I have been feeling restless for new growth.
A few days ago I got out my crayons and choosing colours as I felt drawn to them, I made lines without thinking about it - or so I 'thought'.
But then I had an idea to try closing my eyes, choosing crayons without knowing the colours and drawing without seeing the page. I felt much more attracted to this one and surprised at how controlled it made my other 'spontaneous' one look. Sight changes alot. Or maybe it's more where I direct my sight - in-sight or outer sight.
I remembered a piece I did a few years back, called 'Soul Map' where I used intuitive stitching - listening to inner prompts for each choice of stitch and creating a pattern from that. Here is a close up of part of that:
I decided to try stitching with my eyes closed to see how different that might be. I threaded some needles laying them out on either side of my cloth and closed my eyes to feel into where I wanted to stitch and how. I did open my eyes after the first few stitches to check my tension, but then realized I can do that by feel. I noticed design thoughts creeping in - desires for it to be pleasing and I did open my eyes briefly a few times - partially to check how much thread was left on the needle because I wanted to leave enough for a knot on the back - but I might have even done that with feel - relying on sight is an ingrained habit. As part of a personal growth exercise, I once went an entire day blind folded and I remember my surprise when I was easily able to know which of my clothes were which when I got dressed, just by touch.
So these are my inner pathways - a much slower process than doing this with crayons and again, a less controlled look with eyes shut - or really, a different perspective.
A few days ago I got out my crayons and choosing colours as I felt drawn to them, I made lines without thinking about it - or so I 'thought'.
But then I had an idea to try closing my eyes, choosing crayons without knowing the colours and drawing without seeing the page. I felt much more attracted to this one and surprised at how controlled it made my other 'spontaneous' one look. Sight changes alot. Or maybe it's more where I direct my sight - in-sight or outer sight.
I remembered a piece I did a few years back, called 'Soul Map' where I used intuitive stitching - listening to inner prompts for each choice of stitch and creating a pattern from that. Here is a close up of part of that:
I decided to try stitching with my eyes closed to see how different that might be. I threaded some needles laying them out on either side of my cloth and closed my eyes to feel into where I wanted to stitch and how. I did open my eyes after the first few stitches to check my tension, but then realized I can do that by feel. I noticed design thoughts creeping in - desires for it to be pleasing and I did open my eyes briefly a few times - partially to check how much thread was left on the needle because I wanted to leave enough for a knot on the back - but I might have even done that with feel - relying on sight is an ingrained habit. As part of a personal growth exercise, I once went an entire day blind folded and I remember my surprise when I was easily able to know which of my clothes were which when I got dressed, just by touch.
So these are my inner pathways - a much slower process than doing this with crayons and again, a less controlled look with eyes shut - or really, a different perspective.
3 comments:
I will have to try this exercise ...the closed eyes is a true leap of Faith. peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart
I love this post! I tried the sewing with my eyes closed (for a very short period), it's an interesting exercise for sure.
Mary Helen - did you try it? I wonder what you'd discover. Curiosity holds my hand during these leaps.
Nancy - oh good! What did you notice? I'm really glad you tried it, too.
Post a Comment