Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on January 20, 2012 under Stan Stewart | 
When warm
(Or even temporate)
Rain raps on the roof,
It provides a reassuring
Rhythm that soothes.
When Winter-chilled rain
Taps it’s icy fingers on
Window panes,
It does not soothe nor
Reassure.
Posted by Susan Bradford on January 19, 2012 under Susan Bradford |
I made this basket last May in a workshop taught by the wonderful basket maker Judy Zugish. She has great designs and amazing willow that she has grown and prepared herself. But what I loved the most was how she encouraged creativity in all the students. No two baskets were alike, and you’d never know they were even made in the same class.
Originally, I left all the spokes at the top uncut and they completely obscured the opening. I thought of it as mysterious and liked it as a design element without quite knowing why. Then I got a critique from another wonderful basket maker Marilyn Moore who juried a show I entered the basket in. She thought that the top didn’t fit the rest of the basket which was more refined and almost classical. I did see that clearly and resolved to trim all the spokes to a uniform length. But something kept stopping me.
Then last night it finally came to me. I started clipping random spokes at less than uniform length and only clipped the ones that seemed not to fit, or stuck out too much, or were too twisted, or just “asked” to be cut. Here is the result of that. It may not be finished yet. As I looked at the photo, I could see a few more things that I wanted to do. But it is getting close to where I want it to be. Still a bit wild and unruly. But with some light getting into the belly of the basket, the sense of mystery has really only increased. As you go around the perimeter, some spaces are more open, some are more dense. There is no regularity, and that is what I am liking about it.
What made me really happy about this process was that it was one of the first times I felt that I was able to make artistic decisions about a basket in much the same way I would about a painting. Whether it works or not, whether I like it as much in a week as I do today, whether anyone else likes it, none of that matters. I had fun with the process. Taking thirty minutes to clip fifteen spokes. Time well spent, I say!
Posted by Anita Bondi on January 16, 2012 under Anita Bondi |
I love to laugh at myself. I encourage others to laugh at themselves. Selves make silly mistakes, say stupid things, mess up. This (in my humble opinion) is no reason for feeling shame, hiding the truth, or creating defensiveness if caught.
What if we all simply “outed” our mistakes and laughed at ourselves? Whether it be a big thing like hurting someone’s feelings by sticking the proverbial foot in the mouth, or using the wrong word in a sentence, or, _____________.
I’ll start with a small one from my own day (after all ,incrementality is the only way to get anywhere)!
I woke up this morning so excited. I remembered that it was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and that I had just taken a picture of a jewelry piece that had a partial quote of his hand-stamped on it. The whole time I was getting ready for the day, walking the dog, eating breakfast, I was thinking about how I could do a blog post today and honor him and myself in the 
process! (self-promotion is not a bad thing, a hard thing, but not a bad thing.)
I downloaded my photos, picked the best one, and sat down to write what was going to be a simple two sentence blog post.
Suddenly it was not Martin Luther King, Jr.’s face that I saw but rather it was Gandhi’s face. So, here is where laughing at myself really comes in handy. They are clearly not the same person, do not physically resemble each other, and did not live in the same country. I was about to proudly post the quote, “BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD”, alongside the picture of my jewelry piece, and a link to Martin Luther King Jr.
I could have just let this go, after all, you would have never known about it. I caught it in time. This time. What about all the other times that I don’t? Laughing at myself and telling you about my mistakes makes me ask these questions? Do you feel a bit better knowing that “you” are not alone in your mistakes? Do I feel a bit better knowing that you will still like me even though I mixed up two great but very different men? And will this put a big smile on your face right now and cause you to giggle or laugh at me, yourself, and the ways that we are all so unbelievably beautiful in our humanness?
PS. Is there a Gandhi Day? If not, I declare this day the day to “have a dream of being the change you wish to see in the world.”
Tags: Anita Bondi, artist, gandhi, incrementality, inspiration, InterPlay, InterPlay Inspiration Deck, jewelry, jr., laughter, martin luther king, mixed metal, motivational
Posted by Marci Molina on January 14, 2012 under Marci Molina |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“I have a dream that my four children
will one day live in a nation
where they will not be judged
by the color of their skin
but by the content of their character.”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Posted by Susan Bradford on January 12, 2012 under Susan Bradford |
Amazing! I wrote that title just now thinking about how fast time seems to be going. And only then remembered that I had used the same title for a painting I did last summer. So Quickly Now is a flower form and to me felt full of movement and growth, but was also symbolic of how short-lived everything is.
January of 2012 is proving me right about that. It is almost half over already and I am feeling my own internal pressure to have accomplished more. My quiet (productive) winter time is vanishing before my eyes. By now I should have painted much more, created a new mandala (or two), made many beaded bracelets, worked on some unfinished baskets, finished knitting a scarf I started last year, read five books, lost ten pounds, organized my office (for real), and cleaned my house. I am “so quickly now” going to try to set aside my unrealistic goals, have some fun, make some art of some kind or another, and figure out that it’s all OK. Really!
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