Guilty pleasures, we all have them. From listening to Brittney Spears on your i pod, spending 9 hours watching a Saved by the Bell Marathon to eating a whole pint of Ben and Jerrys. These are things that we love to do even though we might be too embarrassed to admit it out loud. Well I will admit it. I love Brittney when I am at the gym, I cant get enough of Zack Morris and if I could swim a pool of Ben and Jerrys I would. I love my guilty pleasures. I really do. I love the little moments in time I can steal to indulge in them. I love knowing I am doing something a little bad. These moments are like tiny vacations from my real stressful hectic life.
So imagine my surprise when I realized I have a guilty pleasure in ceramics. And I have perhaps been indulging in it too much. Making ornaments. In some respects considering how limited my time in the studio is, its a time waster. I have tons of ornaments and don't need anymore. But they are so easy to make and I find it to be a huge stress relief. I walk down to the studio intending to start my next masterpiece and instead spend 2 hours rolling out slabs, taking cookie cutters and making ornaments. The repetition of it and the fact I can blank my mind makes it a pleasant task. Knowing they will turn out how I want with little effort eases the stress of drying, firing and finishing.
But the question is how much should I allow myself to get carried away with them? Am I using them to avoid making bigger work because I am so stressed? Or are they a worthwhile exercise, are they really a time waster considering I will eventually sell them? I am not sure of the answer when it comes to me, its probably a mix of both, yes they will make money but I cant let stress bog me down forever. Does anybody else have a guilty pleasure when making their art?
I know what you mean with the slabs and cookie cutters, there is no uncertainty to them and it feels good to know what they will look like when done. They don't take anything out of you, but that's a good thing and a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteYour "art" pieces all take emotional energy, you have to put yourself into them and experiment and take chances, some of which may fail. Sometimes it's nice to take a break and do "safety zone" pieces like ornaments, but when you get your energy back you will start doing more of those lovely crazy gargoyles!