The More I Sew, The Better I Am At Painting

Edgar Degas - "Woman Ironing"

The brain is a wonderful taskmaster, and I have discovered that as I pursue multiple creative interests, that the challenges I find in one thing may help me solve the challenges I find in another.

I believe that all creative people have multiple interests, many just focus on one that they really love more than the other, while others bounce back and forth from one creative interest to another - like myself.  I'm a bit nutty that way I suppose.  I have an over-active right brain - and left-brain too for that matter!  

I tend to think logically and solve creative problems with my left brain while following through with my right brain.  I've always been a multi-tasker.  Maybe that's part of my problem as well.  What do they call it "Jack of all trades and master of none?"  That pretty much sums me up in a nutshell.  Oh, I've mastered the art of painting and expressing myself through canvas and oil - but have never pursued masterclass notoriety, or performed feats of painting grandeur in front of an audience, or had workshops on the magnificent, romantic bay of Naples, Italy.  But, I have enjoyed success and some notoriety - albeit a little bit.  

Burton Silverman - "Woman Sewing"

I also enjoy sewing and think I am rather good at it.  But my quilts don't hang in galleries any more than my paintings, and my fashions don't grace runway models - but they do grace my smiling children and grandchildren!  My writing has never been published into a hardback book, and my blogs don't garner 100,000 visitors a day.  Success is relative.  Success is what makes you happy.

Agnes Nicholls - "A Mother with her Children"

I've always been a juggler.  I am a wife and mother first and foremost.  My family and children will always come first.  They are the reason I get up in the morning.  However, when I have time to myself, I thoroughly enjoy the zone I fall into - or that creative space my brain takes me to - that zeroes out the rest of the world around me while I create.  Creating is like a drug ... it takes you to another psychic element.

Mary Cassatt - "Young Mother Sewing"

So, while I am sewing and thinking about the task at hand, I find that I have become a better artist in front of the canvas ... and when I paint, I find that I have become better at sewing and quilting.  Maybe all it is really, is fine tuning what we already know.  Improving our own sense of perfection.

I'm always up for a new creative task too.  I also enjoy woodworking and paper crafts, writing and web design.

Are you a creative multi-tasker?  I'd love to hear about it! Leave a comment!

(Original Post on my blog for visual artists - Red Easel)