I love detail work and big big big ceramic art!

Walking around ceramic art yesterday I discovered that I gravitate toward larger art or incredibly detailed art.  There was detailed science fiction art, but most of it was not recognizable animals -however the queen bee was cool. The artist -pictured below- said a bee sat beside her art for a few hours, it was obviously confused by the art, expecting directions.

Calvin Ma does fabulous detail work- he spoke about his work the other night- how it reflects his inability to speak in public. So a lot of his work has detailed houses representing the head of the figure. He carefully carves windows and pieces of wood- with grain detail. He crafts the roof tiles with beautiful detail.

The art that took my breath away was the large art done in large sections. Some were water fountain…I loved those- they flowed, they sparkled – the water helped bring them alive.

There was one woman who told me her story about her art- -she really should have been a writer. Her stories were better than her art. She didn’t pay attention to the detail. It saddened me- as her words about her art were so passionate, yet her art itself lacked her passion. THIS taught me a lot.

Clay is the most delicate of the mediums. When it is wet –directly out of the bag- it is playful- it can be handled and twisted and shaped easily. It is a magic medium at this stage. As the moisture leaves the clay body- it needs to be spritzed or covered in plastic to slowly dry. If the clay is not covered so the clay can evenly dry- it will warp and become misshapen. This is crucial. The clay needs attention. To me- clay is like a lover- needing constant Love. The time to carve and add detail is when the clay is leather hard. If it is too wet- the clay will leave messy remnants of mud, if it is too dry it will break. One has to be aware of the time to work the art- the clay is only responsive for so long.

The woman that told beautiful creation stories worked while her clay was very wet. You could tell which tool she used to frenzzily poke patterns in her clay. I felt the clay didn’t deserve her random poking. It deserved to be caressed and beautifully carved upon. 

Life reflects art and art reflects life. 

Take time to pay attention to the detail. If you are going to spend time doing anything- “HONOR” the work…don’t even open the bag of clay- if you are not going to give to it- what it gives to you.

Keep loving! Keep shining!! Keep singing!! Please- always sing!

I love you!