By Whatever Name

By whatever name you call it, you have to do it.

What am I talking about? Well, the idea goes by many names. You may call it

• having an artist's date
• filling the well
• honoring your muse
• nurturing your inner child
• priming the pump
• having some "me" time
• being inspired
• stepping outside your comfort zone

Whew. I'm tired just typing all of that. But you still have to take the time to do it by some name or other. As a creative person, you have a basic need to replenish yourself, to see what others are doing, to observe trends in your field, to learn new techniques, to experiment with new products or equipment or to just play.

How do you do this? You can surf online or check out the latest magazine in your field. You can have lunch with another creative person and compare projects even if one of you works in clay and the other in wool. You can regularly read blogs of other artists. You can go on First Friday Art Walks if your town has one.

But those are all things that you are probably doing on a regular schedule anyhow. So let's talk about really stepping outside the norm. Have you been to a workshop or festival lately?

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Boerne, Texas for the 21st Annual Kid 'n Ewe And Llamas, Too festival. It's three hours away so the drive itself took me out of my comfort zone. It was a beautiful, sunny day. There was a large crowd enjoying the weather and the three buildings full of beautiful yarn and roving. There was a large choice of fiber, llama, alpaca, wool, mohair or bamboo. I spoke to a woman who spent three months of her yarn budget on quivet, the soft undercoat of a bison. I had a few minutes to talk to my old friend, Lorelei from Heritage Arts but only a few minutes. She was quite busy with customers.

I made a few purchases. I now have some indigo-dyed bamboo roving which I suspect will be a challenge to my spinning abilities. I have some very nice felted tweed wool in a soft green and I think I want to order even more. I also bought some Texas-made lavendar soap and a herbal lotion that are just perfect for pampering my self. Then I spent another $200 but I'm not going to tell you what I bought. You'll have to wait until I can show you.