Some mornings I get to the studio and I’m so overwhelmed that I'm basically useless.
Today it was like this and from experience I know to immediately make a list and get out all the things circling around my brain.
Once all the things in my jumbled head and fearful heart are down on paper, I know that I have to get myself without further ado to jump right into something that involves touching clay. Even if I have something else on my schedule, I'll just move to the clay work first.
For me, this is a proven cure for those moments of anxiety and one of the reasons ceramics has been such a firm fixture of my creative life. It works because of the tactile nature of clay and because in order to do anything effective with it, I have to give it my full attention. Once the clay has focused me, I’m good to go.
It seriously took me no more than 5 minutes to be transformed from a chicken with my head cut off kind of feeling to a focused capable artist! The power of focus is truly incredible….it changes everything.
And here is what I made. I cut a plant for a mosaic mural I'm working on:
The drawing of this plant that I worked from:
I first drew the shapes on to the clay and cut out each leaf:
I carved out grooves to define the crepe-like look of the leaf and smoothed each groove with moist fingers.
More to come and thank you for stepping into my creative process with me!
steward 