pragmatic |prag\u02c8matik|<\/strong> Hence my delight when I spotted The Weekend Australian\u2019s latest entry for Sagittarius.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Spooky hey? So, onward.<\/em> This blog is foremost a tool for me<\/em> and it has come in handy this week as I trace back to where I started. I feel daunted that the year is flying by and leaving me, once again, with seemingly little to show for it.<\/p>\n from week one – the first blog post;<\/strong> I am thankful that I wrote that down – that I was pragmatic – I feel less pressured just reading it. It is week twelve and my week has just lengthened.<\/strong> Yes this is where I am still feeling stretched and disappointed. So now it is week twenty-seven and it’s time to talk tough to myself if I want to have a productive rest of year. I need to be pragmatic about how the first twenty-six weeks have been spent. A late night thinking session had me writing down what I spend most of my time on, and, whilst I have been productive, I\u00a0 can easily see that I have given priority to \u2018outside things\u2019 over my studio work. Of course I am aware that living next to my studio and\u00a0 working next to my home is part of the problem. It has advantages and disadvantages\u2026 Perhaps all I need are a few simple strategies like closing the shared door? Moving back to the week just past… it WAS productive. Wednesday<\/strong> was taken up with arranging finished feathers in final position. Thursday <\/strong>arrives and the ‘quilt’ is put onto the machine. I hope to have all the feathers in place by the end of next week – then there will be a pile of hand stitching required to hold parts of the feathers in position and then to refine the edge.<\/p>\n
\nadjective<\/em>
\ndealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations<\/p><\/blockquote>\n![\"reinforcing](\"http:\/\/janmullen.com.au\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/week-27-4.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAnd supremely positive.
\nI can’t wait to emerge gleaming:)<\/p>\n
\nWith fifty-two weeks in a year, the start of week twenty-seven marks a half way point.
\nTime to reflect on what I have achieved so far perhaps?
\nTime to tweak work modes so I can accomplish much, much more?
\nTime to be pragmatic about everything<\/em>\u2026.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cI anticipate weeks of reading and research, months of playing with techniques to help express my \u2018head threads\u2019.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nAlso, I must acknowledge that many of the ‘head threads’ that I worked through initially are mostly untangled and waiting for me to turn into art works\u2026.<\/p>\n
\nI started with \u2018short\u2019 dates to realistically represent the working time I had available \u2013 four days. \u2028Alas, as always, my days rarely work to plan and I find that, yet again, compartmentalising just doesn\u2019t work. Instead I rush to the studio whenever I have a little bit of time as well as the planned-for luxuriously long stretches.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nTime management.
\nSpecifically, giving priority to keeping lots of wheels oiled and moving rather than rocketing off into the far reaches of the unknown<\/em> (my nascent artworks).
\nThis is a continual re-occurring cycle for me and I feel like I am stuck back in this vortex yet again.<\/p>\n
\nTIME TO again be PRAGMATIC and REALISTIC and PRACTICAL.<\/p>\n
\nI need to assess where I am \u2018wasting\u2019 time and how I can find more time for making art in any way, shape, size or form.<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ll try a few strategies to corral my time in the next few weeks to see if I can change my work mode, habits, priorities and output.
\nHead down\/ bum up as we say around here.<\/p>\n
\nThe dis<\/em><\/strong> being I am always aware when the floor needs vacuuming, the washing needs doing and dinner needs putting on\u2026..
\nThe ad<\/em><\/strong> is being able to continually tweak the work on the wall and to iron a stack of feathers whilst cooking that dinner.<\/p>\n
\nOr working some tasks to a set time with the alarm telling me to move on?
\nIt is not like I am dis-organised, it is more that I take on too much organising of ‘extra-curricula’ things.
\nTweak time!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nOn Monday<\/strong> I started straight into making more large Weldon feathers with a fresh supply digital prints and black fabrics at the ready. Twenty-one large (24\u201d) feathers were slowly constructed and ready for the final iron and closure by Tuesday<\/strong> evening.<\/p>\n
\nThe structure of the piece is a major ’round’ and then the corners are filled to make it square.
\nIt took all day, on and off.
\nI\u2019ve chosen a very heavy hemp for the backing rather than making a more stable quilted base. The hemp is strong and has next to no stretch so that the feathers should<\/em> stay flat.
\nI\u2019ve never done this before so new construction decisions like this are a gamble.
\nArranging them took ALL DAY.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nI\u2019ve cut off the corner feathers, where they are hidden under the round, to reduce bulk.
\nThey are initially ditch-stitched along the white quill – very slow and steady.
\nI stopped 1\/4\u201d short of the edge to allow for turning the backing to the back
\nNext I hold down the cut edges\u2026.and repeat for the all the long feathers.
\nA very long day with a lot of pricked fingers and band-aids.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n