Improv and Metacognition -- 3

It’s been a while since our last metacognitive discussion. I finished another bipolar art quilt since then, but I'm going back to the first one for this essay.

Bipolar 3: Balance

Are you ready to talk again? First let’s review some of the discussion from last time.We talked about color, their representations and the feelings they invoke. We also talked about shapes and blocks and how we use them. Then we jumped into those parts of the quilt that are unplanned. They just sort of happen. If you made a quick jot list of your processes, take a look at that list. We’ll come back to it in a bit.

Let’s have one more conversation with that quilt from last time. Think about how that quilt started. Did you pull fabrics? Did you begin with a block that you wanted to use? Sometimes it’s a beautiful fabric that begins the work. What specific idea started this quilt?

You’ve jot listed your process already, now it’s time to determine whether that list is accurate. If necessary, make changes and think about what you usually do. Did you do anything differently on this quilt? If so, which method do you prefer? Which works better for you? Can you pinpoint why? Make notes of any responses you have to these questions and any other ideas that strike you as you think about your processes.

Bipolar 1: Creative

Take a moment to think about your other notes from the previous discussion. This time dig deeper. Think about your thinking. Ask yourself why and how. Why did you feel these emotions? How did you handle the negative ones? What do you do when you feel encouraged or happy?

Think about your space and its atmosphere. How does it affect you and your work?

• ·        Sound: Do you work in quiet? Do you have music playing? What kind—upbeat, soft, soothing, etc. Do you sing along? Do you focus better with or without sound?
• ·        Sight: What does your workspace look like? Clean, organized, creatively messy, etc. What colors surround you? What impedes your work or focus?
• ·        Smell: Do you have candles or other scents? Which are your favorites? Do you always include scents when you work?
• ·        Tactile/Logistical: Which are your favorite fabrics? Do you “pet” your fabric? How often do you clean your workspace? Does dust, clutter, etc. affect your mood? Is it difficult to move around physically? Do you have enough space to put your work down? Can you walk out and close the door or must you clean up after every session?
• ·        Taste: What foods and drinks do you generally have nearby? Coffee, tea, soda, etc. Snacks, healthy snacks, etc. How often do you stop to refuel? How convenient is refueling?
• ·        Mood: Think about your moods when you are in your studio space. Why do you feel this way? What actionable things can you do in your space to improve your mood? How will you put those to work?
• ·        Visitors: Do you allow visitors in your space? Why or why not? How do you defend/share your space?

·       Think about any other effects that are in your space. Can you increase the positive ones? Can you decrease the negative one? Make a list that you can return to at a later time when you are ready to begin this work.  

As I’ve done before, I will answer questions so that you can “see” me “think out” my answers. To make this post a little more concise, however, I will remove the parts of the paragraphs that are not applicable.

how that quilt started. What specific idea started this quilt?

I started this quilt with an idea of wanting to extract or render my thoughts about bipolar depression as a way of dealing with the feelings associated with my having the disorder. The idea came from my pondering how I was handling this complex frame of mind. It has now morphed into management skills for manic episodes. 

Why did you feel these emotions? How did you handle the negative ones? What do you do when you feel encouraged or happy?

I didn’t write what my emotions were as I worked on the quilt. I remember feeling happy with the quilt as it moved forward. I had worked out several techniques and had a plan before pulling the fabrics. I was not concerned so much with the fabrics because I knew I already had them in my stash. The techniques are relatively easy ones. My plan did not include all the techniques I used, but I tend to play and work in an improv kind of way, meaning I tend to give myself leeway to choose as I go along.

I’ve always been an expressive person with many moods. Opposing moods can occur at the same time—I am bipolar. On those manic-all-over-the-place occasions I must fight the urge to abandon everything and try to find something small to focus on. 

When I am pleased with my work, I tend to sing, dance, move more. It’s as if my mind and body work in tandem and are more fluid. Of course, the opposite occurs when I get stuck. In those negative times I walk away from the project that frustrates me. I try to work on a philanthropy project. If I can convince myself to do something for just a few minutes, I generally overcome the blah of a depressive mood. Of course, it helps to take my medicine.

I’m not going to answer the laundry list of questions about my studio. That would bore you half to death. Instead, I’ll let you get to your own answers.

Improv and metacognition -- 2

Well, that first article got mixed reviews. I love that. It means that we're thinking, and you are willing to offer your truths. That's a sure sign that you're interested, and even if you aren't participating, your interest in what the rest of us do may encourage you to revisit these thoughts. Maybe you'll learn something about your quilting vicariously through us.

Before we begin, I want to encourage you to analyze your work without commitment. In other words, you are looking at what, why, how you quilt. But you are not committed to making changes. It's possible that you are exactly where you need to be in your quilting journey and this is just part of the journey. Feel free to use (or not) the information you glean in whatever way you choose.

Let's analyze a little more, shall we? Go back to your notes from the earlier article. Remember that we were naming the parts--determining which ones were intentional and which were happenstance. 

Go back to those parts of the quilt that you identified as intentional. Try to answer these questions: 

   1. Why did you use these particular colors? What does each color represent? A person, feeling, place? What do the colors remind you of? Any question or thought that you have about color should be recorded. 

    2. Take a look at the shapes and blocks. Again, why these shapes? Do they represent anything? Did you use traditional blocks? Why? If you used the idea of traditional blocks but made them your own, how and why did you do so? 

Now think about those other parts--those that were fortuitous. These questions will be different: 
   3. How did you come to this part? Jot list the process. Do you just let things happen? How long does it take or how many times (estimate) do you change your mind. How do you feel as you work this way--happy, frustrated, inhibited, encouraged?

   4. How do you know when you have these parts right? Again, jot list the thoughts or ideas that you think answer the questions.

As I did before, I'll answer these questions here so that you can see my thinking. (I actually did this in my classroom on occasion--I did my thinking out loud so that students could see my brain at work. It's especially helpful when students need to practice a skill that is difficult to name and define.)

   1. Why did you use these particular colors? What does each color represent? A person, feeling, place? What do the colors remind you of? Any question or thought that you have about color should be recorded. 

grayish black--depression and psychological pain

white--a life with hope or at least a life when depression is not the only thing

the green may be happiness and the red joy but I'm not certain

    2. Take a look at the shapes and blocks. Again, why these shapes? Do they represent anything? Did you use traditional blocks? Why? If you used the idea of traditional blocks but made them your own, how and why did you do so? 

the small shapes represent attempts at being creative even when depression strikes

the small black dot on the lower left is the darkest part of depression--a deep, dark place to avoid; thank God that for me it is small

some of the same shapes on both sides to show that in bipolar disorder opposing feelings may occur at the same time 

nothing in this art piece is traditional

   3. How did you come to this part? Jot list the process. Do you just let things happen? How long does it take or how many times (estimate) do you change your mind. How do you feel as you work this way--happy, frustrated, inhibited, encouraged?

• the process--begin with an idea and color
• refine that idea through brainstorming and mind-mapping (which can take days)
• pull fabrics to work on the background
• begin adding color and shapes that reflect ideas in my mind map
• keep going (it gets difficult at this point)
• keep going by editing and refining even more
• leave the piece alone for a while
• push back(question, analyze, define what I have)
• decide how I will finish the piece

I make art quilts using my writing process. Being an English teacher/student is helpful--I've practiced with words. 

I let things happen when I work on an art quilt. I prefer to try out different ideas, though I don't know where they come from.

As things happen, I rework, revise, rewrite my thoughts and my attempts at depicting the big idea in my mind. 

   4. How do you know when you have these parts right? Again, jot list the thoughts or ideas that you think answer the questions.

The quilt and I talk as we go along. I know what the quilt should say. It's done when the quilt says something  true, important, helpful. 

Again, please leave comments telling me what you think. This process can be difficult, but it can also teach you about your work. It may even help you to find your voice. Also it takes time, so don't expect answers to come together and make sense right away. If you are working along with us, feel free to tell us what you discover, especially the insights and surprises. 

Mary Marcotte

Improv and metacognition

I am teacher by trade. I studied not only English but also how people learn language, how we teach others to use language, and other deeply thought-out pedagogy about language, education and learning. 

As a rhetorician, my focus was on writing and metacognition. Since I was a quilter before becoming an educator, it makes sense that I've applied what I know as an educator to what I understand about quilting. 

Are you still following? Read a little more. The thinking part gets more interesting from here on. That's because I'd like to help you think metacognitively about your improv quilting. That is to help you analyze what you do as a quilter so that you can understand your process, figure out what you need, and build on what you already know.

Let's begin with a simple exercise. Take a small quilt from those you've completed using improvisational methods. If you have a name or theory for the quilt, begin with that. Then look at the quilt piecing and blocks/background and write notes answering the following questions:
   1. What did you do intentionally on this quilt? Name those parts by color, block, section, category or in any language that works for you.
   2. What parts of the quilt were in your mind but you didn't have specific ideas of how to achieve them? Again, name these parts using the same method you did in #1. 
    3. What did you happen upon? Which parts of the quilt were not thought out or were not already in your mind when you began? Using the method you did in #1 and 2 above, name these parts. 
   4. Look closely at the quilt. What have you left out? Do those parts of the quilt fit into any of the answers? If not, how will you categorize them?

Note: in this exercise we are only trying to identify and name what is/was improvisational. We are not analyzing deeply--we've only just begun studying. 

As an example, I will "think out" the quilt I am working on. While it's not finished, I am far enough along to begin this exercise. 

The title of this little art piece is "Bipolar." I suffer from bipolar depression and want to express the difficulties of the disease in art. Looking at the entire quilt (above) and at this closeup, you can see that I have two distinct sections--a light and a dark.

  1. What did you do intentionally on this quilt? Name those parts by color, block, section, category or in any language that works for you.
I intentionally used two contrasting colors separated by a wavy line. The dark on the left represents depression; the light side (on the right) is larger representing that good days outweigh the bad ones. The wavy line represents the idea that there's no easy way to figure out where the line is.

  2. What parts of the quilt were in your mind but you didn't have specific ideas of how to achieve them? Again, name these parts using the same method you did in #1. 
I definitely wanted to include pieces of color that could represent creativity and positive ideals. These needed to be in both sections of the quilt, but imbalanced. How that would look was only vaguely in my mind. I found small pieces of solid fabrics in my scraps that I cut into imperfect circles. 

    3. What did you happen upon? Which parts of the quilt were not thought out or were not already in your mind when you began? Using the method you did in #1 and 2 above, name these parts.
The squiggly red lines took a life of their own and I still haven't a clue how they came about. In the upper right corner is a reverse applique that I love but cannot define quite yet. I only know that it needs to be there.

   4. Look closely at the quilt. What have you left out? Do those parts of the quilt fit into any of the answers? If not, how will you categorize them?
I left out other small bits on both sides of the quilt. I'm not sure what they mean or represent, but I have a veiled idea that they are meant to be there and I have to work them out. Right now I'm not able to categorize them all. 

Let me know in the comments if you are willing to participate. If we have an interest, I'll write future columns that will help you to analyze your work and learn from it.

Mary Marcotte