Hands are the exit of spirit
When the spirit flows from the hands, it is called "labor." From nothing, the hands start to create wonderful works of art. The hands are the exit of the spirit. The movement of the hands embodies human longings and human beings are formed by the work of the hands. The hands create forms that never existed before, and this art of creation is uniquely human. That is, human hands carve an image of the individual out of vacant space. Humans recognize the level of their own spirit by looking at what they have created with their hands. That is, the hands enable the spirit to emerge as works of art, and it will reflect what is in your heart. As a result, what is in your heart shows in your work, and the hands will reflect what level you are, sometimes joyfully, sometimes sadly.

I've decided to devote this blog totally to art and related topics. I'm currently attempting to devote more time to the studio, even if I'm not working on something 'serious'. I've lost the joy I once found there and am determined to find it again. And so, this part weekend I just puttered and made something fun. I'd purchased a kit from Terry Tyson at the very first Artfest (7 years ago?) and it's sat in the drawer marked 'needs assembling' ever since. I used Terry's basic idea and morphed it using materials I had around the house rather than the materials provided in the kit. The arms and legs are made using rubber stamps from Catherine Moore's Character Construction and the face (which Charles insists looks like Bobby Hill) is from Invoke Arts. This was a fun little project.

the one thing

that i learned at artfiberfest was to do what you love and use the things you love even if those things aren't the 'in' ones at the moment.

duh

where does it come from?

the process of creativity has been the topic on 'the creative life' list - an interesting topic and one that i haven't put a lot of thought into in relation to myself.

but - i put one brave foot forward and posted to the list

"the creative process - the inspiration - i think that for me, it is difficult to really tell where it comes from - i work in fits and spurts - there will be a dry spell for weeks and then suddenly, as if from no where, a large body of work will come spewing forth - some of it not so good, but some of it quite wonderful - i fill up the waste bin quite often with the 'not so good' things.

when i try to pinpoint 'where' it all comes from, i think it mostly comes from observation. i tend to be pretty quiet and very observant - i am constantly making little sketches that are more impressions than anything else - brief wisps of images that somehow all gel into something else - eventually.

i try to keep the bits of paper that i tend to accumulate on bulletin boards but they seem to flow out onto every empty horizontal surface - looking over the computer monitor there are newspaper clippings and postcards and pictures torn from books and magazines and photos that i've taken taped to the wall - along with things like an old rusty miniature lawn mower - (i've had a preoccupation with things with wheels lately) and a very organic looking souvener fan someone brought me from samoa

so the creative process, for me, is something that happens when all of the textures and images and tastes and smells combine and magically transform themselves - i wish that i had a more concrete way of saying that - that somehow i could figure out what happens so that i could replicate the process and 'make it happen' on command - but thus far i haven't been able to make that happen. "