Living, Grieving and Creating

"Hope After Sorrow"

We are going to suffer. 
Ant it is going to shape us
Somehow.
We will become bitter or better,
closed or open,
more ignorant or more aware,
more or less tuned in to the thousands of 
gifts we are surrounded with 
every single moment
of every single day. --Rob Bell

I have not posted for a long time and yet, I cannot remember a time when I have been more creative. The ideas just keep flowing out of me as if I am possessed. If you have read my blog, you know that in 2013, I had nine friends and my mother-in-law die. My dad died the following spring. The death of family and friends has continued. This year my friend of more than 20 years died unexpectedly and my cousin Sandy died from cancer. Sandy was convinced until the end that she could beat it. I suspect that Marti might have given up. I have inherited her UFOs and slowly finishing them and finding places to donate them. I do not think I will ever stop grieving, but I also know that if not now, when? 

And so I have given myself permission to explore whatever I my heart desires whether it is assemblage, printing, collage, quilting, etc. I continue to explore "why do we keep the things that we do?" My mother sent me my great aunt's nursing school apron from the late 1930s. I have been turning it into a piece of art. I have also been entering and getting into gallery shows and admit that every success is a surprise and also encouraging.  For months, I have been exploring eco dyeing and pretend I am a mad scientist. I have made more than 50 napkins because they are fun and my grandchildren adore them. I say, "I love you" often and with meaning. I hope you do too. I spend Fridays once a month creating with my friend, Barbara Wester, and feel truly blessed that she is in my life. Art heals. Art has saved me.  I thought I could walk away from this blog and just concentrate on creating, but alas, it is important to me even if no one reads it. 

She Flies with Her Own Wings

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but the inward significance.  - Aristotle

 I love the new year and the feeling of a fresh start. 2017 is starting off nicely for me as my sculpture "She Flies with Her Own Wings" was accepted in the the Tall Grass Gallery's "Wings" show that opens on January 21. I am three for three with dipping my toe into entering gallery shows. I still cannot believe it. this time I am one of 45 artists that were selected. I cannot wait to see the exhibit. 

This was my first attempt at a large sculpture and I was not at all sure I could get it to work. I just kept plugging along having faith it would all work out. I marvel at ceramic artists because there are so many things that can and do go wrong with this medium. Different clays shrink differently and even the placement in the kiln can effect what happens. I was amazed that the wings fit perfectly especially since the body was sightly over fired. The over firing also caused my matte glaze to become shiny. Sometimes you just have to accept what the kiln gods give you.  I found the flocked sticks online. The piece is 47-inches tall and sits in a corner in my family room. 

In thinking about what I want to accomplish this year, this sculpture does sum it up. I want to concentrate this year on creating and taking risks. I want to be fierce with keeping the focus on art. It will be a challenge, but one that I am ready to undertake. What do you want to accomplish this year?

Everyone Needs a Hand Now and Then

People who wonder whether the glass is half empty or half full miss the point. The glass is refillable. -Anonymous

To say that this year has not going as planned is to put it mildly. I have decided to consider it a sad Country Western song that will have a happy ending. I am healthy again and more hopeful. The dead Kindle and furnace have been replaced and fixed. The broken work is being recreated. Time to get moving and make up for lost ground. To let go (looks to be the theme for my year) of what did not happen and focus on the moment. I continue to be a process person--it's a journey.


Jasper Johns's quote from one of his notebooks dating from the early 1970s really says so much about how I feel:

To give up
or
To do the work
To doubt that the work needs doing?
At any rate, time passes.
A clear object.
An unclear object.
_______________

To begin to do.
A way to begin.(which might or might not include a way to end.)


On a lighter note, I love exchanges and have missed doing them so I suggested to two friends--Linda Edkins Wyatt and Marie Z. Johansen that we use our hands to create art. The left hand (the one closest to our heart) will be used for a round robin. For mine, I did simple watercolor so that Linda and Marie could add to you then I decided that I would create a book so there are also blank pages. For my gift (right hand) one, I am creating something out of clay. My first attempt got knocked over and broken. While disappointing, I try to remind myself that I can always create more and this attitude is a must when it comes to creating with clay. There are times when I honestly wonder why anyone would work in an art that has so much outside our control. Since I was trying a new technique, I think my second attempt will actually be better. Practice does make perfect (or at least better). Linda was on the ball. I share her "Seek" with you. You can also read her thoughts on our hand project on her blog.

Here's to making it a great day! And hoping that your new year is going well. 

Even Broken Crayons Still Color

"Even broken crayons still color." Author Unknown

My grandmother liked to say that bad things come in threes. Who would know that I would have three years--too many friends dying, two jobs lost by my husband (currently looking), deaths of my mother-in-law and my dad, shingles that seem to never go away...Well, you get the picture. The other day I was truly ready to just throw in the towel. What was the point of making art? Then I got an email from Janet White telling me what my blog meant to her and an email from a gallery asking for my ceramic work. Next, my husband who I never thought cared about my blog told me I needed to start writing again. So here I am. I now have my quilts and my funky ceramic work in a new gallery in Naperville--Artezanato Studio. I am feeling optimistic and have a creative plan in place. Life is good!

Surround Yourself with Talented People and Grow

I have always tried to surround myself with people who are smarter, more talented and hold a different point of view. It has helped me grow and push myself to be better. I have also tried to move outside of my comfort zone--I call it putting stretch marks on my comfort zone--especially when I am feeling complacent.

I have been very fortunate to have come to know and trade art with Linda Edkins Wyatt for a number of years. This is our last small group exchange. It's called :High Fashion dia de los muertos." I can only hope that she is as happy with my part of the trade. I can only encourage you to find people to trade art. I know that it has helped me grow as an artist and has enriched not only my life but the walls in my home.

How have you put stretch marks on your comfort zone lately?

Turning Tides: Thanks Liz

On January 30th, I did a "Give Away with a Twist" that was inspired by my friend Kathy Schmidt. I did sign up with a couple of people that were inspired by my posting. Well I got a package in the mail from Liz Lystra who received one of my give aways. Wow! Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful art with me. It bought more than a smile. The message on the card especially spoke to me. The more artwork that I share, the better I feel about creating. I do not have enough room to store it all or even to sell it all so that is the next issue to decide. What to do with it all? Thoughts?

Inspired by the Gift of a Feather

The juvenile Cooper Hawk continues to visit. He now likes taking baths in my small pond. He sits on a brick that holds the pump down and I can watch him undetected from my kitchen window. I have watched him become bolder and more vigorous as he becomes more comfortable.  I discovered a feather floating in the wind on Friday shortly after he flew off. Since I committed to Kimberly Baxter Packwood's 60 day Crow/Bird challenge, I was feeling a little stressed on Saturday because I had not posted a piece to the Facebook page. So I went back to doing what I do when I feel the need to create but don't have much time--I created two cards. I will share them with a friend or family member.  Simple, low stress and yet satisfying which is how expressing one's self is just what is needed sometimes.

What Is Art? Why Do We Create?

All art is quite useless. - Oscar Wilde

I have been trying to think of ways to combine my love affairs with clay, fiber and paper.  This is my first attempt at combining clay and paper. It's not quite finished. I want to do come more work on the book and the bird needs to be reglazed because there are places where the glaze did not adhere which happens.

It's always interesting when people who create ask me, "What are you going to do with it?"  Tom who makes these incredible organic forms out of clay could not wrap his head around this book which was such a surprise to me. 

I do want people to get what I make especially in a place where people are being creative. It doesn't mean you have to like it.

Why do we create? And more importantly why should we make art? Is it "art for art's sake" or should it perform a specific function? I'm definitely more in the first camp but also believe art can perform a specific function like reflect a truth, work to unify us or in the very least decorate a room. I don't believe that having to make money from art devalues it either as I have heard so often expressed in galleries at openings. 


Is it important for people to understand or at least appreciate what we do? I have lived my entire life with people who don't get, understand what I do or even like what I do. It use to be painful. It is far less so now.  I think, in part, it is finding people who love what I do and I have grown old enough not to internalize the negative opinions anymore. I cannot stop what I am doing. I cannot go long without creating something or I feel a strong disconnect.

Where do you stand?


Sidebar: Having some writing in the book was something I wanted. Although none of the writing is easily readable by design.  In looking for quotes, I came across a great one by Willie Nelson, " The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese." Love it! Hope it makes you chuckle like it did me and, of course, it's in the book!