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Thursday Therapy: Special Birth
Friends, it's Christmas. I will keep my religious beliefs to myself for the purpose of this post, but beliefs aside, this story of the birth of a savior is exciting and fresh to me, though I've heard it more times than I have years. Tidings of Great Joy, which shall be to All People--such hunger for good news in rough times, realized spectacularly by the presence of an Angel--wow!
This day has come to mean Hope A-Borning to me, and though my own Tidings of Great Joy are modest indeed--I actually KEPT two out of four of my Workshop Sessions appointments--there is a hopeful feeling in my heart, and I hope yours as well.
A Righte Merrie Christmasse to Ye, where'er ye be!
This day has come to mean Hope A-Borning to me, and though my own Tidings of Great Joy are modest indeed--I actually KEPT two out of four of my Workshop Sessions appointments--there is a hopeful feeling in my heart, and I hope yours as well.
A Righte Merrie Christmasse to Ye, where'er ye be!
Thursday Therapy: Mudslide
Friends, last week I promised to reveal whether I'd strung together sufficient workshop sessions to be back in Full Sling. Revelation: I didn't. Worse: I didn't touch clay AT ALL from the moment I finished last week's posting to now.
I have learned that beating myself up about such a backslide, or 'mudslide' if you will, does nothing except shade the Ceramic Experience a little more toward the negative. So I'm going to do an Old Switcheroo, and REJOICE that I stayed workshop-free; and chipperly figure out what is happening, and strategize how to take the rabbi's fine advice to Go, And Sin No More.
The fist factor in my stayaway, perhaps the main one, but we'll see, is that last Friday I created this Octuple Acrostic:
This was exciting, because Google search seemed to indicate no one had ever done that before. I'd just done a SEPTuple acrostic which later appeared in the Googleverse, but there had been nothing for OCTuple Acrostic. Later, there was; but then it disappeared. Still, at very least it is exceedingly rare.
Subsequently, I wrote a blog about my Acrostic poetry, which you will find here: view link
The blog was satisfying to write and illustrate with my creations, and has gotten a nice reception/response--but it took my urge-to-create further away from clay.
Meanwhile, I had a Big Life Thrill when, having read and posted a response to a blog by Roger Ebert about the use of 3D effects, Mr. Ebert MADE A COMMENT ON MY COMMENT, making my day!! The curious may find Mr. Ebert's blog here: view link If you do a Find on "Gary in Phoenix" you will quickly find my reply, and his comment.
So thrilled was I that I devoted yesterday's journal page to the courage of Roger Ebert, who has gone through pluperfect Hell in recent times:
Granted, it's only a SEXtuple Acrostic, but it took a full day. And by a Full Day I mean I started right after midnight, kept at it except for about 5 hours of sleep/necessity, and finighed in the latelate afternoon.
Now, before you conclude, "Well, perfectly understandable--he was really busy" I hasten to say that the REAL reason why I didn't do any Claystuff is that I HADN'T SCHEDULED IT. I tell you what I did both because I am proud of what I did and because it illustrates how someone who is too disorganized to use a Whiteboard or a Daytimer or a Calendar--or even a To Do list--can have his intentions undermined.
So I now hit Reset, and make this commitment to you and me: after I finish this post, I will review the week ahead of me and schedule at least FOUR clay-intensive Workshop Sessions.
Onward!
I have learned that beating myself up about such a backslide, or 'mudslide' if you will, does nothing except shade the Ceramic Experience a little more toward the negative. So I'm going to do an Old Switcheroo, and REJOICE that I stayed workshop-free; and chipperly figure out what is happening, and strategize how to take the rabbi's fine advice to Go, And Sin No More.
The fist factor in my stayaway, perhaps the main one, but we'll see, is that last Friday I created this Octuple Acrostic:
This was exciting, because Google search seemed to indicate no one had ever done that before. I'd just done a SEPTuple acrostic which later appeared in the Googleverse, but there had been nothing for OCTuple Acrostic. Later, there was; but then it disappeared. Still, at very least it is exceedingly rare.
Subsequently, I wrote a blog about my Acrostic poetry, which you will find here: view link
The blog was satisfying to write and illustrate with my creations, and has gotten a nice reception/response--but it took my urge-to-create further away from clay.
Meanwhile, I had a Big Life Thrill when, having read and posted a response to a blog by Roger Ebert about the use of 3D effects, Mr. Ebert MADE A COMMENT ON MY COMMENT, making my day!! The curious may find Mr. Ebert's blog here: view link If you do a Find on "Gary in Phoenix" you will quickly find my reply, and his comment.
So thrilled was I that I devoted yesterday's journal page to the courage of Roger Ebert, who has gone through pluperfect Hell in recent times:
Granted, it's only a SEXtuple Acrostic, but it took a full day. And by a Full Day I mean I started right after midnight, kept at it except for about 5 hours of sleep/necessity, and finighed in the latelate afternoon.
Now, before you conclude, "Well, perfectly understandable--he was really busy" I hasten to say that the REAL reason why I didn't do any Claystuff is that I HADN'T SCHEDULED IT. I tell you what I did both because I am proud of what I did and because it illustrates how someone who is too disorganized to use a Whiteboard or a Daytimer or a Calendar--or even a To Do list--can have his intentions undermined.
So I now hit Reset, and make this commitment to you and me: after I finish this post, I will review the week ahead of me and schedule at least FOUR clay-intensive Workshop Sessions.
Onward!
Thursday Therapy: Ending a Leave of Absence
Friends, I've been away from this group for months and months, excepting a couple of message replies. I have been the worse for it, though I have not been at all idle creatively--see CALLLING ALL POETS, Art & Soul, Daily Writing Prompts, and DRAWING & PAINTING, etc. (which I recently rejoined) if curious.
I also published two slender yet concentrated volumes of poetry, The Tutti-Frutti Bird of Benign Insanity & Other Poetical Excursions and Savage Sonnets & Otherwhys in the late spring and midsummer respectively. I hope to finish and publish Greener E: Poems about the Environment well before next Earth Day.
But the Creativity Gods giveth and the Creativity Gods taketh away, and the above came at the cost of the life-affirming hum of my faithful Shimpo Potter's Wheel, which has only seen action once in the last 6 months.
A few of you may remember the weekly "Wednesday Wun-Liner," "Thursday Therapy" and "Friday Free-For-All" postings I did for P&M. I think what I'd like to do for the rest of 2008 is ease myself back into the "Therapy" postings while doing enough new wheel-throwing to burnish off the heavy accumulative rust, gearing up for a 2009 in full ceramics swing.
So--anyone else been to Nonclay Purgatory and back again? Anyone else still out there in the Purgatory, but missing the Earth in your hands? A New Year doesn't have to wait till January, Folks!
Before I go, a big THANK YOU to Manager, pcalenda, and South American Superstar, scottargie. You ladies tipped me over yesterday, and opened my eyes. I am grateful!
I also published two slender yet concentrated volumes of poetry, The Tutti-Frutti Bird of Benign Insanity & Other Poetical Excursions and Savage Sonnets & Otherwhys in the late spring and midsummer respectively. I hope to finish and publish Greener E: Poems about the Environment well before next Earth Day.
But the Creativity Gods giveth and the Creativity Gods taketh away, and the above came at the cost of the life-affirming hum of my faithful Shimpo Potter's Wheel, which has only seen action once in the last 6 months.
A few of you may remember the weekly "Wednesday Wun-Liner," "Thursday Therapy" and "Friday Free-For-All" postings I did for P&M. I think what I'd like to do for the rest of 2008 is ease myself back into the "Therapy" postings while doing enough new wheel-throwing to burnish off the heavy accumulative rust, gearing up for a 2009 in full ceramics swing.
So--anyone else been to Nonclay Purgatory and back again? Anyone else still out there in the Purgatory, but missing the Earth in your hands? A New Year doesn't have to wait till January, Folks!
Before I go, a big THANK YOU to Manager, pcalenda, and South American Superstar, scottargie. You ladies tipped me over yesterday, and opened my eyes. I am grateful!
Thursday Therapy: Baby Steps
Friends, as I posted last week, I've been unWHEELdly for months and months. At last, post-post, I broke my throwing fast and now have these additions to my oeuvre:
It is far too soon to say Hooray for Me, and in fact these new ones completely lack the lightness and near-perfect symmetry and elegance of form and fit-to-functionality that any potter worth his mud can expect to impart to his work. Stringing five or six one-hour-minimum-per workshop days will, judging by decades of on again off again, get me up to 90% or so of Full Sling. Will that happen, though?
Tune in next week for the answer!
Happy Going,
Gary
It is far too soon to say Hooray for Me, and in fact these new ones completely lack the lightness and near-perfect symmetry and elegance of form and fit-to-functionality that any potter worth his mud can expect to impart to his work. Stringing five or six one-hour-minimum-per workshop days will, judging by decades of on again off again, get me up to 90% or so of Full Sling. Will that happen, though?
Tune in next week for the answer!
Happy Going,
Gary
Happy Birthday, Peggy
To that Salty & Sweet, Inspirational, Trans-Generational Great Lady, Many Happy Returns of the Day.
Love,
Gary
Love,
Gary
When In doubt, declare victory
Friends, I was in an auto accident a couple of days ago. Now I have one of those Oh My Aching Backs, the adjuster for the insurance company for the lady who cut in front of me is dragging her feet about authorizing a rental car, and TOMORROW is the first First Friday I'll be participating in as an artist and not a customer. Also, I am feeling the strain of meeting self-imposed deadlines as a self-appointed columnist here, as I have for more weeks than I care to count.
So I am declaring victory and an end to regularly written Therapy, One-Liners and Novel Segments. As Roger Zelazny had a Martian say in A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES, "The dance was good. Now let it end."
It is rewarding, and growth-forcing, to keep a commitment such as a regular column, and I invite you all to consider doing one of your own.
I'll still be plugging away at my novel, but I think I will upload MS Word files of whole segments (I have 12 planned) rather than posting half-chapters. The first segment, the one I've been working on and posting to date, should be finished in two weeks or so.
Thanks to everyone who replied to my posts, and thanks especially to Manitaliano, who gave me a great deal of incisive and useful feedback.
Cheers,
Gary
So I am declaring victory and an end to regularly written Therapy, One-Liners and Novel Segments. As Roger Zelazny had a Martian say in A ROSE FOR ECCLESIASTES, "The dance was good. Now let it end."
It is rewarding, and growth-forcing, to keep a commitment such as a regular column, and I invite you all to consider doing one of your own.
I'll still be plugging away at my novel, but I think I will upload MS Word files of whole segments (I have 12 planned) rather than posting half-chapters. The first segment, the one I've been working on and posting to date, should be finished in two weeks or so.
Thanks to everyone who replied to my posts, and thanks especially to Manitaliano, who gave me a great deal of incisive and useful feedback.
Cheers,
Gary
Thursday Therapy: Interdisciplinary
Friends, the notion of "cross-training" has come up in our group before. Though your true and deepest love may be Clay, working in other media can both inform your work and keep you from same-old-stuff burnout. And there are some clay artists--I'm thinking of Kurt Weiser in particular--who take advantage of superb drawing skill to turn handbuilt or thrown clay into 3D canvas, transcendently enhancing both the drawing and the volume's contours.
See the first reply for more . . .
See the first reply for more . . .
Fri Freeforall: OWC, Ch 8 begun
Our Story So Far: Calvin Enwright, Clayboy of the Western World, has had a lot of good news hit him, but also recent wrist surgery that has forced him to use either elbows or feet. His love interest Iliana is returning from a chess tournament in Belgium and has asked him to meet her at the airport.
Please see first reply.
Please see first reply.
Wednesday Wun-Liner 21
Torn from the pages of my very own Chapbook-In-Progress: "The Bluebird of Happiness is great, but sometimes only the Tutti-Frutti Bird of Benign Insanity will do."
