or so, I am back on track today and ready to get down to work.  I am more and more convinced that the state of the studio has more to do with my motivation to work (or lack thereof) than even I previously thought.

While working on that new series of small pieces of closeup faces, I was undecided about a color range for the next piece.  Consequently, I had pulled out several options; blues, greens, green/yellows, brick tones before deciding on blues.  At this point, however, there were so many fabrics out that the room looked chaotic and I didn’t want to go in there.  So instead I blamed my not feeling well, the fact that I was busy with other things, and feeling creatively blocked for my lack of motivation.  Does any of this sound familiar?  All the things I warn in this blog to be cautious about when you don’t feel like working on your art.

Because the “mess” is really just fabric that needs to be folded and put back in the proper bin (which is boring, I admit) it isn’t like really cleaning, and only took about half an hour.  OK, I admit, there are some fabrics that I put on top of a bin because I just didn’t want to fold any more.  But the studio is more than neat and ready to go into and work.  When it feels like a sanctuary, I want to be in there and feel inspired.  In fact, when it feels like a sanctuary I enjoy just going in there to sit and listen to music or have a cup of coffee (and it is far from the nicest room in my house).   When it feels chaotic I don’t want to be in there at all (how inspired and creative could I feel?).   So my note to myself is that putting off the half an hour I needed to straighten up the room cost me more than a week of inactivity.  Not really worth it.   Think of the things I could have done in that time!

In the meantime, however, despite the disaster in which they were made, I almost completed two baby quilts over the weekend.  A close friend just became a grandma for the first time, so one for baby and one for baby when he comes to his grandma’s house.  Nothing too complex as far as piecing is concerned.  Baby quilts are great to make–they are quick, they don’t need to be too fussy since they are all about the fabrics and colors, and they are made to celebrate such a happy event.  (I love babies, especially other peoples’ babies.  I need my sleep!)

I also spent several hours yesterday cleaning up the room in which I keep my computer and my files.  BORING.  But now that I know where everything is, and that room looks neater and tidy, I am feeling less anxious about all sorts of things.  Don’t underestimate the power of your environment to affect your mood and your motivation.  Getting organized and straightening up is cheaper than therapy, takes less time, and saves you money you can spend on fabrics (that will get strewn around the room and will need to be folded…..)

No pictures today, but in the next day or so I hope to have new work to share with you.  I am still waiting for brave readers to share their work with me and the other readers of this blog–and I am happy to answer questions or critique your work (don’t worry, I am gentle!) so that others can learn from it.