We, in our immediate family, seem to discuss the serious, deeper things in life early in the morning over our first cup of coffee. The discussion some times stretches to a second and a third cup. This week we had a three cuppa conversation about the way humans tend to fight against the natural flow of life ..... which brought to mind a poem I love .................
Caroline Rannersberger. See exhibition here Passage by John Brehm In all the woods that day I was the only living thing fretful, exhausted, or unsure. Giant fir and spruce and cedar trees that had stood their ground three hundred years stretched in sunlight calmly unimpressed by whatever it was that held me hunched and tense above the stream, biting my nails, calculating all my impossibilities. Nor did the water pause to reflect or enter into my considerations. It found its way over and around a crowd of rocks in easy flourishes, in laughing evasions and shifts in direction. Nothing could slow it down for long. It even made a little song out of all the things that got in its way, a music against the hard edges of whatever might interrupt its going.
Julie Shackson. See more of Julie's work here and blog here "I look at a stream and I see myself; a South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth, and one day, disappear." - Miriam Makeba Miriam Makeba, nicknamed Mama Africa, was a Grammy Award-winning South African singer and civil rights activist. You might recognize Pata Pata, the click song, here
Map ed Veveiis, artist's book by Genevieve Seille "Hinges, by definition, are not autonomous -- they can exist by themselves, but for them to perform their function, fulfill their humble nature -- they rely upon other completely different, yet intertwined parts" - M. Snowe
Artists are known to be resourceful and will create their own hinges Some are as simple as a few loops or ties connecting several pieces together Others are more complicated.
Sue Brown creates the most beautiful enamelled concertina books and note books. See here and here and here.
I've enjoyed reading Neil Gaiman's thoughts on fragile things. "Stories, like people and butterflies and songbirds' eggs and human hearts and dreams, are also fragile things, made up of nothing stronger or more lasting than twenty-six letters and a handful of punctuation marks. Or they are words on the air, composed of sounds and ideas-abstract, invisible, gone once they've been spoken- and what would be more frail than that? But some stories, small, simple ones about setting out on adventures or people doing wonders, tales of miracles and monsters, have outlasted all the people who told them, and some of them have outlasted the lands in which they were created." - Neil Gaiman, Fragile Things
Exquisite porcelain pieces by Atsum Izumi "It occurs to me that the peculiarity of most things we think of as fragile is how tough they truly are. There were tricks we did with eggs, as children, to show how they were, in reality, tiny load-bearing marble halls ....." - Neil Gaiman
Atsum Izumi's porcelain pieces. See more here. "Hearts may break, but hearts are the toughest of muscles, able to pump for a lifetime, seventy times a minute, and scarcely falter along the way. Even dreams, the most delicate and intangible of things, can prove remarkably difficult to kill." - Neil Gaiman An inspiring video peaked my curiosity about Neil Gaiman. If you have the time, watch it here from beginning to end.
Cheryl Ann Thomas constructs her intriguing pieces by building tall thin vessels of coiled porcelain which when fired collapse and fold in on themselves.
There was a time before I started selling my totems.... (before I was brave enough to put them out there) when I created solely for myself. The walls of my little studio were lined with totem after totem stacked one against the other their weathered faces watching over me.
I discovered a quote by Wosene Kosrof which was an Aha! moment for me He said "The more I go to the studio, the more I create my spiritual crowd". I felt strongly that I had created my own spiritual crowd.
After my first exhibition my studio emptied It was a time to rejoice but I also experienced feelings of loss. Thankfully my work sells quickly. I am grateful that people feel a connection to my work and I wouldn't have it any other way..... but I do miss my spiritual crowd filling my studio with their silent chatter.
Setting out on a road trip. Weaver wondered about my neck of the woods, KwaZulu Natal. Click here and scroll to get a general idea of where I live.
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