For the life of me, I don’t understand the need to constantly learn new techniques.
The only time this makes any sense to me is if you’re just starting out and want/need to try different techniques until you find that special one or two that resonate within you.
Really, what should be taught, promoted, and espoused is the need to find your niche or métier – that ideal position for you where you feel excited and where you can shine and grow.
That’s the realm of expansion, innovation, and understanding.
And it’s where a new world can open up right before your very eyes – a world of research, sampling, traditions, cultures, and embroidery artists who excel in using these platforms to diverge and separate, creating their own unique individuality.
That’s what you want to tap into.
The only time I’d advocate new techniques is if they enrich the artistic merit of the current work you’re undertaking.
For instance, I’ve taught myself stumpwork as a means of adding dimension. And I have to say I enjoyed the experience.
But that was really about building an outcome for the work I had in mind – not as a stand-alone technique (as beautiful as it is).
I suppose the point I’m trying to make, is that to find your strength or forte, you have to focus on just one thing – then you explore absolutely everything you can about it.
And that goes to historical contexts, cultural usages, innovative artists working within that same realm, working with new and unusual materials and threads and really pushing the boundaries of design through the use of colour, dimension, texture, shape, etc.
Spread the learning load across too many techniques and the likelihood is, you’ll excel at nothing.
Finding your métier is no easy thing – it takes time.
But it’s the only way I know to become truly proficient at what you do.
All views and opinions expressed are my own, except where acknowledged information is included from other sources.