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I have been working on a new style of mask. I am remembering how difficult this creative process can be. First is the visualizing, building a vague idea of what I think I can invent. Then comes planning, and actually figuring out how to make it happen. Shows are often the impetus to try a new direction, and I do have one coming up in June.
Anything new and different is incredibly challenging, mentally, physically, and yes, emotionally. Here I am starting out with a fuzzy concept that I want to make into a reality. As the vision gets stronger, it gives me a clearer road to follow.
But let's be real. I am dealing with materials that also have a mind of their own. Often the clay, the horsehair, or any of the numerous elements I am putting together will not always do what I want them to. The nerve of them!
Days have passed as I assemble; undo; go to a store to buy a missing product; reassemble. This morning I found I had messed up the way it hangs, so I had to start over and correct my mistake. It has to be right.
Finally there is the time to just stop. Completion.
Now please, let there someone out there who thinks they must own this new creation of mine!
This is the jewelry I wore in the gallery today. It is made of high fire porcelain beads that I make individually.This color I call Moss Green. I also make these styles in Denim Blue and a brown hue I call
Earth Brown .Since it is spring, I put on my green pants and top, and of course, my matching jewelry. I like to wear shades of one color. Less confusing. Today seemed like a good green day.
Being a clay artist, I like the thought of making my own adornment.
People often ask me, what is it made of? Bone, they will sometimes think. Wearing it shows off my line and can often help the client envision what it looks like on themselves. Plus it pleases my own sense of style.
Each one is made from the white porcelain, impressed with a design. The clay must be rolled out very thin. A heavy or rough surface doesn't fit my skin or my aesthetic sensibility.Cleaning each one with a sponge is necessary.
I began by selling wholesale to beads shop. I didn't get very much. I started having ideas about how I would create with them. I like a long necklace and dangling earrings. The pieces of cut crystal give a light and translucent feeling. The decorative stones add color and texture. So began my adventure of making my own ceramic jewelry.
It is a beautiful day here in Sedona. I peer between the evergreen branches at the awesome red rock vista ahead of me. I have lived here a long time, but I never cease to feel a sense of awe at my natural surroundings.
For me, where I am is important to my sense of creativity. Nature is my truest mentor . Being here seems like living in a national park. It never gets boring.
Certainly people produce great art in gritty surroundings. Essentially, we must look inside our own sense of imagination for the creative process. It just seems easier here, more inspiring.
I lived near the ocean before I landed in this small Arizona town, some thirty years ago. I resided in an area full of people doing creative things, along with the bizarre. That was OK. I think Sedona has an element of the unusual in some of its residents. And why not? Sometimes going far out brings us closer to our inventive side.
But always, there is the humbling reality of those beautiful mountain vistas all around us. It shows up in my ceramics, my calligraphy, my sense of being.
Inspiration is all around us here in Sedona, Arizona.
