Need a creative kick in the head? Read this bit from David Bayles' ART & FEAR

From Art & Fear by David Bayles:

The ceramics teacher announced on opening day that he was dividing the class into two groups. All those on the left side of the studio, he said, would be graded solely on the quantity of work they produced, all those on the right side solely on the its quality. His procedure was simple: on the final day of class he would bring in his bathroom scale and weigh the work of the "quantity" group: fifty pounds of pots rated an "A", forty pounds a "B", and so on. Those being graded on "quality", however, needed to produce only one pot - albeit a perfect one - to get an "A". 

Well, came grading time and a curious fact emerged: the works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the "quantity" group was busily churning out piles of work - and learning from their mistakes - the "quality" group had sat theorizing about perfection, and in the end had little more to show for their efforts than grandiose theories and a pile of dead clay.

Buy the book.  

Why I love Kenton Nelson's sensually intelligent 'Perusal'

Just updated my website with this wonderful painting by Kenton Nelson, a California artist who is keeping the style of the 1930s WPA artists alive. His work is full-bodied, whimsical and richly American.

When I first saw 'Perusal' on a friend's Pinterest board, I was instantly smitten. I love the way the straight lines of the wooden chair and baseboard form a solid perch for the curvaceous reader, which is so apropos of the way craft structure holds up the art of writing. The woman's posture says everything about how it feels to take a story in hand.

For me, 'Perusal' evokes exactly what books mean to me as a reader and a writer: respect for the straight lines of grammar and craft skill, a profound affection for characters reflected in the careful turning of the page, a sensual love of story that is centered in the heart and gut rather than the head, and then there's that gracefully sly pinkie finger doing its own thing.

Huge thanks to Kenton Nelson for allowing me to use this image on my website and business cards. It's my secret dream to own this painting some day, but for now, I'm thrilled to hang it on the wall of my online home. (And I splurged on one of his spectacularly beautiful coffee table books.)

Kenton Nelson's 'Perusal' is the perfect avatar for my online self

Just updated my website with this wonderful painting by Kenton Nelson, a California artist who is keeping the style of the 1930s WPA artists alive. His work is full-bodied, whimsical and richly American.

When I first saw 'Perusal' on a friend's Pinterest board, I was instantly smitten. I love the way the straight lines of the wooden chair and baseboard form a solid perch for the curvaceous reader, which is so apropos of the way craft structure holds up the art of writing. The woman's posture says everything about how it feels to take a story in hand.

For me, 'Perusal' evokes exactly what books mean to me as a reader and a writer: respect for the straight lines of grammar and craft skill, a profound affection for characters reflected in the careful turning of the page, a sensual love of story that is centered in the heart and gut rather than the head, and then there's that gracefully sly pinkie finger doing its own thing.

Huge thanks to Kenton Nelson for allowing me to use this image on my website and business cards. It's my secret dream to own this painting some day, but for now, I'm thrilled to hang it on the wall of my online home. (And I splurged on one of his spectacularly beautiful coffee table books.)

Vissi d'arte (I have lived for art)

Astonishing plastic art rescued from the flotsam

Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang of San Francisco’s Electric Works gallery have created an astonishing array of sculptures, installations and sundry objet d'art from bits and pieces of plastic debris they've collected on Kehoe Beach in Point Reyes, California.

"We're not cleaning the beach. We're curating the beach."