Out of the Box Circus #1

Hi,

Like people everywhere, COVID-19 was and still remains a huge disruption to my personal and professional life.

But our collective history is full of stories of how hope and determination has always helped us find a way to adapt and thrive in the aftermath of adversity. The story of Out of the Box Circus #1 is one of these stories. 

During most of 2020 I really didn't create much art. Like many of us, I was reeling from and reacting to the new reality of living with COVID-19. My creativity suffered as a result.

When my creative drive returned with a vengeance in early 2021, something drastically changed in terms of the type of art that I started creating.

But before I can tell you about this change, I need to share some background about what was going on in my life prior to the pandemic and for the first 9 months of the outbreak.

When I moved to Santa Fe in ????, it represented a major milestone in my life. I had made the decision to leave behind a very successful business that I had built over the last twenty years around my passion for quilting. I wanted to dedicate myself to becoming a fine artist.

It was both a frightening and exciting time for me. And like most decisions that I've made in my life, I chased after my dream with no regrets and an unrelenting determination.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I love quilting. But I was a bit burned out after spending 20 years traveling the country attending quilt shows to sell my quilting template system call the Sew Inspired Design System.

My entire focus during this period of my life was building that business. I travelled tens of thousand of miles and made tons of quilts as samples for classes and my booths at the quilt shows. As you can imagine, I was ready for a change.

So when I moved here to Santa Fe, my plan was to put quilting behind me and explore new creative outlets. That's when I started painting, which I enjoy tremendously.

Quilting is a very precise and structured art form built on patterns and definite rules that must be followed. Creating abstracts in oil and resin gave me a such wonderful feeling of freedom and boundless emotional expression, more than I ever experienced with my quilting.

Now let me fast forward to March of 2020. Like many of us at the time, I was paralyzed with fear and doubt due to the start of the pandemic and all the chaos running up to the 2020 elections. The fear and doubt I was experiencing nearly extinguished my creative spark. But instead of curling up in a proverbial ball, I decided to put my talents to good use.

My daughter is a doctor in New Orleans. When I found out that she and her coworkers were having to reuse medical masks due to the shortage of PPE at the time, I decided to put my sewing skills to good use.

I made hundreds of masks for my daughter and her coworkers at the hospital. I even got involved in a project where I was making PPE gowns for the local hospital here in Santa Fe.

Something magical happens when you put yourself in the service of others. Your own fears and doubts begin to recede and are replaced with a steely determination and a sense of optimism you thought you'd lost long ago. And somehow that optimism rekindled my creativity in unexpected ways.

I hadn't touched my sewing machine since I moved to Santa Fe. But once I got started again making these masks and gowns, I reconnected with my love for the medium of fabric.

I also experienced an epiphany. I still loved creating in fabrics. What I detested was the rigid set of patterns, rules, and expectations that surround the art of quilting. So why not combine my love of fabrics and the pure joy and freedom of creating abstract pieces?

That idea became the genesis of my Abstract Fiber Art collection, and Out of the Box Circus #1 was the first of many pieces where I explored the use of fabric to express pure emotion in abstract forms.

My concept in creating Out of the Box Circus #1 was to recreate one of my mixed media paintings that I had created in oil and resin on a wood panel using fabric. That original mixed media painting is called ??? and below is an image of the piece.

The fabric was made from a digital design that I created and printed out on my wide format printer. I then mounted the fabric on canvas and right before my eyes my original concept transformed into a whole new work. 

Have you ever had a moment in your life that rang true right to the core of your being? A moment of electricity where your skin is all goosebumps and the hairs on your arms stand on end?

That's what if felt like for me the first time I experienced Out of the Box Circus #1. It felt beautiful, real, and true in a way I had never experienced my art before.

I knew in that moment that his new method of combining my love for fabrics and the freedom of abstract expression was my new path forward. I also knew that this piece was just the beginning of many more abstract fiber art pieces to come.

If you're wondering why I named the piece Out of the Box Circus #1, it's because this piece and the series of which it is a part are an act of rebellion against the feelings of isolation and frustration brought about by the pandemic. I am done with any constraints to my freedom of expression and ability to share my voice with the world.

One example of this rebellion is my very conscious decision to extend my art beyond the boundaries of the canvas. It's a reminder that were are often our own jailers, blindly following conventions that grind down our very humanity through self-imposed systems of control.

Another example is my use of the term "Circus" in the title, which refers to the political circus that we all suffered through at the height of the pandemic. I could not think of a better example of convention designed to control us through our fears and uncertainty.

Creating this piece was such a cathartic experience for me. I at last felt a freedom that I was missing for far too long. The bright colors and rich textures of the piece are a reflection of the joy I felt in reconnecting with my creativity and the boundless possibilities of living life with an open heart and mind.

I also felt an uncompromising desire to share that feeling of freedom with others. A drive to reach out to a world mired in fear, uncertainty, and doubt with a message of hope.

As I write this I'm reminded of the little girl I had once been. The one who painted a rose on her dress in kindergarten and paid a dear price for expressing her creativity. This piece is for her and the woman she became who resists conformity to this very day.

It's also for you and all the others out there who are prisoners of expectation and feel silenced to speak your truth. It's a reminder that you hold the key to unlocking the unbridle joy that awaits you and a rallying cry to speak your truth now before it's too late.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about the story this piece. It's my sincerest wish that helps you thrive in this new world that we all find ourselves in and shines a light on your innermost joy.

Regards, 

Sara Miller