10 Lessons I’ve Learned from One Year of Mixed Media and Textile Art

One year ago, Ms Sinda grew out of the desire to take myself away from a computer. I’ve been a Graphic Designer by trade for 10+ years and, though my love of creativity was still alive and well, my love of digital design took a dive.

A.I. and advancing technologies, both for creatives and for the everyday person, have developed so much, and it felt to me that what I was doing as a profession was becoming way too accessible and commonplace. I was drawing in a sea of digital artists. I was also stuck to my computer with backaches and cramped legs, trying to keep up with the latest digital trends.

It all became a little too much. I wanted out of the digital rat race.

I no longer wanted to spend all day stuck to a computer, only to come home and continue to be stuck to that computer while working on personal digital art projects. I knew at that point artwork was a part of my future, but not in this format. I had the desire to step away from the computer and create with my hands, to make something tangible. Painting, illustration, sewing, textiles and anything craft-related used to be a large part of my life before I studied graphic design.

When I was a little girl, I used to be famous in my family for being plopped on the floor with a cardboard box, some scissors and some coloured textas, creating a world from my imagination. I used to draw all the time. I used to paint because I could. When I left high school, I studied TV and Film in the hopes of being a director and, when that didn’t work out, I wanted to write books. I loved stories, and still do. I wanted to create worlds, characters, art.

Graphic Design and the digital world were my consolation prize when things didn’t work out as I had hoped.

I have a vision for Ms Sinda. I may be a different person from that little girl with the box, but I have grown, experienced life, faced challenges, failed several times over, and I have always stood back up.

It’s funny where one year can take you

One year of throwing myself into the world of mixed media art, with a large focus on free-motion embroidery, has opened up a world of possibilities and ideas.

I’ve learned so much about making with my hands, about using a sewing machine, drawing with a sewing machine, making clothes and clothing patterns, dyeing and printing on textiles, painting, drawing, collaging—the list goes on. Using my hands to create artwork again feels so empowering. Sometimes I’ll make something and make sure to display it in my home, in a place where I can walk past it often, to remind myself, ‘I made that.’

I want to share with you the major lessons that I have learned over the past year of dedicating myself to my mixed media and textile art practice.

1. Mastering a skill takes time.

One year on, and I still feel like a beginner.

I have spent many hours after work (my full-time job) and on the weekends creating and learning. Although I know I have advanced and become more confident, I’m very aware that this is only the beginning of the vast knowledge and skills before me.

I am so happy I took those first steps this last year to get there.

2. I’m only just starting to know myself and what I like.

The point of trying various mediums and skills, such as sewing clothes, working with textiles, fabric dyeing and free-motion embroidery, was to get to know myself better.

I have loved every minute of it, but now know that I don’t want to make clothes. I actually love altering pre-loved clothes more.

That is the beauty of experimentation: you learn what you don’t want.

3. The majority of the things I’ve made, I don’t like.

I put this down to the fact that I haven’t yet found my style. I can see the vision in my head, but I haven’t yet been able to make that into reality.

I’m not going to be deterred by the creations I don’t like, because eventually, hopefully, I will make something that hits the nail on the head.

I’m just not there yet.

4. There’s so much I still don’t know, and likely I never will.

Every time I learn something new, it’s a win, but this opens up a world of more things I haven’t yet taught myself.

This is one of the things I love about developing a creative practice. There is always another technique, material or skill to explore.

5. Being self-taught is a struggle on its own.

Most teachers have an outline of the skills their students should know, a reading list, activities, etc., that all coincide with the progression of a student.

Being self-taught is difficult because you don’t have this outline.

Tutorials are great. Workshops and short courses can give you a starting point, but once you leave the classroom, it’s up to you to take what you’ve learned and expand on those skills and knowledge.

This has definitely been true for me while learning textile art, sewing and free-motion embroidery.

6. Sometimes I just don’t feel like it—or is it fear?

I know I have this thing that so many other creatives have. The desire to make, all the ideas floating in my head, the visions of what it’ll look like.

All I have to do is make it. That’s the hard part.

Waiting for motivation is not an option. Whether I feel like it or not, doing the work to make that desire tangible is non-negotiable.

I use dedicated times for this, e.g. one hour after work or on Saturdays between 10–2pm. Then, whenever I have a spare minute or five, I work on smaller things such as drawing, tutorials, or sitting in front of the TV with my partner while I stitch something.

I make the time to do it.

7. Sometimes being creatively experimental is expensive.

Especially when you first start out, I went a bit nuts on buying the equipment I needed. My most expensive buy was my sewing machine, but that was a long-term want that I was so proud of.

It’s all the little things that add up, like fabric, dyeing, tools, paints, etc. One year in, I’m learning more about painting, and I refuse to buy myself the good paints until I become ‘good’.

8. My interests have changed and evolved.

Things I thought I would like have altered.

I used to love collage art, but I’ve found that, since stepping away from a computer, collage no longer interests me as much. Textiles and free-motion embroidery, though, have been a consistent part of my artwork over the last year.

It’s interesting to see how your creative interests change once you give yourself permission to experiment. What you think will become your thing might not be—and that’s completely fine.

9. I don’t have to finish every project.

My mum used to say to me about reading, if you’re halfway through the book and you’re just not enjoying it, you don’t have to finish it.

Life is too short to spend time on something that is supposed to be enjoyable if it’s just not for you. I love reading and have no problem putting a book down at the halfway mark if it just doesn’t grab me.

The same is true for some of the art and textile projects I’ve worked on. I’ve finished many, but those I haven’t, it’s because I just didn’t connect with what I was doing or how it was turning out.

Stopping a project allows me to spend my time on skills and things I actually want to learn and make.

10. I don’t know where I’ll be creatively in another year, but I’m looking forward to it.

I don’t know where my artwork will take me but I hope it’s somewhere better.

One year of exploring mixed media art, textile art, sewing, fabric manipulation, painting and free-motion embroidery has taught me that I don’t need to know exactly where I’m going.

For now, I just need to keep making.

Keep learning.

Keep experimenting.

And hopefully, keep making things that I actually like.