Query #1

Ok, Karoda gave me a really great question... but I'm saving it. I'd say "for a rainy day..." but then I'd have to use it today. Karoda asked:

What are you reading? Not online but actually book(s) that you hold in your hands. Tell us about the story, the characters, the place, the author, and the effects the book is having on you.

Still waiting for other great questions to put in the pile...

So today I thought I'd answer a question that I've been asking myself lately:

Do have any purely original ideas?

I've got to say, probably not. I can take a couple ideas that others have had, mash them, mix them up and come up with something that is my own, but I don't think I've come up an idea that is 100% original.

Sometimes it bothers me. Usually it doesn't. If the old adage is true that there are only 7 plot lines and all fiction derives from these, then I see no reason to not acknowledge it.

Case in point... a hint at what I'm mashing up at the moment. There is nothing in fiber yet to show.

#1. I've been following Dijanne Cerval's work with Lutrador all year; it's intriguing and fascinating to have transluscent layers in a piece. Now the hunk of Lutrador I have is fairly thick and I'm not sure that it will ever appear transluscent.. that's OK. If translucentcy is important to the work, I could use a sheer in a similar way. (I have already admitted to the world that I'm fascinated by transluscent layers of fabric and color).

#2. Last year it was leaves and layering.. this year I'm back to real fascination: the shape of bare trees. The stunning sillouette of branches against the sky.

So I've wanted to combine these two ideas into a piece, mixing the treeforms up so it's not simply a tree silloutte against a background. How to do that?

Diane gave me another piece of the puzzle last week...

And I'm almost ready to start physically working out the construction details...

Image originally from: The Ecology Center Terrain for Schools.