Bee Story Process

I used to be terrified by process.  When explained by professors so much of it was left open, and while there are no rules necessarily, there are a lot of unspoken rules.  In the beginning of each class I would hear, "Process is about experimenting so experiment!"  When in reality what they actually meant was, "highly curate each page so it looks pretty."

After an entire afternoon of trying to curate pretty and cohesive pages and feeling so frustrated because it just wasn't working, my friend Hope came over and shown some light on process.  She was a senior when I was a sophomore and always had a talent for knowing what to say so I'd feel normal in the midst of my struggling.

"I feel like I just don't get process!  But that's stupid, because process is about me and what inspires me!"

Then her calm voice parts the waters and says,"The thing about process is, it gets better the more you do it." And somewhere in that moment it's like my brain clicked and I realized "Hey, it's ok.  You're still figuring this out."

Since then, I started just playing around and figuring out what I like.  Through the years I've found what I like and what I don't and now process comes more naturally and it's not so much of a fight.  This is what my process looks like now.  I'm sure it'll look different at the end of next year too, because process is always growing and will continue to redefine itself in different ways for the rest of my life, but this is what my process looks like right now.

Experimenting with acetate printing on fabric and cut out paper bees dipped in old resin that turned yellow and rememinded me of honey.

Bee embellishment and knitwear.

Bee embelishment on PVC and denim. 

I've shared the meaning behind this bee story in the past if you'd like to read about it.  Next post will be more process pages. 

xx