Thinking about creativity.....

I spent about 3 hours yesterday working "creating" the fabric for the coat for Joe (see pictures!). Each one of these panels was created by sewing strips of fabric together that are 1/4 inch wide at the top and 1/2 inch wide at the bottom. (no, I did NOT cut them first, I used a quilter's technique, and learned a lot about the potential for that technique for future projects.)

As I was working on these, I spent a bit of time thinking about the change in how I am approaching these new animals. In the past I was always in a hurry to get them done, the focus was on numbers.

Something strange happened in Nevada City this year. I spent 3 days next to an artist that only brought 7 bears to the show. SEVEN!! And there were just those 7 for sale and 1 that was not for sale on her table. And people could actually SEE each one and pick it up without knocking over something else.

All of this put me to thinking about the whole way we put our tables together. We've been complaining that we can't compete with the imported stuff for prices. If that is true then we should stop trying to look like a retail store and look more like an art gallery.

It also makes me think that I don't need to make more bears by numbers, but better ones instead. If it takes a whole day to create the fabric for a truly amazing piece, then I shouldn't begrudge the time to it because the results are worth it. It ends up with more pieces being created that give me that "did I do that?" feel, and that is really what I'm looking for. After that, I'll just have to find the tools to sell those.

Anyway, we're going to try that approach in Albuquerque next weekend and see how it goes. This is the right show to do it in.....this one is only artists, so the "playing field" is fairly level. Here's hoping!!

So, the plan for today is to try to get Joe (at least the bear) finished and start in on his coat. I did get Bunnie's machine work done yesterday too, and part of the hand work as well. We'll see how the time goes for doing more to her.

and its off to work we go.....