Do you want honest feedback about the work of do you just want people to say’s it’s great no matter what? I’m sure most of us want people to be honest, but hearing that honest feedback can be hard at times. We all like to hear nice things about what we create. I’m also sure we are guilty of praising something when it’s not how we really feel, but worry about hurting someone’s feelings. But is that helpful? I doubt false praise helps someone improve. I guess it’s hard to give as well as receive honest feedback. We’ve all grown up with the expression, “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”
I took master classes for 2 years with Elizabeth Barton. She is brutally honest. My work grew a lot after the first year in 2014 of getting really honest feedback. I did not always agree with her, but it was way better than classes where a teacher says what you’re doing is great even when it's not. In your heart you know it’s not great, but you have no idea what’s wrong with it. Honest feedback would help you figure that out. The second year in 2018 when I took an independent study class with her I knew what I was doing so much more than the first year. All that honest feedback during the first year payed off. I had much more confidence and knew so much more about good composition than the first year.
I have been lucky to have an online friend, Idaho Beauty, who has given me honest feedback more times than I can count. My daughter has also been very helpful with honest and well thought out feedback. I have a local friend that has been helpful as well. But I guess the most brutal feedback these days comes from myself. I have been my toughest critic. I think that has been the case my entire life. I guess that's what comes from being a perfectionist. I've begun to accept that my work cannot be perfect, but it's still hard when I see windows that are a bit crooked or things that are not lined up perfectly. I'm slowly learning to let it go.
So what have I accomplished this week? I got the pieces of the last brownstone ironed in place and am ready to stitch them. I went round and round for 2 days trying to see if I can make the railings for the stairs with fabric. Even the closest stair has the pieces less than 1/8 inch wide which would mean the stairs further away would be even thinner than that. That makes it nearly impossible to do with fabric. My initial thoughts back when I created this set of buildings was to hand stitch the railings in and I've concluded that this is still what I have to do. I put various dark pieces of pearl cotton up when this was on the design wall to see how that might look and you couldn't see them from even a short distance. So my conclusion was to use a light blue or red purple to stitch the railings. Of course that is a long way off in this process, but if you know me you know I am always thinking ahead.
I hemmed the last 2 pairs of pants for my MIL. I'm glad that is done. I had issues with my machine while doing it. It kept saying it was not threaded correctly. I eventually changed the needle and things finally worked. There were a lot of bad words coming from my sewing room during this process. I hate hemming pants.
I entered 3 pieces in the local art show that happens here in July. I entered the 2 Pittsburgh pieces and the recycle piece. Let's hope they get in. I’ve had a perfect record of getting into things I enter, but there is always the first time I get rejected.
 | |
| Pittsburgh in the Snow 1: Waiting for the Streetcar |
 |
| Pittsburgh in the Snow 2: Cathedral |
 |
| Dad Built Pittsburgh |
Thanks for reading. What are your thoughts about feedback?
Linking to Nina-Marie.
Chris
I'm in a critique group and feedback is what we do. I've learned from Jane Dunnewold how to critique properly and ONLY when asked. Otherwise, if the artist does not invite me to comment honestly, I find something to say that is complimentary. Re: pants hemming. My husband's friend asked my DH if I would hem his jogging pants because his wife's machine won't sew jogging pant material. WHAT! I need to know more about this obstinate machine. Also, he needs to ask me himself and not involve my husband as middleman. I can't figure out if he is afraid of me? or dislikes me so much he can't even bring himself to speak to me. More as this develops as I know you are looking at buying a new machine and you CERTAINLY don't want a machine that refuses hemming jobs.
ReplyDeleteExcellent observations about feedback. Thanks for the shoutout - I know it can be hard to hear but I've never thought I was doing anyone a favor by not speaking my mind but also remembering that feedback can also be partly one's own preference, so if the person receiving the feedback decides to reject it, at least they have had something else to consider and hopefully have spent time considering exactly why they want to go their own way. As Angela Walters (machine quilter and teacher) says, "I am the expert of my opinion" and sometimes feedback is just that - opinion. You have to decide for yourself what works for you. And yes, that can mean coming up against your own inner critic! In the end, you have to trust what your gut is telling you and sometimes that gut can be harsh. I've been happy to be consulted by you and it has perhaps made me better as well as I consider your conundrums and what might be a good solution. I'm always in awe of what you finally come up with.
ReplyDeleteI have to laugh that every time you mention working on a brownstone, I go back to the quilt and look for a brown building. :-) Anyway, boy those railings really are a challenge, even as big as you've made this quilt. I think you're on the right track with the perle cotton and interesting that lighter rather than darker actually shows up. I always think dark will show up but many times it just fades into the background.
Perfect is a myth, but to be perfectly content with your work is lovely even though it's hard to reach, right?!
ReplyDelete