In contrast, this peaceful picture is of the sewing room in the keeper's house taken on Sunday when we visited Hughes House and the attached lighthouse. Isn't that light fabulous? What a delightful place to sew. The house was 3,000 square feet with large windows and well designed rooms. It'd be an enviable floorplan today. Apparently, it was paid for from the sale of butter and only chocolate and coffee were more expensive. Yes. And throw some cream in there - thick, whipped, or churned into ice-cream - and that's a fabulous list. I'm not a cheap foodie.
While we were driving, I thought a lot about the comments congratulating me on finding a mentor. I understand what was meant by those comments but wanted to clarify how I feel about the words mentor and inspire.
Mentor to me is a formal relationship that both parties have entered in to for a specified length of time. There are conversations, regular interactions, assignments, and accountability involved and most often an exchange of payment. On the other hand, inspire to me is an informal relationship where the inspirer may not even know the inspiree or the source of inspiration may be inanimate. The artist uses that inspiration in a way that works for them within their medium.
In the past, I have actively sought out mentoring relationships and have arranged them with a quilt artist, a fabric designer, and a fashion consultant. The first relationship lasted for three days of 1-1 learning. The second two were short-lived, barely making it past the point of agreement as other issues interferred and made them impossible to carry on with. Right now, I'm not looking for a mentoring relationship. What I want is to see how far I can push myself not how far I can be pushed.
It's easy to copy someone. Marcy made the cardigan above using one of her patterns and a black and lime knit fabric. I have that exact fabric in my stash and her pattern and I could make an exact copy only that's not what I want to do. I don't want to do Marcy or Diane's work. I want to do Myrna's work. I took this full image to remind myself not to make a cardigan like Marcy's. I took the detail images to remind myself to make each garment more creative by focusing on the small details. While on one level there are only so many ways to use the same fabric or interpret the same source of inspiration, in reality there are more than enough - and seemingly endless - ways in which we can create our work.
Today, in one of the tiny towns, we stopped at a shop called Bonjour. It had fabulous - and expensive - clothes. They were inspiring. When I got back to the car, I made a couple sketches and took a few notes and when I get home those ideas may transfer themselves into a garment.... but it will not be a copy... it will be inspired by. For me, that's important.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - that at the end of a nine hour drive there was a king size bed and a comfy couch, a great view of the harbour, and a harbour walk. YES YES!
Myrna, I agree with you about the difference between a mentor and an inspiring person. And, DOL was about emboldening, supporting and encouraging us to become ... more.
ReplyDeleteWhat were the words on your card? Mine read "even better".
I was one who perhaps misued the word "mentor" when referring to Diane. My thought was she would be your mentor at the retreat, as you had paid to be studying under her. I knew you had connected with her at a profound creative level; that she would inspire you.
ReplyDeleteBoth Diane and Marcy have influenced my work greatly, despite the fact I've never met either in person. We've connected on a significant creative plane through email correspondence, but I would never call them mentors. They inspire me!
Thank you for pointing out my misuse of the word.