This has not been a very productive fall semester for me. Yes, I've produced a lot of pieces but in the end it has turned out to be a lot of activity and very little accomplishment. What happened? First of all, my life is too short to bypass great ideas and different techniques. As a result, I try everything I can, textures, clays, glazes, underglazes. And sometimes all on the same piece. You might call that "Going in different directions." I call it "Farting in a colander."Second, the Kiln Gods were not cooperating with me. Some glazes faded out. Some turned green. Were they contaminated? In the wrong place in the kiln? The wrong glaze? Bad technique? More than likely just plain bad luck. Every ceramics artist experiences this, whether it's his own kiln or not. It's just the way life is.
So where is my new work? Most of it went in the trash, which is something I've had to really work hard at doing. Susan reminds me that putting lipstick on a pig never really makes the pig look any better.
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4 comments:
all artists go through these frustrating periods-- they are what keeps us going
Have cheer you are not alone. I've had the most useless unproductive few months EVER...not for the same reasons, but I am learning to just 'go with the flow' and recognise there is a corner to be turned!
I know the feeling!
The good thing about all your experimenting is that you are honing your skills. Pity I can't go through your trash :-)
Paingst (I just made it up) rhymst with angst. I know what you are going through. I feel the same when I'm doing a paper creation and then 90% of the way through "something" happens to ruin it...so into the trash (or recycle bin) it goes. Can you use the shards in you potting soil to improve drainage? They have a clay base right?...it's just an idea.
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