Vanity or Artist????

Good Morning Folks - I hope everyone had a grand weekend. I spent mine finally getting the knitting organized, but that's a whole other blog. As I was knitting on Saturday evening, I looked at the scarf I was making and thought, "Wow, this is so beautiful and I made it." I had these feelings of joy that the cables were perfect in their twists and turns, that the edges were smooth and even, and that the colors were melding so well together. Every few minutes I would stop and look at what I was creating and sigh a little.

Fast forward to Sunday morning, I've done the weekend fry up, pancakes, bacon, cheesy scrambled eggs and coffee. Dave is off pitching horse shoes and I decide to knit a little before getting into the shower and starting the "Organization of the Knitting 2010" kind of like my own "2001 Space Odyssey." As I knit a few rows it hits me once again this feeling of joy regarding this little scarf. Then I hear it. Right there in the back of my mind, I hear my mother's voice. "Diana, stop being so vain. No one cares that you made this scarf." This idea of vanity or pride in my own accomplishments has always been my mother's warning to me since I was quite young. And once again I found myself retreating from the joy that I had felt over this project that will become a gift to someone I love. Right after that, Dave walked into the house and so I asked him, "Am I vain to think that this scarf is truly lovely and to feel enraptured because I made it?" Well, he looked right at me and said, "No sweetheart, all artists get that feeling." I must have looked shocked, because he said it again, "you are an artist." Then he walked away and went about whatever it was that he was doing at the time. He said it matter of factly as if it was no big deal and that perhaps he was just reminding me of something I already knew. Wrong, I had no idea that he thought this. I felt like he had just given me the Noble Prize for, well for something. He thinks I'm an artist. I've been called a designer, knitter, crafter, etc... but no one has ever applied the word artist to my craft.

I see the art in so many things, I think dentistry is an art, I mean have you ever seen a crown being made or the tooth being prepared? I have and it's artistry plain and simple. I have now started to think of my creations in a different way, I have begun regarding them in the same way I regard the work of a painter or a musician. My medium is different, but I still take raw material and information and create something wonderful. If I don't like it, I rip it out and start over, I make changes and when a pair of socks or a hat are finished I always smile and wonder at their magic to make me so happy. My little piece of knitting will bring happiness to someone. That's what the work of Marc Chagall does for me. No, I'll never paint like he did, but my art and the art made by all of my fellow brothers and sisters of the "needle and yarn" can bring just as much delight to people.

So, to all my fellow knitters - let your work bring you joy, feel the pride in having made something so lovely and remember, You Are An Artist....

Peace and joy to you all.....

The Green Girl

• Posted on: Mon, Jul 12 2010 10:49 AM