My studio has turned into Santa's workshop. I am in the process of making gifts. When I am in this mode of repetitive handwork--drawing with wax, gluing, and dyeing--I listen to interviews with artists, writers, and musicians. I like having two concentrations simultaneously. One focus is on the work with my hands and the other is an involvement with my mind and imagination. I find I can be more patient in this mode and I can pay extended close visual attention, while my mind is busy with the architecture of ideas.
When you're making something, you don't know what it is for a
really long time. So, you have to kind of cultivate the space around
you, where you can trust the thing that you can't name. And, if you
feel a little bit insecure, or somebody questions you, or you need to
know what it is, then what happens is you give that thing that you're
trying to listen to away, and so how do you kind of cultivate a space
that allows you to dwell in that -- not knowing, really. That is
actually really smart. And can become really articulate. But, you
know, like the thread has to come out, and it comes out at its own pace.
--Anne Hamilton from an interview with Krista Tippet
When you're making something, you don't know what it is for a
really long time. So, you have to kind of cultivate the space around
you, where you can trust the thing that you can't name. And, if you
feel a little bit insecure, or somebody questions you, or you need to
know what it is, then what happens is you give that thing that you're
trying to listen to away, and so how do you kind of cultivate a space
that allows you to dwell in that -- not knowing, really. That is
actually really smart. And can become really articulate. But, you
know, like the thread has to come out, and it comes out at its own pace.--Anne Hamilton from an interview with Krista Tippet
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