New Work in Progress

As is often the case with my pieces, I get an idea/image stuck in my head and don't seem to be able to move on 'til I get it out of my brain and into the kiln. I like when this happens - everything just seems to come together. Working on something as a request or exercise never feels as natural to me.

This time, I'm trying to express a larger idea than, say, with "Relic". That piece was pretty straight-to-the-point. No real insightfulness required to get the message. Which threatens to send me off on a ramble about using one's medium to convey messages or ideas beyond "I like ponies", or "I thought that was pretty", and doing so successfully. But I'll try and stay on point here.

I was talking to my Hubs one day (probably after a few beers - I tend towards epiphany then) about the state of political discourse and the younger generation these days. I'm 50 now. Hard core Punk, like bondage pants and my cute flower print Docs is no longer really age-appropriate, and I find myself muttering "get off my lawn" more often than I would have expected.

Yeah, anyone under 30 is now a kid to me. I don't partake in much popular or mainstream culture.

Anyway, I was remarking that it feels like we have all become over-the-top reactionaries. Listening to others and finding common ground are considered signs of weakness in our hyper-patriotic, 24-hour-news, war-weary, Reality TV world, where we salivate over displays of the worst possible behavior and feel the only way to make a point is to drown out every other point of view, or worse, tell lies until they become "truths", and that, perhaps in some way, the mechanics of our current political machine like that and perhaps even have a hand in the formation of our current popular culture to further their own causes.

Think Karl Rove and Sara Palin.

Hubs suggested this might be a good springboard for a sculpture, so here I am. Wallowing about in mud and ideas.

Technically, this piece offers some exciting challenges. I've never tackled the human form before. Never worked this large before. Never really worked with color the way I intend to on this piece.

I don't know how successful I'll be either in a technical sense or in a larger sense, but I'm excited to take this leap and see what happens and where the clay takes me.
As usual, the best place to keep up with the progress of this piece (tentatively titled "Prime Time") is on my FaceBook page. You don't even need to be a FaceBooker to look at the pics!

So stay tuned and enjoy the ride.
CMCK