A new year, a new me, a new collection

MY HIATUS...

Dear reader, it's no secret that I took a year-long break from flowers. The amazing thing was that I didn't know I needed a break, it just so happened that I had to prioritise my family for a while. In hindsight, the break was timely, because I was quite stuck, with little creative energy, and wondering if I had reached my limit as an artist. After so many years, was this the best I could do? Have I reached my peak?

So when it was time for me to come back to it, it was a slow process of rediscovering my love for crepe paper flowers. Working with my hands again was calming, it gave me peace, and I felt refreshed. All those things combined signalled to me that I was still passionate about this, and I had room to grow, and it was time to push myself.

MY EVOLUTION AS AN ARTIST

If you told me years ago if I would change my artistic priorities, I would probably not believe you, but perhaps as I am growing older and maturing as a person, I'm maturing as an artist too. I used to prioritise efficiency, it was all about churning out an order as fast as I could, as many as I could, like a machine, and I wanted to make flowers that were quite formulaic and easy to reproduce. Details weren't very important to me, and the business side took over sometimes, which meant I was quite focused on time and budget, and I always had the price tag hanging over my head, stressing me out, reminding me that I can't make it too expensive or else no one would buy it! Sigh, that's every artist's struggle isn't it?

So I think I surprised myself when I decided to explore dyeing my papers - which is a test of patience as my fellow artists would understand. Instead of having set formulas, I now rely more on my instincts, and going with my creative 'flow'. I would make the same flower over and over and over until I felt satisfied. I would obsess over the little details. I allowed myself time to mull over the problems, and to fail, to try again. It was time-consuming yet, yet fruitful.

It is definitely a luxury to be able to craft without concerns of time and budget, so yes, a risk indeed, and not the smartest in terms of business, yet, isn't that what an artist does? Did Van Gogh paint his sunflowers thinking about how much it would sell? Did I forget my artist inside me? Is the artist back? I think so, I hope so.

It's funny that my aesthetic has also changed slightly. I used to be all about over exposure (i.e. bright bright sunlight) and bright vibrant colours. This time, I'm leaning towards more moodier, darker vibes. Perhaps it's my growing older that I'm embracing less vibrancy and colours aha.

MY PRIORITIES...

I'm happy to say that I'm changed as an artist. I admit I was definitely sucked into the rat race for a while, but this season has shifted my priorities. I realise that I'm not the best artist I can be when I'm limited by time, budget, and hence I've decided to only sell what I'm most happy with, and stay away from commissions that aren't tried and tested.

I was pondering about this blog post and if I should share it... but in the end I was like "why not"? It's quite long-winded so thank you for reading until here, if you're still here, hehe. I hope you like the new collection, and can relate to the journey of growing as an artist.

As always, keep blooming!

Love,

Eileen