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Liz here today sharing how yet again I have fallen victim to that nasty disease 'comparing'.
My friend Jill Berry invited me to create a map of 2014 for a fun project she called Mapping 2014 Artfully. I thought it would be a fun way to plan out my year but once I started seeing the maps other artists were posting I decided that I couldn't possibly post mine! Mine was hardly artful. It is a vision board map...a bunch of words and pictures cut and pasted to a big board. Though I took great care to paste well so it wasn't too lumpy and wrinkled! It certainly couldn't hold it's head up high compared to all those other beautiful artful maps everyone else was producing. My work isn't as good or as pretty as theirs! Those other artists are more talented than me, nicer than me and probably prettier than me too. I bet their studios are always clean and they even have a clean house too!
I decided I would quietly slink off into the night and say I was just too busy to finish the project. OR maybe I could paint over parts of my map and make it prettier. Yeah, I tried that but, I just couldn't change my map. It is meaningful and just right for me so I would go back to plan A...slink quietly off into the night.
Then I realized a couple of days ago that this map is a collage and aren't I a collage artist?
Duh!Of course I chose collage to express my goals and dreams.
I also realized that this map fits my way of being in the world. There are no straight line progressions from here to there, no detailed schedules, charts or plans. That is not my experience in the world....although I am trying to plan more and work from a base of intention this year.
My map is different from everyone else's map. My art is different from everyone else's art and my life is different from everyone else's life. My map for 2014 fits me and that is what matters. I love looking at my map to remind myself of where I am going.
Maybe my style of map will fit you too and give you permission to create your own unique map of 2014.
Lesson learned (yet again) about comparing myself to others.
You can see everyone's maps on Pinterest or follow the links from Jill Berry's blog.
Join me on Textile Evolution to read about my Stitch Journeys and play in our free book studies!
8 comments:
your map is great! it seems very real... and mine looks similar, although I didn't know it should be called a map ;)
Your post is a perfect segue from Natalya's post about journalling. When the maps (and kudos to you for not constraining your planning to typical "map" imagery) and art journals are used for planning and for archiving ideas then it makes little sense to spend so much time and energy on them making them pretty. What needs to be done is to use the project as a stepping stone to get on to the real juicy stuff -- the artwork you want to make!
What you are describing is what I feel after going to an exhibition or a quilt show. Everyone else's work seem wonderful to us and ours is always second best. Familiarity breeds contempt and that is never truer than in art!
It is interesting to me how many of us still fall prey to the comparison bug. It really serves no purpose to do so. Each of us has to follow our own path. I know I have learned that lesson repeatedly over the years, and I expect I will need to keep on learning it going forward.
As for your 'map', it has to be a map that you can read and follow or it isn't much use to you. If you try to make it like somebody else's you probably won't use it. This is perfect for you.
I'm glad you stayed true to yourself and your style. This is a wonderful "map"! :-)
I am glad you posted it and decided to " own it." Like your collage map says. I love it!
I think your map is fabulous!
Personally, I love how each participant's map is completely unique! :)
A map is a journey from here to there. That is it. Your map is uniquely you, and so PERFECTLY right. If you check out books on maps, you will see some that are very abstract, in fact so much so that I do not see the map at all. What I do see is the "wandering" process, the hints of a journey that is personal to the map maker. It has always been that way, that is why my book is called "Personal Geographies". BTW, when called upon to do a quilt block with a bunch of pro quilters, I had to force myself to contribute, knowing I was without their experience. Glad I did, but I did eat some humble pie. I get it.
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