I love serendipity. I have begun making some of my fiber masks into clay when Tom asked if I wanted to join him in the Clay Space gallery in September. Tom is a photographer who specializes in photographs of Civil War reenactments. His thinking was he would share his pottery and photographs and I could share my quilts and pottery. Perfect! Plus I had time to create pieces that I would be proud to display.One of my frustrations with clay has been the unpredictable and somewhat limiting nature of the glazes. I went looking for other things that I could use and came across Baroque Art's Gilders Paste which reminds me of shoe polish. (It says it can be used on fabric too!) I had not finished the female Buddha mask when I went to class (ran out of time) so I brought her along and the three paste colors I had purchased. I was surprised that the veteran hand builder did not know about the paste. I was not surprised that none of the students in my class had any interest. So yesterday when I was working on the mask and still feeling that she needed something, I realized that my limited thinking was holding me back. I do not need to stick with glazes and I can certainly use my arsenal of supplies to alter my pieces anyway that I can! I glued the bead and fiber jewel to her forehead and used dimensional paint below her eyes. I was so much happier. I am not going to let my limited thinking ever happen again. I want to explore and push the limits. I want to be fearless!
Details: This is my interpretation of the female Buddha which I learned about while in Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan use to be a predominately Buddhist country before the Soviets took over. Now it is predominately Muslim, but the woman who taught me was an atheist. Isn't life interesting? Anyway, the fiber mask is 8" w x 12" h and the clay mask is 7.5" w x 11.5" h.
When have you overcome limited thinking?
I have decided to make this my Off the Wall Fridays post. Thanks Nina-Marie for the option to choose any of our posts for the week!
the masks are great and I would love to see them in series. For me, its not so much my limited ideas that hold me back - its that the ideas might fail. I mean time and money are always a factor ---- so one of your great ideas ends up being a dog - its annoying. That said - OMG - how are you going something amazing if you just stay in your safe little box.
ReplyDeleteNina Marie, Thanks! And you are so wonderfully correct. Nothing amazing happens in a safe little box! Hugs, Karen
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