Happy Birthday Maya Angelou
I could spend hours playing with Maya Angelou quotes… such a wise and beautiful soul! But I have many chores today, so have picked just two quotes and three posters to share with you, in honor of this lovely, inspirational woman on her 85th birthday. We are blessed to have her in our midst!
Tuesdays with Chris: “Learning to Learn”
How do we learn? In particular, how does someone who might be unfamiliar with art learn to express themselves through an art class setting? With the premise that art is about a sense of wonder and the asking of questions, Chris shares a number of fun exercises he’s used to help students find their own voice.
Whether experienced or beginning artists, I get the distinct impression that Chris has a talent, not only for clay, but for gently drawing out people’s creativity, allowing them to discover what may lie sleeping deep beneath the surface.
(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.) Enjoy!
The Easter Bonnet
In your easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest lady in the easter parade.
I’ll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I’ll be the proudest fellow in the easter parade.
On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us,
And you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your easter bonnet,
And of the girl I’m taking to the easter parade.
~ Irving Berlin
Easter seems to have come much too early this year. Whoever is in charge of the calendar must have gotten mixed up. Regardless, it is upon us; and it’s generally one of the brightest, loveliest, most cheerful holidays.
Depending on your religious association, it can also be one of the grandest. I remember one year being in Athens on Easter. There were fireworks and loud celebrations throughout the night. I had no idea! And there I’d mistakenly thought I’d get some sleep to recover from jet-lag. Apparently it’s their holiest, and most joyful celebration, a much bigger deal to the Greeks than Christmas.
My own Easter experience has been fairly mild. Happy, but certainly void of fireworks. And while not lost, bunnies and baskets and colored egg hunts seem to have masked the deeper meaning; Easter relegated to consumerism. parades and pretty pastel dresses. But at its core is “joy” ~ whether the welcoming of spring, honoring new life, or the ressurection of Jesus ~ the celebratory nature is one of hope and love and light, and all our modern material expressions are rooted in ancient history. Eggs and chicks for new life and rebirth, rabbits for fertility and abundance, and of course the less seen but still relevant Easter Bonnet.
Easter bonnets were worn long before we began celebrating Easter. The first bonnets were made by weaving a circular wreath of leaves and flowers in celebration of the coming of spring, the round shape symbolizing the cycle of the seasons, the sun’s path around the earth. While today’s Easter honors life and rebirth in more biblical terms, the symbolism remains jubilant, and the Easter bonnet is still typically round, still decorated with flowers and still a burst of pretty springtime color.
Happy Easter to you all! Wishing you much love, light and peace ~ Patricia
Tuesdays with Chris: “Tight or Loose Pots”
Every art form has two distinct expressions on either side of the creative spectrum: the articulate and the free form. Like ballet to modern dance or abstract painting to realism, a potter’s work can be tight or loose. And what can set a piece apart is what Chris calls a “sense of gesture”.
There’s an ongoing process of being in control and out of control. There’s presentation, and there’s representation. Chris is a master of both.
(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.) Enjoy!
Tuesdays with Chris: “Body as Vessel”
In this video, Chris eloquently describes the symbolic correlation between pots (vessels) and ourselves, and teaches that the strongest piece of pottery has a sense of breathing, of expanding and contracting. Personally, I found this one particularly intriguing, as I’ve long had a fascination with painting pots (on canvas) ~ something I eventually understood as subconscious expressions of the body as a vessel. So I was really interested in his point of view!
In the making of pottery, “the answer lies inside the pot”. Listen and learn why.
(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.) Enjoy!
A Few Words From Einstein
I’ve always been a bit of a quotophile (is there such a thing? one who loves quotes?). There are so many great ones ~ and Einstein’s are right there at the top of my list, for just about every subject. His genius makes my jaw drop (it’s unfathomable to me). Combine that intellectual prowess with his insights into “life and the universe”, and I’m just blown away.
So, in honor of his birthday, I made a few designs using three of my favorite Einstein quotes. Of course there are other favorites, like … “People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.” or “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” or “Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school.” or “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” or “Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater.” or “Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” … on and on, they are wonderful.
Happy Birthday, Dr. Einstein.
Tuesdays with Chris: “Unconscious Muses”
Today Chris shares a couple of personal stories that revolve around the concept of triggers, epiphanies, and threads that weave consistently throughout our lives, our work and our psyche. The unconscious muses, as he calls them.
We all may recognize something of ourselves in what he says. And I’ll bet that my fellow artists out there will relate to his insights at the end ~ I know I did!
(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.) Enjoy!
Dreaming Dreams
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
I can dream with the best of them. Big dreams. The fanciful, full-on, reach-for-the-stars kind. Maybe crazy, maybe not… but some have come true, and that’s enough for me to keep dreaming (even if I could stop.) And so it follows, not surprisingly, that I believe dreams are important, valuable, and potentially powerful. And everyone’s got a few ~ so I say, nurture them.
There are some pretty big guns who agree with all that, and so, well, I went a little “poster crazy” recently showing off the whole notion. Here they are. ~ Dream on. Dream big. Dream well. : )
