Creativity Journal - Day 7 (Stencil)

One week down! See how fast it goes? Today, make a stencil and use it in your work.

I missed yesterday. I know. And I knew it would happen - days missed along the way. I refuse to turn this into a chore. The bane of being a recovering perfectionist is the ability to turn anything and everything into a burden. Creativity requires discipline, but it shouldn't create guilt.

So, a stencil. I toyed with the idea of a word stencil. I regularly use the glass panels of the shower cubicle and the huge bathroom mirror for messages. I usually print the message, tape the sheets of paper to the glass, and draw on the opposite side. If I want to read the message in the shower, I write backwards on the outside of the glass. It's sort of in the same vein as a stencil, but I checked the definition (curse that perfectionism) and a stencil is laid over the top and the image imprinted underneath.

God utters me like a word containing a partial thought of Himself. (Thomas Merton)

The above quote, from Thomas Merton, would have fit my word theme beautifully. And it was long overdue to be cleaned off and redone. However, all those curlicues were a little off-putting. Plus, stencils all need to have linkages and too many pieces in the letters are 'loose'.

I believe in my stash of craft goodies there is a bottle of fabric medium, so I could have stencilled something on fabric. But I came up a blank as to something I wanted/needed/would use. None of my current projects were appropriate.

Traditionally, stencilling is a wall art project. But there are no walls in our house currently requiring any additional art.

All was not lost though. After pondering for 48 hours (hence missing yesterday) I came up with an idea. Two days ago we finally bought my longed-for lime tree and appropriately sized pot. In theory, by growing the tree in a pot, if we move it can come with us. In reality, that's highly unlikely to happen. Still, it works best for our garden.

I was very particular about the size pot I wanted. Citrus are hungry plants and need decent food supply. The pot had to be tall to allow for a suitable depth of soil. It also had to be reasonably wide to allow for decent root reach. When we finally found the perfect pot, it was white. Why anyone would produce white garden pots is beyond me. Just how long do they think they're going to stay white? Hubby was all for painting it immediately. My preference was to let it age gracefully (or not). I have now compromised - it is painted and aging gracefully.

This is my stencil. Working in negative space seems easy, until you start cutting. It actually requires a little twist of the brain. My stencil is two layers. The 'flesh' section and a separate rind section. Not for any fancy reason, just because I stuffed up cutting out the rind the first time. The stencil material is binding cover plastic. It has a fair amount of rigidity, but cuts easily with scissors.

Before use

Post use

The biggest issue was actually finding something that would stick to the slightly moist concrete pot. Duct tape to the rescue. I've used an interior paint. It was the perfect colour for a lime tree. It may not last, but that's okay. I've saved my stencil, so I can redo it at some point if I want.

Here's my finished pot. Not word related, not fabric related, but creative. Now to pray that the rain stays away long enough for the paint to dry.

If you could stencil anything, what would it be?