Trying to Imagine

I think my imagination is broken. I've been suffering from a creative block for a while, and it's gotten worse since my sewing machine broke. I was planning on using it a lot during my break, but now that that's not happening I've been forced to confront a nearly empty studio without much of an alternate plan. These past few days have not been very fruitful. I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking, but barely any making. Trying to stay positive, I keep telling myself that I'm just going through some necessary mental process before I can start making stuff, but I'm beginning to think I need to just buckle down and start doing, even if I'm not totally into it or it results in bad art. After all, you can't really fail if you don't have a goal...maybe it will lead to something good.

But after a few unproductive days in the studio, I couldn't stand the idea of going back there today. I felt the need to head out into the city on my bike with my camera and some empty bags to see what I could find.

I got sidetracked. But it was good.

Shortly after leaving my house, I saw two guys on fully loaded touring bikes. That's not a very common sight around here, so I took notice. I went on my way, running a quick errand, and then I saw them again on the bike path about an hour later, so I decided to talk to them.

They just arrived in NYC today, from Montreal, after seven days of riding. They weren't really focused on seeing New York--the trip was all about the journey and they're catching a train back to Montreal tonight--but they did want to stop by Central Park and see the John Lennon "Imagine" memorial. I volunteered to ride with them as a sort of tour guide. Truth is, despite living in New York for 11 years, I had never seen it myself. I always imagined it was much bigger...go figure.

John Lennon "Imagine" memorial, Strawberry Fields, Central Park

(hey guys, if you find my website, send me a message, I'd like to know more about your trip, since I'd like to do a similar ride in reverse.)

I rode with them a little more, before parting ways. It's cool to be a part of such a journey, even if it was only for a couple of hours in my own city.

Tomorrow, I'm taking the car to Home Depot to pick up some supplies, and then drop my sewing machine off to get repaired. Hopefully a working machine and a studio full of materials will help me be more productive before my vacation is over and I'm back at the office.

Off to a good start (sarcasm)

The first two days of my 19 day break from the day job are over and pretty much everything I planned has gone wrong so far.

I figured I'd spend day one taking care of the laundry in the morning and then check out some galleries in the afternoon. I did 6 loads of laundry (it's been a while). There are only 3 machines in my building, so I had to do it in two parts. After I already started the second set, the first three loads came out of the dryer just as wet as when I put them in. Since all three dryers were not working, I got stuck with 6 loads of wet clothes. Figuring out how to deal with them resulted in leaving my house 2 hours later than expected.

The galleries were a disappointment. I arrived in Chelsea a bit late and there's not much going on this time of year anyway. I quickly got bored and don't have anything to report. I was also planning on buying a very long, white nylon zipper, which I need for my project. I thought it would be relatively easy to find in the garment district, but I had no idea where to look once I got there.

Day two was to be spent in my studio practicing on my sewing machine so that I could hopefully get good enough to complete my project during my time off. However, the newly repaired machine broke the first time I used it. I had the tailor who works down the hall from me take a look at it. He was able to diagnose the problem, so at least I know that I didn't break it. Regardless, until I either get it fixed or replaced, the project I've been working on is currently suspended.

The weather is looking pretty ominous right now, so rather than ride my bike up to the studio, I'm staying home and working on Plan B for the rest of my time off. In the meantime, enjoy these pictures of the maze of clotheslines cris-crossing my apartment:

Sew what?

My mom gave me her old Singer sewing machine. She recently had it tuned up and the guy who fixed it said it was a good machine. I'm going to bring it to my studio this weekend and if I have enough time I'll play around with it a little bit . I don't know how to use it yet, but it came with a book written during a time period when apparently the idea of a man using a sewing machine was inconceivable.

"A wonderful world of color and design is open to the woman who sews."

The book seems like it will be helpful as far as figuring out the various parts and functions of the machine, as well as learning proper sewing techniques. One of the projects that I'm currently working on will require lots of sewing, so I hope I get the hang of it pretty quickly. If this works out, it could open up a whole lot of options for making work that avoids the typical weight and storage issues of most sculpture. Either way, I figure it's a useful skill to have.