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11-21-04 Susan and all those new to this list, new to clay or
new to the concept that being an artist is a God Given
Right and not just the privilege of the rich.
Now all those links I sent through I use all the time
in the process of teaching. But no matter what is on
any of those other sites it is not as important as
what you have right there with you. If you were turned
out of bed naked in the middle of a rainy night you
will still have this important thing.
Yourself, your mind, your dreams and hopes.
That is more important than all the books and sites
and demos and retreats and spending money and
resources. The most important tool is your hands.
Then ask yourself what rolls around inside of you
needs to be said? What do YOU want to make? That's the
real question. You're the Boss at your work table.
Doll House and Room boxes and miniatures are where we
live out our dreams. My Dream Boat Traveling Companion
has his traveling Room box.
http://www.norajean.com/New_Projects/Kai3-NewDigs/Index.htm
if that link breaks we go to Tiny URL to shorten it
http://tinyurl.com
http://tinyurl.com/2q4er Kai's new digs
are there too.
Dreams, ya that's the big deal with miniatures. One of
the main reasons why it's important that we be kind to
ourselves and to others on the list, we are dealing
with dreams here.
Home, hearth, mom, wish fulfillment, time travel,
alternate worlds, all that is tied up with miniatures.
It's tender territory. Look to the Ancient Egyptians
to see how long the history is with miniatures. Look
to the Venus of Wollendorf.
Other polymer clay lists will cover tips and
techniques.
Here we work more on nurturing the artist that is
within all of us. God gave us the urge to fiddle with
stuff. Creative urges are divine in origin I believe.
My work here is a sacred trust, a mission of sorts,
for I believe to nurture and protect the artist brings
me blessings.
Artists don't have to make things for sale purposes
only. Artists make things because it answers a call
that comes from within. Artists make things because
they can't NOT make the thing that wakes them in the
middle of the night with whispers of...
what if we did this....
Now there's all sorts of discussion about Craft VS
Art. I feel it's a tempest in a tea pot really.
You need to get a grip on the CRAFT of any medium to
begin to express your dreams.
When you take the CRAFT and push it through your
sensibilities, your values, your wishes and dreams,
what comes out is ART.
Some folks take their dreams, don't master the CRAFT,
and come out with Folk Art, Outsider Art, Art Brute.
Grandma Moses is the most famous primitive artist in
America and everyone knows about her.
Well there's primitive artists expressing very
meaningful stuff before they have mastered the CRAFT
of polymer clay. I feel these budding artists are the
most precious. New clayer's first works are wondrous
for it repeats the discovery process we all have to go
through.
There's a reflection of primitive human expression in
the work of contemporary artists who are new to a
medium, especially a medium like polymer clay. What
the hands of a human wrought will feel good in the
hands of another human. That's why covered eggs are so
delicious to make and to receive as a gift.
Do you know of that saying...
Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny
Where the changes in the womb mirror the evolution of
humans? It's considered a myth with the scholars in
biological sciences, but it leads me to another
avenue.
In a book called "The Origins and History of
Consciousness" by Erich Neumann, forward written by
Karl Jung. http://tinyurl.com/533fc
that's the
Amazon.com link for the book.
That Recapitulation is seen in societies of humans.
What societies mirror are growth phases of one human.
There's societies that are like 2 year olds... what's
mine is mine, what's yours is mine too. There are
mature societies where empathy and compassion, self
sacrifice and charity are part of the rites and
rituals.
But what is the most important thing that Neumann
found is no matter where you find humans there is a
universal link in the mythology that humans make.
Take the Circle, all the symbolism of Yin and Yang,
the Circle of the Native American mythology, the Zen
circle or Indian Mandala... this circle is the first
unfocused burst of light each human sees when born.
Yuppie Puppies in NYC to babies carried in netted bags
over the backs of yam farmwomen in Papua New Guinea
the coming to consciousness is the same for all
humans.
Human brains develop the same given the opportunity so
it stands to reason that the myths of societies far
from each other would bare some similarity.
Ok, so what's the point of that?
Who wrote the myths? Who created the cave drawings?
Who sculpted the fertility statues?
Those pesky humans, whose brain has not changed in
60,000 years. Our brothers and sisters.
When we pick up polymer clay for the first time, tap
into the spirit of the cave dwellers. Come to see what
a human hand will make given half the chance to
discover the properties of the medium.
Your discovery process starts here, with stepping back
from expectations which could lead to disappointment.
I want you to become a child again, open, curious,
delighted with just squishing clay. From that point of
view you will discover what feels good in your hand,
which colors you love, which designs that mean
something to you.
By discovering what polymer clay can do with mixing
colors, testing designs, you start to build up a
pallet of colors that please you the most. You design
things that please you the most. Sculpt what you love
and the work of learning how to sculpt will be a labor
of love and not a chore. My hope is with the tutorials
and the demos you can have help with technique.
Content is your business, your dream visions that want
to take shape.
My other job here is to goose your muse,
So consider your muse goosed,
xoxo
NoraJean Stone (formerly "Gatine")
AKA Fearless Leader |
