Keeping it Real.

When looking for ideas for one's art, it isn't necessary to look very far from wherever you happen to find yourself.

 Moon talk by a poet 

who has not been to the moon 

is likely to be dull.

-- Mark Twain

Having been educated as a writer, I've had it drilled into my head ad nauseum that good writers write about what they know.  As a young college student, I found it difficult to restrict myself to my own rather limited 18-20 years of life experience.  And now, as a ...*ahem...slightly older writer, it is clear to me that my youthful writing truly suffered as a result.

That's why my art is, by and large, the stuff of everyday.  Because I want it to be true.  If I can't make it true,  I can't expect it to resonate with the people who engage with it.  Keeping it real in some way offers  an easy-to-grab handle they can use to pull themselves into my creations, whether written or stitched.

It's a lesson I'm glad to have learned,  
and one I wish I'd understood the value of much sooner.

Susan M. Hinckley
Small Works in Wool