Soul Card:  Survivor.  I am the one who knows that cactus blooms sweet beneath the dark sky, the one who can fly when no one is watching.  I am the one who never shows my face in public.  Tammy Vitale

I walked into the living room this morning and no christmas tree.  All gone christmas tree.  All gone decorations.  All that was left behind were some needles and the cinder block that kept it from falling over.  It was a beautiful tree this year.  The best ever.  I guess it’s time to surface from all the holiday stuff, rearrange my feathers and see what’s up.

I notice that I haven’t posted one ceramic scupture piece in a very long time.  No new work there for a month!  A month!  Can’t say nothing’s percolating under the surface though.  I am aware that I love making the torsos and the newer "Women" line  and have been wondering if I can stick to them alone and/or whatever grows out of them. I have enough fish and word tiles to last a while.  Am tired of making fish.  I don’t mind the word tiles every now and then.  Need something new that’s fast and easy.  Will have to wait for that to bloom, I guess.  Unless….

Thanks to the book Image Transfer on Clay by Paul andrew Wandless through Lark Books I discovered this decal paper, Lazertran, that you can put images on with your home printer (either inkjet or lazer – they’re different…also includes yet another for textile/silk transfers).  So I ordered some and made my first page of images to transfer, along with a lot of words.  Supposedly after letting the image dry on this paper for 30 minutes, you can then stick it in water and it won’t run, it will create a decal.  haven’t done it yet but will report on the results.  I have high hopes for this and lots of Women and torsos crowding around hoping it will work as it will open up a possibiliy of a torso collage and women poetry/sculpture.  I actually already did a torso collage in the traditional manner (cut and paste and paint) but didn’t like the result that much (see Nova below left).  Anyways, if this decal thing works (I hope so, I bought two packages of the paper and a "how to" Cd – I can tell you right up front that the CD was a waste of money), then I can do "postcards" on clay, which would be kind of cool – more words than word tiles, but no more time in the actual making (I like word tiles retail wise.  They are actually a money maker for me which means if I stop making them I have to find a replacement).

Here’s my first go at filling up a page for decal transfers – I figure I should try to get as much as I possibly can on the page and then cut out each piece as I want to use it.  You’re going to recognize soul card Fighter and one of my AEM pictures of three women (untitled) that led to the Women series in clay (to the right here). I can see the pictures on a torso, and the lettering (which is purposely curlicued so that it’s hard to read) on a Women piece (should have put the words on center).  In the long run I can see small poems on Women and on word tile size pieces.  I’ve had several artist friends encourage mixing my poetry into my sculpture but to date hadn’t found the process for it.  I think this may be it!

Speaking of process, Leah of Creative Everyday  sent along a really great site to check out:  Luann Udell/Durable Goods.  Luann, in this particular post, talks about creative work and links it to story.  Leah sent it along because she’s reading my master’s thesis at the moment which has to do with story and thought I might enjoy it.  Well, I enjoyed Luann’s blog on a lot of different levels so thought it worth sharing.  Luann let her art lead her instead of her leading it and has obviously gone down some interesting paths including working in polymer clay to make beads and decorations for her quilting, and on to jewelry (doesn’t that sound like all of us:  oooooh, this is fun.  Wait!  that looks fun – let me try that.    Aaah, look, I can do this too and if I just tweak it a little, then….you know the process).

Speaking of polymer clay, here’s a great polymer clay site which I thought I had in my side bar but find I don’t (and must add):  Original Fantasy Figurative Art by Diane Mayne-Forche.  She also does some amazing work in regular clay…have a visit!

thought for the day:  The richness of science comes from really smart people asking precisely framed questions about carefully controlled events – controlled in the sense that  random or distracting influences don’t count.  The scientist, if asked whether a given experiment could be repeated with identical results, would have to say yes – or it wouldn’t be science…But the artist, if asked whether an art piece could be remade with identical results, would have to answer no – or it wouldn’t be art.  In making a piece of art, both the artist and the artist’s world are changed, and reasking the question – facing the next blank canvas – will always yield a different answer….The world thus altered becomes a different world, with our alterations a part of it.  David Bayles & Ted Orland:  Art & Fear:  Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking