I haven’t posted in a long while, primarily because I’ve slowed my art making way down. And I’m happy with that.
As 2022 wound down, I finished the second in my new Portals series. Technically, I finished it on January 1, 2023, but let’s not quibble about dates. đ
Portals 2: Intuition Hand painted with acrylic paint on commercial fabric, raw edge fused applique, densely machine stitched.
I’m enjoying this new direction I’ve taken with acrylic paint on fabric to create an initial design, then adding my fused applique bits, and finally applying my signature dense machine stitching.
To remind my visitors and viewers, in recent years, Iâve released timelines and deadlines and expectations. Iâve relaxed into my opportunities to create because Iâve let go of the need to be creative all.the.time.
And in the letting go, I find my Light is freed up to better listen to my intuition and follow it where it leads. In this case, it led to this new Portal, a view for you into my intuition. đ
With joy and easeâŠ
Come back and visit in several months and I’m sure I’ll have a new Portal to share. See you then!
Interested in my art, my writing, my poetry, or learning more about bringing consistent joy and ease into your life? Then letâs talk!
Contact me to schedule: * A virtual coffee * A private (virtual) art show of my art * A commissioning conversation to discuss hiring me to create a textured fiber painting uniquely yours
If you enjoyed this art piece and the essay, and it feels aligned, please share on social media or via email. If you liked it, someone you know will probably like it too!
Portals 1: Cosmos Hand painted with acrylic paint on commercial fabric, raw edge fused applique, densely machine stitched.
This new direction Iâm going â painting on fabric, adding my fused applique bits, continuing with my signature dense machine stitching â is really enjoyable. Even if this piece took many months to create.
To be clear, it was the stitching that took a while, not the design. The design piece is always something that comes together in a short period of time for me.
Iâm not complaining about how long Cosmos took to finish. Iâve released timelines and deadlines and expectations. Iâve relaxed into my opportunities to create because Iâve let go of the need to be creative all.the.time.
And in the letting go, I find my Light is freed up to better listen to my intuition and follow it where it leads.
With joy and easeâŠ
Iâll continue to create, as it calls me, following this new direction. I think the next Portal will be filled with bright color. Iâll share it as it comes alive.
Interested in my art, my writing, my poetry, or learning more about bringing consistent joy and ease into your life? Then letâs talk!
Contact me to schedule: * A virtual coffee * A private (virtual) art show of my art * A commissioning conversation to discuss hiring me to create a textured fiber painting uniquely yours
If you enjoyed this art piece and the essay, and it feels aligned, please share on social media or via email. If you liked it, someone you know will probably like it too!
2021 was an interesting year. I went back to work in construction management and moved across country from the humid and salty southeast to the dry and joyously hot southwest. This shift impacted my studio schedule in dramatic fashion — I only completed two textured fiber art paintings last year.
Over the course of the last two years – pandemic time – I learned more about myself and what I want out of life. What I want is to live with joy and ease and, for me, that means releasing the pressure to turn any of my creative endeavors into full time work.
Would I like to sell my art? Of course I would. I’d love to see it hanging in someone’s home or in a gallery or in a museum.
Is that necessary for my happiness?
Turns out the answer is no.
And what a blessing it was to discover that truth.
By releasing myself from those expectations, I’ve discovered I’m free to create whatever I want, whenever I want, as frequently or rarely as I want. I create for the joy of it, not the marketing or image or perceived consumer desirability of it. I create for me and if others enjoy what I create, that’s a true delight.
(c) 2022, Hilary Clark, “Abstract 2”, Digital Painting
I always told myself I wasn’t a painter. It was fun to change that story and make it false — all of life, all we perceive, is just stories we tell ourselves about what we think, feel, and experience. We’re free to change the story whenever we want.
So I changed mine.
For 2022, I’m adding paint to my work. Using acrylics, I’m painting abstract designs on commercially printed fabric to create the canvas. To that canvas, I’m fusing additional fabric that enhances or contributes to the painting. From there, I’ll stitch my work in the dense style I’ve adopted. That’s part of my voice, after all, the dense stitching.
I’ve begun my first work in this style. I’m calling it “Cosmos”. As soon as my Bernina is back from its time in the shop for a good cleaning and tune up, I’ll start stitching. I’m thinking a spiral design will be just perfect.
(c) 2022, Hilary Clark, detail view of “Cosmos”, acrylic paint and raw edged fused material on fabric, work in progress
With joy and easeâŠ
Iâm loving this new way of creating my art. Iâm loving exploring new styles, techniques, and abstractions. Iâve loving this direction Iâm going.
My 2022 is starting off with joy. I hope yours is too.
xo
Interested in my art, my writing, my poetry, or learning more about bringing consistent joy and ease into your life? Then letâs talk!
Contact me to schedule: * A virtual coffee * A private (virtual) art show of my art * A commissioning conversation to discuss hiring me to create a textured fiber painting uniquely yours
If you enjoyed this essay, and it feels aligned, please share on social media or via email. If you liked it, someone you know will probably like it too!
Presenting âTree of Lifeâ, my latest textured fiber painting!
(c) 2021, Hilary Clark, “Tree of Life”, Fiber, 29-1/2″ x 29-1/2″ Photo Credit: Hilary Clark
This piece is a departure from my usual work. When I completed (Feeling) Joy in January of this year, I knew I wanted to take a break from creating feelings out of fiber and try my hand at a different subject.
So I turned to my design ideas file and selected a tree of life. Iâve been drawn to this image for decades. The spiritual connotations and the centuries-long staying power of this philosophical and sacred concept are kinda my jam.
The Tree of Life connects all of creation. To me, it symbolizes knowledge, growth, evolution, and our innate, Spirit-driven link to Divinity. We are rooted to the Earth even as we stretch through Air to the sky. We are fed by Water and reborn through Fire.
On the practical and art-making side, I originally intended to create this tree as I create my feelings – by cutting out abstract fabric shapes and fusing them to the canvas landscape. That didnât work for this piece. I considered pipe cleaners and ribbon and felted wool. None would do. Finally, I pulled out my acrylic paints and decided to have a go at painting the image I saw in my head.
Iâm super pleased with the result.
These detail shots offer a glimpse of both the paint and the stitching. I hope you enjoy.
Detail view: Tree of Life Photo credit: Hilary ClarkDetail view: Tree of Life Photo Credit: Hilary ClarkDetail view: Tree of Life Photo credit: Hilary ClarkDetail view: Tree of Life Photo credit: Hilary Clark
Most of my work is available for purchase. Not this piece.
From the moment I painted it, I knew it would hang in the bedroom I share with my partner, as a reminder that weâre here, living this version of our human existence together to learn and grow and expand in love, peace, and joy.
I hope you have a similar image or item in your home that provides you with the same reminder. If you donât, whatâs stopping you from creating it?
xo
Interested in my art, my writing, my poetry, or learning more about bringing consistent joy and ease into your life? Then letâs talk!
Contact me to schedule: * A virtual coffee * A private (virtual) art show of my art * A commissioning conversation to discuss hiring me to create a textured fiber painting uniquely yours
If you enjoyed this essay, and it feels aligned, please share on social media or via email. If you liked it, someone you know will probably like it too!
Art making is not going according to plan. And Iâm working on being okay with that.
Me, working on being okay with things not going according to plan. Itâs a process.
When I last wrote an essay here, it was mid-June and I finally had my studio put together. I was excited to get back into art making, to dive into the stitching phase on my Tree of Life piece Iâd begun before we relocated from Florida.
Iâm still excited, however, Iâve found myself having to temper that excitement so I donât beat myself up over not meeting my own expectations for myself and my art practice.
Iâd forgotten how much energy it takes to work outside the home for someone else. Iâd forgotten how much energy I absorb from others after a year of pandemic-induced isolation. Iâd forgotten how much stress itâs possible to feel when youâre an empath and everyone around you is stressed.
I come home each night from work, worn out, exhausted. Prepping dinner takes what little energy I have left over, leaving none for weeknight studio time.
This disappoints me. When I worked outside the home before my two years of self-employment, I always had energy when the day ended. I always took at least 15 minutes to work in my studio – because itâs amazing how much art one can make #15minutesatatime. And I was satisfied. I met my own expectations for what I wanted my art practice to look like.
Now, Iâm having to redefine those expectations. We have space constraints at work. Iâm in a cubicle for the first time in 20 years because of those space constraints â almost no one has an office to themselves. Thereâs so much noise and constant activity, I find myself frequently distracted and not nearly as productive as Iâm accustomed to being. This environmental impact to my energy is fierce.
But Iâm not complaining. Instead, Iâm focused on ways to protect my energy while still being engaged in my work. The more I can protect my energy, the more I can conserve it, the more Iâll have left over to play with my art each evening.
One way Iâm doing this is through noise cancelling ear buds. These will help to create boundaries for myself in the office. I used them over the holiday weekend at home, while stitching on my Tree of Life. When I finally removed them, I was almost startled to hear music coming from the stereo the Big Guy had turned on while he did projects around the house.
Stitching on âTree of Lifeâ â slow and steady with metallic thread in whatever time I have available
Another way I protect my energy is through meditation. I already meditate each morning before leaving the house for work. Iâm looking into meditations suitable for driving for my commute home, something to bring me back to myself, back to my heart, so I can release whatever energy Iâve absorbed during the day, and return to my innate joy and ease. And if I canât find a guided meditation that suits, then Iâll crank up the music and let it flow over me.
Iâve also plugged studio time into my calendar, a 15 minute appointment with myself and my art each evening after work, which allows me to reserve energy for that time. I may not make every appointment, but scheduling time into my day reminds me of the importance of engaging with my creativity. Because I keep my expectation small â #15minutesatatime â itâs easier to meet and it allows me to stick to my plan. (If you havenât figured it out by now, the right and left sides of my brain are constantly working together. Within the structure of a plan, I have space to experiment and freely create.)
Finally, Iâm reminding myself Iâm made of magic, as are we all. We are magic and Spirit, choosing to live in human form to experience and learn and grow, to evolve. This current situation, where I find myself looking for ways to better protect my energy when things donât go according to plan, is just one more lesson to learn. And maybe, as I share my own learning, youâll find ways to evolve too.
With joy and easeâŠ
If youâre someone like me, who finds themselves needing to protect their energy when things donât go according to plan, what do you do to bring yourself back to yourself?
Iâd love to know. Please drop a comment below or send me a DM and letâs have a conversation – together, we may find just the solution you need.
xo
Interested in my art, my writing, my poetry, or learning more about bringing consistent joy and ease into your life? Then letâs talk!
Contact me to schedule: * A virtual coffee * A private (virtual) art show of my art * A commissioning conversation to discuss hiring me to create a textured fiber painting uniquely yours
If you enjoyed this essay, and it feels aligned, please share on social media or via email. If you liked it, someone you know will probably like it too!
Hilary Clark Studios 