Mud Pies, Pottery and Mankind’s Passion to Create

"India Rising -- the Lost"  24x18 acrylic on canvas (based on legend)

Why I didn’t go into pottery, I’ll never know. As a child I loved puttering with clay. Its sensual pliable warmth gave me my first thirsting for creativity. 

In grade school, a classmate and I made some clay figures. Our teacher gave us two empty cubby holes to use, and we fashioned a home for our two families that even included two dogs and a cat.

Our imaginations went wild as we moved our stubby people from place to place. We spoke for them, barked and meowed for them, and created furniture for them to use for meals, sleeping and being together. Our primitive characters came alive under our fingertips and tutelage.

I did some research and discovered the “Daily Mail” and in their “Science & Technology Section” an article on the history of clay works:

“Prehistoric pottery shows that man mastered clay 17,500 years ago - before we settled and became farmers.” That means man actually made animal figures artistically before there is a record of clay being used for functional purposes.

• “Finds prove that man mastered pottery 17,500 years ago
• “Pottery may have been invented - and forgotten - several times in human history
• “Later, technology was used for carving animals - NOT for making cooking vessels
• “Discovery came from before time when humans settled down into farming communities”

By Rob Waugh

“Earlier theories have held that the invention of pottery happened during the period about 10,000 years ago when humans moved from being hunter-gathers to farmers.

“But our ancestors didn't use the technique to make pots - instead, they created ceramic animals using clays baked in ovens.

“The finds - along with other recent discoveries in China - have forced scientists to rethink the history of pottery. It's now thought that the use of ceramics was invented - and forgotten - several times during history by different societies.

“The new find in modern-day Croatia is evidence of a community of prehistoric artists and craftspeople who ‘invented’ ceramics during the last Ice Age – thousands of years before pottery became commonplace.” As an artist, I find this positively amazing!

"Hey, Coconut, Mon!"  16 x 20 mixed media on canvas

And from the late Robert Genn:

“The Big Picture

“In life, in art, a major problem is failing to see the big picture. Individual parts may be just fine but the overall doesn't get off the ground. Together with your individual sensitivity and your own vision, what you're looking for is strength, pattern and character. We're talking art here: 

• “Go a long way back; I mean a long way--into the other room. 
• “Small room?--look at it through binoculars--backwards.
• “Look at it in a mirror.
• “Half close your eyes and look at it. 
• “Half close your eyes and work on it. 
• “If you're working from a slide, throw the projector out of focus and find the compositional faults. 
• “If you're working from a color photo, run it through a black-and-white photocopier and find the faults. 
• “If you're working from your head, try holding pieces of toned paper here and there to see improvements by adding color.
•  “If you're working on location, don't let yourself be tyrannized by the scene. Keep asking, "What could be?
• “If you're working on location, look through the viewfinder of a camera without taking the picture.” 

 “It's easier to get the big picture in a little picture, so think of your big picture as a little picture and your big picture will fly.”  Well said!

Robert & Sara Genn Twice-Weekly Letter

Below:  "Prayer Circles" acrylic on canvas

The Time for Growing is Now -- Why Wait Until You’re Too Old to Dream?

(My African Violets)

Today, one of the things on my “To Do” list was “find pots and plant Christmas cactus and Amaryllis.” The cactus was a broken branch that I discovered on the original plant. It was barely hanging on and was shriveling up for lack of moisture. I plopped it into a glass of water and watched it not only take root but come back to life. Now it would become the basis for another beautiful cactus.

The Amaryllis was a large bulb my son had given me a few years ago. The first year it had nine enormous blooms!  I didn’t know how to preserve the bulb and mistakenly put it in a paper bag in my refrigerator (“store in dark cool place, right?”). Wrong!  Apparently, the lack of air and the interaction with other produce is deadly to the root.

When I discovered this, I pulled it out, re-potted it and prayed for the best. For almost two years it failed to bloom. I kept caring for it hoping that some day it would not only reach for the light, but flower. Last year I got my wish. We had 12 blooms from this amazing bulb. Now because of cooler temperatures mid-winter, she is blooming again. We’ll see what happens. I keep this plant on my lanai, which is Florida speak for screened in patio.

I love to experiment with plants. My African violets, a gift from my oldest daughter, are blooming in my kitchen window. My Kalanchoe Jeans were in two pots. I planted them directly into the ground (after all, this is the “Tropics.”) and they are now blooming their hearts out. You can get almost anything to grow down here. The only thing I’ve had trouble with is Hydrangeas. Something about the sandy soil and the acidic quality it lacks. Even adding nutrients didn’t work.

(Kalanchoe Jean)

 It’s fascinating the way plants and animals alike take root and thrive in places where they feel grounded and comfortable. Give me a place where I can settle in and make my nest and I’m happy. In fact, you can turn a tiny apartment into a show place or a hovel into a home. It’s all about attitude and the skill to “make do.”

When I was a young newlywed, I learned how to use an old Singer sewing machine that was once my grandmother's. I made quilted and stitched quilt squares and circles that adorned our bare walls. I would purchase fabric remnants and imagine what I could do with them. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was the beginnings of my art career.

Art is all about beautifying space or making a statement. Look around at where you are right now. What could you do to enhance the space you’re in and the budget you have to work with? As one photographer said, “Find beauty in imperfection;” you can improvise and capitalize on what you have on hand.

This lovely Tiger Lily was a "jumping off" place for my imagination, and it inspired me to paint "Namesake" below, using acrylics on canvas. Let your thoughts run wild and then settle on the idea that drives you! 

 Creativity isn’t always about “selling” things or becoming famous. It’s about completing yourself and challenging yourself to become what you were meant to be and to do. 

Allowing yourself to spread your roots and grow in the direction that satisfies your long-held yearnings will make you happy. Begin creating now. Don’t wait until you’re too old to dream or imagine. Turn your “imperfection” into beauty.

(Lichen growing on a Southern Pine stump)