This is a short round-up post because I keep thinking of things that aren’t enough to do a whole post on. Plus it occurred to me that doing regular updates like this might prevent me being quite so perfectionist and therefore slow about my blogging.

Health Shit
It’s ME/CFS Awareness week and I was going to write something deep and meaningful about it but I’m still in the midst of the worst crash I’ve had in several years and I couldn’t be bothered. I’m getting blood tests done to check whether something else is going on because it’s been about a month and I’m not getting any better.

If I had written a post, it would have been about how small your world becomes when you have this illness. How unreliable you feel. How hard it is to plan. And how much grief and loss there is. But I have no spare energy for depressing writing about my depressing illness.

I have ME/CFS. It sucks. Next.

Other people wrote some smart stuff though:
Michael Nobbs
Newly Nerfed
RachelCreative and a moving post from her husband.

Why You Should Listen To Your Mother

So you know that thing your mother told you about not touching plugs or light switches with wet hands in case you electrocute yourself?

Totally true.

Since I’d managed to get to the age of 42 without this ever happening to me despite not being super cautious about it, I thought it was a bit of an exaggeration but no, it really can happen.

Fortunately it was only a very small electric shock, so I’m not dead. Which is good because dying whilst preparing baked potatoes would be a bloody stupid way to go.

Books

I’ve been on a roll with reading lately, mostly because it’s one of the few things – apart from crocheting granny squares – that I’m able to do at the moment.

If you like crime novels, I thoroughly recommend Ann Cleeves, particularly her stunning Shetland Quartet. I just finished the last book in the series and I’m still reeling from it. I’ve also been enjoying Ariana Franklin’s medieval murder mysteries.

If science fiction is more your thing, Kaaron Warren’s book Walking The Tree is strange but compelling. I also enjoyed both of Eugene Byrne books but particularly Things Unborn, a police procedural set in a Britain where some of the dead have been inexplicably resurrected.

I’ve also just started Stitching For Victory by Suzanne Griffith, a fascinating exploration of the diverse and vital role textiles played in World War Two Britain.

Exhibitions

Last week I had a fun day out with the Textile Forum South West group at the very excellent Stroud International Textile Festival. I particularly loved Kate Blee‘s piece, Stroud Red.

Kate Blee, Stroud Red

I also adored Bethany Mitchell’s work combing yarn with ink and pencil drawings.

The festival is on until the 23rd May. If you do manage to go, Mills Cafe does lovely soup and very nice cakes.

That Dieting Thing
I’m still doing Slimming World. I’ve only got three pesky pounds to go until I get my Two Stone award but the last two months have been hopeless because I’ve been shilly-shallying and uncommitted. Amazingly enough, the diet doesn’t work if you don’t stick to it! Who knew? But I’m pleased that I’ve maintained my existing weight loss and I’m slowly becoming motivated again, so hopefully this plateau will soon be over.

Chickens
The chickens are well. Thankfully they’ve settled their initial differences and now get along just fine, although Colette is a complete drama queen and kvetches loudly about the slightest little thing. More video soon.

Art
Still sewing sequins on an apron. Lalalalala…

This is a short round-up post because I keep thinking of things that aren’t enough to do a whole post on. Plus it occurred to me that doing regular updates...

“Art is beautiful but it is hard, like a religion without a purpose.”
Gunter Brus

Kirsty Hall: Performing Pin Ritual, Dec 2003

People who aren’t working in a creative profession often think that what we do is easy, fun, glamorous or exciting. And it can be all of those things. But it’s also a time-consuming, brain-melting obsession that will eat your life.

It is not ‘five minutes, boom, you’re done, sit back and drink a martini’ – that is not how the creative process goes for even the most talented people. Techniques take time to learn and perfect. You make mistakes. Then you make bigger mistakes and have to start over. Even once you’ve learnt your craft, it’s twisty: you fret, you fiddle and things go wrong. You can pick away at a problem for months or years with no guarantee that you’ll ever crack it.

Sure, some people make it look easy but I’d bet my granny’s pension that they’re working hard when your back is turned. They’re dreaming their way into a role; they’re thinking about their sculpture on their lunch break; they’re drawing for hours every day.

So you need to enjoy the process of what you do. Because that’s what you’re going to be doing all day.

Kirsty Hall: Red thread and needle, May 2008

If you plan to make hats for a living, you’d better love plittering around with felt and feathers. If you’re going to carve wood, you’d better not be allergic to sawdust. If you want to act, you’d better be able to put up with hanging out with other actors, learning lines and spending lots of time waiting around.

Now, obviously no one loves every single thing about their job but if you dislike most of your process, then you’re in the wrong creative field or are using the wrong medium.

I know this sounds stupid but I see a lot of young artists making this mistake. They’re naturally great at video but instead try to make sculptures because they feel they ‘should’. Or they have a talent for colour but feel guilty that it’s ‘too easy’, so they chose to work in monochrome even through they secretly long to pick up that tube of orange.

If you call yourself an artist but find yourself making excuses to write instead of making art, you might really be a writer. If you find oils endlessly frustrating but make watercolours for fun on your days off, you may be using the wrong kind of paint. If you hate having clay under your fingernails, making pots is not for you.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t challenge yourself by exploring new areas. Nor am I saying that everything needs to be easy – it won’t be. I’m saying that you absolutely must have a deep and abiding love for the actual processes of your craft. You need to be able to think, “Oh wow, sewing sequins on this apron is still kind of great, even through I’ve been doing it for a year & I’m kind of bored now”.

Kirsty Hall: Close up of sequins, Oct 2009

Because a lot of the time you will be frustrated, stuck or thoroughly fed up and in my experience, if you don’t have that core passion for your daily reality, then you will quit.

“Art is beautiful but it is hard, like a religion without a purpose.” Gunter Brus Kirsty Hall: Performing Pin Ritual, Dec 2003 People who aren’t working in a creative profession...