Visiting the Past

Time did not stop in the present while I went back into the early 60's in Israel, scooping up memories of bare minimalism for the exhibition in May, called "Israeli Made". I revisited those moments of discovering that everything we had known about clothes and utensils up until our arrival in Israel, was foreign and alien and just did not fit in here. Plain and simple was the new order.
As I remembered in clay, nostalgia took over and brought back all newly sculpted garments, shoes and accessories, souvenirs of the simplicity of Israel in the days we now remember as charming. But they were so difficult then.
I remembered the days at Alonei Yitzchak, as new arrivals, visiting the laundry to pick up clothes for the week, and finding it hilarious that we were not allowed to wear a white shirt except for the Sabath. Ata, Maskit, Dafna, Nimrod, these were the brands of the day. That word didnt exist in our vocabulary, but the uniformity and strange rules did. At the time I would never have believed that the strangeness would one day inspire me. A month ago, I had no idea that working with these memories would connect me strongly to such deep roots.

Working with focus and direction

There are times when the morning starts with a definite idea and theme and I barely make it through the rituals of shower/teeth/coffee, and in fact often go straight into the studio on the way to the bathroom and hours later, remember I have forgotten the order of starting the day, so caught up am I in the work and current project.
Then there are times like the past two weeks, when technique is the project itself, and nothing really materializes as a full blown direction. I have been back and forth and in and out of the studio a million times a day, doing little things here and there and wondering when the drive will kick in. Sometimes, it turns out, it comes with direction and focus given by an outside source.
I had been considering the work for a new group exhibition, called "Totseret Haaretz" or "Israeli Made" and going back and forth without a decision. Two words of direction from the curator and ZING, it all falls into place and I have the drive and energy back in place.
Despite the cost of taking part in exhibitions, and the obvious advantages and enjoyment of showing my work, there is an added value. Having a theme and a deadline - in fact a limit on creativity, does, sometimes, set off the ignition and a chain reation of great ideas.

The next best thing

The next best thing to following your dreams, is making compromises you can live with. I could be talking about my dream of creating large edifices in paper clay - then making do with a combination of this and regular clay, or carrying on with what I love anyhow, all kinds of earthenware clay. But I am not.
I am looking for the compromise between being a creative artist who wakes up in the morning to the joy of teaching and or creating a new collection, and looking for a job to earn a feasible living , which will not need complete dedication of all of my time. If I could do that, it would be the next best thing, and I would be fine.

However, and there was an obvious" but " here, I still haven't found this next best thing. After two and a half months I am still unemployed. Who would have thought that a 58 year old with a clear idea of the perfect part time job ( well paid, interesting , flexible , very little filing, working for a sweetheart of a boss), would not find this all waiting around the corner ?
What happened to The Secret? Here I am believing i will find the perfect job, the kind I want ; where is the law of attraction sending it? Could there be someone out there who wants it more than I do? Or perhaps dare I doubt its existence?
Well, if any of you happen to know of a post in translating, merchandising, correspondence, or whatever can be done freelance or part time, LET ME KNOW .

I in the meantime will continue trying to follow my dream while waiting for the next best thing.

Combined use of paper clay - prefire Painting

Paper clay sheets which have been dried on the plaster bats serve as great canvases. I had to be careful with the amount of wet glazes and underglazes used on the greenware. as it did start decomposing when it got too wet.
For my first trial I went for something really simple with a water color look, but it will be interesting to try more complex painting or the lazertan (www.lazertran.com) transfer paper to print my digital art onto these sheets, either before or after firing. The rough edges give a recycled paper look ( well, it basically is - its made from old newspapers and will have a rougher look once the paper has burned out) a kind of trompe l'oeil - because it will be a light weight ceramic tile.

Combined use of paper clay - prefire

The most recent batch of paper clay is dwindling, as I experiment, using it in conjunction with other clays. Here I used it to form an airy base for a small sculpture. Since the paper clay is pretty sturdy as greenware, it can be used to hold some weight despite its open work.

Using a bowl shaped plaster base to structure the coils on, I placed the sculptures in the right shape to fit the paper clay base.

Back to Blogger, back to sculpting

Back to sculpture after some weeks of trying out new combinations of paper and clay, ( not having given up on finding ways to make molds and castings but taking a break from that).
All of a sudden I realized that my restlessness and general feeling of discontent stem directly from NOT having sat down quietly to sculpt per se in a week or two. I obviously need the chemical exuded by my brain at the touch of my fingers to clean, soft, pliable, fresh clay and a couple of hours of following my heart to where it wants to go.
I have to say that the time spent was not wasted at all. Using paper clay in combination with my clay sculptures, offers possibilities unworkable before. I am soaring on the wings of ideas and working happily again. I will soon see how connecting between the regular clay and the paper mix works in firing but for the duration of the process of creating it, I will go blindly into the joy it brings.