Sunday
Aug102008
The creative process II
Sunday, August 10, 2008 at 9:12AM
To be a good Yarnista, one must possess several characteristics in conjunction with each other. Take away one of them, and you have a giant mess of Jenga pieces.
You need Creativity. I wrote about her yesterday. But you also need resilience, an ability to work in the "zone," organization, a good memory, an eye for detail, and a willingness to help others. Creativity can live with you 24 hours a day, but if you don't have an eye for detail, Yarnista-ing (as my daughter calls it), is not for you.
But I digress.
Because Creativity is the fickle sort, she usually doesn't like to be made to do something on command. So, when I informed her that we needed to come up with a colorway for our September yarn clubs, she squealed in delight and clapped her hands. And then promptly exited the premises.
Creating a new colorway each month can be hit or miss. It's usually miss a few times, then hit. I can picture something in my mind's eye, it's usually sort of a fuzzy picture, but it's there. I have to then sharpen the picture by going through a variety of prototypes before having an a-HA moment when the final result has been achieved. Because my art medium is fiber, it's not easy to fix mistakes. There's no Edt > Undo command. You have to begin again. (And this is where the resilience kicks in.)
Often what I'm trying to refine may not be something someone else notices. This week, I was trying to tweak a shade of a color (sorry club members, no spoilers yet), let's call that color "white." I was trying to fix a shade of white so it had just a little bit more of a "black" undertone. But it needed to be subtle. The others in the studio kept saying, "What are you talking about, this is a fantastic shade of white!"
But I knew that when the yarn hit the heat to set the dye, that this particular shade of white was not going to look the way I wanted it to in the final result, it was going to be just a little too... something. Something I didn't want.
After the yarn came out of the dye pot, it was quite lovely. It was a harmonious palette, befitting the season without being cliche. I thought it might work as-is. But the more I marinated in it, the more I realized it just wasn't quite what I wanted. The colorway had to resonate with me on some level. (Because, while I want to make all of you happy, the only real way to do that is to make myself happy with the colorways. I think
-- I hope -- my customers can see some of the attention to detail I put into things.)
It literally feels like someone struggling to learn to play the guitar, plucking one note at a time. Those notes might sound just fine, but when the finished piece is just right, I can almost feel a full chord being struck in my chest, like a vibration, and I look at it and hear, "Yes."
So, to all of you club members impatiently waiting for your September previews, they are coming. I think I am on version eight of this colorway, and am tweaking a couple of little things, waiting to feel the chord and waiting to hear the yes.
I hope this is not to woo-woo for you. Creative people can often be perceived as... woo-woo. Perhaps I should stick with posts about my mishaps and pressing questions about eye drops.
You need Creativity. I wrote about her yesterday. But you also need resilience, an ability to work in the "zone," organization, a good memory, an eye for detail, and a willingness to help others. Creativity can live with you 24 hours a day, but if you don't have an eye for detail, Yarnista-ing (as my daughter calls it), is not for you.
But I digress.
Because Creativity is the fickle sort, she usually doesn't like to be made to do something on command. So, when I informed her that we needed to come up with a colorway for our September yarn clubs, she squealed in delight and clapped her hands. And then promptly exited the premises.
Creating a new colorway each month can be hit or miss. It's usually miss a few times, then hit. I can picture something in my mind's eye, it's usually sort of a fuzzy picture, but it's there. I have to then sharpen the picture by going through a variety of prototypes before having an a-HA moment when the final result has been achieved. Because my art medium is fiber, it's not easy to fix mistakes. There's no Edt > Undo command. You have to begin again. (And this is where the resilience kicks in.)
Often what I'm trying to refine may not be something someone else notices. This week, I was trying to tweak a shade of a color (sorry club members, no spoilers yet), let's call that color "white." I was trying to fix a shade of white so it had just a little bit more of a "black" undertone. But it needed to be subtle. The others in the studio kept saying, "What are you talking about, this is a fantastic shade of white!"
But I knew that when the yarn hit the heat to set the dye, that this particular shade of white was not going to look the way I wanted it to in the final result, it was going to be just a little too... something. Something I didn't want.
After the yarn came out of the dye pot, it was quite lovely. It was a harmonious palette, befitting the season without being cliche. I thought it might work as-is. But the more I marinated in it, the more I realized it just wasn't quite what I wanted. The colorway had to resonate with me on some level. (Because, while I want to make all of you happy, the only real way to do that is to make myself happy with the colorways. I think
-- I hope -- my customers can see some of the attention to detail I put into things.)
It literally feels like someone struggling to learn to play the guitar, plucking one note at a time. Those notes might sound just fine, but when the finished piece is just right, I can almost feel a full chord being struck in my chest, like a vibration, and I look at it and hear, "Yes."
So, to all of you club members impatiently waiting for your September previews, they are coming. I think I am on version eight of this colorway, and am tweaking a couple of little things, waiting to feel the chord and waiting to hear the yes.
I hope this is not to woo-woo for you. Creative people can often be perceived as... woo-woo. Perhaps I should stick with posts about my mishaps and pressing questions about eye drops.
Reader Comments (13)
My question is what do you do with all the prototype yarn?
Good question, Mona. The answer is that I use some of it, and the vast majority of it sits in a huge prototype box.
I've been considering having a "surprise me" yarn sale, where someone can specify a gender or something, and pay some really nominal fee, and get sent a surprise skein of prototype yarn.
It would be too painful to photograph it all.
Thoughts?
I love reading about your creative process. What's that saying......."You learn more from your mistakes than you do your success". So keep going Sharon,I'm sure you've come up with some other shades in this attempt that will be lovely in other colorways. Therefore the creative process continues! Am I anxious to see the yarn? Oh of course! Can I wait? Absolutely. What I really CAN'T wait for is, me to pop this baby out!
The "surprise me" idea is neat,I'd try some!!
I vote YES for the "surprise me" yarn. As you talk about the "almost" colourway, something inside me whispers "that one is perfect too."
Oooooooooooo I like the surprise me yarn idea.
As a creative person myself, I completely understand what you mean about the notes, when just right, coming together to produce a beautiful chord.
Ooh, I see my question about the prototype yarns was posted here as well!
I would LOVE a "surprise me" option to buy.
"Surprise Me Colors/Colorways" Good name.
Nominal Fee Yarn" would get my attention as well.
I love prototypes. One learns so much about the person/team when one sees those.
Oh, that gratuitous yarn color. Change the tangerine to yellow and I'm sold. :-))))
Now, what's my favorite color???
What a wonderful post, it really shows how much you put into your yarn. As for the "suprise me" yarn, fan-tas-tic idea.
LKDRUi , [url=http://tjabxxpilooa.com/]tjabxxpilooa[/url], [link=http://ngllzxxoxhdm.com/]ngllzxxoxhdm[/link], http://aoockbledvsx.com/
dYEgZ9 , [url=http://swmqjopppxwm.com/]swmqjopppxwm[/url], [link=http://axaifcgrfhep.com/]axaifcgrfhep[/link], http://brzkybfvyxxh.com/