Combined Minds
As mentioned in recent blog posts we recently got together as a group for the first time since the summer show in June 2017.
Not only had I missed my fellow 'Common Threaders' on a personal level, but I had also missed the creative atmosphere created when we are all together.
Normally I work on my own at home. My family have very kindly let me turn what was once the spare bedroom into 'The Weavery'! I have a table loom and a Louet Delta floor loom set up, a ridiculous amount of yarn and all the extra paraphanalia associated with weaving in there. I'm very lucky to have both the space, the money and the time to be able to do this.
However.....
It's very easy to just pootle about within the house and The Weavery without achieving anything.
The same views, the same sounds, the same thoughts etc.
This is what I've been doing since June.
No real deadlines, no impetus to get on and create something, no new ideas really......
.......and then we all got together again!
Most of the days together were spent being focussed on ideas, sharing information and techniques, planning how to move forward etc, which was the intention of us getting together. What I wasn't expecting, and hadn't realised I was missing so much, was the general (and if I'm honest, more or less constant) chit chat; most of which was creativity based, because that's what we all do, that's what we're passionate about!
Being surrounded by like minded people completely changes the atmosphere and, for me personally, my outlook on EVERYTHING. I notice my surroundings more, my brain makes links between sight/sounds/feelings to colours/textures/yarns more etc.
People within the group have visited different places, used different techniques, have different opinions on things you have in common - it's incredibly envigorating!
Ideas begin to flow.
Enthusiasm grows exponentially.
Fear sets in about completing so many new things but then the group as a whole automatically closes in to support, provide confidence and help each other without a second thought.
The upshot of this is that I have come home buzzing with ideas, new techniques I've learnt and the knowledge that it is all achievable, whether an idividual project or one of the planned group projects, because as a group 'WE CAN!'
So, whilst I have an expensive floor loom and a large stash of yarn my favourite and most valuable 'tool' is the group I am lucky enough to be part of and I treasure it!
