Life gets busy. There are a lot of priorities. Housekeeping, attending to family members, managing the finances, yard work, etc. There are always so many things that need to fit into the day with a sense of balance. For me personally, I’m learning to swing with the time I have. Certain days of the week I have tasks that get accomplish…for example, today it is writing this blog post. Earlier today, I ran some errands. When I got home I spent several hours in my “studio” (aka a spare bedroom) working on a new project and now I’m in front of the computer writing to you. I can’t always predict how my day will go, so inspiration frequently has to wait for the appropriate time.
For example last week, I took a trip with a friend to a warehouse fabric sale. Definitely not something I spent too much time planning, but I knew I had to take advantage of the opportunity. Fabric shopping was part necessity and a little bit of escapism. I haven’t been to a good fabric store in probably 4 years. As I’ve been working on new artwork, I’m realizing my fabric stash has its limits. I decided to take advantage of this shopping opportunity, dropped all my other tasks for the day and took a road trip to go shopping.
I often feel shopping is procrastination. Just another thing that will distract my time from studio work. I avoid it. Generally, I also find it frustrating. I hate spending hours looking for something, just to find the store doesn’t carry it or is out of stock. Living in a small, semi-rural, micropolitan area doesn’t provide many options, especially not for fabric and fine art supplies. So usually it is “Hello, Amazon!” instead.
You can’t “really” buy fabric online…colors on the monitor vary from real life. So this in-person shopping quest was a serious necessity. What I didn’t realize arranging this trip, was that the fabric itself would inspire me to create. Some of the pieces in this newly acquired collection, spoke volumes to me. I looked at some of the fabric and said “I know ‘exactly’ what I’m doing with this piece.” So the short shopping break was not an indulgence, but instead a necessary opportunity to get my brain inspired. So, what gets you inspired to create? 