After months of focusing on that large commission and attending to some family business, getting started on a new piece of my own was more difficult than I predicted. I’m jealous of artists who seem to be always teeming with ideas for future work. My brain can only work on the joys and problems and decisions for the piece at hand. When that’s finished, then new ideas coalesce and bubble up.
But this time the bubbles were not so forthcoming. Perhaps creating the commission and all the negotiating that entailed had knocked me off balance?
I tried my usual jump start techniques. I drew some. I sorted fabric. I looked at other art. Nada.
Finally I forced myself to just start with much less of a vision in my head. Risky business. I did know I wanted to use some beautiful green silks and some gold/ green/ orange nuno felting I’d dyed and created for the commission but which didn’t make the cut.
After a month of “beginning”, I think this piece is starting to find a direction:
November 2012 work in progress
November 2012 detail-work in progress
I start stitching today. I have a rough idea how I’ll use the nuno felt and some mulberry embroidery thread will also find its way in.
We’ll see where this goes…
Karen Kamenetzky Fiber Art 
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