Grayson Perry - food for thought

Last week I heard Grayson Perry speak at the V&A and he came in all his finery! As usual he had some interesting views and was very easy to listen to. I'm sure he would have something interesting and provocative to say about contemporary textiles.

Grayson, said two things in particular that made me think about my own work. Firstly he said that artists need to take risks. So, sitting in the V&A I decided that I would take a risk with my Another Place piece and that I would complete the stitching before painting dye over it! A couple of days later some of my natural cautiousness reappeared, so I stitched a small sample and brushed dye over it, to see what would happen. I think this (risky!) approach could work quite well, so now I need to keep the faith and get on with the stitching. 

Here's the sample. The blue dot was an accident!

Grayson told us how his college tutor asked him to write a 10 page essay about himself and then to create a piece of art based on himself . This he said was a great lesson to learn and suggested that our art should contain something of ourselves. What do I give of myself in my work? What does my work say of me? Does it say anything about me? I know I enjoy creating textiles inspired by holiday landscapes. Is that giving something of myself? This question will need a lot more thought. Maybe there's no simple answer to it?

Do you feel that you give something of yourself in your work? How do you achieve this?