Day 9

Today's agenda included drawing, but it was a day of unexpected distractions, finishing up the garden cleaning and my husband just started up Monsters University at my request.  Maybe I'll sketch before I hit the hay, but now it's time for some Mike Wazowski!

HobKnobbing

I sat at the potter's wheel again this afternoon - outside of class time.  The wheels are off limits in one week so we can focus on firing and glazing and finishing up the semester.  I don't know if or when I'll have this chance again, so there will be much throwing this week.

The last assignment is lidded vessels.  I created a casserole dish Tuesday - first the dish, then a lid and finally some knobs.  We're instructed to create a few different knobs for each pot and pick the one that fits best.  Let me just say... I LOVE THROWING KNOBS!  Why?  They're small, have no walls and you can sculpt endless forms from spinning clay.  I want to create knob after knob after knob.  I wish there were more uses for knobs.  Everyone I know would receive Christmas knobs.  You get the idea. 

These were rejects for the casserole dish.  Linda suggested carving patterns on the bottoms and use the bisqued knobs as stamps.  Nice.

Evening Pottery / Evening Sketching

The pottery class time is scheduled for 3 hours and 15 minutes.  Tonight I was there 4 hours and the time flew by.  It was a good night.

Clay time precludes drawing time.  Thus, I'm sharing the pen sketch mentioned back in July - a panorama of the cars behind us in the fading daylight.

Sketching this fast involves some blind contour and gesture drawing - completely letting go of anything close to perfection.

Hopefully you can see the suggestions of fellow firework-watchers in their lawn chairs and a young boy waving intently from his family's pickup bed.

Beneath My Feet II

NaBloPoMo Day 6

We're in process of selecting new carpet for the living room & bedrooms.  The studio / guest room will instead have a not fuzzy, nonstaining surface - due to my messy artist ways.  During the planning process, my husband began contemplating taking out the bed & dresser and moving his office desk into the room with me.  He asked if I was okay with that.  I am.  New floor.  New together time.  This makes me smile.

Artist Pants

I threw a casserole dish then spray glazed a few plates in class tonight.

Someday they will be paint-splattered artist pants.

Waiting with Pens

My husband had a few medical tests last week (all results normal - whew!) and I spent a couple of hours in a waiting area.  I hadn't expected to wait so long and didn't bring extra art supplies.  However, I did have a thin Moleskine and pens strategically stashed in my purse.  The usual procrastinating first - Facebook, email and such - and then sketching.

My husband sat with me and chatted between testing portions, so sketching time was broken up into three sessions.  First a hugemongous potted plant and then, of course, my shoe.  It soon fell asleep (my foot, not the shoe) and that was that.

fine ballpoint on Moleskine Cahier

The waiting room had a wall of windows with a nice view of some native grasses and the parking area.  I switched to the Copic pen.  My husband walked out as I was adding the framing leaves.  "Is that a Dodge?"  He glanced from my drawing to the pickup outside.  "Oh, nope it's a Ford."  Oops - I had ignored the partially hidden logo.

Copic multiliner on the Cahier

Sketching in public is a little less nerve-wracking now.  The details of the moment are forever connected to these pages, especially the good news!

New Resources

Day 3 of NaBloPoMo.  I have no photos ready and it's late, so I'm sharing yesterday's mini adventure.

Saturday mornings were made for eating cereal in pajama pants (cat on the lap, dog at your feet) with no particular goals.  The only chore accomplished before noon is a load or two of laundry.  I get up before the sun five days a week.  I do not like getting up before the sun.  I like lazy Saturday mornings.

This Saturday was cholesterol blood test morning - pulling one sleepy human out of the house.  I took advantage of the forced outing to complete several procrastinated errands.  The last stop brought me a block from our only book store.  On a whim, I decided to stop in and check for used art books.  I could live in a book store (or an art store) - hour after hour scanning the shelves and learning new things.  The magazine section sucked me in this day and I was pleasantly surprised at the array of art-related publications.  I haven't read one of these since my college days.  I picked a couple and made a mental note of what to splurge on next time.

One busy Sunday later and I haven't had a chance to read anything.  Excuse me while I crack open International Artist.

NaBloPoMo

No, I am not typing with mittens on.  The title is correct.  I just discovered November is National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo.  I knew of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  My sister is a writer and partakes every year in the writing frenzy.  I was oblivious to the blogging event.

Catherine Carey mentioned daily posting today and I thought  "Wow, she's brave, especially in the busy month of November."  That rolled around in my brain a few minutes until I decided to check it out at BlogHer.  Hmmm - supposed to be taking little leaps on this journey.  Plus, I'd conveniently already accidentally posted on day one of NaBloPoMo.  Perhaps, in some odd way, this relates to yesterday's post about doing something every day - badly or otherwise?  Well, what the heck, let's just do it!  I signed up and put the badge on my blog and here we go.  Now I have to put away Halloween stuff, pick out carpet, do dishes and check on the caterpillars before I can make some time to make art to share this month.

2 down... 28 more to go.

Just Do It! . . . badly

"If something is worth doing, it's worth doing badly."

Though an odd twist on an old saying, after viewing the TED talk by Elizabeth Perry, it makes sense.  She wanted to learn to draw and began drawing daily... nine years ago.  She has never missed a day and is one of my inspirations.  Check out the video - "Do something badly" on her blog - quite inspiring.  Really, go watch it and then come back.

Ms. Perry's three bits of advice - draw every day, don't erase, don't criticize - can apply to many things.  What do you want to learn?  What dream are you chasing?  Do it every day.  Learn from your mistakes.  Don't tear yourself down.

An entertaining follow-up... This London artist sketches with a typewriter.  She is remarkably talented.  Intriguing, but I don't aspire to learn this skill.   Speaking only for myself - typewriter sketching is not worth doing badly.  My artistic agenda is plenty full without it.

Update: The video link has disappeared.  However, you can read about the artist and her work at her website - keirarathbone.com. 

Capturing Critters

Saturday afternoon was intended for garden cleaning.  Seven little distractions halted that plan.  

While pulling out parsley, I noticed a yellow-dotted caterpillar clinging motionless to the nearby dill.  Closer inspection revealed six more.  Either my activity or the falling temperature had slowed them.  I touched one and his little yellow horns flared out.  My inner child squealed with delight (really, I didn't do that out loud).  I dashed inside and brought out my bag of sketchbooks, pens & colored pencils.  I also texted my butterfly savvy sister & niece for advice.  The light was fading and temperature falling.  One quick caterpillar sketch and a bit of color and no time for more.  I plucked the dill, creatures and all, and placed it into the jars.  They're all hanging out in the garage now, munching the dill and getting closer to chrysalis stage.  We've done this a couple of times before and released the butterflies in the spring, but never with so many at once.  I'm a little bit excited.

I intended to draw more and still hoping I can do so before the little buggers change.  Homework for the pottery class prevents me from doing so now.  Time gets away from us.  Regardless, I'm glad I stole a few minutes to record the moment.

Throwing Dishes from the Roller Coaster

Okay - someone please find the roller coaster operator.  He's been away eating deep-fried Twinkies too long and it's time to give the riders a break.  Oy vey.

Life itself is one heck of an amusement ride (not always so amusing), but lets just focus on ART360 and yesterday's up/down-fest.  Our most recent lesson was bowls and sgraffito.  I finished the sgraffito carving on my split & rejoined bowls yesterday.  When you see the pictures, yes, the bowl is supposed to be noticeably grafted together.  I thoroughly enjoyed the carving and scraping.  Then, as usual, I was dreading moving on to the next lesson - throwing plates.  I was just getting the hang of bowls!  Why do we HAVE to move on?  Well, you know what I love about plates?  Plates don't have sides that go up!  My issues with wobbling off center as the sides get higher is not an issue with plates.  Yahoo!  I created one rather decent plate and am looking forward to Thursday's class.  However, we also will be making and using stencils for the first time.  Sigh.  Another new method to learn.  More angst of the unknown. I'm sure I'll be fine again when I figure out what I'm doing.  I only wish there weren't so many downs between the ups.

Photos from the classroom:

The dark side will be black.  The lighter side will turn dark blue when fired and the stoneware will show through where the leaves and stems are carved away.

There has to be some kind of metaphor here with bowls cut apart and grafted together to make something interesting and lovely.  It's not coming to me now.  Maybe when that slacker ride operator gets back I'll figure it out.

What a Difference a Year Makes

I took the weekend off from everything except laundry and football.  Me and the hubby hung out in the living room trying to banish evil cold germs.  Sipping Sleepytime Sinus Soother tea with honey tonight and feeling maybe almost human again.  I scanned through a few days of blog posts and discovered one artist, Shari Blaukopf, is celebrating two years of blogging.  Her art & blog are a steady inspiration.  Today she inspired me to reflect on the past year.

September 24, 2012: One rusty artist starts a quest with no real idea where it will lead.

Follow-through is not one of my great traits.  This blog, intended to keep me accountable, has done just that.  I have not always fleshed out grand plans hatched in this blog, but I'm still at it.  I don't sketch every day, but I do every week.  A few times a week is better than a few times a decade.

What came out of the tackle box so far:

public sketching chutzpah

"Artist" print prize

vacation sketching

artsy Christmas gifts

illustrated Christmas letter 

virtual watercolor class 

family ancestor drawing

studio space   

college pottery class  

Sketchbook Project

two newly filled sketchbooks

a few readers inspired to draw or create

bravery with sidewalk art

a whole bunch of found moments to sketch

I've been beating myself up for not sketching enough.  Daily sketching is still a goal, but it's reassuring to see that list.  Thank you to my family and friends for your support and indulgence.  I am blessed.

Here's one of the found moments this past summer - a quick sketch of the newly cleaned combine as I waited for the guys to finish up a repair.

October 14, 2013:  Time to warm up my tea and continue the journey.