Jamie Lynn Williams
The ART of IMPROV
I am happy to welcome Jamie Lynn Williams to The ART of IMPROV. Jamie is a fiber artist who received her BA in Art and Psychology from Smith College. She is known for her intricate thread painted works. She employs this method of painting by utilizing the craft of sewing in new and exciting ways. Her work highlights this tension between craft and fine art and she never quite settles on one to define the context of her work. The artist’s role as maker and identity as a woman are central themes to her work. She explores these themes of female identity and the presence of the handmade object by engaging viewers with work that in its process is craft based, labor intensive, tactile AND beautiful. Let’s learn how improvisation aids Jamie in their creation.
Unhindered: Hoop III Jamie Lynn Williams
What does working improvisationally mean to you? How would you define the ‘Art of Improv’?
For me, working improvisationally means to allow a piece to unfold itself to me just as one experiences life. I respond in the moment based on what my intuition tells me.
Have you always worked improvisationally?
Yes, and I would identify myself as an intuitive maker.
Do you work improvisationally, consciously, intentionally? If so, how do you begin? If not, how do you find yourself getting there?
As a fiber artist, I am often asked if I begin my works with a sketch or a pattern. The answer is emphatically, "No." I always start with a single gesture. Just one stitch. I then allow for my internal guidance to direct my next move and the move after that. I hear this voice inside my head telling me, "Add more French knots over here," or my hands will start to feel warm over a skein of bright pink or gold in a pile of my threads, indicating the next color choice. The more I trust these nudges, the more my practice flows.
Detail from "In An Instant Jamie Lynn Williams
How often do you work with improvisation?
I am always improvising, because I am always responding to what is going on in the present moment, rather than my expectations of what the piece was, what the piece will be, or what the piece ought to look like at any given stage that it is in.
Please share a bit about your process. Do you have methods to getting started? Do you have tricks to getting unstuck? Do you have motivators to finishing up?
If I ever feel "stuck" in life or in my practice, it is because there is internal resistance. I accept these moments with gratitude because they allow me to deepen my understanding of myself and to address blockages I didn’t' know I had. The answer is always to surrender and go within. Sometimes "obstacles are detours in the right direction," too. If I am feeling undecided or physically uncomfortable with a section of tatting, I remove it and simply let it go.
Where do you find inspiration? How do you use it?
Being inspired means to be in touch with your spirit. Of course, I'm not the first person to suggest this. Essentially, if you are in touch with your innermost self, which I consider to be the universal intelligence that exists within all things, your movements are in sync with the power of your purpose.
Detail from "Unhindered: Hoop IV Jamie Lynn Williams
What advice would you give to someone interested in trying to work improvisationally. Can you share some good advice that you received that helped you become more comfortable this way?
You can never go wrong if you follow your own internal guidance because it is always leading your work to its highest potential in your practice. If you are true to your own process, then others will be moved by what you do no matter what.
How would you finish the sentence, ‘What if, . . .?’
"What if I knew I couldn't fail; what if I weren't afraid?"
What are reading, listening to, watching, or any other inspirational obsessions you would like to share?
Whatever comes into my environment. I find messages in almost everything. I have always had the ability to flip the pages of a random book, stick my finger in the middle of the page, and land exactly on a sentence that answers my question or is in some kind of response to what I am thinking. This happens with song lyrics or titles, memes on social media, my dreams, a two minute encounter with a total stranger, etc. It is always happening to me. Some people call this clairvoyance. I've never admitted this publicly. For me this is a normal way of life that everyone is able
Thank you for sharing with us! I very much relate to being in the moment and trusting that what comes through you will lead you where you need to be creatively or in life in general. I too can relate to trusting the messages we receive from the universe and that they are always there, we just need to be open to hearing, seeing, and allowing them to guide us. I believe in intuitive knowledge and think we all have it, but some, like you are much more in tune with it. What a gift! Thank you for sharing a bit of it with us here.