OMG! It's the holidays - officially! This year has really flown by. It also hasn't been easy as I've had to make some adjustment and take a step back from a lot of creative work. Basically, I've been in workaholic recovery this year which... sucks! There is so much to make and do and "relaxing" is sort of the worst for someone like myself. But you know what? All that resting and recharging has helped me to better organize myself and (hopefully) set things up for a better 2016.
A few recent pieces.
Some of my four and five leaf clover collection.
Growing up, my mom kept a small, ornate silver box in our home library. It was one of the few antiques that wasn't locked up and that we were allowed to investigate. Inside were 2 four leaf clovers. For a few days after that discovery, instead of running outside to play in the woods, I would search our lawn for four leaf clovers - never finding any. I was just unlucky, I figured, and as each expedition resulted in failure, I searched less and less.
In 2012, I was absent-mindedly examining the ground when I saw an actual four leaf clover. "This is it", I thought as I carefully picked it and examined it to make sure it was real, "I've finally found one! I'll probably never find another!"
But, really, it was just the beginning of some sort of weird magical thinking loop. Find four leaf clover = feel lucky. Find more four leaf clovers = luck increases. Find dozens of them = I HAVE BECOME SO LUCKY THAT I CAN BASICALLY CONJURE THESE THINGS FROM THE EARTH. But that sort of confirmation bias would make me sound a little crazy, so when people would ask, I would simply say, "luck". Realistically, though, successful clover hunting requires one special skill: pattern recognition.
In clover hunting, the first thing to do is to always be looking - even if you are not immediately successful. Giving up isn't going to find you any clovers - right? But aside from that very boring, obvious advice, the critical part is looking for patterns - specifically, an variation in the natural carpet of clovers. What should jump out isn't exactly the clover itself, but the sudden interruption of all the other clovers doing their thing. Once you've found one, finding another nearby is much more likely as well. To summarize another finder on the subject - where you find one mutation, you are likely to find more.
I've probably found a hundred or so clovers in the past 3 years - even finding 31 in a single day - but there are still times when I'm forced to give up the hunt empty-handed. So if finding a lucky clover is on your to do list, keep trying - you're luckier than you think.
It's hard to believe that only a few years ago I was just getting comfortable with drawing and painting. It was (and still is, because I am still learning) both wonderful and frustrating.
Around 2012, Alan and I partnered on the design of a piece that we would convert from an image to a fabric print to an actual product. It was scary and rewarding all at once - because I was new to illustration and the proceeds would go to benefit the World Wildlife Fund. It was also heartbreaking to research so many animals and plants that were critically endangered - if not extinct. The totes sold out, and we still sell the print today, with a donation to WWF.
As I work on more pieces for an animal-related benefit, I'm reminded of how far I've come as an artist - and how far I have to go.
Spent time the other night making beads for an upcoming show in Philly this summer. It's my first time working with paper clay - something I chose because it is fast drying (I'm impatient) and easy to shape (but somehow also very particular).