Introduction<br > There is a lot of sifting and stirring going on in kitchens today and not all of it goes<br > into the muffins. Priority-shifting has prompted many women to shut the door to<br > the laundry or pantry and open the door to a studio. A diminishing concern about<br > the brightness of their washes allows more time for their creative work. One result<br > of this stirring and sifting is a blending of roles， a mixing of ingredients which may<br > not always be compatible.<br > The combination of roles in which a woman performs as artist/mother/home.<br > maker[wife requires a tremendous amount of "getting it all together." How does<br > she manage? She finds no set formulas. While no one woman knows everytiting<br > about getting it together， every woman knows something about it. Obviously， by<br > pooling our "somethings" we have access to a lot of information and an opport unity<br > to discover some new perspectives on ourselves.<br > Abundantly creative women all over the country are producing work under vary-<br > ，hug conditions and pressures. Some artists flower working full time in studios away<br > from home， but most of them create their work at the kitchen table with children<br > scampering underfoot， dinner simmering on the stove， and a husband observing<br > ( somewhat apprehensively) the creative milieu.<br > What motivates the creative woman? Where does she learn to juggle her various<br > roles? Can she successfully combine a serious， professional career with homemaking<br >and child-rearing?<br > Here are responses from women of all ages， at various stages in their careers， who<br >have achieved differing degrees of success. Most are involved with fiber arts as well<br >as with teaching， designing， photographing， writing， or lecturing. Yet their com-<br >ments seem equally applicable to women in all areas of creative work which are<br >pursued individually. The painter， musician， poet composer， illustrator， or sculptor<br >will fred much that pertains to her. The woman who manages any small business，<br >publication， mail-order or free-lance work will also find parallels. Portions of the<br >book deal with the pressures on any working woman， whether she works in her<br >home or away.<br > Many fiber artists have contributed to this book in writing， through conversa-<br >tions， and in group discussions. Their willingness to share their experiences in an<br >open， perceptive， and honest way has been overwhehning and touching. It is their<br >purpose and minc to help other women find pleasure in meeting to some greater<br >degree their own creative needs， to help them recognize their alternatives， and<br >(perhaps musi of all) to let them know that their problems and frustrations are not<br >isolated and individual， but are shared by all women who combine creative pursuits<br >with some of the more traditional woman s roles.<br >