Re-starting the Studio
Every year I travel from California to my farmstead in North Dakota to spend time visiting family and working in my art studio, this year was no exception. Each year I find myself slowly picking up the pieces from the previous year and desperately trying to recall exactly what it was I was doing at the end of the previous summer. Some years this is quite easy while others I find I’ve left a few important things off of my “to-do” list. One of the things left off of this year’s to-do list is to order developer. As so many things were put on the list ahead of the artwork this year (you can see the projects at “The Farm” on facebook) I find myself questioning whether or not I should order the developer or just save the exposed film for developing next year.
I have begun to throw some ceramics, however, and I am struck by the amount of review that is necessary. It takes me a long time to re-learn how to center the clay and I question my recall on exactly how to do it: “Am I doing this right?”
These are a few “sketches” that I’ve worked up so far. They will likely become coffee cups if I can get the handles to dry to the same point as the cups. I’m playing around with a slip this summer and trying a little scrifitto. Next year I’ll see the outcome and decide whether it is something I should continue or abandon.
As a result of some of the work I’ve done On (not IN) the studio I’ve found some objects I’d like to photograph. I’m going to work with some macro photography, one of the features of the lens I purchased at the beginning of the summer. No idea how that will work out or if I’ll actually see the film developed this year or next. Even if the film is developed next year, for this year, at least, the the studio is re-started!
