My first true love was painting. My mother painted. I remember walking into the house when she was working and I would smell the linseed oil and turpentine. That warm and wonderful smell is in my blood still and it immediately calms me and makes me smile. There is something about oil paint and the way the colors can be pushed around the canvas with such gentleness and quietude. I haven’t painted for many years, and I miss it.
My second true love is ceramics. I spent many high school hours at the local youth center learning how to throw, hand build, glaze and fire. My desire for clay has stayed with me through all these years. My more recent work is handbuilt rattles and handheld “things” intended to be fired primitively. I practice achieving interesting textures on the clay surface rather than relying on a glaze of more traditional potter.
But recently my wonderful neighbor handed down a small kiln to me. My head has exploded! All sorts of ideas are flowing into me now. And this very same wonderful neighbor facilitated my acquisition of a pottery wheel. As if my head has not exploded enough!
I’ve had a somewhat neglected space carved out in the basement and I’m now shifting and cleaning to accommodate this new and exciting equipment. I can’t wait to get into the mud. I’m charged with new artistic inspiration and have also been block printing. I might even get those oil paints out. The waking of my creative spirit has begun!
Feed the beast, everyone!