I Amaze Myself Sometimes

I mentioned in a previous post that I've grown accustomed to a feeling of dread halfway through a project... that gut reaction that makes me second-guess what I've done up to that point. I step back and wonder if I've just wrecked hours of work.

I've learned to accept this feeling is "part of my process". This need to re-evaluate.

I think there have been maybe two projects that I've really regretted, and those two pieces were ones where I told that Angel on my Shoulder to shut the Hell up. Turned out I should have listened.

This past week, I spent about 30 hours working up a new piece of bead embroidery. These pieces never end up how I envision them at the start. This one is no different.

Several months ago, I bought the central bead, and the 5 little round matching ones. They were so unusual - composite wood and resin. Lightweight. Beautiful.

At that time, I'd planned to do something with a tribal feel to it. I purchased seed beads in many graduated colors of golden yellow, tan, black, brown, and cream. This was going to be a color fiesta. On our recent trip, I picked up some fabulous vintage French brass and copper stampings, and a couple of those went into the initial supply tray as well.

I got started. It turned out that this piece didn't want to be a color fiesta after all. It wanted to be an understated neck collar... a contrast between simplicity of color and complexity of design. At the end of each step, I'd pull out some of those specially-bought-for-this-project seed beads. I'd stitch some down, only to hear that Angel tell me to rip it out. This piece only wanted black and tan, with just a HINT of gold.

Once again, I'm so glad I listened. She was right. This turned out to be my best neck collar so far.

I'll have it listed in my shop later today. For now, I just want to stare at it for a while and wonder, "did I really do that?"
~~
June 2, 2010
This collar is now listed for sale in my Etsy shop.


copyright 2010 Shibori Girl