Thirty mini compositions

For the last several years, I have been trying to work more improvisationally. After seventeen years of doing computer drafting as a job, I became very left-brained. I honestly wonder how I ever became an artist. Aren’t artists supposed to be right-brained? Naturally, I know that an artist can really be either right-brained or left-brained, but maybe it’s even better to be some of both. And so, I’ve deliberately pursued the fleeting, the spontaneous, and the elusive, hoping to balance my brain out a bit. Some people think that comes naturally to me, but it doesn’t. It’s always a leap off the cliff to work, or should I say “play,” freely.

This week, one of my goals was to make thirty mini improvisational compositions. Each one is only about 10″ square. Each time, I tried to create a pleasing arrangement of lines without a lot of forethought. Most of the time I started with a simple square of white fabric and then cut some random, free-hand lines with a rotary cutter. Then I inserted thin strips of black. Sometimes I tore a seam part way out, so I could do some more slashing and inserting. It was fun! The silly thing is that I had a great deal of fear before I began. Why is that? I wasn’t trying to create a masterpiece. I just wanted to work with fabric, try out a few construction ideas, and hack up some scraps. Isn’t it silly how we can let fear paralyze us?