Another Reason to Find YOUR Voice

Once again, the issue of voice arises. What makes your work identifiably yours, and belonging to no one else? And why in the world is it such a big deal?

When you first start out, voice is hard to grasp, or develop. Technique takes center stage. But you know you are seeing it when you can look at a picture and immediately identify it as belong to a specific person. Or, your mouth drops open when you see something for the first time, and you gasp. Or you just feel compelled to touch. You can't stop the "oooohhh..." from floating out of your mouth.

Why am I bringing it up again? I was listening to the radio this morning in the car on the way to an appointment. The conversation was about our dependence on oil from other countries, and whether or not we could become energy independent. At one point in the discussion, a light bulb clicked on in my head. The guest on the program spoke about how oil is a commodity like iPod's, flowers, or rice. And people will buy a commodity based on price, availability and convenience.

The question that immediately popped into my head was, "Can craft be a commodity?" And, I am sure you know the answer, "Yes." Without a doubt. I instantly thought of the many, many jewelry artists I have seen making fused dichroic glass. At one time, there was a "wow" factor to it. But now, unless the artist has created a unique way of incorporating the glass into the piece of jewelry, there is no compulsion to buy from one artist versus another, unless it is based on price, convenience, or perhaps personal relationship.

The same can be said of so many other craft objects. If you go to enough craft shows, you will see many of the same things, again and again. But, at that same show, there will be a few artists that pull you in. They are doing something that is different and unique. As I write about this, I can think of several artists right off the top of my head whose work has that flavor. They range from ceramics to sculpture to jewelry. Their work stays in my head because it was so fresh and unique, and their style speaks to me on some level. I have to stop, and look and maybe even buy.

My daughter is beginning to dabble in photography. We have had lots of conversations lately about photographs, and one thing she has said repeatedly, is that a picture of a sunset is not art....unless you are somehow looking at it in a new and fresh way. We were at the New Hampshire Craftsman's Guild Show last week, and she saw some pictures of boats tied up to a dock. Four or five rowboats of various colors. You know the picture, I am sure. She loved it. I preferred the picture of the sole boat, white, tied to a buoy in a mist. Monochromatic, and definitely one with a mood. It was a twist on the boat picture. I pointed it out to her. She loved the one with all the colors. This was in the first tent we visited.

As we walked the show, she started to notice several other photographers with essentially the same picture. That image had become commoditized. Buying one versus another would likely be based more on price than on anything else. She now looked at that picture as just another sunset shot.

Is that why you want someone to buy your work? Because you have the best price on this object. An object that can be found in subtle variations, from multiple sources. I don't. I want them to buy it because the love it. Because if they don't buy it, it will stay in their head. They will wish they had it.

There are times that the commodity item fills the bill nicely. And there are plenty of successful businesses built on making and selling commodity type items. But, if you are going to be in that market, recognize the competition will be fierce, and you will always be squeezed on price. Your creative energy will likely be focused more on cost cutting than on design innovations. If the business side of things is what excites you the most, that might be just the right fit for you. If, on the other hand, it is the art, or creative side that makes you get out of bed in the morning, then avoiding be just another commodity is essential to your success.

We all have a voice. A unique set of experiences and inspirations. How does your work reflect the path of your life? Does it? If it doesn't, then perhaps it is time to spend some play time in the studio. Experimenting. Asking "What if?" When you find it, you will know. It will be singing to you loud and clear, asking, "Where have you been? I've been waiting for you!" And then, the party will really begin!

Hammer and Nail

Have you heard the expression, "if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail"? I think if you immerse yourself deeply enough into your media, the world starts to get translated by what you can do with that medium.

Today I went to the first day of my print making class. I have been interested in printmaking for a long time, but it never seemed to come together. Either the class was cancelled due to low enrollment, or the timing didn't work with my schedule. I am excited about the possibilities of playing around with this new process. It can't be too surprising that I was quickly jumping to the conclusion that I could create print plates with polymer clay. :-)

I find the books I buy, and the classes I am most interested in taking are seldom ones that are directly about polymer clay. There is something about exploring a new media and the ways in which it is used that makes me rethink my familiar ground.

It is like when you travel to a new place. The sights, sounds, smells, tastes, colors are all new. There is so much to take in. It heightens your awareness. When you get back to familiar, and comfortable ground, some of the new is bound to seep in. There is a new appreciation for that home ground, but there is also a fresh perspective, a new insight. For me, this idea of looking in unfamiliar places is the best way to keep my creative juices flowing.

I may just end up playing for several weeks with this new process. And I don't know which way the influence will go.....will polymer clay influence my printmaking process, or will printmaking influence my polymer clay work? Either way, I am looking forward to this creative holiday. I be sure to share some of what I create along the way.

Chess Anyone??

It is my youngest daughter's birthday today. She is 12 years old, and she is a terrific kid. She is a voracious reader. Some of her favorite books are about dragons, or about fantasy. Tarmar Pierce's books, or the Dragonology books. She is currently reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series.

This summer she learned to play chess, and was pretty good at it, and enjoyed it. So when I went away for a week long retreat in August, I decided to take these two interests, and create a very special chess set for her birthday. I finished all the pieces, but one king, and one queen, while I was there. I tried to make a board for her, but it did not work out as planned, and will need to be revisited when I have a bit more time. But I have a beautiful wood chess board that my dad had made. He never made the pieces to go with the board, so this works out nicely.

I have not done much sculpting with polymer clay, so the task was a little bit intimidating at first. But, since this was not something I was selling, and I knew no matter what I did, she would appreciate it, it took away a lot of the pressure.

If you ever decide to do a chess set, I can share a bit of what I learned. Some of it along the way, and some of it from the wisdom of Maureen Carlson, who has made a few chess sets, and is a whiz at sculpting with polymer clay.

1. Figure out a design theme, or concept. Your pieces can be figures, or abstract. In my case, with fantasy as the theme, I knew right away that I was going to make the knights as dragons. The bishops became wizards, and the pawns were either toadstools or cauldrons, depending on if it was the side of dark or light.

2. Figure out how you are going to distinguish one side from the other. You can go with the classic black and white, or other contrasting colors and/or tones. I decided to make one side black, white and grey. And the other side colorful.

3. Size matters. there is a hierarchy to the sizes of chess pieces, and you want your pieces to conform to that hierarchy so that a player will not be confused as the pieces becomes scattered on the board in play. The king and queen are the tallest pieces, followed by the bishops, knights, rooks and pawns.

4. Balance and Space. The pieces are moved around in play, and for that to happen easily there are two things to consider. The pieces have to be well balanced so they do not easily topple over during play. I found making a base on many of the pieces helped with the balance, and the ease of sliding a piece on the board in play.

The pieces also need to stay within their own geography, vertically. This tip from Maureen was a huge help. You need to consider the size of the squares right from the beginning, and then make sure that your pieces do not extend outside that space, not just at the base, but extending vertically upward.

5. Make all of a particular pieces at one time. If you are making the bishops, work on all of them together. This will help you make sure they are uniform in size and in construction. I did find that my abilities to sculpt improved as a worked through a series of pieces. The last wizard I sculpted is the one both my daughters fell in love with. Even though I did not finish the last king and queen until nearly two months later, I made the basic body form and head at the same time as the completed ones. I knew that they were going to be the right size. I saved some of the clay used for the head to make my arms and hands so that they would match the face. So when it came time to finish, I just had to make the robes, hair, crown, arms, and base. All things that were either easy enough to replicate, or had room for variation.

6. Break a few rules! This is my own personal rule. My pawns are different designs on each side. And the cauldrons break the color rule by having a yellow green brew bubbling inside. But both sets are similar in size, and each set of pawns stays with the fantasy theme. In the end, it works. If I had forced myself to come up with an idea that would work in both black and white, and in color, I doubt I would have been as satisfied with the end result. And that lime green brew is just so perfect!

It was fun to go outside the work I usually do, and play with sculpting a bit. Most of us start out with this sense of play and exploration in our medium, but we can sometimes lose touch with that. Making a gift for family or friends is always a way to play again, and go outside our usual comfort zone. And the hug I got this morning was worth all the time spent on the project!

Physically Back

I am back from my trip to Colorado. But jet lag, and sleep deprivation have taken their toll. I expect to be moving slowly the next few days. Doing laundry, unpacking, and priortizing. Making a few phone calls. Nothing too overwhelming.

The week was one of exploration. I played with a bit of sculptural work...a chess set! It is not done yet, but is well on it's way to completion. I had fun playing with this, and it came out better than I expected. I also played with repousse and kumihimo.

Judy Belcher kindly shared her tools and materials to teach us a bit about repousse. She had recently seen a demonstration, and brought along the supplies to our retreat. Repousse is a form of metal embossing, working with tools on both sides of a sheet of metal to create a three dimensional image. I had a lot of fun with this, and see that it could be a great way to create forms to make molds to use with metal clay, or polymer clay. And the metal forms themselves could be used inset in polymer to create jewelry, or boxes. There is definitely more to explore here.

I learned Kumihimo braiding from Klew. I have always loved to play with fibers, and this was a fun new twist (literally!) on using fiber, for me. I plan to teach my daughter this technique. She loves to knit and crochet, and I think she will take to this quickly and easily. (Postscript: I taught my daughter how to do it yesterday, when this post was originally written. Since then she has made four pieces, and I will be lucky if I can get my hands on the tool again!)

The week was wonderful and overwhelming, and I have much to process. In the meantime, I think I have a load of laundry ready for the dryer.

Leaving on a Jet Plane....

"My bags are packed. I'm ready to go...." Well, almost! I'm going computer free for the next week. No email. No blogging. Just play!

During the late 1980's and the early 90's, I traveled a fair amount. I had the drill down. Back then, garment bags were de rigeur for the frequent flyer. No need to check your bag. That was for amateurs. Just stuff it in the overhead bin. Well, we all know things have changed in the world of air travel. Now, everyone has one of those rolling black bags. I got one for myself when I headed for Las Vegas for the ACRE show this spring. Not the size that can be brought on board.

As I waited in Baggage Claim for my bag, I watched one black suitcase after another come down onto the carousel. Trying to figure out which bag was mine was a challenge. Ending up with the wrong black bag seemed to be a higher probability than I was comfortable with. Plus, somehow, that black back just seem to be more corporate than I felt now.

So, I did what we are always taught not to do when we are children. I painted my suitcase....or a part of it anyway. Now, when that suitcase comes sliding down onto the carousel, I will know who it belongs to.

My kids are learning to break rules around here. Painting my suitcase. Drawing on shirts. What kind of a parent am I?? I hope one that teaches them there are choices in life, and it is okay to go your own way if that is where your heart is leading you.

Have a great week!

Attachment

Last night my thirteen year-old daughter had a meltdown...pretty normal for a thirteen year-old girl, right? She managed to annoy every single person in our house trying to convince them how important it was that she slept in a certain bed at my mother's house on Cape Cod. She had all sorts of rationale. If my mother sold the house, which she is considering, and she does not sleep in that bed, then she may never have a chance again. She called it first. She never gets to sleep in that bed......and on and on, with the emotional intensity that only adolescence can bear on such a problem.

This morning it occurred to me that her struggle is about attachment. Attachment to a specific outcome. Without that outcome, she will not possibly enjoy herself....and of course we all are mean to not understand!

And as I was able to separate from the moment and see what was going on, I could also see how we as artists can fall into this trap of attachment. We get an idea. We start working on it, and it doesn't go as planned. Or it doesn't look the way we hoped it would. We have become so attached to the idea, that we are no longer open to other possibilities. It is good or it is terrible. And if it is terrible, it means we are untalented and foolish. I suppose we could say we are adolescent artists when we fall into this trap. :-)

When I learned to let go of attachment to outcome, my work grew the most, and the ideas flowed more easily. I make crap, just like anyone else. Remember Art & Fear? There is a certain need for volume of production to get to the really good stuff. But not feeling too strongly attached to the bad....or the good... is what helps us be open to the exploratory process that is so critical to creativity. We invest so much of our emotions into each piece of work we create, that sometimes we can't just look at it for what it is.

When we are overly attached to an outcome we can not see that we have permission to veer off of our original path. We do not have to always go the same way. When we hit a roadblock, it is an opportunity. An opportunity to discover something you might never have thought about otherwise.

When we are overly attached, our work can be come stuck. Fixed in place. Immutable. We are not open to exploring new paths that reach out from where we are right now. Do you remember as a kid, how much of play was about "exploring". That is the same excitement and openness we need to bring to our work.

This morning, my daughter seemed to have gained some perspective, and her sister may have also responded to my suggestion that she could have a bit of flexibility. Whatever the reason, the drama of last night has evaporated. The car has been loaded, and they are on their way to the Cape for two weeks. I hope to join them for a day or two, later in the week. And then it will be off to Colorado for a week.....no computer, no e-mail.....a real change of scenery. I don't know what to expect, but I am open to the possibilities!

Saturday Smiles

This is from a portfolio called Dreams of Flying by Jan Von Hollenben. I just love the idea. Click on the picture to see the rest of the portfolio.

The Reveal

I teased yesterday. Today, I reveal.

I am calling these "Ultra Pods" for their resemblence to seed pods, and the material they are made up (Sculpey Ultralight).

I must have put these silly things together two dozen ways before I started to figure out where I was going with this. But that is part of the creative process, isn't it? We get an idea, and start exploring it. Roadblocks are inevitable. I can't think of many ideas that went according to plan right from conception.

I could have said, "It didn't work. What was I thinking." But there was something there that intrigued me. I wanted to push it a bit further, and continue to play with it. Using various materials to string them, and multiple arrangements and methods. For me, this is one of the most engaging parts. It is frustrating at times to be sure, but it also is a challenge. A puzzle to be solved. Sometimes I would think I had it worked out, and then I would find out there was a problem with how a piece would lay or hang. A continuous cycling.

Even work that I have been doing for a few years now is cycling and evolving. Tweaking, playing, exploring the what-ifs. On one level it can be frustrating. There is little time to rest and settle. But on another level, it is what keeps me engaged in the work. It is not static. It is alive and vital as the process.

Have you given yourself a play day lately? Maybe it is time? And when you play, do you let yourself go down the dead ends without out recrimination? That is where the discoveries happen, and where the real fun can be sometimes. I have puzzles that are still unsolved. Some may stay that way forever. But others will resurface at another time, when I have learned something new, or seen something that triggers a potential solution for me. But the play is essential. The studio as laboratory. Playing. Experimenting. Learning and discovering.

New Stuff

I have hinted at how frantically I have been working lately getting ready for shows. From all of this has emerged some new work that I am pretty excited about. I finally have updated my website.....very long overdue,.....and posted lots of new pictures. But here are few of my favorites......



I like how the koi seem to be swimming across the surface of these pieces.



The pod pieces were the new work that evolved out of an experiment last week. I had been working in my head about how to do some jewelry without the black frame. I have experiment to varying degrees of success with the pod idea in the past. The idea of a pod that is open, or opening is part of what appeals to me. The larger piece on the right is actually a pin with a converter to make it into a pendant.

Hope you like them!

Blog Addiction

I am a blog addict. I confess. I can't seem to get on the internet without a quick visit to some of my favorite blogs. And then the list begins to grow. You start clicking on those links on the side. The next think you know another 30, ...60,...or more minutes are gone. But I continue to need my fix everyday.

One of my favorites is Polymer Clay Daily. I was lucky enough to find her blog fairly early on and I have been a regular reader ever since. As a polymer clay artist, it is fun to see all the other work that is being done out there. It is interesting how a sense of community builds up around a blog like this. Cynthia is posting all this wonderful information, but there are those in the background who are sending her links, or adding comments. Visiting her site makes me feel a bit more connected to that community.

Cynthia's blog led me to Susan Rose's two blogs. The Empty Vessel
was my first discovery. And it was love at first sight. The elegance of the whole site reflects the amazing work she has highlighted on the site. Some of it makes me smile, some of it makes me gasp in amazement. I always feel a bit enriched by visiting this site. It is incredible the variety of ways that a vessel can be created.

Susan's other blog, Polymer Clay Notes is just a treasure trove of wonderful inspirations. From pictures, to videos, to links to tutorials or places to play. My kids and I developed a serious addition to the tile making site she posted a while back. For a while my kids were suspecting I was spending way too much time on the internet when I was showing them all these cool sites. But then they found out my source.... I love how Susan finds all sorts of things that are not directly polymer clay related, and yet, they can get those brain cells clicking about possibilities in polymer. And like Cynthia's blog, there is the community of people who visit regularly and send her links.

Another recent favorite was found on the Molymerclay blog. Molly has a link to Christine Kane's blog that has become one of my favorites. Christine is a musician from North Carolina. And she has a great sensibility. Some of my recent favorite posts were the about traveling and delays, and one about mistakes bloggers make . The last one is one I am sure to visit again and again, as I try to learn more about this whole blogging thing! Like what is the html code to use so I don't have to put the links in parentheses in a paragraph, and is there a way I can avoid the messiness of html code?! And what is this whole RSS feed thing about anyway? And don't get me started on stats. For anyone who blogs, this entry is a great read.

Want some studio envy? Cruise on over to Libby Mill's blog and see the pictures she posted of her new studio. Tell me you do not want to work in a space like that? Libby is one lucky lady....but she is a sweetie, and deserves it! Now we want to see pictures of what gets created in that space....hint, hint!

That ought to waste an hour or so of your time! Have fun.

Loose Ends

I have been playing a bit today. Trying to bring a few projects to closure, and just playing. One of the things I was playing with is one-inch squares. If you follow some the mixed media activity, one-inch squares are the latest thing since ATC's.

ATC's, for those who have not stumbled across them yet are Artist Trading Cards. They started out with artists creating small works of art; drawings, paintings, etc., on a playing card. So they were a standard size, perfect for trading and collecting. They have branched into many other media including polymer clay. We had an ATC swap at the Klay Karma retreat in 2005, and it was a big hit. Trading of ATC's in all sorts of media continues to be active.



One inch squares are just what they sound like. One inch squares decorated in a variety of ways. Usually when they are traded, they are traded in batches of ten or one hundred. The idea is to have a large enough collection to group them together in some sort of presentation.



So I decided to spend some time just playing with one-inch squares. I have lots of remnants of clay left when I am making cranes, so it was easy for me to come up with a nice assortment of squares. After curing them I had to decide what to do with them. I had a shadow box that would have been perfect....but last week that went to the masks I received in Sarajane Helm's miniature mask swap. (www.polyclay.com).





Looking around the studio I found a few of those wide framed mirrors from IKEA. The mirror is probably only 4 inches square. But it has a big wide frame. Perfect. I covered the frame with black clay. Gave it a bit of texture and cured it, and then mounted the squares on the black clay. I finished it with a few smaller, textured squares around the edge. Pretty cool, huh?




There was a method to my madness, besides just playing of course. For those of you who are going to be going to Klay Karma 2007 in New Hampshire, in July, we are looking at doing a one inch square swap. Formally and informally. We have not finalized the details of the swap yet, but if you heading to the retreat this summer, it is not too soon to start thinking about what you might do on your one-inch squares. Texture? Mokume gane? Faux? Millefiore? Start thinking, and we will fill you in on the details later.

I will not be at the retreat this year. I will be doing the Guilford Craft Expo that weekend in Guilford, CT. I was excited to get into the show, but disappointed that it was going to conflict with the retreat. But I am working on the committee planning the event. So at least I will know what I am missing!