Crazy is as Crazy Does

Alright, so it's been awhile since my last update, but things have been a little crazy around here and if I stopped to write about it I would cease to be the ceaseless seamstress. Har har. Thankfully, I have been granted a week-long vacation out at the farm, where I can take the time to write this as I drink coffee and gaze out at views such as this:

So inspiring. This does not mean, however, that I am not working. Whenever I farm-sit, I pack up everything that I might possibly need (which is...pretty much the entire studio) and my trusty Singer and set up shop in the dining room at the farm:

Yes, there's a bed in the dining room. It's like Wonderland out here - everything's topsy-turvy - the joys of living in an unfinished house ; ) This works perfectly for me because I can sew until I can't see straight anymore, walk two feet to the bed and crash for the night. The reason for working myself ragged lately is because.... I am participating in an upcoming show at the end of November! Actually, I am one of (so far) six 'fiber artists' for the Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County. My thoughts on this range from... "SQUEEEEE!" "Holy crap, what was I thinking?" "I'M SO EXCITED!" "I'm terrified." "Everything I make is horrible." "Ooo, they're going to love this one." "AHHHHHH!" "Breathe." .... you know, completely professional.So my mind has been unsettled, to say the least. Which is funny, because a recent study has shown that people with a creative mind are considered 'crazy' (BBC News). The fact that they actually had to do a study on it makes me laugh - even if you are not a studious individual, you can count at least 20 artists, writers, musicians, film makers, etc. who have seemed to think a little TOO far out of the box. It's what made them great. I like the quote on the side of the BBC article:

"Creative people, like those with psychotic illnesses,

tend to see the world differently to most. It's like looking at a shattered mirror.”

- Mark Millard, UK psychologist

So you see, just because you are creative it doesn't mean you're psychotic. It just means you think like a crazy person. At least, that's what I am telling myself for now. The hardest part at the moment for me is when my confidence levels are completely shot down whenever I feel I have failed to execute an item the way I wanted it to be. Seams don't match the way I want them to. Or one stitch is wonky. The pattern is slightly off-kilter. Details that others would never notice, but that I obsess over because it's my work. Sometimes I just want to toss everything I make into the fireplace. It seems that I am not alone in this feeling: 5 Famous Artists Who Tried to Destroy Their Own Work (cracked.com). At times like these, I find it best to set the item aside, sleep on it, and then look at it again in the morning. Most of the time, I find that everything is fine. Stress makes the brain imagine things. Either that, or elves come in the night and fix it for me. I'm pretty sure it's the elves (see?...craaaaaazy).When things get really bad, I just look at this Hey Girl picture and laugh: