discovery
My biggest discovery this month: I love to let threads hang loose instead of cutting them off. It gives a feeling of movement and freedom. Here are a few of the smaller pieces made that way.
This week I applied for a juried show submitting one piece from each of my recent series - Knickerbocker, Infinity, and Home Ground.
When writing the artist statement, I discovered a commonality in these series – each, in their own way, explored the aging process.
All of them are:
Weathered, like the passage of time.
Layered, reminding me that there is always more to what we can see on the surface, a history.
Beautiful in their own way, reminding me that aging has its own beauty.
Here are the three pieces I submitted.
process
I had lunch with an artist friend last week and she’s making a piece that she loves. She’s been an artist for a long time but had several years when she didn’t experience the magic of making something she loved – that feeling that takes your breath away. These “dry” spells, I believe, are part of the creative process as we find our way through the fog to that inner vision. I’m so happy she stuck with it and arrived at the destination.
This month I’ve made very few pieces that I love. I get bored easily and don’t like to keep making the same thing. I’m working my way through the fog and getting glimmers of what’s to come.
Over the years, I’ve learned I just need to stick with it.
It’s a slow, contemplative process sometimes frustrating, sometimes rewarding, always engrossing. It requires patience, fortitude and, I think, failure.
And worth it when I finally make something that takes my breath away.
Below is one piece I made this month that took my breath away. It just fell together and I think surprise was part of the joy. I always have to sit with a piece for a while - sometimes months - to see if it still holds my love.
art giveaway
Thank you for all the wonderful comments yet again. Last month’s piece is headed to Jeanne.
Below is the piece I’ll send off to someone at the end of October. Please subscribe to my blog and leave a comment with your email to be entered.
Wishing all of you a wonderful October.
Warmly,
