Embrace Imperfection suits me down to the ground! All my life I have never been a fastidious person wanting everything to be perfect. I’d rather make something and move onto the next piece as I have always believed that the more you make the better you get.
I remember the first quilt class I attended. I was so proud of the blocks that I had made. Then when I showed them to my mother the comment was “but the points don’t all match”. Talk about disheartening. However, I finished the quilt, exhibited it at our club’s exhibition and then gave it to my mother-in-law who thought it was fantastic! She didn’t notice that some points didn’t match. She loved it because it was in her favourite colours (not mine….) and that I had made it and given it to her. This is not a criticism of my mum as she was learning to quilt as well, and we had been told POINTS MUST MATCH….
The thing is I have now made probably 100+ quilts, and my mum only made about 5 because she was too tied up about perfection. Over time my quilting got better, and my points now match (if I do that sort of work) no trouble at all.
I now make all my own fabrics, and I like the way that not everything is perfect because it is hand done. In fact, often the fabrics with something wrong in them are the most useful. I love the way that the crosses in the attached image are not all perfect as they create a movement and softness to this vase. The smudges on it create more texture and I find it is more pleasing to my eye because it isn’t perfect. Maybe because it reflects me more as a person that I am drawn to it.
I think this round I am starting a new series as that is the way I’ve found it easier to respond to prompts. What that will be, will be revealed in a couple of weeks but I can assure you that not everything will be perfect!
Long time ago, perfection has been a huge demand in my professional life. As a former cartographer, drawing maps by hand required measuring with tiny fractions of millimeters and magnifying lenses. Quilting fit right in there… but leaving this mindset behind has been a hard and long path. It’s still an effort for me.
This vase is perfect, exactly for its imperfections.
I totally agree with the feeling of wanting to create and finish something new, even if it’s imperfect. It’s actually unreasonable to expect perfection if I’m just trying something out. Knowing that relieves a lot of possible pressure. I’m usually trying out some new technique–and, after trying it out, moving on to another art project, perhaps incorporating that new technique in my next project (or not), but always grateful to have more techniques in my toolbox that I can draw upon.
Catherine, I have fallen in love with the attached image, and I know this feeling and see the beauty of creativity that is imperfect. Have a great next round, and may your future art be yours as always!
I’m with you. Perfection is for robots.