With the pressure of deadlines ramping up, I'm multi-tasking. I would wish for a clone except she'd probably start doing even more stuff.
Just finished cutting the place mat warp off the loom and started cutting them apart to serge. Doug will go pressing later this week so I'm trying to get stuff ready to be wet finished.
The warp is beamed on the AVL so I need to thread that. I'm going to use the same threading as the last warp but this time I'm going to do it properly (she says, optimistically).
Another warp is being wound on the warping board also for place mats. Again, trying to use up some of my never-ending stash.
And I started thinking about the title 'master' weaver. It's not one I wear comfortably, partly because the perception is that if you have mastered something, everything you produce is 'perfect'.
Not in my studio....
The fact is that I am far from perfect. Where the 'mastery' of a craft comes in, in my opinion, is in the knowledge of one's materials - their limitations and how to push them - coax, might be a better word - to perform beyond those limitations.
Mastery is also in knowing how your equipment and tools work and their limitations. And how to push/coax them to perform beyond those limitations.
Mastery is knowing when less-than-perfect is good enough - and when it isn't.
Mastery is being confident that whatever happens, you can figure out what to do about it - which might, at times, mean tossing the whole project into the recycle bin.
Mastery is having a full tool box full of tips and tricks, knowing when to employ them - and being willing to acquire more.
While I do feel that I have mastered certain aspects of my craft, I certainly do not know everything there is to know about weaving. I look forward to continuing to learn, even if that means learning how little I know. It is what excites me about weaving every day - learning something new, something that I did not know before.
In the meantime the Deadline Dragon continues to huff down the back of my neck....time to get back to the studio.
"Mastery is knowing when less-than-perfect is good enough - and when it isn't."
ReplyDeletePerhaps that is where art begins? With mastery allowing the less than perfect to be created the maker is left naked or vulnerable - the inner beauty exposed.
Anyway - that's how I like to see my less than perfect efforts!
Stephanie S