Studio Notes - December 2020

Yes, 2020 was a horrible year.  For many of us it was frightening, disorienting, inconvenient and sad.  But for many others it was brutal and full of unspeakable grief.  And for still others, it was their last.  As difficult as it is to put all of this into any useful perspective, it helps to remember that people still fell in love, babies were born, flowers bloomed, cooking came home and science prevailed.  

Time well-spent

To see:  Alan Magee is an extraordinary visual artist who lives in Maine. He is also a musician.  His song, “Singing in the Dark Times”, is on Vimeo and includes images of his work.  It is a timely, thoughtful meditation on life today.
   
To do:  Whether it’s called a mitzvah, philanthropy, charity, altruism or paying it forward, the idea of a random act of kindness is a powerful one.  Imagine that every single person in your town (or neighborhood or household) did something kind for someone else each day for twenty-one days.  That’s how long they say it takes to develop a habit. I’m starting today.  Join me?

To read:  “ I’ve always believed that some amount of optimism, conscious or unconscious, is inherent to the art-making impulse—that to dedicate oneself to something as difficult and thankless as creative work, one has to believe that the world is still good enough and open enough to be transformed, even briefly, by beauty.”
       -Amanda Petrusich, music journalist and staff writer at The New Yorker, “The Best Music of 2020”, November 27, 2020

Coming up:
A quiet winter, staying home, working for a show at Cove Street Arts in summer of 2021.  

I’m taking an online class with Ellen Weiske through Metalwerx in January, Hold the Line: Tinkering with Wire.  Looking forward to new materials and techniques to play with!  

And bowls.  I’ll be exploring the bowl form.  Who knows where that will go?

Please stay strong and stay well in this season of light. 

All best,
Lissa