Metaphorical Ink Meets "Life in Pieces"

Metaphorical Ink: Results Through Writing
Life in Pieces: Abstract-Bold-Conceptual Fiber Arts Fabricated for Delight

My new business card is printed on both front and back; “both sides of the coin,” so to speak. And I’ve been using my blog, “metaphorical-ink.blogspot.com” as a home for two arenas of reflection and creativity: writing and stitching. The two practices are seamless in my world, though I do float from one to the other irregularly, sometimes focusing more attention on the machine with alphabetic components and other times on the thread-bearing machine. Here is how I think about them.

Not all writing is flush with metaphor, but I wanted to suggest something with the name "Metaphorical Ink." The strategy of metaphor in language forces into conjunction two concepts that diverge in aspects of their meaning. The strategy encourages consideration of ways in which the two might reflect and resemble one another as a means to deepen the meaning of one or both. This juxtaposition of unlike models or notions sharpens the perception of elements and brings a pleasurable surprise into play. The unexpected combination tickles the imagination and possibly lights up a few synapses as well. It can even go so far as to be downright inspiring.

The fiber arts that I practice as “Life in Pieces” are much like the process of metaphor in language. Shapes, patterns, colors, textures, and concepts are the elements or pieces being juxtaposed for novel effect and consideration. When I use the phrase, “Fabricated for Delight,” I do not gesture outward to an observer or client. The delight that results is, quite selfishly, my own.

In writing and in the fiber arts, I reach out for components that will take a place next to other components in a way that I find pleasurable. In neither form do I see an unrelievedly linear progression. In a poem, words may be placed adjacent to one another but they rarely, if ever, lead the mind in a straight line. While it is easiest at my sewing machine to stitch a straight seam, the shapes of fabric bits combined with their colors and trajectories rarely lead my eye in a direction that could be called straightforward. In both arts, it seems to me, the goal is to surprise and delight the mind with unique perspectives that encourage further expansions in sometimes unpredictable directions.

My Fiber Fables combine both writing and stitching. Each piece is more meaningful because of the conjunction. Each of my fiber art forms holds its meaning not merely in shapes and colors and functions, but also in the names and phrases associated with them.