creation « KateWares

Tag: creation

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

Well Isn’t That A Coinkydink?

Sometimes I really hate coincidences. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing quite like the magical thrill of thinking about somebody you haven’t thought of in a while, only to have them call you or e-mail you out of the blue. Or waking up a few minutes before you alarm clock goes off with a song in your head, only to have that exact song start playing when it does. Or even running late for an important appointment, only to hit all of the traffic lights right as they’re turning green. Maybe there’s something more to it than just being “happy accidents”, who’s to say, but I’m pretty sure we’ve all had it happen to us in some form or other at some time. It’s kind of like the universe’s way to balance out “Murphy’s Law”, and most of the time, it’s really cool when it happens.

Of course, there is always a flip-side to these sorts of things. Like being in the presence of the local gossip when something completely embarrassing happens to you. Or like telling a joke at a party, only to hear that somebody just told that joke 5 minutes ago. Or even…like being in the middle of writing a post about good and bad coincidences when your friend Jenny blogs about her trip to NYC and it just happens to touch on several things in your post. Weird. I’ve heard of several cases where somebody comes up with what they think is a clever new idea only to find that somebody else has already used it. Not that people are stealing ideas from each other, but rather it’s like they’ve creatively arrived at the same place at the same time. And when you look at the definition of coincidence, that actually kind of makes sense.

coincidence - (1) a sequence of events that although accidental, seems to have been planned or arranged, (2) the state or fact of occupying the same relative position or area in space.

I ponder the coincidence of poor spelling.

So. Here I am, pondering where to go next with the quilty birds I’ve been making, and I decide to try the technique with another animal – an elephant that never forgets or a flying pig perhaps. But, being a busy stay-at-home-mom, I haven’t actually gotten around to making one of them yet (except in my mind’s eye), when I am cruising around the blogosphere and I find this awesome whale at Donna Heart’s site (please follow the link, as I don’t want to reproduce it without permission). Well, poop. Suddenly, I feel like I’ve been beaten to the punch somehow, and the wind slips right out of my sails.

Being who I am, I start analyzing the experience in great detail. I’m pretty sure that even though I’ve visited her site before, I’ve never seen patchwork animals on it. Yes, a while ago she had done a few birds that I liked and wanted to do something similar to, but my birds are clearly different from hers. Plus, it’s not like she sews her patches together like I do, and it’s not like I would paint over my final work like she does. Normally she does motivational pieces using female figures – so where did this whale come from?! Now, if I were to make a whale, it would look nothing like hers, I’m certain. But still. I start questioning the authenticity of my creations.

What would you do if you were in my shoes? Abandon the whole quilty thing altogether? Strive to make my work even more different than hers somehow? Down an entire pint of chocolate ice cream? *sigh* I guess this is just one of those cases when I have to remember Monday’s quote by C.S. Lewis and just keep going. Who knows where my birds will lead me – or where Donna’s whale will lead her. But instead of feeling like a fraud or thinking of myself as unoriginal, I am choosing to believe it is as if we both arrived at some universal creative consciousness for quilty animals at the same time, and then moving on.

Well, I decided to try “Butterfly Kisses” as my next quilty critter. Maybe it was because of the crappy sleep the night before, or because my “domestic assistant” didn’t actually show up to help me out, or because I was already in a bad mood because of finding the whale, I don’t know. But I’m not really happy with the results.

Fist attempt. I like the heart-shaped wing idea, but not the inside patches. I didn’t even bother stitching it down.

Second attempt. I returned to the “old” way of stitching as I go, but it feels unbalanced somehow. Not surprising, really…considering.

Ah, well. I guess they can’t all be winners, can they? Or when would the learning happen? I can only hope that next time there’ll be a little more “happy” in the accidents.

Tags: authenticity, balance, coincidence, creation, happy accident, Murphy's Law, originality, quilty

Posted in Crafty, Musings | 1 Comment »

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Watermarks

Alright. I know that some of you have made your way over to the new blog and poked around (yes, I’m keeping track). For your support and your interest, I am truly grateful – thank you! I also know just how discouraging it can be to go to a gallery page and find the dreaded “Under Construction” message instead of fun and colourful goodies. And for that I am very, very sorry. It seems that in addition to the Herculean task of cataloging my stuff, I’m also having to make some decisions about what I want to show and how picky I want to get about ownership. And it’s been tripping me up some.

A perfect me in a perfect world wouldn’t care about getting credit. As it is, I take hundreds of photos for the theatre company I volunteer with and haven’t put my name on a single one of them. Partly because I’m not doing it for me (well, other than the practice and fun factors), and partly because I don’t think anybody else could take credit for my work if they wanted to. But fundamentally, my ego is patted enough just knowing that they’re up on the wall for patrons to see. End of story.

But here, in the vast and uncontrollable reaches of cyberspace, that’s just not the case. Goodness only knows where these images are ending up. But, these are KATE’s creations, and if somebody is going to get famous or make money from them, it sure as heck had better be me. And so, I ask you – do you think it’s worth the trouble to watermark everything? (For those of you that don’t know – a watermark inserts a difficult to remove pattern onto your digital image to identify it as your own – see below.)

For me, it kind of distracts from the image you want to get across in the first place. You could solve that by putting it in the corner – like signing a painting – but that defeats the purpose entirely, as it could get cropped or digitally painted out in a heartbeat. Not that I think I’m going to be producing the Mona Lisa or anything here (teehee), but seriously – if I do create something that somebody somewhere out there takes an interest in and wants to use for something else, should it matter that it’s mine?

I know that the files I’m uploading here aren’t the biggest and best quality, so maybe it’s not going to really be an issue. Hard to make a billboard out of a 430-pixel-wide image I suppose. But. I’m also uploading my new works to Flickr – in their original sizes, which can be rather large. SO. What should I do?!?! Opinions? Suggestions? Insider knowledge about intellectual property in the 21st century? Yes, the fallback answer would be to let karma deal with whom so ever would try to steal something of mine. But really. I still lock my doors at night, don’t you?

Tags: blog, creation, credit, intellectual property, karma, ownership, serendipity, watermarks

Posted in Musings, Photography | 5 Comments »

Sunday, June 13th, 2010

Alright, Here We Go Now

Recently, it occurred to me that I spend WAAAY too much time on Facebook. Okay, well maybe not recently – but I’m finally getting to the point where it troubles me. Now, don’t get me wrong. As a “stay-at-home-mom” FB has provided me with much needed diversion over the years. But. With all of the hullabaloo lately over privacy issues and whatnot, I’m getting more and more reluctant to post anything on the site. And truth be told, I am spending far too much time being concerned with what other people are doing instead of actually doing something myself. Which, when you get down to brass tacks, is fundamentally who I am. A builder. A creator. A maker of stuff and things. So. Here I am. Attempting to get myself back on tacks…er, track.

I have been making things ever since I can remember: poorly spelled poems about a childhood trip to the sea, crookedly stitched wall-hangings that my grandmother displayed with pride, grainy photo portraits of friends and family taken with the Kodak Instamatic X-15F that my Uncle George got for me when I was 10, and that I dragged around with me everywhere. Why give somebody some crappy knick-knack manufactured in a heartless factory on the other side of the world when you can give a little bit of yourself? Hmm. Perhaps this has something profound to say about my deep-seated desire for acceptance…but that’s another post for another time.

All I know is that the act of creation is fundamental to my existence. And even though I create on a daily basis – whether via cooking or tending to my home and garden or creating healthy, happy children – I find it hard to carve out time for more “arty” endeavours. I am hoping that this blog will set me on the straight and narrow. Or rather, the curvy and wide. AND give me the opportunity to share some of that creative experience with those who may be interested in such things. So…welcome! Alright. Here we go, now.