Friday, May 3, 2013

Rejections

This past weekend I took the opportunity to go to the Creative Fibre Festival in Porirua, Wellington.  I hadn't planned to go but a spare seat in a car and a motel bed became available so off I went.

There's nothing like having work rejected to get the hackles up and vow to try harder.  It started with the piece I submitted for the exhibition, Tumbling from Japonisme exhibition.  The selector's comment was that the background overpowers the weaving.  I have it hanging in the hallway and most of the time I think she was talking through a hole in her head, especially at night with the lights on it, and then other times I see it and think, well maybe she is right.  It all depends on the light.

While at Festival I did manage to go to the Fashion Parade which was a great show and the next day I did the fashion floor walk with the selector.  This was important to me as I'll be one of the selectors at the Creative Fibre Experience in Hamilton later in the year.  I felt my thinking with both the exhibition and the fashion were so different from these selectors that maybe I shouldn't be doing the job.

One of the comments from the fashion selector was that she selected for "fashion" and "creative fibre" didn't come in to it. I did agree that my kimono wasn't fashion and it did look strange with stiletto heels.  When she got to my coat she muttered "old lady colours and there's plenty of them here".  Diplomacy was not a strong point.  So there you have it, rejection!
(I can't insert photos because while I was away the hard drive of my husbands computer crashed.  He has rescued most things but I can't find the photos and he's out.)  Try this link and scroll down to Shibui and Tumbling.

The third rejection was my own doing.  Before going away I had put a black merino warp on the dobby loom, enough for three scarves, thinking I'd whip them off pronto on my return.  Six inches, 15 cm, and six broken warp threads, so out came the scissors and "gone by lunchtime".  Life's too short to struggle with that nonsense.
Saori weaving and looms are making an appearance in NZ and I did spend some time wondering where they fit into the scheme of our exhibitions.  I had a quick look through the original book published about Saori and  it didn't seem to correspond to a recently published book or the work that I saw being produced.  I've just spent some considerable time reading about Saori on the web.  To be totally frank its one thing to be "free" and quite another to produce "crap".  I'm not a perfectionist by any means but I do believe cloth has to be structurally sound and hold together when in use and be beautiful.  I would say my heart and soul goes into the cloth I make and I probably spend way too much time running my hands over the cloth admiring it.  And if you want to "find your true self" go sit on a cushion and meditate.

 And just a little stash replenishment that I couldn't resist, just 100 gms of  wool, mohair, silk, milk, cashmere, soy and nylon from Nanny's Burnished Batts.

3 comments:

  1. Old lady colours! Not a comment I would have associated with you or your work! Well, you file it, and move on...

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  2. I think your work is beautiful. Have shed a few tears myself over exhibit rejections and harsh critic, but it is only one person's view.
    I have been exploring weaving in a Saori way recently and it is actually more difficult than I expected. Some of the most stunning of this style of weaving are created by very experienced weavers. Might be difficult to get a piece accepted in a CF exhibition? :-)

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  3. Thanks for your comments. Selecting is not an easy job and some of the comments I've heard since question my faith in the process. At least, at Creative Fibre Experience there will be three selectors so the responsibility will be shared.

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