Okay - you might wonder what this has to do with fibre art:
Well - a few days ago I awoke to still pouring rain and found part of the driveway flooded, with water rising and pouring right over the top of the stone wall edging it. A quick clearing of the drain, some loud sucking and gurgling sounds, and it was all gone and back to normal in minutes. I've been thinking about how that can mirror the shift from being in the intensity of a class or workshop with the flood of learning, doing and relating rising in momentum and then, once it's over, the sudden void or space. There is just one class and the exhibition left of the six week long textile art class that I've been taking and unlike previous weeks, my homework is complete and I can work on other pieces that have been waiting since before the class - or start something new - maybe arising from some of what I've just learned. I am used to doing some fibre work everyday, but I noticed that with the structure abruptly gone, I felt that difference - like I had developed a bit of dependency on it and had to stimulate that inner muscle of will a bit, whereas at first when the class was on, I was eagerly wanting to get back to the work I had been doing, even as I was also enjoying the learning from the class. This is an issue I keep encountering - how to stay tuned in with my need to make my art and also to fold in new learning from classes. I am signed up for two classes in January that I feel excited about - the Mark Making With Machine textile art course at the Victoria College of Art with Lesley Turner and Jude Hill's online Advanced Cloth to Cloth. Aside from the substantial other learning and benefits involved from classes, the more techniques that I try, the more possibilities I will know to include in future work - but that likely means postponing making more involved pieces for awhile. What feels most successful for me is when I find a way to weave what I'm learning into a completed piece, and I have done that, although at a reduced quantity.
I stitched more of this on the ferry over. 
Right now, my studio space is crowded with many pieces in various stages of completion, piles of materials meant for this one or that, still packed up class supplies and a small area by the sink with pails and dye at the ready for further shibori. It pretty much mirrors my mental build up, too, after taking multiple classes over the last year and just needing to follow my inner rhythm for awhile. Maybe that's why I was drawn to simply finish this piece that I began a few months ago. Simple soothing handstitch and some completion 
and an integration of old with new. That's what I'm calling this - Integration. I've also been reading some books again - what a pleasure to wander where my curiosity leads. 
I have learned alot and there's alot more to learn, but for now, I will spend some time digesting. 
