Taking a break

It has now been nearly a month since I released the last doll I made for the Insectopia collection and many have been wandering what is taking so long with the third doll in the series. I did tell people I was taking a small break after my last doll was done, but as I didn't expect this break to become so long I never really told why. Of course it's good to let one's mind rest a bit between the pieces, but the real reason is that I had hurt my back already when making the first doll, the Damselfly. The two weeks I spend 24/7 sewing miniature sequins locked up my spine and muscles tight and the next week working on the Orchard Spider didn't help either.

I thought a week of rest would do the trick, but it didn't. With the pain and immobility growing by the day I finally went to a doctor, who send to a chiropractic and it turned out I had 2 facet locks on my spine, which explained the blinding pain quite well. In addition the nerve pain has caused all the muscles in my back and shoulders to cramp. The chiropractic opened the facet lock, but the overall damage would take months of physiotherapy to heal. Instead of working on my art project 24/7 I now have a regular schedule of physio, swimming and pilates to keep me occupied. I should be able to work soon, but I'll need to take it slow. I apologise to everyone if this will delay the commissions scheduled for this Spring, but you will be notified of changes in the time table if any when your appointment time arrives.

Now, before you say anything, I know it's not healthy working like I do, consumed by the inspiration and forgetting everything else, but that's what I live for. I'm afraid that trying to slow down the process and giving myself time to rest will take the fire out of the inspiration and it'll just die out, but naturally, in order to continue my work, that is exactly what I'll need to learn how to do. Damselfly and Orchard Spider were both born in a spur of inspiration and I forgot myself so totally it was almost like they forced themselves out of me without my conscious effort and now I'm paying the price. Of course I'd prefer not to be in such pain, but on the other hand, I would do it again. I'm really happy how these two turned out.

And to give you hope of things to come, here are some sneak peeks of the material testing for the remaining 3 creatures in this collection. And don't worry too much about me. The worse is over and I'm getting back into the saddle already. Just need to take it easy!