It's been a good day today. Though a week late, I finally was able to get to mold-making for ceramic slip-casting, starting with my new Christmas ornament. That's the first piece poured and curing in the photo, above. My trusty handyman made those wonderful clear plexiglass mold boards for me, according to Joan Berkwitz's specifications.Since I have to wait until each piece cures before I can soap and pour the next, I'm working on Boat articles for the Winter 09 issue in the interim. In particular, I finished the technical section of a photography article, and LO! -- I finally understand all that "stuff"! Histograms, apertures, shutter speeds -- Oh my! I also now understand lots more settings on my camera -- "Wow! I didn't know I could do that?!" Long overdue learning, that's for sure.
One of the best aspects of writing for The Boat is that this forces me to sit my hinder down and spend the time it takes to learn something enough in order to write about it. And much to my glee, that photo (above) was taken with the knowledge gleaned from four days worth of research using only my newly-learned aperture and shutter speed settings on my camera -- no complicated lights or contraptions! Now I'm working on Part II of my hoof series, and I was able to organize my thoughts and information, which in many regards, is the hardest part of writing anything. Lots of tremendous learning there, as well.
Learning creates its own high, it's own addiction. Once you get caught up in that whirlwind of positive feedback, it's impossible to stop. It's like crack for a curious mind. Perhaps that's one of the reasons why I love realistic sculpture so much -- there's so much you have to know to create a convincing piece, but there's also so much you have to keep learning to create a responsible piece. So many bits of information are interdisciplinary, as well, allowing your mind to bounce between fields like Tigger on speed. I think that keeps me humble as an artist, and lover of horses. The world truly is a big place full of big, wonderful ideas!
Speaking of education, Hubby is meeting with some classmates today to prepare for The Big Final (Scary) Presentation this week. When he gets home, he'll grill up some beast for himself, and some shrimp for me. We'll watch a movie together, with the Charmkins running amok on The Rat Couch, and then I'll go to bed and sleep soundly -- eager to wake up tomorrow for more mold-making and learning in my own in-house classroom.
Christmas seems months from now, though that little voice nags at me, "It's right around the corner, you dang fool!," but I'll ignore it for now and keep moseying along with these pleasing brain waves. Hopefully this mold will be a good one and I can start casting ornaments next week!
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes." ~Marcel Proust