| Ramble for 01-26-04: You are the most important person at your worktable. | ||
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Folks: As Korkie and I have been discussing, you are the most important person at your worktable. No one can dictate to you what colors to like or what subjects to get inspired by. You are the only one who knows what is right for you. Trick of it is folks aren't used to indulging themselves without feeling a bit guilty. Females especially. Being nice to ourselves comes after work, school, family, job, congregation and community. When that self nurturing should be the first thing you do. Brain Massage for Believers: God loves you, right? God has forgiven you for all past transgressions, right? Well, respect that and love and forgive yourself for ever forgetting that. Say that to yourself 10 times a day until it creates a groove in your brain and becomes part of your belief system. Brain Massage for everyone else, would you have been given the need to create, to express yourself, for enjoying color and design, if it were for nothing? Are all your efforts only going to be to please, serve or administer to others? I don't think so. Got an itch to create, scratch it. Got a hunger to express, go for it, because it is only in the doing that you satisfy that hunger. Otherwise it turns to sadness, I believe, bottled up and frustrated. Get out of your own way people. Get rid of all thoughts of you're not good enough, you're not deserving of personal expression. It's poison to the artistic soul to be censored, limited, or driven by what's popular. It comes as a shock to some, I'll bet, when I remind them that the artist resides within each of us. We all have a personal and private song to sing, fueled by our dreams, which can only be discovered by each of us for ourselves. Oh Darn, more introspective work...work, work, work. We got to look inside to get the stuff that holds us back rooted out, bypassed, see? There's a sadness that is found in some, when they realize that they never asked themselves what they wanted before considering everybody else: family, boss, friends, pop culture. Kick all those influences to the curb for a minute. Step aside mentally and ask yourself what colors do I love what designs call to me what topics uplift me what are my beliefs The belief bit is a mine field, for some of our beliefs are self diminishing, "I can't do that in a million years." or "I'm not talented enough." they are the self diminishing voices. They are part of a belief system we have to discover, root out and replace with "I'll give that an effort." and "How ever it comes out it is where I am in my creative journey." and "It's my life and I'll sculpt what I want to." Gosh darn it and heck. Contrary to rumor I'm not here to tell you what to do. I'm here to ask you "What ya want, honey?". Come to Demo and just ask. It's like this... we're neighbors, we chat over the back fence, you come to my crib to visit, I ask you "you hungry?" and you say, "Yes." then I ask, "What ya got a taste for?" This is how this list works, how the demos work, what I do. But I can't do a thing if you don't ask yourself what you want to express to the world by way of your clay and minis. Bunch of times in Demo I just stop and have a smoke and drink my coffee while I wait for the ClayMates to make up their minds as to what we're going to do next. "Oh anything you want, NoraJean." Well I want to do my laundry but that would be hella boring in Demo. Someone will type "Canes", and then I ask "Colors?", then they got to think about what do they want what a alien concept, someone asking me what I want, gosh... people's minds go blank a lot, just ain't used to it. Well get used to it. It's the first and most important step. Before buying clay, before getting books, before reading about what other folks have done, before getting all worked up not knowing which of those things out there you're going to do first. It won't set right unless you've asked yourself... does any of this help me express my inner visions, sooth my soul, heal my haggard heart? If it doesn't then it's not relevant to your creative effort. I'm laughing here because what I'm encouraging you all to do is be sassy, don't doubt yourself, don't pay no mind what any nay sayers might say, to step forward and reveal what is in your inner heart of hearts. Got to be sassy to do all that is my reckoning and you got to love yourself enough to allow it to happen. That's the doorway to all that you can create, love yourself, God does, and if it counts at all, I do, ergo the rants and rambles, of which this has been one. xoxo NJ |
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