Labyrinth

I’ve been working on a new idea, about being stuck in a maze of mental illness. The labyrinth idea is derived from a photo a Facebook friend posted on my timeline. Here’s an embedded version of the photo (click to see the full post – I think you have to be logged into FB to see it, though):

I did a little digging on the Web and found out that this is the “Labyrinth Walk” pattern from Quilt Magazine, April/May 2012 issue, created by Chris Florence, aka The Guilty Quilter. (If you follow the link, you’ll get a photo of the original.)

I love the visual of being lost in a maze – it’s an apt description for the feeling of being in the grips of mental illness. What I’m envisioning is something like this (which I generated on Mazegenerator.net ):

I’d put a face (or perhaps just a pair of eyes, a la “Bipolar Prison”) in the center, and make the walls look three-dimensional  (as in the labyrinth quilt). Depending on what I want to convey, I’ll either make the maze with no exit, and title it “No Way Out” (about how I felt during a six-month bout with bipolar depression), or add an exit, and say something a trifle more uplifting. I’m drawn more towards “No Way Out” (because it feels more authentic) but I hate to create an entire body of work that is so intensely depressing.

(In case you’re wondering why I appear obsessed with art about bipolar disorder lately, it’s partly because it’s a very personal topic for me, but also because I have 20 yards of blue/red/white warp on the loom, which is perfect for the topic. I’m also not sure what I’d do with the warp, otherwise. So I am not obsessed, but taking advantage of/being constrained by a possibility.)

All that will have to wait for awhile, though, as I’m traveling June 8-19 – visiting a friend in Colorado for a week before going to Complex Weavers Seminars, where I’m teaching a seminar about constructing complex liftplans in Photoshop. I’ll also be taking pre-orders for the book, so I am bringing three of these:

These are the printer’s proofs (which I received and sent back on Thursday with no corrections – yay!), and contain the final version of the book. They won’t be for sale, but people will be able to flip through them to get a feel for the book before pre-ordering.

Master Your Craft is now due out a few months earlier than the official publication date – most likely around mid-July. Here’s the link for pre-order. $29.99 + $6.50 shipping in the U.S.; if you live in another country, email me using the link in the sidebar, and I’ll figure out your postage.

I will also be doing a book signing at Convergence – time TBD, but most likely during Thursday’s Midnight Madness shopping extravaganza. I’ll keep you posted!