A delightful spectrum of views from do what you love, to stay vulnerable, to never give up, to make friends, to don’t do it for free ~ you’re gonna love these snippets of advice for young artists. : )
(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.) Enjoy!
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!
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!
I prefer mine over-easy, thank you, on top of a toasted, buttered english muffin. Maybe a side of pancakes or french toast. (Can we say carbohydrates?! Yea, that’s me. All that’s missing from this meal are the spuds.)
Of course if we’re not actually eating eggs, but decorating, well then, the possibilities open up nice and wide and carb-free.
We’ve had an easter-egg painting tradition in our home. There’s the standard (and not so standard) dying of real eggs ~ but our special fun was acrylic painting on egg shapes we’d cut out from some old cardboard. Punched a little hole in the top, tied with a thread. Then each year we grab a few fresh twigs from the yard, hang our artsy little eggs and we have our own homemade easter egg tree. Easy and sweet.
But that’s just us. Creativity knows no bounds and there are many, many beautifully decorated eggs out there. So I thought I’d share a few, to inspire or just to admire these adorned symbolisms of new life. (known sources are linked by clicking on image)
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!
I was going to write about how busy I’ve been. How I can’t see past my nose, my plate is overflowing with this that and the other. How there isn’t enough time in the day. How when you’re not getting enough sleep things bother you more – like the fact that ice cream cartons are smaller and lines are longer or that kids rely on electronics too much. Frenzied cleaning binges are also a tell-tale sign of overload.
But then I realized that to some degree, almost everyone I know is feeling a sense of too many to-do’s ~ and how boring it would be to recite mine, however poetically expressed.
So I decided instead to share some cool art, something inspiring, a random artistic discovery. Italy-based street artist Kenny Random, to be precise.
Maybe it’s not new to you, but it was the first I’d seen his work and I fell a little head-over-heels. It feels fresh and charming and raw all at once. Brilliant, actually. Free-spirited and fun. It gives me a happy feeling. And this is something art should do – make us glad we’re here, give a respite from the madness. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
All art © Kenny Random.
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!
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.
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!
Halfway through this new dragon sketch for the book, I stumbled across a gem from my daughter’s grade school days. How fun is that?!
The two works have a similar feel, I think, don’t they? In terms of emotion, obviously, not color or medium, they both seem to say “I’m a little bit scary, but not really scary…. or am I?”
And I absolutely adore the free-spirited, in-your-face, “I’m a two-headed dragon, alright” feeling of the youthful piece of art. Not that I’m biased or anything, but I find it inspiring. : )
