I’m trying to wrap my brain around the fact that this marks my 260th post and the close of five years of faithfully writing and posting to Eye of the Needle every single week since November 29, 2014. A huge shoutout to my son who encouraged me to take the leap; I’m not sure I would have ventured into the blogosphere without his gentle nudge.

© Elizabeth Fram    Work in progress: Tracking the second half of my double-arched piece

If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of starting a blog about your art, or even some sort of writing practice, consider these benefits:

• Practicing anything leads to improvement, and writing regularly has taught me an immeasurable amount about expressing my ideas — both on paper and verbally. And perhaps even more importantly, it has helped me appreciate ruthless editing.
• Those who tout the advantages of writing about one’s art aren’t kidding — it really does improve the ability to pin down and coherently articulate your process and the ideas behind your work. This is key when talking to others, especially if what you make isn’t as readily understood as the art of an oil painter or a stone sculptor.
• Writing impels one to structure and organize a thesis, a potentially tall order for those of us who think visually. Writing helps solidify the bigger picture (idea) behind your art, making the tricky decisions about which direction to take next, if not clear, much easier.
• Without this blog I wouldn’t have discovered a fraction of the interesting artists, books, articles, and general information about art that I share. My research has led to a feeling of connection with the art world and its larger community.
• Eye of the Needle has also created a sense of personal camaraderie. Your comments are always welcome and much appreciated. I thoroughly enjoy reading/hearing about your experiences and recommendations.
• And finally, I never dreamed how much I would enjoy the process of writing (and rewriting) itself. Reading what writers say about their own art helpfully overlaps with other creative processes. Books like Stephen King’s On Writing, Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and Eric Maisel’s A Writer’s Paris have provided info and ideas that have bled across disciplines into my own practice.

But (isn’t there always a but?) that said, I have had to come to grips with the huge amount of time (on average 8 hours per week) this commitment demands. I’d like to spend more hours drawing and on my textile work, neither of which could be considered particularly “speedy” activities. So I’ve decided to make some gentle changes. The transition will be a work in progress; please bear with me.

© Elizabeth Fram

I am going to take the month of December off from writing but will still be uploading links to one post from my archives each week. If you’re anything like me, it may be as though you’re reading it for the first time. 😊 I will still leave the door open to the possibility of sharing  information I may come across in my reading that I think might be of interest or of help to you.
All of which means you will still be getting your regular Friday email from me.

©Elizabeth Fram    Next step: planning how to attack to smaller pieces flanking the queen while balancing all with the other side. It looks a little wonky now, but we’ll see what happens.

When January rolls around, I’m hoping to have a clearer idea of how to proceed. It’s likely I will trim back to 2 written posts per month, while keeping you abreast of my drawings and textile work as they unfold. We’ll see.

As I post this on Thanksgiving Day, it seems particularly appropriate to say thanks so much for being here up to this point, and I hope you will stick with me as Eye of the Needle moves forward.