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Facebook can be a wonderful thing. It can also be a huge time suck but let’s stick with the positive for now, shall we? Several months ago a fantastic weaver named Anastasia Azure (https://www.anastasiaazure.com/) posted on a weaving FB group that she was looking for people interested in participating in an online pilot workshop. I jumped in. I was looking for something different during this pandemic. It turned out to be a huge group. Much bigger than she expected because of the overwhelming interest. I guess we all were looking for something new and exciting. What was different about this workshop was that it was not about weaving but about exploring your creativity. After the initial trial some of us signed up to participate in round 2. This one is called “The Real Deal”. Now we are serious! There are deadlines!
I am really enjoying this workshop. Despite the scary deadlines there have been some nuggets of truth. If it is scary, it means you are on the right track. It is so wonderful to meet with a great group of like-minded weavers. The exchange of ideas and encouragement is so amazing. I wish everyone could experience that. I am possibly the only Canadian weaver in the group, and am certainly the only one from Orangeville, Ontario, I have enjoyed meeting weavers from around the world.
What I have really enjoy is the process we have been learning. You may have read in my previous blog post that I in fact, enjoy the design process much more than the actual weaving (don’t get me wrong, I also enjoy that but not to the same extent). I have learned to use some different apps to create a collage of photos, and I have learned to stretch those for warp stripes, to take sections and figure what speaks to me and then choose a pattern and colours that reflect that meaning. I am only part way through this particular workshop but I am excited by the possibilities and the exploration. Just today I discovered the essence of my storyboard and the direction that I want to head in with my design exploration. So thrilling!
My advice? Find what moves you. See if there is a reddit thread or a FB group. Join in. Listen or ask questions or both. Just sit and marvel if you want but give yourself permission to play.