The Newest of an Ancient Art

Did you know the oldest mask found was dated 7000 BC.?  I didn't . This       " Small Spirit" is dated 2018,  a  recent addition to my portfolio. It measures about eight inches, including all its decorative additions. I am having a show starting this October at the Jerome Artists' Cooperative .
 I enjoy creating  new surprises to display. I am now entranced with adding stones and beads to the copper wire I use to hang this ceramic image.They seem to float. If you look closely, you can see the  two blue beads I created. Easier to match colors, although clay is always risky. 
It also got me wondering about all the masks every where, which are so much a part of our world culture.
In 13th century Venice, Italy, masks were worn at  Carnival, perhaps to get around the rigid society of its time. Dia de las Muertes in Mexico invites the Calveras, or skull, honoring the dead and acknowledging that it will visit us all at one point. Africa has long been a source of these images. In China they show up at the celebration to bring in the new Year.Masks are used for protection;disguise; ritual, and entertainment, and come in all sizes and  materials.
 My passion is clay, and certainly in my travels I have seen others who use this medium. I started making the miniature size because they seemed so detailed and yet so ...small. Something you can even hold in your hand. Surely there is a space in everyone's life for something so petit and yet intriguing?

The Art of the Potter's Wheel

Here I am at my pottery wheel. It has been a while since I have sat down to throw. That is what you call it, throwing the clay. 
Starting with a lump of clay, as the wheel turns, my fingers pull the clay up from inside. I balance with my other hand on the outside. I am always pulling upward. Not quite as simple as it sounds. It is usual to start with the cylinder shape, as in this photo. Then I can use my hand or a tool inside to flare it out.This will be one of my mugs. 
They are  a challenge. My mugs are very labor intensive, including  the handle, hand carving, and dual glazing.   However people like them, and it is good  to sell.
I am known for making  ceramic bowls, masks, and sculpture by hand, using the smooth, white, porcelain clay I favor. However I like to throw when I am centered, and the clay and I are one.
 This week, it was time to pull out my Shimpo wheel. Except for replacing the bearings a long time ago, this wheel is so well made that it just "keeps on keeping on".
 I bought it second hand  back in the late 1970's, when I lived in Venice California. It cost a lot for  me at the time, but it certainly has been my friend. I like to buy the very best in art equipment and tools that I can afford.Clean and repair is my motto, and my preference. 
For certain symmetrical shapes, there is nothing like using the potter's wheel. It all starts here, with the basic cylinder. From there comes the rest of the art. 

Bird Mask

Here is a picture of a  recent "Bird Mask" series I am creating. I added a fair amount of color, yarn, and decoration to this one.

 I enjoy creating  masks. They appeal to my sense of mystery, and history. I like to travel. Everywhere I  visit, including my own corner of southwestern America, I find indigenous people creating masks to represent some spirit form. Maybe I made this to represent the birds I love. Actually, I find the clay often tells me what form it wants to be when I am in my creative process.

 I start with somewhat of an idea. Somehow, as I roll out a slab or coil in the white  porcelain clay I like to use,the shape and form will evolve. Then when I start to play with the feathers, or yarns, it can change into in a different finished mask than I first envisioned. I  like the colors of the feathers and decorations  to  be harmonious with the glazes I have chosen. 

  I have been selling masks in this month of January. Why this is my popular form right now I cannot say.It seems to go that way in this art business.  One style of  work  will continue to sell, while others do not. Maybe it is mask energy flowing right now! If I am in the gallery with   people, they  often  ask me what is my inspiration or the meaning behind my masks. I say what I just wrote, which often is not specific enough for them, but is truthful.Besides, everyone gives their own meaning to what they choose, and that is fine with me.

The Horse Box

Writing about my kitty box made me realize that I really do like to put animals on my artwork. This piece is entitled the " Horse Box", and is a handmade porcelain container, with lid. It  measures about seven by ten inches, with tail and mane. For this vessel I chose a red and celadon green color scheme. Who says my critters can't be any color I choose to make them? Naturally, being a horse, it has to have a tail and mane, and what better material to use than the real thing? I do like to make art that can make the viewer smile. 
When I recently redid my website, at www.claywrite.com
I put in a section entitled Masks and Folk Art. I consider folk art to be about things in everyday life, often created in a somewhat primitive style. I went to look up a better definition in my art history books, and I could not find one. So this is my definition and my Horse Box  is an example of  my folk art. 
Comments? 

Art and the Ocean

Here is a recent view of the Pacific ocean at sunset. I really enjoyed the ebb and the flow of the tides. I did some body surfing, and I noticed that coming into shore is  relatively easy. It is the current that then pulls you out to sea that is the forceful one .

So it seems with the creative process. There is an ebb and a flow to most art work. I tried  to go against the current last night, and I got my hand slapped. The ceramics broke. All my hard work must  be thrown away.   I know before I do my primitive firing that the clay must be at least  warm. Then the difference between the temperature going into the fire is not such a shock to the clay body. But I wanted to do it right then, so I tried could going  against the current. Crack. The clay did Not like that sudden shock. So it seems like not staying with the knowledge that I have, be it ocean tides or heat variables, gets me into the undertow of life , or art. Lesson learned. 

 I got up this morning and preheated all my remaining pieces before they went into the flames. I was rewarded by no breakage, and some lovely pieces. Masks; plaques; and platters. Next I will decorate these unfinished creations,  and show you some finished pieces in the future. All in the right timing, or current of my creativity.

The Mask

Masks.Here are some  masks from my most recent show at the Andrea Smith gallery here in Sedona.For me there is something  intriguing, mysterious, and  thought provoking in creating these fantasy representations, 
 I am a traveler. In every country  visited, I observe indigenous people creating their interpretive  masks to represent their spirits.Thus  I call one of my mask series " Spirit Seekers".
 I start with the clay, and have a rough idea of what I want to create.But I do let the spirit of the clay direct where I am going.Often it has an element of surprise. Then I must glaze and fire the piece.Finally, I take it out of the kiln and do another primitive firing to get that dark and smokey look that I like.Only then do I decorate with yarn, feathers, and whatever else it dictates. I guess there is a bit of my spirit in each of my creations.     . 
Masks are a way to be secretive about identity. It does not even have to be a real one. Haven't here been times when we all hide behind a smile, a polite phrase even as simple  as "how are you?". What would we do if people actually answered with their truth, especially if it is a painful one?  Gives me something to think about when I go forth into this world.
Any thoughts from my readers?

Fantasy

Fantasy, according to the dictionary, means

 " imagination unrestrained by reality; wild fancy". This is one of my masks in the "Spirit Seeker" series. As you can see it is not too much bigger than my hand. I can almost hold my fantasy in my hand. That's an interesting thought, isn't it? Usually it seems  most fantasies are up there in our heads.

 Come on now, don't we all have them? Often they are connected with someone of the opposite sex, being in the straight world as I am. Or they may be about that perfect life we want to be living; the job we desire; the trip not yet taken.It is almost as if we are in dream state with our eyes wide open.

We as artists have a free ticket to get on the fantasy ride. How else can we create except to conjure our concept, our fantasy up in our head? Then comes the real work, how to translate it into a tangible form that we can feel good about. First we create for ourselves. We hope our art is something that connects with a viewer, and they like it so much, they will give us money for it. The ultimate compliment and so we can pay our  electric bill.Utilities will not take art in lieu of money.Can you imagine...?

I like clay, it is so of the earth, so primal.I like the feel of it under my fingers. But then I want to add more to my image, usually it is feathers,even leather, hair or yarn.

 This wool I picked up off the fields in Iceland. The sheep had shed it, and while others were busy taking pictures, I was gathering up fluffy white stuff I knew would adorn one of my masks. The fantasy was not clear at that moment, but I knew it would be when I was back in my studio.. So let us take our dreams, or fantasies, and make them happen, or simply enjoy having them. 

 Thoughts to share?