I recently gave a lecture on quilting at a museum. The talk was titled "Taking It To the Next Dimension." It was very well received. One of the things I noticed was that the techniques and ideas that I talked about that seemed so simple and commonplace to me were new and novel for the attendees.
Sometimes we grow so complacent in our own little world of art that we forget that we are trailblazers. For me, giving this lecture was a reminder. So I decided to write a book and create an online class based on this lecture.
I started in on writing and found that I have a wealth of information to impart. I was starting to enjoy the process of looking at my work from a fresh viewpoint.
Then the problem hit. It came in the form of Mistake #10 of my most recent book, "The 10 Biggest (and Totally Avoidable) Mistakes That Keep You From Being A Successful Artist." So, what was this mistake that reared its ugly head?
Not documenting my work.
As I was creating the chapters of my quilting book, I found that many of the quilts I want to use as examples are no longer in my possession. I have photos for most of them, but the photos are on different computers and with odd file names. Some of the photos are in the form of physical printed photos. Others are, gasp, slides. Also, many of the digital photos are not high enough resolution to use in a printed book.
For the art that I still have, I can at least get some good quality photos. The rest, I'm not sure what I am going to do. I may just have to use what I have and try to make it work.
This project is really bringing home the problems that can happen when you don't properly document your work. I think this book is actually a blessing in disguise. It is pushing me to get all my work organized and documented.
Now, if you want to know what the other 10 mistakes are, you can find them all in the newest Shy Artist book on Amazon. And the e-book is free this weekend, January 31 and February 1. Please share this with any other artists who might benefit. Thank you so much!
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