Here I am with legendary blues musician John Mayall. He was performing at the Orpheum Theatre, in Flagstaff, AZ. last Saturday night, and I was there!
I think this picture is fuzzy because I am grinning so hard. I had just bought his latest CD, " Find a way to Care". He was nice about a photo shoot. I love the blues and had listened to this man and his various band incarnations since the 1960s. Mayall played with all the best musicians back then, and still does, including his present band.
What is so fine is that his voice is still strong; his fingers very nimble, and he does a mean mouth organ. The guy is 82 years young and still making his art and taking it on the road.
So that got me thinking. We artists really have job security, if we want it. All that experience in learning our craft, is there any reason to ever stop creating? There is always a chance to do a little better on the next piece; another show to enter out on the horizon. Maybe we are not only getting older, but better.There's a hopeful thought.
I have been making porcelain wind chimes again. For me, it is a kinetic art form, as well as one of the first musical instruments. Thin, texured pieces of porcelain are rolled and cut out, fired once, and then again at a very high temperature with the color added.
Here I added small, turquoise creatures and beads for a specific client's order. I chose the earth tones of iron oxide. However I have used cobalt blue, and am working on a green hued chime at present.
I included a picture of me holding them outside in the sunlight. I use fishing line so there is the appearance of all the pieces floating in the breeze. I love the sound that the clay creates as the wind makes them dance.
Historically, wind chimes have been found in Africa, dating back to 3,000 BC. Early models were made from natural found objects, such as bone, shell, or bamboo. later The Chinese passed them onto the Japanese, and then to the western world in the 1800's.
There is something very soothing and meditative, hearing the sounds of the small pieces of porcelain ring against each other. I guess it is a sound of summer, which has finally arrived here in Sedona.
