Once You Go Over the Edge — It’s Not Nearly as Scary

Finding the artist and writer in you is a matter of trusting yourself

“Once you go over the edge, it’s not nearly as scary.”

My ski instructor said those words the first time I stood at the top of a mountain. I didn’t believe a syllable of what he said. But there was only one way down, so I pushed over the edge.

Unbelievable! Once over the top, everything changed. The view was different, not scary at all. And just under my feet was the solid mountain. I could start, stop, or just sit if I wanted. Speed and direction were up to me. It was exhilarating!

That’s the same experience I had when deciding to do fabric art my way. Did I know what I was doing? NO. Did I know where I was going? NO. Did I care? NO. The excitement was in going over the edge and following the path to the end.

NO ONE, but I can create what’s in my head and heart. If I don’t go over the edge, the world will never experience the joy of my creation.

What motivated my leap of faith

Three very simple things motivated my decision to try my hand at creating fabric art.

• I wanted some original art pieces to hang in my home.
• I wanted to create something original using fabric, my favorite medium.
• I wanted a simple technique that wouldn’t take me years to finish

Pushing over the edge

Like the view from the top of the mountain, the image in my head of what I wanted to create was scary. With no formal education in art, no mentor, no instructions, I just had to go over the edge and let the rest take care of itself.

Sometimes wonderful things happen when we’re not overly trained and structured so that your natural intuition roams free. Never let a lack of knowledge or training stop you from trying something new. If the experience is satisfying and enjoyable, there is always time to seek out additional information and experience.

Let me briefly take you on one such journey where I learned a very important lesson about art, writing, and many other pursuits. NO ONE but I can create what’s in my head and heart. If I don’t go over the edge, the world will never experience the joy of my creation.

Using a piece of black fabric as a background on which to work, I sketched some simple lines to represent the trellis on which I intended to create a flower garden scene.

I gathered all the fabric scraps and swatches I could find and backed them with a heat-activated bonding agent. (I used Wonder Under — medium weight)

Then I placed some twig shapes to give me a sense of composition and direction.

Like the twigs, I then began to cut floral elements from the fabric I had backed with the heat-activated bonding agent and used a tacking iron to glue them to the background fabric.

I took my time and placed them so that some would appear to be behind the trellis and twigs.

Overlapping other elements began to give me the depth that I wanted to create as I went along.

Using the black background fabric like grout, I placed some elements so they would resemble mosaic pieces with grouting in between.

Like traversing the mountain on my way down the ski slope, I concentrated on the beauty of the scenery.

I let the garden somewhat grow on its own. I never forced a flower to grow where it didn’t want to be. I moved the fabric cutouts around until they seemed to say, “This is my spot.”

Once the whole garden scene was complete, I decided to frame it with fabric as well. You can see that in the cover image.

It’s a simple process. All that was needed was some fabric, a bonding agent, scissors, and tacking iron.

When completed, I used a regular iron to go over the whole thing to make sure that all the fabric pieces had a strong bond to the background fabric.

Pushing over the edge as a writer

In many ways, this leap of faith was much harder than looking down a very tall and steep mountain. The first rule for a writer is to impart something of value to their readers. That can cover many fields of thought and every writer I know struggles with believing that they have anything valuable inside them that can be expressed through their writing — me included.

However, most writers find that they have no choice in this matter. The desire and need to write impels them to do so, regardless of the rewards or failures.

The inspiring thing about writing, though, is the fact that the more we do it the better we seem to get. We’re less up-tight, and less indecisive, and our confidence grows with our experience. In this, art and writing are exactly the same.

Trust Yourself

The next time you feel like going over the edge of a mountain, or simply trying a new art technique or writing topic, be sure to trust yourself. You have nothing to lose. There is no art or word police force. You can’t be jailed for breaking free and doing things your way. Just enjoy the scenery…