Lee Thomson

• I can make anything I choose, even if I have no destination, recipient or use for it.
• Making is a separate process from dealing with the finished, made objects.
• I can make things from other people’s patterns, or from my own imagination, or combine them in whatever way I choose; it is still me making.
• Making a thing is distinct from designing a thing – a design is just the beginning, it isn’t done until it exists in the world
• I can use old or known techniques in my work without thinking I am repeating myself, or copying someone else
• I can use new materials, media or techniques in my work and it will still be mine
• Getting bored in the middle of the making is a thing that happens. In general, if I want the thing done, I have to find ways of working with or through boredom.

I struggle with all of these at different points. Right now the first one, the idea that the things I make have to be towards a goal of some sort, is haunting me. Banishing that thought is hard.