Curious. Creative. Living Boldly.
Aug 11
in Photography Teachings 0 comments

Fourth “P” ….. PRACTICE !

“The Artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.” Emile Zola

 

 

Every day I am a little different to who I was yesterday. Every experience I have…. everything I see.. everything I do… everything I hear… or touch in some way creates a new perspective…. a new way of looking at things… a new understanding…. a new ability…  a new idea to investigate.

During this evolution I need to strengthen the new skills and deepen my understanding of new ideas and competencies and to do this I must PRACTISE.

It is only when I have committed myself to PRACTICE, that I can develop a certain level of mastery with something…. and it is through this mastery of something which provides the strong platform for further exploration of something else.

 

“Often I have lamented how many hours I’ve labored, the frustrations I have felt as I practiced, practiced, measured, measured, squinted, squinted, compared, compared. How rewarding it is to assimilate it all and feel the resulting joy.” (Ann Manry Kenyon)

 

I found myself often in amazing environments; excited about what I was feeling and what I wanted to capture through my images. Often I would come back and look at my images and they did not portray the sense I thought they might – purely because I did not have mastery of my own equipment.

 

 

I decided to get out my manual… dive into the internet…. learn and experiment and PRACTISE using the different settings and environments and conditions…. and how wonderful it is now to go to different situations and environments and know competently how to use my tools… so that I can have the freedom to use them without being hindered by incompetency.

 

 

I decided I needed to PRACTISE using Photoshop, and Lightroom. I practised processing and developing images and compared versions to see the different resultant effects.

I PRACTISED printing using different printer settings and different papers. I PRACTISED using my pastels…. my watercolours …. sewing my books …. pasting my covers. I PRACTISED drawing in my sketch book. I PRACTISED writing words and thoughts whilst I was on location before I took any images.  I PRACTISED to develop my skills and my mastery of them.

 

 

The most important thing however was that I recognised the importance of MINDFUL PRACTICE…. and I needed to be PRESENT while I was practising. I  committed myself to PRACTISING being PRESENT. I made a conscious decision to commit to witnessing myself and practised focussed attention… through dedicated daily practices as well as during the things I did.

 

“As a mindfulness practice, become the conscious observer of your thoughts, feelings and actions today. Notice how much of your energy is being stolen from you by the time-bandits of the past and the future. Make a conscious choice to step into the Now, and do so by breathing consciously.” (Dennis Merritt Jones)

 

I committed myself to PRACTISING being PLAYFUL. Although this was a much easier one…I still committed to practising and trying out new things. I PRACTISED pushing the boundaries. I PRACTISED experimenting.

 

“You can’t hire someone to practice for you.”                    (H. Jackson Brown. Jnr.)

 

I had to do the work. My gift of creativity, expression and intuition is nothing without the work.

 

What PRACTICES can you implement to develop your own mastery?

 

Next post… the 5th “P”…. PATIENCE

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About the Author:
I am a Journeywoman. I live my life as an explorer. An adventurer. An Observer. An Artist. There is no differentiation between how I live my life and the art that is an expression of it. It is through my experience adventuring the unknown, that I learn more about myself. My aim through this connection is to live where my expression is fully in alignment with the essence of who I am. “In the field of Fine-Art Photography, Julie stands apart from others with the way she sees the world and expresses her connection within it. Julie Stephenson’s photographs are sublime. Her work is an expression of her deep connection; and a gift to the world.”

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@skeinydipping

@skeinydipping

𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 Luxury Handwoven Blankets 🌏Stories from life & global adventures 🧩Woven into unique collector pieces Explore ⬇️
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  • Yes.. slooooow! I’m weaving with my rigid heddle loom, where I stand and walk rather than sitting to weave. My blankets are based on my experiences, many of my series are based on travelling the world in our 100 year old vintage car. What do you base your weaving pieces on? Found my weaving interesting, let your weaving bestie know. I share tips and ideas which may help your weaving, so come follow along.
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  • Woohoo! You’ve found my space here where you can see some of my experience and grab some tips and ideas and use for your next projects. I use a very simple rigid heddle loom, and combine that with a lifetime of experience as an artist, creative and weaver. This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use heaps more, but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour than my woven piece. You’ll see why, in a later reel. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
  • You bit ‘meh’ about starting your next weaving project? I’m an artist and weaver and I share tips and ideas in my space here which may help you to ignite your weaving mojo again! Follow along and see. I may even make you laugh.
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View on Instagram
A sassy older weaver who loves weaving! Have a look around and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
A sassy older weaver who loves weaving! Have a look around and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
1 day ago
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Options?? Hmmmmm Beating the weft on my rigid heddle loom - is an option! Your thoughts?? :) I’m a sassy older weaver who loves weaving. Have a look around my space here and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
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Follow
Options?? Hmmmmm Beating the weft on my rigid heddle loom - is an option! Your thoughts?? 🙂 I’m a sassy older weaver who loves weaving. Have a look around my space here and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
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View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Yes.. slooooow! I’m weaving with my rigid heddle loom, where I stand and walk rather than sitting to weave. My blankets are based on my experiences, many of my series are based on travelling the world in our 100 year old vintage car. What do you base your weaving pieces on? Found my weaving interesting, let your weaving bestie know. I share tips and ideas which may help your weaving, so come follow along.
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Do you skip this step? Some new weavers don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off their loom that the ends start to come adrift! I see it sooo often. Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but making sure I secure the warp threads into small clumps, by Hemstitching. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Your weaving bestie may also be grateful for this reminder. For more tips and ideas, come follow along.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Do you skip this step? Some new weavers don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off their loom that the ends start to come adrift! I see it sooo often. Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but making sure I secure the warp threads into small clumps, by Hemstitching. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Your weaving bestie may also be grateful for this reminder. For more tips and ideas, come follow along.
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View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Wish more new weavers would try this. Just two is all that’s needed! This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use as many cardboard strips as sticks of spaghetti in a packet (yes, that may be an exaggeration lol) , but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
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View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Hemstitching is important. Some new weavers skip this step and don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off the loom that the ends start to come adrift! Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but securing the warp threads into small clumps. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Save this to remember.. and come follow along.
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Woohoo! You’ve found my space here where you can see some of my experience and grab some tips and ideas and use for your next projects. I use a very simple rigid heddle loom, and combine that with a lifetime of experience as an artist, creative and weaver. This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use heaps more, but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour than my woven piece. You’ll see why, in a later reel. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Woohoo! You’ve found my space here where you can see some of my experience and grab some tips and ideas and use for your next projects. I use a very simple rigid heddle loom, and combine that with a lifetime of experience as an artist, creative and weaver. This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use heaps more, but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour than my woven piece. You’ll see why, in a later reel. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
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View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
You bit ‘meh’ about starting your next weaving project? I’m an artist and weaver and I share tips and ideas in my space here which may help you to ignite your weaving mojo again! Follow along and see. I may even make you laugh.
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A not very technical solution to a very important task. The warp thread clumps need to be separated evenly. A simple solution.  I’ve found that only two cardboard strips are necessary. I then weave about 1.5cm or an inch of header, using a yarn colour that I won’t be using in my weaving; so when I hemstitch I don’t catch the header yarn.  So.. the 2 cardboard strips and a small section of woven header gets the warp perfectly evenly spread ready to weave the weft.  I’ll show the header and hemstitch in an upcoming reel. Follow if you want to see some tips for those steps.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
A not very technical solution to a very important task. The warp thread clumps need to be separated evenly. A simple solution.  I’ve found that only two cardboard strips are necessary. I then weave about 1.5cm or an inch of header, using a yarn colour that I won’t be using in my weaving; so when I hemstitch I don’t catch the header yarn.  So.. the 2 cardboard strips and a small section of woven header gets the warp perfectly evenly spread ready to weave the weft.  I’ll show the header and hemstitch in an upcoming reel. Follow if you want to see some tips for those steps.
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View on Instagram |
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@skeinydipping

@skeinydipping

𝐌𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢 𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐇𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐓𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 Luxury Handwoven Blankets 🌏Stories from life & global adventures 🧩Woven into unique collector pieces Explore ⬇️
  • A sassy older weaver who loves weaving! Have a look around and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
  • Options?? Hmmmmm Beating the weft on my rigid heddle loom - is an option! Your thoughts?? :) I’m a sassy older weaver who loves weaving. Have a look around my space here and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
  • Yes.. slooooow! I’m weaving with my rigid heddle loom, where I stand and walk rather than sitting to weave. My blankets are based on my experiences, many of my series are based on travelling the world in our 100 year old vintage car. What do you base your weaving pieces on? Found my weaving interesting, let your weaving bestie know. I share tips and ideas which may help your weaving, so come follow along.
  • Do you skip this step? Some new weavers don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off their loom that the ends start to come adrift! I see it sooo often. Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but making sure I secure the warp threads into small clumps, by Hemstitching. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Your weaving bestie may also be grateful for this reminder. For more tips and ideas, come follow along.
  • Wish more new weavers would try this. Just two is all that’s needed! This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use as many cardboard strips as sticks of spaghetti in a packet (yes, that may be an exaggeration lol) , but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
  • Hemstitching is important. Some new weavers skip this step and don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off the loom that the ends start to come adrift! Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but securing the warp threads into small clumps. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Save this to remember.. and come follow along.
  • Woohoo! You’ve found my space here where you can see some of my experience and grab some tips and ideas and use for your next projects. I use a very simple rigid heddle loom, and combine that with a lifetime of experience as an artist, creative and weaver. This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use heaps more, but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour than my woven piece. You’ll see why, in a later reel. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
  • You bit ‘meh’ about starting your next weaving project? I’m an artist and weaver and I share tips and ideas in my space here which may help you to ignite your weaving mojo again! Follow along and see. I may even make you laugh.
  • A not very technical solution to a very important task. The warp thread clumps need to be separated evenly. A simple solution.  I’ve found that only two cardboard strips are necessary. I then weave about 1.5cm or an inch of header, using a yarn colour that I won’t be using in my weaving; so when I hemstitch I don’t catch the header yarn.  So.. the 2 cardboard strips and a small section of woven header gets the warp perfectly evenly spread ready to weave the weft.  I’ll show the header and hemstitch in an upcoming reel. Follow if you want to see some tips for those steps.
View on Instagram
A sassy older weaver who loves weaving! Have a look around and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
A sassy older weaver who loves weaving! Have a look around and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
1 day ago
View on Instagram |
1/9
Options?? Hmmmmm Beating the weft on my rigid heddle loom - is an option! Your thoughts?? :) I’m a sassy older weaver who loves weaving. Have a look around my space here and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Options?? Hmmmmm Beating the weft on my rigid heddle loom - is an option! Your thoughts?? 🙂 I’m a sassy older weaver who loves weaving. Have a look around my space here and come follow along. I may even make you laugh!
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
2/9
Yes.. slooooow! I’m weaving with my rigid heddle loom, where I stand and walk rather than sitting to weave. My blankets are based on my experiences, many of my series are based on travelling the world in our 100 year old vintage car. What do you base your weaving pieces on? Found my weaving interesting, let your weaving bestie know. I share tips and ideas which may help your weaving, so come follow along.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Yes.. slooooow! I’m weaving with my rigid heddle loom, where I stand and walk rather than sitting to weave. My blankets are based on my experiences, many of my series are based on travelling the world in our 100 year old vintage car. What do you base your weaving pieces on? Found my weaving interesting, let your weaving bestie know. I share tips and ideas which may help your weaving, so come follow along.
2 days ago
View on Instagram |
3/9
Do you skip this step? Some new weavers don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off their loom that the ends start to come adrift! I see it sooo often. Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but making sure I secure the warp threads into small clumps, by Hemstitching. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Your weaving bestie may also be grateful for this reminder. For more tips and ideas, come follow along.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Do you skip this step? Some new weavers don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off their loom that the ends start to come adrift! I see it sooo often. Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but making sure I secure the warp threads into small clumps, by Hemstitching. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Your weaving bestie may also be grateful for this reminder. For more tips and ideas, come follow along.
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
4/9
Wish more new weavers would try this. Just two is all that’s needed! This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use as many cardboard strips as sticks of spaghetti in a packet (yes, that may be an exaggeration lol) , but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Wish more new weavers would try this. Just two is all that’s needed! This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use as many cardboard strips as sticks of spaghetti in a packet (yes, that may be an exaggeration lol) , but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
5/9
Hemstitching is important. Some new weavers skip this step and don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off the loom that the ends start to come adrift! Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but securing the warp threads into small clumps. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Save this to remember.. and come follow along.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Hemstitching is important. Some new weavers skip this step and don’t realise until after they’ve cut their weaving off the loom that the ends start to come adrift! Here I’m making sure I don’t catch the woven header, but securing the warp threads into small clumps. I’m doing a tutorial which I’m aiming to post in the near future. Save this to remember.. and come follow along.
3 days ago
View on Instagram |
6/9
Woohoo! You’ve found my space here where you can see some of my experience and grab some tips and ideas and use for your next projects. I use a very simple rigid heddle loom, and combine that with a lifetime of experience as an artist, creative and weaver. This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use heaps more, but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour than my woven piece. You’ll see why, in a later reel. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
Woohoo! You’ve found my space here where you can see some of my experience and grab some tips and ideas and use for your next projects. I use a very simple rigid heddle loom, and combine that with a lifetime of experience as an artist, creative and weaver. This is a very simple tip to use just 2 cardboard strips as a header. I see some weavers use heaps more, but as you can see, two is perfectly adequate; followed by a small section of woven header in a contrasting colour than my woven piece. You’ll see why, in a later reel. Follow along to see the next step where I show the most important Hemstitching!
4 days ago
View on Instagram |
7/9
You bit ‘meh’ about starting your next weaving project? I’m an artist and weaver and I share tips and ideas in my space here which may help you to ignite your weaving mojo again! Follow along and see. I may even make you laugh.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
You bit ‘meh’ about starting your next weaving project? I’m an artist and weaver and I share tips and ideas in my space here which may help you to ignite your weaving mojo again! Follow along and see. I may even make you laugh.
5 days ago
View on Instagram |
8/9
A not very technical solution to a very important task. The warp thread clumps need to be separated evenly. A simple solution.  I’ve found that only two cardboard strips are necessary. I then weave about 1.5cm or an inch of header, using a yarn colour that I won’t be using in my weaving; so when I hemstitch I don’t catch the header yarn.  So.. the 2 cardboard strips and a small section of woven header gets the warp perfectly evenly spread ready to weave the weft.  I’ll show the header and hemstitch in an upcoming reel. Follow if you want to see some tips for those steps.
View Reel on Instagram
@skeinydipping
@skeinydipping
•
Follow
A not very technical solution to a very important task. The warp thread clumps need to be separated evenly. A simple solution.  I’ve found that only two cardboard strips are necessary. I then weave about 1.5cm or an inch of header, using a yarn colour that I won’t be using in my weaving; so when I hemstitch I don’t catch the header yarn.  So.. the 2 cardboard strips and a small section of woven header gets the warp perfectly evenly spread ready to weave the weft.  I’ll show the header and hemstitch in an upcoming reel. Follow if you want to see some tips for those steps.
5 days ago
View on Instagram |
9/9