The Creative Process with Different mediums and 1 very Awesome purse

​I’m drawn to creating art for various reasons. 

• I see something inspiring that just sits in the back of my mind and nags at me until I can create it
• It’s a way to zone out, escape, clear my mind, and get away from the world with no agenda.  –When I don’t get to do this I get cranky
• I like the idea of being an artist so I can brag to my friends  and family
• In my less inspired times I push on because I want to improve my skills and process and know that I must nurture what I do to grow.

Any given day these reasons are pushing me towards a pen or a brush to create something with my hands and usually I like the outcome. 
Well, a few months ago I started a project that was completely different from my more recent projects.  It was so different that I doubted whether I should be spending my time on it.  I am started to sell my work and should be spending my time on producing pieces that can sell.  However, the idea was in my head!  It was not coming out until completed.
I started working with fabric to build and design a purse.   This project had no master plan.  I simply wanted to work with fabric and some beautiful felt pieces that I had tucked away in my studio.  This, I knew was not something I could scan and re-create prints of to sell.  This was something that would take time and I would probably never be able to sell it.  It was pure creation and desire!  I just was drawn to the fabric and wanted to work with it.  ---So I started.
I started by cutting out pieces of felt in shapes that appealed to me.  I wanted geometric shapes with strait edges.  The idea of working with square and triangle shapes on a fabric really appealed to me.  I used different colored string for embroidery to add color and line.  As I would sew one shape on and then a next I realized I wanted to embroider a bird. --- so I did!  Then I saw that the purse called for this beautiful shiny ribbon.  ---So I added it!  As it was coming together I realized that I wanted to fill in the spaces between the shapes with beads.  I went to the bead store, picked out colors that I was drawn to, and started the long process of sewing them on.  The purse was one inspired idea after another.  As I worked I loved it more and more.  There were no rules.  It was something I was creating. 
All together I think the purse took me about 6 months.  I would work on a bit here and there.  At the end, I obsessed over it and stayed up way passed my bedtime sewing beads and following my heart to the next step in its completion.  My husband teased me that this purse would have to sell for thousands of dollars with all of my time that had gone into it, but it was a work of art.  I sewed every stich by hand and the last stich was executed with as much integrity as the first.  It was beautiful.  I probably would never be able to sell this purse, but it was a wonderful creative experience for me as an artist. Much like creating a painting or drawing I worked with composition, color, texture, line. . . It was wonderful!    I learned a lot about what I can do and how I create.  It was just so refreshing to work with a different medium and find myself still right at home in the creative process. 
. . . .I started another purse. . . . (wicked).

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