It is who I am. It is what I do...

I once clipped and saved a cartoon of a child asking his teacher to be excused for a potty break, the cartoon showed his foot prints of a 2 hour path. Heading toward the restroom, he stopped to see the lunch menu posted on a memo board, next to the lunch menu was an invitation for workshop happening 'right now' he couldn't miss this opportunity & joined the work shop. O
n his way back to class he stopped for lunch, while at lunch his friends invited him to join their winning team for a baseball game, which he did and had a splendid time. On his was back to class...    

I was not aware that someone had actually cartooned my brain, I jump around, bump into things, get led astray,  multi-task all day, in the last 5 minutes I rang up a sale, walked the dog and typed a sentence... it is who I am, it is what I do.  

I was looking at the website for Art Maui for the deadline to submit art. I see the Symposium on Creativity   DarnIt!! its the 18th, I've already committed to Joanne Doyle and Edventures College for Kids on graffiti.  which leads me to... 

David Ulrich blog 'The Slender Thread"  and click  'creativity' - that transports  me to Observations of the Hawaii Landscape a guest essay by Franco Salmoiraghi
I read his beautiful paragraphs and words and make a commitment to blog more beautifully....  But the 7 Stages of Creativity have distracted me to click on this page and have found what I have been trying to put into words in the art of featherwork.

The steps to create a feather lei, lei hulu, lei humu papa are tedious, the task of cutting hundreds of feathers, thousands of stitches, how can a person that cannot sit still for 5 minutes ever complete a lei??


1) Stage One Cutting feathers -  every feather must be the same height for consistency in the lei             
       a) cutting feathers settles the brain, the rhythm is hypnotic
       b) it is a day dreamy type of rhythm while the brain fantasize on design and color and          textures
       c) artist is planning the next two weeks to allow for time to complete  
       
2) Stage Two The base, there are 2 types of lei "Contemporary"  and "Traditional'.          Creating the base for a felt hatband or yarn and ribbon for lei is a step in the direction of  either type
      d) tying or sewing on the first few feathers
       e) removing feathers and restarting the lei sometimes 4-5 times
       f) the flow of attaching feathers begins to feels good
       g) adding new colors, patterns or texture
       h) happy and committed

3) Stage Three I am unsure - locol's will say 'i dunno no feel good sumtins not pono', ie lei doesn't 'feel' good, not flowing   or/often may be taking longer than initially budgeted in time
    i) tendency to give up
    j) start over with easier pattern, awareness of own limitations
    k) wondering what others will think of lei, will lei be judged as kapulu or ui

4) Stage  Four  - Pivotal Point 
    l) contemplate not doing this lei at all, may even start new project
    m) allow other projects to take priority
    n) work is put aside for a few days which turns to months and often for years

5) Stage Five -  Realization  "It is what it is..."  It is a piece of art, someone will like it some wont, most are not qualified to judge 
   o) accept limitations in technique
   p) accept imperfections
   q) pledge discipline to continue

6) Stage Six - Complete the work
    r) accept faults
    s) accept imperfections 

7) Stage 7  - Release it


    t) sell it, gift it, hide it in a drawer
     u) promise to gain new skill, take a class, hang out with other lei artists