Concluding Projects

Something I struggle with, which you can probably tell if you follow this blog, is finishing things. I’ll have an idea, try it out and see how it goes, say I’ll work on it some more and then never do. Which is fine, and I’m sure I will get back to a lot of the ideas I’ve blogged about, but sometimes it is nice to finish things.

I thought I’d share what I’ve been working on recently as its conception started on this blog, over a year ago, in January 2016. It was actually the second post I ever made to this blog and was titled: Idea Generation: ‘What if I try this?’. The basic premise was to do something, preferably simple and repetitive, and to keep doing it until you found a way forward. I decided to draw lines across book pages, stopping at the word ‘the’. It progressed further with stitching and incorporating fabric, and I even made a book.

I mentioned it again in my Works in Progress blog and my plans for it, but then didn’t get around to doing what I said I would do.

Now, nearly and year and a half later from when I first started it, I have finally finished! I undid the black stitching I’d sewed, rearranged the strips and then stitched them back together, this time with invisible thread. I then added the black lines with stranded cotton.

Although it still needs mounting to complete it fully, I’ve already bought the frame and have a deadline – 1^st August – which is when I am taking part in an exhibition at Standen, near East Grinstead, in the south east of England, so it will definitely get done!

It’s funny, because to be completely honest, I’m not sure I really like it. It’s not particularly interesting, but at the same time, it works as it is. There isn’t anything I would do differently, because this is exactly how I imagined it would look and I feel like the project has reached its natural conclusion, so I suppose, in that respect, I am happy with it.