Splitting

Splitting: ... is a defense mechanism where people disown parts of themselves that they feel is not acceptable, particularly behaviors fueled by their urges. They do this by saying “I’m not really those things”, “what I feel isn’t me” instead they lean into (excessive) morality and struggle to behave in manners that aren’t true to their needs or in disregard to their feelings.

This shows up in the studio as self censorship, avoiding subject matter that others deem objectionable. Usually an assumption based on past experience. 

Marcus

It’s the last scheduled life drawing session for the year. The room was pretty much empty except for Andor, Jess, Amy, Marcus (our model), and myself. No complaints, I prefer the informality of familiarity that we have between everyone that was there.

It was a bit of a struggle to find a place where I felt comfortable with what was landing on the paper this morning, the connection between eyes and hands were fuzzy, but looking at the last few of this morning’s drawings, the results are still satisfying. To walk in and be able to put down a figure on paper was the goal of the year and that goals beenchecked off. Next year? Work the figure into interior domestic landscapes. Here’s to 2020...

Uniquely Common

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Essentially, what we do isn't all that uncommon, but what we bring to it... now that is what makes it uniquely uncommon.

It's hard to tell how seriously to take any design while it's going through the studio.

To "like" it carries so little weight as to be pretty much meaningless. On line it needs to draw eyes to even begin to have any perceived semblance of validity. Sitting on a shelf with other work in a gallery, it needs to pop out and ask to be picked. But loud isn't what I pull out of my kitchen cabinet or what I'm holding when I sit down at the end of the day. 

Yes, I like a loud design. It's what I click on and choose in the marketplace, but I prefer quiet and comfortable when I'm sitting down and having a moment. 

I'm not sure how to resolve this. 

I like to make loud things.

Hell, I might even be known for it. 

Dispite this tendency, I firmly believe that studio ceramic's primary role is to directly provide a pivot for the conscious mind, a means to down regulate our system into the moment. It's a stance rooted firmly in the formal notions of ambient ceramics, Ceramics that can iplay an active role in influencing the ambiance and geography of a personal space.

Babble

Babies bable through the phonetic library of sounds as they move towards the sonic forms of what's going to be their native tongue.

Is it incompetence or curiosity that takes us on this course or rather the likelyhood of a mix of the two? Is there some deeper relevance to why we stop babbling?

Is it because we've decided what to say or because we no longer are curious about possibly?

Pink WallFlower

When I look at this, I can feel the fleeting connection through a reciprocal gaze in my upper chest.