A Blessed life.

"Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."  ~Pablo Picasso

My life is  blessed. 

I am blessed because I am an artist. I am an emotional person and being able to express myself through art is a blessing for sure. I feel that the creative process is a highly spiritual experience. Art is something that has brought joy into my life and been a wonderful source of stress release. Often the creative process serves as an escape for me when life gets tough. 
I was the product of a teenage romance brought up by a single mom. Our life together has been filled with both struggles and joys. My relationship with mom has not always been easy. As a young teen I wrote a poem expressing my feelings about my mom, saying that she was my best friend and my worst enemy at the same time. I still feel that way today. Early in life I discovered that creating was a way for me to express my feelings and have a release in a relationship that has always been a challenge.

I have a mother who is strongly feminist and practices Wicca. I am blessed to have a mom who has influenced my life in such positive ways. I began identifying as a witch at a very young age. I felt the mysteries and power of being a woman and the magic in nature and I took pride in my sexuality.
All of these things reflect in my artwork. Love, passion, anger, fear, sadness, weakness, power and magic are all themes that have inspired me and continue to today. 

I am blessed with a family that freely fed my creative spirit throughout my life. I was given art supplies and always praised for my creations.  I am blessed to have a mom who taught me printmaking when I was 11 fueling my passion for art and giving me another avenue to express myself. I have been hooked ever since. Printmaking is a process that involves thought and preparation. I have found that just the process of creating art is sometimes a spiritual experience in itself. Artistic process on it's own is a form of meditation. It is a way to connect with myself, quiet my mind and find creative focus.

My love of clay began as a young child. I played imaginatively making mud pies with my imaginary friend, Johnny from the mud pile. I still insist that Johnny wasn't imaginary and that mom just never met him. (Johnny was sometimes mean to me. Why would I invent a friend that was mean?) 

In high school clay class mud pies became beautiful hand built creations. I tried working on the wheel, but at that time I was unsuccessful and totally intimidated. At that time I did not have the patience to focus on pottery because I was young and a free spirit who wanted to play with friends and explore the world. 

My free spirit has brought me many places in my life and in my travels. 
Being creative has always helped me find peace.  

Living in California, I encountered several challenges. With the help of my amazing blessing of a Grandmother, I was eventually blessed with the opportunity to go to college. Studying art was the only option.

As an eager art student on the first day of printmaking class, I tried to score the job of lab attendant. Bill was annoyed at first, but not for long because I soon had the keys to the room and Bill and I became friends. I spent hours alone in the printmaking lab creating art. I am blessed to have had such great artistic mentors in my life.

In college ceramics class I got back into working with clay and with much determination I finally conquered my fear of the pottery wheel. My passion for mud pies has only grown. There are many times in my life when I am going through stressful times and I sit down at the wheel with a ball of clay and my stresses all fall away. I say that centering clay on the wheel is centering in more ways than one. You have no choice but to be calm. You must literally and figuratively stay connected with yourself. You must be stable.

a quote from Centering In Pottery, Poetry and Person by M.C. Richards
"Centering: that act which precedes all others on the potter's wheel. The bringing of the clay into a spinning, unwobbling pivot, which will then be free to take innumerable shapes as potter and clay press against each other. The firm, tender, sensitive pressure which yields as much as it asserts. It is like a handclasp between two living hands, receiving the greeting at the at the very moment that they give it. It is this speech between the hand and the clay that makes me think of dialogue. And it is language far more interesting than the spoken vocabulary which tries to describe it, for it is spoken not by the tongue and lips but by the whole body, by the whole person, speaking and listening. And with listening too, it seems to me, it is not the ear that hears, it is not the physical organ that performs that act of inner receptivity. It is the total person who hears. Sometimes the skin seems to be the best listener, as it prickles and thrills, say to a sound or a silence; or the fantasy, the imagination: how it bursts into inner pictures as it listens and responds by pressing its language, its forms, into the listening clay. To be open to what we hear, to be open in what we say...."

I like working with clay, no matter what the method is. It is a very spiritual art form. What could be more spiritual than creating something from earth itself? All four elements take part. 
Clay is earth. Water softens the clay, Air dries it and Fire finishes it making it beautiful.


When I am teaching pottery class, these are the things I often tell my young students; Stability is your friend. Be connected with your body. Don't be intimidated by your neighbor, everyone learns at different paces. Determination is your friend, keep trying and let yourself make mistakes.  How did you learn how to ride a bike? You fell off. Everyone falls off their bike, but you wouldn't know how to ride today if you didn't get back on and keep trying. Get back on the bike. I feel that it is good advice for learning to do pottery but good for life in general.

My job as an art teacher is a blessing. Teaching gives me the ability to share my passion with others. I have had students as young as 3 and as old as 83. Primarily, I teach young people. My students bless my life in many ways. I find that young people are very rewarding to teach because they tend to judge themselves less harshly, they take pride in the process and they are enthusiastic and full of life. The spirit of youth is uplifting and infectious. 

Teaching is a blessing to me giving me a positive focus. This summer, on the first day of pottery class, a 6 year old boy who was a student in one of my spring classes was in the art center for another class. He visited my class three times while I was teaching saying thank you and being sure to hug me before leaving for the day.  I remember the beautiful soap dish that he made in my class and how proud he was when I complimented him on his work. That sort of thing makes me smile. It is so rewarding to feel that I made an impression on a young student.
Even on those days when I am having a rough time, I return home from teaching in a better mood.

For the past few years, I have gone through some difficult times in my life. I have struggled with finances, an unstable relationship,a stressful living situation, and many other uncertainties in my life. I wished and prayed for a baby for years until I came to believe it would never happen for me. I was sad about that but not ready to give up and I was in the doctor's office to discuss possible fertility treatments when I found out that I was pregnant. I was so filled with joy that I laugh cried my way home. however, soon after, I suffered a terrible heartbreak. Once my son was born, I found myself learning how to parent as a single mom. 
I continue to face difficulties in my life, but I turn to a variety of ways to manage and get a mental vacation from things that wear me down.

Since my son was born, I find that getting to time create is not as accessible as it used to be, so teaching has been even more valuable to me. When I am unable to create or teach, I find myself spending a lot of time in the garden in order to get a mental vacation. Working in the yard is another form of creative energy that gives me something to be proud of and brings me peace of mind.   

My life is blessed. Most blessed because I am a mother. I created a life. It is the most challenging and the most rewarding experience a person can have. It is truly magical.

I am blessed with the most beautiful, smart, funny, rambunctious son that a mama could ask for. 
I always wanted to be a mama and after a long time of believing that I never would be, my boy is proof that if you ask the universe for something enough times, sometimes you will get what you ask for.

November 10th, 2010 the day that I found out I was pregnant was one of the happiest days of my life.
It  blessed me and changed me forever. I am a completely different person than I was on November 9th. 
My son challenges me and blesses me every day. Some days he wakes me up telling me that I am beautiful and wonderful and he loves me and there are moments like the other day when he slathered himself up with an entire tube of A&D diaper ointment while I was rinsing out a diaper.  He keeps me on my toes for sure!
I was talking to someone while on the subway in Boston with William one day and I mentioned that I am a teacher and that is how we get into the aquarium for free. Well, William repeats everything I say and he said, "I am a teacher." The lady said, "Oh, what do you teach?" That was when I said, "He teaches parenting."

My life is blessed. Blessed through a creative spirit, good family and friends, with many great experiences and adventures, wonderful teachers and inspiring students. Blessed with a love of nature and a garden to work in. I am definitely blessed to have a little man named William in my life. 
My life has certainly has not been easy.
My life has definitely been blessed.

This poem reminds me of my busy toddler son.

Noise Day By Shel Silverstein 

Let’s have one day for girls and boyses
When you can make the grandest noises.
Screech, scream, clang a bell,
Sneeze– – hiccup– – whistle– – shout,
Laugh until your lungs wear out,
Toot a whistle, kick a can,
Bang a spoon against a pan,
Sing, yodel, bellow, hum,
Blow a horn, beat a drum,
Rattle a window, slam a door,
Scrape a rake across the floor,
Use a drill, drive a nail,
Turn the hose on the garbage pail,
Shout Yahoo– – Hurrah– – Hooray,
Turn up the music all the way,
Try and bounce your bowling ball,
Ride a skateboard up the wall,
Chomp your food with a smack and a slurp,
Chew– – chomp– – hiccup– – burp.
One day a year do all of these,
The rest of the days– – be quiet please.

Silkscreening progress!!!!

Today we had some major breakthroughs in silk-screening class. It made me so happy. This class has been a challenge for my students and a challenge for me to juggle everyone's needs.
Today I witnessed one of my students, that sweet soft spoken girl who previously needed the most assistance. She was working all on her own and was smiling as she showed me the results of her work. She knew what she was doing and wasn't confused. Seeing that smile made my day.
I was able to help each student little bits at a time and watch as they successfully continued their projects and were happy with their results.
I helped a student who was absent for 2 classes start from scratch and plan ahead for a project that will likely take her 2 more classes. I really like her idea.
My girls learned how to plan ahead and take their time.
I even have at least 2 girls who are signing up for my class again next session.
Progress!!!

Art Through the Ages

I really like this kind of class because we can do a little of everything and dabble in all sorts of methods of creating art. Also, I really love art history.
For this class, we started out looking at cave art. We looked at images of actual cave art and discussed what life was like for the cave people, what resources they had available and what sorts of things might have served as inspiration for their art.
The cave people did their art on the rough walls of the caves that they lived in, with materials that they found in their surroundings. They probably burned sticks to make charcoal to draw with and used plants and minerals to make paint. They painted on the walls of their caves. Maybe by the fireside as they told stories of the hunt of the day.
Our first project was to take large brown paper and crumple it up in a ball so that got really wrinkly and rough. Then we uncrumpled the paper and used charcoal and tempera paint to create our own cave art.
The project was short but the results were great. It was very rewarding.
Next we talked about Egyptian mythology.
We talked about symbols used in Egyptian art and animals that were really important to them. We looked at pictures of the pyramids and statues of ancient Pharos wearing elaborate headdresses.
I told the story of Isis and Osiris the best that I could remember it while we began our next project. We decided to create paper mâché Egyptian masks. We used plaster faces and built them up with newspaper and tape to resemble those statues of ancient times.
The project took three classes altogether. One to build the structure, one to do the paper mâché and one to decorate with paint, glitter and gems.
They looked really beautiful all hung together on the classroom wall.

Our next project is in progress. We have been making coil pots and smoothing out the outside so we will have a nice surface to paint Ancient Greek geometric patterns.

Process not product

I teach a silkscreen class to young people ages 8-10 every Thursday after school. The class is full of 8 girls who are all smart, talented and full of energy.
The process that I am teaching is involved and takes patience and planning ahead. There is very little immediate gratification. Sometimes I feel like I am teaching a class about for-thought, self control and dealing with mistakes.

Silk screening calls for knowing what you want your end result to be and being willing to take lots of sometimes tedious steps in order to get there. It involves knowing what colors you want and what paper or fabric you want to work with. Also, cutting your own stencil out of contact paper with an exacto blade, and sometimes more than one. Then there is planning for registration, or lining up your paper properly so that your print comes out the way you want it. If that process is too much for you, then you have to create a plan that is abstract in some way so that it doesn't matter if it lines up properly, or just have no plan at all and go with the flow to see where the process takes you.
Sometimes this is difficult for a bunch of young ladies who want very specific things to be specific colors and in specific places on their page. The majority of these girls tend to be quite demanding young ladies and it is impossible for me to help them all at the same time, so I have them helping each other whenever possible. That seems to work quite well for most of these vivacious young ladies. Still, mishaps happen that cannot be avoided. Frustration occurs.
Overall, I have to say that most of them have very good plans and if they are able to work through their frustration, they will be happy with the results.
Another dynamic of the class is that we have a variety of personality and needs in the class. There are quite a few strong personalities who are not shy at all and have no problem asking for help when they need it. Which is a very good quality, but there is one very sweet, quiet and quite shy young lady in the class who sometimes gets overpowered by the other girls and happens to need the most help. I have her working on a simple plan that needs no registration and I came in today planning to help her first and still got sidetracked several times. In the end, she and I got together a very good start to what I think will be a very beautiful print.