Quote of the Week

The impetus for Sacra Sancta:

"In India, I have seen a red ring put around a stone, and then the stone becomes regarded as an incarnation of the mystery. Usually you think of things in practical terms, but you could think of anything in terms of its mystery. . . .That is the point of what is called consecration."

~Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

Some Days. . .

Most days I feel like this:


But then there are the days when I feel more like this:

Bob Ebendorf Gala and Silent Auction

Saturday night I got all gussied up and went to Bob's Gala/Silent Auction. It was a lot of fun and I got to hang out with a bunch of good friends that I don't get to see very often. There was SO much amazing work in the auction, I couldn't resist bidding on a couple pieces. I even won this sweet silver and silk necklace by Caroline Gore! My brooch went for $110, which isn't bad, but I would have like to have seen it go a bit higher. I got to talk to the woman who bought it though, which was cool. She had also won the Elizabeth Turrell piece. I'm kind of excited to think that my piece is in the same personal collection with an Elizabeth Turrell.

The food was good, and dessert was AMAZING, and we even got to see a bit of the interview they filmed here this summer with Bob, for the Governor's Award. I was in it, for about 3 seconds in my space, wearing my grody apron and gesturing wildly with this half finished electroform in my hand. I have no idea what I was doing, or what I was talking about.

So many people came out to support Bob. It was really great to see. Here's a shot of all the current ECU students and ECU alumni with our wonderful metals faculty. There's no denying it, we're a sexy bunch!


Happy Tuesday!

Quote of the Week

"I am the taste in the waters,
the radiance in the sun
and in the rabbit marked-moon,"

~The Seventh Discourse of the Bhagavad Gita

Progress Report

I feel like I've been fairly productive lately. That being said, I'm not really sure what I've produced. I did a lot of geology this week and a little thesis reading. I made some quick production pieces for the upcoming holiday sale and I've done A LOT of baking the past couple weeks. Today it was for the Metals Guild Charm/Bake Sale. I made a bunch of prints over the weekend, and a couple today, and I sewed a purse. I just have to finish the handles.

We introduced our final project in the Enameling class this week, and I'm super excited about the assignment Ken and I came up with. We're doing champleve, and the assignment is to create a piece based on a favorite song or piece of music. How cool is that?! I'm so excited about this project, that I decided to make a piece for it too. (Thesis? What thesis?) My song is "The Rabbit, the Bat and the Reindeer" by Dr. Dog, so I've been working on champleve rabbits this week. Hey, I had to demo on something, right? I only wish my students were more pumped about this project, 'cause most of them aren't.

I've also been chipping away at Salt in the Soul. I'm getting closer to getting the results I want. I have to plug the holes with wax, and I think I'm going to enamel these forms, instead of using the liver of sulfer. It just doesn't hold up to the salt water the way I want it too. Plus, I might try submerging them, to get them good and crusty.

Dr. Matthew Fox Lecture

So I went to a really spectacular lecture last night on "Reinventing Christianity" by Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox. I found out about it sort of last minute, but it sounded applicable to my thesis work (and free!), so I decided to check it out.

I'm really glad I did. It was really incredible for me in a way that's hard to articulate. He spoke about religion, theology, spirituality, science, education, creativity and mysticism. Seriously, it was everything that's in my brain right now regarding the work and everything I try to put in the work. Fox was a theologian of the Dominican order, but he spoke about the Eastern religions quite a bit, Taoism, Buddhism, and Hinduism, the yin and yang and the chakras. This was really good for me to hear since over the past few months I feel I've been turning into a religious mutt. Taking what speaks to me from all of these places and more and making it my own.

He talked about inner work and meditation and how if we don't start doing more of it, we are doomed as a species. About what it means to be human and how "one must make room in one's heart for the wonders of the Universe." About how whenever we eat food, we are literally eating sunshine. About the backwardness of our current educational system.

He spoke at length about mysticism, and how the loss of mysticism has hurt Christianity and humanity. How there are more scientists who are mystics than there are ordained theologians who are mystics. About how artists are mystics. How Einstein, when asked at the end of his life if he had any regrets, stated that he wished he would have been exposed to the mystics earlier in life. I thought I had a pretty clear understanding of what it meant to be a mystic, but after this lecture I'm left wanting a better definition. Research ahead.

Fox also talked about creativity, and creativity and prayer. How you pray from your heart, but often in organized religion we're too busy reading other people's prayers at each other. What it's like to dance your prayers. And my thought is, if one can dance one's prayers, can't one make one's prayers?

I bought two of Fox's books, which I'm super excited about and I need to get my paws on another one, specifically about creativity. (Don't worry, I'm sure you'll see me on an episode of Intervention soon, regarding my book buying habit) This lecture was exactly the sort of thing I needed to hear. It was like the Universe saying "Hey Liz Steiner, you're on the right track. If you keep going you'll be ok." Which after a year of what felt like being constantly kicked in the pants by same said Universe, felt pretty good for a change.

Quote of the Week 2

"By this, may you
cause the gods to be;
and may the gods
cause you to be.
As you both
sustain each other,
you will reach
the higher good."

~ from the Third Discourse of The Bhagavad Gita

Quote of the Week

"Good art is a form of prayer. It's a way to say what is not sayable"

~Frederich Busch

Pictures!!!

Some shots of what I got accomplished today. Top, finished collaboration with Jennifer Wells for the CoOperative Tableware show, and bottom, slate and enamel brooch. This brooch is for a benefit auction, where proceeds will go to a scholarship to the ECU Metal Design program in Bob Ebendorf's name. I must say, I'm quite honored to be participating in this event.

600!

So a lousy home internet connection and a busted camera have led to a serious lack of posting. But still, I've somehow managed to reach 600 blog posts in just over three years. Wow, that's a lot of crap from my brain.

I knew that my 600th post was rapidly approaching, and the pressure was on to make it spectacular. I couldn't come up with anything that felt appropriate, especially since I can't take pictures right now. The pressure was to great, so I'm caving in and posting just the regular stuff.

It's mid semester funk. Everyone is sick and/or super stressed. There's bad studio juju all around, people melting stuff, over firing enamels, wishy-washy design decisions and temper tantrums. I spent most of Monday in my studio and all I managed to accomplish was a bunch of really gross enamels. Yesterday was a wasted day in printmaking. I could not get my gauche to do what I wanted it to. Today was better; I finished up a brooch for Bob's auction and got my flatware handles enameled. Now I just need to assemble them, photograph them and fill out the paper work. By Friday.

I'm lagging on the thesis work. Like I want to make everything BUT the thesis work. I just want to play, start something new, experiment. But now is not the time. And I still have a giant gross blister on my finger from when I burned it over three weeks ago. Ick.

So much for an incredible 600th post. Happy Wednesday.