Quote of the Week

Just stop thinking, worrying, looking over your shoulder wondering, doubting, fearing, hurting, hoping for some easy way out, struggling, grasping,…Stop it and just DO!…

Don’t worry about cool, make your own uncool. Make your own, your own world. If you fear, make it work for you – draw & paint your fear and anxiety…

You must practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty. Then you will be able to DO!…

Try to do some BAD work – the worst you can think of and see what happens but mainly relax and let everything go to hell – you are not responsible for the world – you are only responsible for your work – so DO IT. And don’t think that your work has to conform to any preconceived form, idea or flavor. It can be anything you want it to be…

I know that you (or anyone) can only work so much and the rest of the time you are left with your thoughts. But when you work or before your work you have to empty you [sic] mind and concentrate on what you are doing. After you do something it is done and that’s that. After a while you can see some are better than others but also you can see what direction you are going. I’m sure you know all that. You also must know that you don’t have to justify your work – not even to yourself.

excerpted from a letter from Sol Lewitt to Eva Hesse

Via Keri Smith, author of Wreck This Journal and others.

Going's On

It's been a busy and productive week, but not a very interesting one in terms of blogging. We're setting up a new exhibit at the museum, so I got an extra day off, spent being domestic and later watching the Oscars. I spent some time out at Pitt Community College, covering beginning metals and lab hours, which made me miss teaching metals while simultaneously making me doubt all my fabrication and teaching skills. My art appreciation class is getting ready to take their mid term this week. I've made lots of progress on the necklace show, but still have a ways to go. All of this, of course, has been interrupted by regular bouts of lavishing the demanded attention on the cats.

I'm making things here and there, sticking to my "Make something everyday" with limited success (some books I like, some pins here and there). But I'm trying not to beat myself up about it. I feel worse about not making anything of value for nearly a year now. I've done a lot of playing, something I felt was needed and well earned, but now I'm starting to feel like I'm losing the race in a big way. I am trying to set the goal for myself to make a significant piece of work by the end of the semester, but I'm not sure if I'm going to make it. We'll see. Wish me luck.

"I Am, I Make, I Believe"

So I kinda stole this idea from brookefuller on Etsy. She's using this idea to promote other Etsy shops on her blog, but I decided to do it just for me, just to get me thinking about what I am, what I make and what I believe in. I tweeked the "make" section, just a bit.

I am: a maker, a student, a lover, a wanna be fighter, a good time, a could have been, an amature ornithologist, a part time printmaker, a helper, and just a person.

I make: rocks, sketches, jewelry, prints, vessels, cards, work, things with string, messes, arrangements of objects.

I believe: in karma, in hard work, in being patient (although it's hard), that everything happens for a reason, in looking and learning, in spirituality, in giving, in making making making, in tasty treats for good pets, in Santa Claus.

So what are you? What do you make? What do you believe in?