Revival

Head up...
Eyes forward...
Stepping out...
Hopeful and optimistic...

for the first time in a while.

Cause I'm not alone.

And neither are you. And that's just the way it is.


(ah, I know the blogsite is a little lean, but I fumbled the template and blew it up, so I have to redo it, but not tonight. Soon though, jam packed with linky goodness)

Sometimes (oftentimes?) the only answer is to stop

thinking
pondering
worrying
obsessing
writing
talking...

or at least, slow way down, collect, settle, regroup.

so, i am.

If you happened by, i hope you are happy, healthy and doing well. Remember, be good to yourself, and play nice with others.

“The main obstacle to progress is not ignorance, but the illusion of knowledge.”
-Daniel Boorstin

Making stuff, pt. 2

Conversation: "What's the point?" me- "well, there's not really a point other than the point is to do it, anything else that happens is gravy..." "I'm not sure I get it." me- "well, i'm not sure there's anything to 'get'. But we're talking about it, so that's something" "yeah, I guess..."

Make it up, make do, make it real, make it personal, make it public. Make it work, make it accessible, make it hard, make it easy, make it cheap, make it fun, make it serious. Make it loud, make it soft, make it bright, make it dim, make it small, make it big. Make it obvious, make it subtle, make it to be touched, tasted, smelled, heard. Make it open to interpretation, make it open for discussion, make it open for criticism, make it open for praise. Make it open. Make it happy, make it sad. Make it from found stuff, make it from made stuff, make it from recycled, reused and repaired stuff. Make it from scratch, make it from a kit, a mix, a box. Make it new or make it old. Make it specific, make it general, make it purposeful, make it pointless. Make it a question, make it an answer, make it clear, make it vague. Make it high tech, make it lo-fi, make it inclusive.

Just make it. And when you're done, make more and make different. No need to explain, justify, apologize, or validate. Make it, and let it go.

Audience participation welcome, feel free to add to the list. Or better yet:

Make your own list.

Have a great day.

Why Make Stuff?

I believe you can change the world with a pencil, a piece of paper, a chunk of charcoal and piece of cardboard, a paintbrush, a crayon, a d-cam, a blog, a cell phone, a recorder; a projector, some clay and a kiln, some wood and a few tools, some sticks, stones, and grasses, a stove and some vegetables, found glass, paper, metal, plastic, a torch, a welder, a stick and some sand, a knife to carve with, an idea, some mud and hay, a computer, some seeds, a needle and thread and scrap of fabric, the list goes on. I know for certain you can change yourself by using any of this stuff or any thing else that might come to mind and hand.

Why we make stuff matters. That we make stuff is important. How we make stuff is secondary, and any method, material or vehicle that allows you to get to what you're trying to see/feel/say/suggest is equally valid. What we make is not the point. That we make, that we DO, is.

Making stuff develops the ability to see, hear, taste, smell and feel. Making stuff is about problem solving, the openness to possibilities, development of skills, internal and external navigation and resolution, a sense of exploration and adventure. Making stuff transforms one from a consumer to a producer, a contributor. Making stuff is not passive. Making stuff involves making choices. Realizing you have choices and can make them is empowering. Empowerment leads to confidence, the ability and bravery to ask questions, and challenging the status quo. Making stuff and then showing it to others it is a social and political act and opens avenues for communication and dialogue. And that is one of the things that will prevent us from becoming mindless drones subserviant to the mass media, politicians, advertisers, commerical interests and charlatans that have constructed the consumer culture for the purposes of distracting and desensitizing us from reality.

Dare to fail big, and attempt to change the world. Resist conformity, think for yourself, make some stuff of your very own.

Why my day job isn't so bad...

Looking off the porch where my office is...Bailey's Peak on the far right, the ridge I live on to the extreme left. And yes, that's a cloud laying down in the hollow..

Thanks for all your comments on my leaves and mountains. I love to share them with you guys.

Afternoon Light

More here.

Saturday Work

Outside, up in the woods. The tree yields firewood and pieces for an installation project to come. The Demon Tree has become the Giving Tree, or maybe it was all along and it took me this long to realize it.

Pictures here.

Have a great day!

Morphing

(so i'm not a Photoshop expert, but i wanted to give you an idea...)

The demon tree:


Some firewood (actually, a LOT of firewood!)



This part...


Will become a chair.


This part....


will become a bench


and this part...


I think maybe a pedestal for an installation I'm working on.

Things change. Sometimes it just takes a while to see it.

Have a great weekend.

New clay

These guys came to visit last night. I'm not sure where they come from, but I think they might hang around a while.

"The situation is not linear. It is as though I am in a forest hunting for ideas." --John Cage

Thinking a lot lately about how everything we come in contact with is altered by our attention and presence, and how the only dependable constant is change.

The universe in flux, micro and macro...I find that oddly comfortable.

Fall

If I were a season, this would be it. I love fall, the slowing, contemplative, winding down time of the year, heading to the stillness of winter.

I haven't written much at all lately (stating the obivious); my daily routine doesn't offer much entertainment value compared to building big sculptures. And I generally believe readable blogs do at least one of these 3 things: inform, inspire, or entertain. Lately, I feel incapable of doing any of these things, except for myself personnally. Which is not meant to be selfish, I just came to the realizationt that most of what I say/do probably doesn't mean much to anyone except me.

Which is fine. I find it liberating to be able to do things that don't "matter" to anyone. So I've been starting to do clay again, making some small paintings, dabbling in some video, reading two fine books, writing a lot about "alterations" (sorting this out in my mind), working at my day job, coming home and going up in the woods and working on the woodpile, taking walks, reading the Tao Te Ching and generally downshifting. Along with the usual random ponderings of things that interest me, like light and shadow, the life cycle of stone, and exactly what kind of tree this is I'm sawing and splitting.

Last week I hung out with my friend Tom, mentor and teacher extraordinaire. The things he pulls out of me amaze me. We were talking about art and making stuff, like we always do, and I said I just recently decided that objects don't matter to me as much as making them does. What I make isn't as important as why I make things. The objects are artifacts.
What matters most to me is the experience. So this is a big thing, coming to that understanding about myself. It might be interesting to see where this leads.

I'll go back over the mountains soon to photo the finsihed sculpture in the daylight. Haven't had time lately, but I really want to see it. I'll post it as soon as I do.

Hope everyone is healthy and reasonably happy and enjoying their days. I wish you all some time to get outside and wander aimlessly in the warm fall light, and a little peace to descend on your like falling leaves.