Broken plans

At the scene of the crime

Two days ago I broke my wrist. In two places. The fix requires some pins and magic from the bone doctor. He assures me he does this procedure often but that it might mean that I will lose a range of motion with my left hand. That got my attention. I, like other stitchers, use both hands to create work. Typing this with my right hand brings the reality into brighter focus. Luckily I am right handed.

I told a friend of mine recently that I am a five-year planner. In May I spent a month in the glorious spaces at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts at a residency (see a couple of pics of the grounds below). My plan was to use all the time I could in my big white box studio experimenting with new directions and thoughts. No chores, no interruptions, no tv news. I worked hard all day there. With that time I gained a sense of momentum in the work I was doing. Energized, simplified, textural, subtle. I’m ready to do more.

The doc said it might be six to eight weeks before my wrist will work like it is supposed to. Meanwhile I will be drawing instead of stitching, dreaming instead of planning, resting instead of pushing myself to be more active. I’m throwing plans out the door.

I’ll tell you one thing, it ain’t easy for a planner like me.

Quirk, a soft sculpture

I hope this finds you full of inspirations with time to make them a reality.

Please share your story about how some plans go out the door.

grids and webs

I woke up thinking about the difference between webs and grids. Webs reach, weave and beckon. Grids underpin, stabilize and neutralize. Webs are homes and traps. Grids are fences and containers. Webs spiral, grids measure cadence. Webs connect with tenuous intersections but also can withstand thunderstorms and errant wasps. Grids tie things together with a regular rhythm yet can be broken with a casual erasure of consistency. 

Webs can have enemies in them, grids can keep the lights on. Webs can be world-wide, grids map the lands and seas. Webs tangle, grids untangle. Grids are a human construct. Webs are a natural phenomenon. They are cousins in understanding where we fit.

Cracks, work in progress, Paula Kovarik

The news of Charlottesville and our president has shattered my sense of safety and calm. It may be why I keep cutting up pieces of fabric into shards and stitching them back together. Quilting this piece begins next week. I could stitch a grid onto it to find order. I could stitch a web of threads over it to hold it all together. Or I might cut it up some more and practice sewing it back together over and over again. Not sure where the thread will take me.