“A stitch in time saves nine – you may not feel fine” (Post 77)

This post brings together a few difficult issues that deserve "deeper scrutiny", but not here and not now. Please hear my heart and bear with me and let us keep it "light" as far as possible.

Last night I spoke to an art friend about art and writing. She is an accomplished artist and has published before, but she was (like me, once) under the impression that we needed extra expensive software when we want to publish certain types of books. I assured her that we don't really need much extra. If you are a graphic designer too, and you possess layout knowledge, it is different. We who are primarily artists and writers can obtain outside help - from the graphically informed - when we are ready for the book to be pieced together. My friend was encouraged, I hope. Whatever art form we choose, if we are serious - and we have a chunk of time - we will have to apply ourselves diligently. The wonder of the arts is that each project we work on, eventually starts to take on a life of its own and as we see it develop, we take heart and we carry on making "art". However, just remember, that "stitching in time" is unfortunately the only half the creative has control over, it seems.

Another friend of mine, has just completed his first manuscript for his first possible self-publication. He shared the work with me and I tried to give a few encouraging suggestions - not so much about the content, because it is a little beyond my grasp too - and we eventually arrived at the reality each artist or writer will face, namely: public scrutiny. (In a previous post I spoke about the fact that the arts need an audience to complete the creative cycle, which we often forget.)

It is often hard to balance the effort that the artist or writer invested into a project with the often-lethargic reactions he or she will receive or elicit from the viewers or readers. (Let us assume it is a "good" piece of work for this discussion.) My advice to my friend and myself goes something like this: Get over yourself, especially when you want to publish, because you will need an editor, a layout artist and few other people who will have to challenge you on a line, a concept, a paragraph, the cover of the book and a few other things I fail to mention. When you publish, you are not the only 'creative' in the book's production line. The sooner a creative (especially true for writers) can get over him or herself, the sooner the book will become a reality. It is difficult for us to accept "input" from those who did not help us to "stitch".

I will speak about the role good "arty" friends have in the life of the "arty community" now. I suppose most of us, have in the past, perhaps been guilty of ignoring the efforts of friends and colleagues for a variety of reasons, ranging from jealousy to simply just being absent-minded, for example. Unfortunately, when we view another person's creative construct, we don't see the hours our friend spent on this "burden" that he or she felt called to deliver. We forget about the hours of "stitching" which preceded this happy moment our friend is sharing with us and if we become critical, it may cost us a friendship.

I remember the late Barbara Sher mentioning in one of her wonderful presentations once (which I watched on YouTube) that we should never criticize a friend's efforts when he or she is attempting to achieve something, (or has accomplished something) because according to her, it is simply not helpful at all. So, as artists and friends of creatives, we need to be always encouraging, because we will need that same encouragement one day, when we place our construct on the table. (Obviously, there are "degrees of friendship" which will determine the weight of the information we may share.)

Have a super day and may encouragement be dispatched in great measures today. I am including an acrylic on canvas work of mine which I made many years ago; there is a lot of "stitching" going on here.