The Creative Process

...or, "Why I'm Not Actually Absent-Minded."
...or, "Don't Interrupt Me, I'm Processing!"

I've always been fascinated with others' descriptions of their creative processes.  How it is that their brains manage to kick out their particular interpretation of beauty, reality, environment, whatever.

For me, so much of the process of "making" (for excellent explanation of this concept, I refer you to Elaine Lipson's Red Thread Studio blog) is purely cognitive - it's literally all in my head.  While I do learn quite a bit kinesthetically, visual learning is my strongest inclination.  If I can't "see" it, I really can't comprehend it.  Until I can visualize the concept in a way that makes sense to me, it's pretty much gobbledygook.  Needless to say this can be incredibly frustrating not only to me but also to the person who is trying (usually in a verbal manner) to explain whatever it is.  It also can be equally frustrating for me to keep trying to explain something that is so completely obvious to me - because I can see it in my head as perfectly as if it was already manifest physically - to others who of course are not privy to my inner vision.

I think that's why makers can sometimes come across as "spacey."  When visual people are processing, they can become completely absorbed by their thought process and retreat within.  I know my family and friends are very well acquainted with my processing mode - when I tune out because I'm working out some sort of construction or design detail.  It's more than just a simple distraction; it's an intense focus that is completely dominating my thought process.

For me, much of the intellectually satisfying part of making is basically figuring out how it will all work together.  I love clothing construction with interesting seam details and structural qualities that are sculptural in nature.  It's so fascinating to puzzle through the construction process and put together all the details that make up the glorious whole.  A form of architecture as much as sculpture, really.  Embellishment is added as "frosting" to finish the look that I have envisioned.  But for me it is the usually just that - the finishing trim - rather than the focus of the piece.  When teaching my "Simply Sewing with Silk" class this fall in Houston, I was asked by a student how these seaming techniques would apply themselves to quilting.  I must admit I was briefly taken aback by the question.  Wasn't it obvious?  Of course it wasn't - this was someone whose creative process and aesthetic was different than mine.  I decided to answer by saying that learning different seams that were appropriate to the fabric you were using (various silk fabrics lend themselves well to alternative seams due to their structural qualities) gives you additional textural and structural elements to add to a design - that seams themselves have their own design merit to consider, rather than simply the colors and shapes that they join together.  I do not know if she was satisfied with the answer but I hope it provided some insight into a different interpretation of design.