Crayons! by Andrea Zimon

The story behind this piece is that I had a million crayons and layers of sentiment to go with it. I don't use crayons a lot. Actually, rarely would be better word. Really, you have a better chance of spotting a dodo than me using a crayon.  Still, I could not get rid of them and they seem to multiply when left alone.  Still, sometimes sentiment can have a stagnating effect and I decided to remelt my crayons. 

I think the first point I should make is that cutting crayons is not easy and messy. 

Second, figuring out what colors to put next to each other borders on serious contemplation. Then you get tired, you say the heck with it, and throw the colors in the muffin tin whatever way because you just want to get the job done. 

Third, make sure inspiration doesn't hit you on a hot day. 

Fourth, be generous with the non-stick spray. I used non-stick spray but still had to pry the crayons out. 

Fifth, actually use them. I have used them for leaf rubbings, backgrounds, and drawing.

Now, I can be sentimental about these simple, little, colorful sculptures and one that I want to use. 

Colorful hulls!

Little chips of crayons get everywhere!

metamorphosis complete by karin eda sanborn

may the forest be with you


The Butterfly Place

Tyngsboro, MA

space cowgirl by karin eda sanborn

when it comes to the studio, i thoroughly enjoy having no idea what is going to happen next.
in my opinion...courting this unknown state intentionally explains, at least in part, my fascination with improvisation.

a problem occurs, however, when perpetual experimentation is the only method at work. i find the lack of discipline and depth frustrating. the good stuff happens on the other side of a challenge that tests my potential.

my creative life is at a no-going-backwards stage. it feels like the place somewhere between a writer's block and walking on a tightrope off the edge of a cliff. to address this dilemma i decided to pretend to build a portfolio and commit to any topic, but only one. i satisfied the uncontrolled variable [experimentation] part of the equation by not allowing myself to select the subject...that is what a friend is for. the discipline part is now in my hands.

the work has begun making itself. my favorite 'sketching' tool is a camera.
previews are below...little is not small.

Presence Project #4 by Andrea Zimon

      Maelstrom

This piece started out as ‘whirlwind’ but another antonym of whirlwind is maelstrom. This project presents wind, storm, energy, and destruction with slab coils. It became ‘maelstrom’ when it broke after the bisque stage. I rebuilt by ‘gluing’ it with glaze It also adds a final stage presence by noting wind with slab coils and cut holes to represent airy movement. The curled coils represent storm. The destruction of presence is what happened after the bisque stage. It notes the presence of calm after the storm as starts to picks up the pieces of what is left. 

I used a form to build a bowl in the middle which I put holes in to let light and 'air' through. The glaze produced a thinner coverage than I had hoped for. As with all these projects, they were an exploration, a continual testing of what I can do with stoneware and glaze. Not my best or favorite piece, but a step closer to becoming a better ceramicist. 

Looking downward view.

Bottom view. You can see the holey bowl support.

chewables by karin eda sanborn

are dietary supplements popular in your morning routine?
if so, how much time is given to our molecular friends A, C, E, D, and the B's as they tumble down the esophagus?

daily tai chi martial arts practice replaced my vitamins.
why?
going to the store, sitting in traffic, for a habit that was not my idea in the first place seemed misplaced at best. i certainly have never been able to really measure the effects promised by those chewable Flinstones.

with today's post i'm not suggesting a revolution against your own personal health code whatsoever. vitamin C and Linus Pauling were BFFs. my interest relates to studying personal daily rituals to find which quantities and elements balance, just as a chemist works to balance a chemical equation.

choosing and claiming 5-10 minutes of time as my own has cascaded to making other decisions that have each been directly proportional to moving toward a metric of getting sick less often. other perks included but were not limited to increased flexibility, time for dance movement without dance rules, and finally, noticing and/or choosing the environment i practice in
...dark, light, yin, yang, the empty middle of possibilities.

notice

iPhone journal after morning practice

July 1, 2018

Presence Project #3 by Andrea Zimon

   Loss of Presence – Plecki   

My friend had a cat fish, named Plecki, who died last year. He was memorable because of his markings and size.  He liked to hide and I took great joy in attempting to find him which more often than not was in plain sight. I decide to honor his passing artistically. 

I think it obvious that I took great liberties with my artistic rendition of him. The combination of glaze colors is something only a rendered catfish could pull off. 

Face view (Sans whiskers on purpose) 

Dorsal view

Dorsal view, close up

Yes, he hangs on a wall, which was an objective in creating the piece. 

I just like the ying/yang... 

...Pisces effect of these pictures. 

i write your name by karin eda sanborn

where do names for songs, poetry, art come from?
does work name itself? in my studio, yes it does, often before i have a chance to ask.
in the case where a composition is more cagey, and slow to reveal itself, a direct question will result in a direct answer.

this dialog does not under any condition imply that i know what is going on or am in charge....as Iggy Pop eloquently stated, I am a passenger, but i still have a role to play. more and more i see my creative work as a journalist. my job is to report 'being'. the 3D pen i use is especially adept at this task. it is a 21st century writing tool.

the pen's extruder, guided by my hand, creates an artifact of time. the moment becomes a curve, a dot, a connected line in resin that then hardens as the moment passes. what i love most about this device is its stubbornness. the resin jams or stops flowing completely if the speed button is pushed to extrude at a faster pace. my pen seems to only work on the slowest speed setting or else it can't function. the tool has priorities.

born with a tail by karin eda sanborn

while preparing this post under a completely different topic i changed my mind...been trying to notice how to do that a lot lately. it stands to reason that if i'm smashing my hand with a brick i've got no one by myself to blame if i don't stop.

this month's post is simple, because that is what i want to be simple. simple is as simple does. my good friend here says it is time now to chase some tennis balls.

the view from Dharma's
pen & ink 2018 sketchbook

Presence Project #2

This definition of presence is personal. The presence of horse. 

I used a mold to create the plate shape. The mold was invaluable for transport to class. 

I found drawing on clay difficult. You cannot rest your hand on the material to draw because you will get an indent or crack the plate from the pressure. Consequently, it is difficult to get a clean line. 

 Plates will crack if they don't air dry evenly. This plate was 16"+, which was also a hindrance. I had to stand it up in a shelf with support boxes to dry evenly which was a risk. It survived the bone dry stage and it survived being put in the kiln as well. The brittleness of the bone dry clay doesn't allow you to grab the edges as it will break. 

I was pleased that it survived the kiln.  I experimented with new glazes, which gave mixed results. It isn't my best piece but I accomplished what I wanted to achieve with clay which was to learn something new. I hope to explore more 'drawing' with clay soon.

I apologize for the poor quality of this pictures. It takes equipment and skill to best shoot shiny and reflective surfaces. I, as of yet, have neither. 

in defense of wandering by karin eda sanborn

...a form of connection that is open ended, inexhaustive, non-exclusive, unlimited, exterior, infinite...  

                                                                   —from anarchist without content

Click the photo to view a 12' video celebrating Deleuzian style video making

lightning rod by karin eda sanborn

How does the imagination operate when the hands are engaged?

Can a translation of life occur, as if by proxy, at the round ends of the fingertips? Can the digits act as eyeballs do—to witness, decode, and report data that smell, touch, taste, sight, or hearing take in to the body? Braille operates by this mechanism.

Biological fire bolts shoot from the circuitry in my brain 24/7 as a result of too much information coming in from the outside world. I engage in an essential form of communication when at work in the studio. My palms receive data signals like the call and response that happens when two jazz musicians play music together. The making process grounds the invisible electricity that I feel. Thorough creativity, I can transform a lot of neurological noise into something productive, be it in the form of a sculpture, a drawing, or a song.

It's taken decades to come to this realization. This month's post is a nod to a significant mentor. 
Thanks Peter. I am learning to play piano...

By Peter Bodge

Revisited by Andrea Zimon

In the 1984, I had the privilege of taking a class taught by Anthony Russo. 

 While he probably shared an amazing amount of knowledge, my teen-aged brain retained these three nuggets. 

He taught me to be generous with color as Leroy Neiman did, an artist I admired. 

Second, he told me artwork is never done. You should have seen my brain attempting to accommodate that one. 

Third, he taught me the Italian word 'capiche'. I probably often had a blank, vacant look which probably prompted his Italian language.

Back in March 2016, I took an amazing welding class and started this heart. As you can see this piece sat for a while before I returned to it. 

http://theflawedmystic.blogspot.com/2016/03/welding-workshop-az.html

While I was originally content with it, I decided to do more work on it. I added these hammered with in an inch of their lives leaves with cold joins. I added details of wired wrapping, beads, and horse hair. These additions made the piece more finished and original.  

My instructor's advice has been very freeing to me as an artist. 

Thank you, Mr. Russo and yes, I understand!

photo credit: clarke linehan

photo credit: clarke linehan

A special thanks goes out to Karin Sanborn and Don Brown for sharing their tools and materials so I could make the well hammered leaves and to Karin, for repairing my welds that broke.

signals by karin eda sanborn

The compensation of growing old [is] that the passions remain as strong as ever, but one has gained — at last! — the power which adds the supreme flavour to existence, — the power of taking hold of experience, of turning it around, slowly, in the light.

— Virginia Woolf, Mrs. Dalloway

Signals

MFA Thesis Sculpture Installation

By Karin Eda Sanborn

On display until 2/24/2018

Roger Williams Gallery

77 Amherst Street

Manchester, NH

Hours: Tuesday - Saturday  11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Handprint Bowl by Andrea Zimon

I assigned my friend, Karin with picking out the inspiration word for my independent study in ceramics. She came up with some good ones but the word ‘presence’ resonated the best with me. 

Creating a piece inspired by a word was challenging but the following project was the result. There are ten projects in all. I hope you enjoy these projects over the next ten months as I am taking a break from clay.

Photo Credit: Clark Linehan

Photo Credit: Clark Linehan

Photo Credit: Clark Linehan

Photo Credit: Clark Linehan

Handprint Bowl.  American Indians announced their presence by painting their hands then putting their hand prints on rock walls. As I child, I made paper turkeys out of the outline of my hands. As an adult, I combined both techniques and used the outline of my hand to create my hand prints on rock (i.e. stoneware) to announce my presence.

Please note that these pictures were taken by Clark Linehan, who did an amazing job with this piece and others.