Over the festive season I participated in Ruth Singer's 'Gentle Goal Setting' for 2021. Truth be told, I'm still doing it. I was looking for a way to reflect on the momentous year just gone and plan for the year ahead – a process that would focus on my practice and what I want to learn and experience rather than numbers of social media followers, my marketing strategy or giving myself sales targets.
Wanting to be present with family over Christmas (or as best as I could, after months of isolation) and then having a rather large work contract, means I'm taking longer to complete my planning, but being gentle with myself – as the process suggests – I'm OK with that.
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Detail of '1974', based on the stripe of a childhood jumper. Hand pieced, hand and machine quilted. |
Some of the rejections were for things I really wanted to do and others were about me supporting the organisation with my entry fee. Sometimes I didn't have the right work, even if I did want to participate. Some opportunities, once they were actually released, turned out not to be what I thought they were, and some I don't think I was quite ready for. Part of my reflection will be to go back and look properly at those rejections, to see if I can learn some more about what I should focus my time on. Was it something I really should have been applying for in the first place? Did it fit with the direction I want to take my work? Was my work suited?
Another reflection, came not from the course, but rather a moment just before Christmas, when a Covid outbreak started in Sydney, 11am rolled around for the morning's press conference and I felt a clench of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. It was only then I realised the feeling had been there for most of 2020. Worrying about when we were ever going to get out of lockdown, when I'd be able to see loved ones again, when I was going to get paid work. Of course, bad situations always end, but the lack of human contact I had for so long will take time to recover from, so I need to be gentle with myself there too.
An hourglass quilt started during lockdown. Leftover khadi cut with scissors. |
The second thing that resurfaced is a reminder of what drives my making – authenticity and sustainability; a desire to keep learning; being generous with my time and my creative efforts; and, above all, my making should be a joy. Man, I need to be reminded about this a LOT. Especially when social media is telling me I need to release more patterns, tag or spruik someone's product, have more followers, make more videos bla, bla, bla. While I'm incredibly grateful for the people I've met through Instragram and the support I get – especially last year – this is the downside of social media for me. It's a constant pressure and it's exhausting. In the end, I feel I do make most of my decisions from the place that's driving me, but honestly, regular reminders are good and necessary!
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Quilt stack of my pattern releases up to mid-2020 |
Of course, I also have a list of quilts – from finishing one for my oldest niece through to a couple of exhibition quilts for later in the year and a pattern release or two. There are also applications, but they will be few and far between for 2021, while I look again at where I should direct my efforts. And last, there are steps I want to take towards long term goals... The flipping print table for starters – how many years have I been banging on about that now?
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'Lockstep' quilt, releasing in March 2021. |
So how about you? Did you get a chance to reflect on your work, or perhaps lack of it it, in 2020? Do you have big things planned for this year or are you just going to see what comes your way? Are you feeling wrung out after 2020, or are you inspired, full of hope and ready to dive back in?
A most inspiring blog, Tara. I feel I might be at least partly responsible for the "bite off more than you can chew then chew like mad" philosophy so perhaps I should take some lessons in gentle goal setting. I am sure it would have health benefits as well. All the best for the year ahead.
ReplyDeleteYou and the "say yes and worry about how to do it later" attitude of my last employer ;-)
DeleteTara, I adore your aesthetic and work. How do you know where to enter your pieces, besides Houston and Quiltcon? I would like to get more rejections, too, but I don't know my options for where and when to enter!
ReplyDeleteHi there, honestly a lot of the other things I enter are art shows rather than quilt ones. We have a few major textile art awards over here and group shows where any medium can be entered, also craft festivals too. I guess I find them often by following galleries on Instragram, but also Googling and talking to networks of likeminded artists.
DeleteGood luck with it all!
And like you, I have very big goals for this year. I'm determined to release four patterns, and to start offering and teaching classes, and to make at least some of the ideas that are in my head - all the while maintaining a balanced life (good luck to me, I know!) I feel like there is a door slightly ajar, and I need to wedge my foot in and get going before it shuts in my face! And see what happens.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds exactly like the amount of stuff I try and cram into a year too! Just promise me you'll celebrate what you do manage to achieve rather than beating yourself up for the things that you don't!
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