A Letter to Agnes DeMille : Martha Graham

There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening
that is translated through you into action,
and because there is only one of you in all time,
this expression is unique.

If you block it,
it will never exist through any other medium
and be lost.
The world will not have it.
It is not your business to determine how good it is;
nor how valuable it is;
nor how it compares with other expressions.
It is your business to keep it yours, clearly and directly,
to keep the channel open.

You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work.
You have to keep open and aware directly
of the urges that motivate you.

Keep the channel open.
No artist is pleased.
There is no satisfaction whatever at any time.
There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction;
a blessed unrest that keeps us marching
and makes us more alive than the others.

The last time I wrote about this, it was about the first two paragraphs.  Focus on yourself.  Hear that voice from within you.  The one that speaks of your character, what is good, and what represents you.  Don’t let the outside influence it.  If you take it from the outside, it’s the best of someone else, but when you do it it will be second rate, a poor imitation.

And the next two paragraphs paint a different picture … the urges that motivate you … Just what does that mean?  You don’t have to believe in yourself or your work, but only of those urges that motivate you.  Those urges, that hunger that exists, it is what will drive you.  Belief in yourself isn’t a question.  Once you beg the question, that is all that you focus on, and it will simply inhibit you.  If you stray from your urges, your true urges, that hunger, that desire, that fire that conquers all, then you’ve drowned all that you could have been.

Why the hunger?  Because fatigue will overcome you.  Fatigue will encourage you to quit.  Fatigue and doubt will cloud your mind and tell you that devotion isn’t worth it.  Fatigue and doubt will make you question it.  But fatigue will not quiet the hunger, nothing will, only satisfaction.  That hunger will overtake you again, I know it all too well.

But no artist is pleased…

Odd that I’ve found myself thinking this so often these days.  No artist is pleased.  My time spent at Aroma was filled with displeasure.  I was never truly happy with the things I created.  They all seemed full of haste and seldom ever thought through.  Seldom did I ever master something, or take a step in the right direction.  All I felt like I was doing was fighting off fatigue, battling demons that didn’t even exist.  Fighting to keep a small wheel spinning for no reason, using all my strength, just for that.

Looking back, I often think of what a good job I did do.  The kitchen that was, to the kitchen that is now.  It was a horrible trip through it, like a trip through mud and swamp.  At the end of it, it was too little too late.  There was no energy left to savor in triumph.  Food cost, a mere number.  All those experiences, do they add up to anything? 

And so I find myself thinking of this now … no artist is pleased.  All that fills us is a sort of divine dissatisfaction.  This moment here is not enough.  All that I am is not enough.  I do not compete with you, nor with anyone else.  I only compete with me.  I do not care whether or not I stand next to you, merely whether I have taken a step forward, from where I was to closer to perfection … even if it is simply a baby step.

Devotion to anything is a true talent.  Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent persperation.  Everyone knows it.  I could be great, if only I could persevere past this.  But no … I’m tired … lazy … bored … I could be working towards this but then again, I could be doing nothing.

But focus … on that urge, the urge that drives you.  Until that urge has been satisfied, there is nothing else.  There is only beauty in what we can possibly create, dissatisfaction in what reality settled for, and that blessed unrest that keeps us marching.

I said it before, a wolf’s task is to guide those through the forest, and to do so, in the forest we remain.

Until next time.

hi all i have made a grope on the site for the nzgba
here is the link.

http://www.lampworketc.com/forums/group.php?groupid=14

have a good week all beading

Found this online and thought it an interesting read

http://www.glassonline.com/infoserv/history.html

Hi Everyone,

I know, I know…it’s a weird opening line, but every now and again we get given a great opportunity that we absolutely have to share. This is one of those opportunities!

We have access to a pallet load of jewellery making beads and fastenings at less than half price. There are all sorts of shapes, sizes, colours, and designs – and all are really good quality. They are being offered to community organisations either to onsell for fundraising, or for you to use in your own art and craft programmes. Individuals within an organisation are also allowed to make personal purchases (stock up for Christmas or split up with friends).

Here’s what you need to know:

• The beads and fastenings are in pre-packaged hangsell bags. Each bag contains varying numbers of beads or fastenings, depending on the size and design. The beads are well known brands and each packet normally retails through art and craft outlets for $6 or more.
• You can purchase a box of beads (35 assorted packets) for $100. That works out at just $2.85 per packet! Remember, they are normally $6 each.
• You can request boxes of ‘All Beads’, ‘All Fastenings’, or a ‘Mixture of Both’. We’ll do our best to make sure you get what you need, but it’s first in first served.
• There are only 15 boxes available, so you will need to be quick! Postage and Packaging is $10 to anywhere in NZ.

If you’re keen to stock up on beads for your art and craft programme, or think it may be a good way to raise some extra cash, email kerri@exult.co.nz to arrange your box today.

Happy Beading!

Kerri

hi

I just wanted to share a little about my new torch which I love love love!

It’s a GTT Cricket, I’ve only had it two days and still getting used to little  things like the oxy and gas knobs being opposite sides than on my mini CC! But really I’m delighted with it:)

I was so sick of buying tanked oxy this year I invested in a 5lpm concentrator from ASU which is wonderful BUT my mini CC didn’t really appreciate it much.  I had looked into the capacity/requirements etc including Lisa Jane’s review here that it will work just slower and thought I could handle a bit slower pace in exchange for free (eventually) oxyegen.  Well it did work, but in my opinion, not very well,  (a 5 lpm concentrator is recommended to only run at 4.5 too)  admittedly i’m not the most patient person in the world and I felt like I’d gone from broadband back to dialup! 

I really didn’t want to spend another $700 on a second concentrator so I decided on this alternative option…  $300 for a torch designed to run on minimal oxygen! I got mine from Kerri at affordable inspiration and it’s Awesome!

Plenty of heat, good control (when i remember which knob is which!) and making beads is FUN again:)

Package design is as much a sign of the times as it is functional. It may seem to be little more than a protective container, but as the external manifestation of a brand, its role is much more pivotal.

According to Geoffrey Hollows, a consultant at Heawood Research, there are two aspects to packaging: “First, there is the physical function. Second, there is the psychological function and that is the one you have got to get right.”

It is at this unconscious level that consumers engage with a brand. Brand owners have long realised that they can sell a product by imbuing the brand with qualities that the consumer both recognises and aspires to. Powerful brands are those that have successfully been able to reflect and influence a consumer’s ideas, values and attitudes.

It’s what’s on the outside…

As the face of the brand, packaging design needs to reflect the emotional bond that connects the consumer to the product. But, while the concept behind packaging has not changed–to sell a product and create an emotional tie with a brand–the ways in which design has been used to express the concept has evolved to reflect the different cultures and trends through the years.

“The past five decades of consumerism have seen brands and packaging evolve from post-war existence on a mass scale to one of affiliation and personal definition,” says Jonathan Ford, creative partner at brand consultancy Pearlfisher. During the power-hungry Eighties, brands took on a more prominent role to express the identities of consumers. “It was more ostentatiously about design,” says Stephen Bell, creative director at Coley Porter Bell (CPB). “Everything had broad shoulders, even the packaging.”

You can download the entire article from the following website

Having been to visit Laurie Caroll’s studio as seen in previous post, he has two new tools that I thought I would look into and expand on.

The two tools appear to go hand in hand for best use. The first tool is the electric mandrel. Basically the tool has various sized tips in which you can insert the end of your mandrel much the same as you would a rotary tool like a Dremel. The tool then plugs into a transformer that allows you to change the speed of the turning. Laurie appears to have purchased the delux model (correct me if I am wrong Laurie) which takes 9 different sized mandrels and also has better or more variable speeds. Having gone online to Torchbugs and lampworketc the feedback on this device is amazing. It would appear that once you have had a “Deluxe electric mandrel spinner” you will never look back. There are many of us full timers who are starting to develop rsi in the thumb but more importantly the spinner allows a steady even pace rolling so you can apply stringers and decorations with ease, and making earring bead sets, two beads on a mandrel is a breeze. The other cool thing is it gives you a very steady hand for those of us who shake rattle and roll.

The second tool which comes hand in hand is the Roller Marver tool, which is a set of rollers that spin, so while you have your hot bead pressed into the rollers they for a perfect (and I mean this) perfect shape.

You can currently buy these two tools through Bead Glass in Australia I have emailed them to see if maybe we can get a group discount based on volume as the electric mandrel without shipping is $575, and the roller marver an additional $128 without shipping or GST. Maybe they can help us with a combo deal.

In any event I can personally say that I may consider the investment as I have a sore thumb starting and want to have longevity in the game.

Here are two videos that show how both work…

Hello Everyone!  As you can see by the following photos, I’m still new to the world of glassworking.  What I’m hoping is that maybe someone can give me some hints or tips as to what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future.  This was stacked glass.. opaque red on the the bottom, several layers of clear-backed dichroic and a top layer of clear… all COE 96…kiln fired to 816C.

Thank you in advance for any advice on this one.

Artlist was set up initially to provide artists with a single directory of internet resources to assist them as an Artist practicing in New Zealand. The directory was then created and optimised to achieve top search results thus increasing the search results for listed artists. The listing fees mostly cover the cost of hosting as I manage the directory myself. The vision is based around increasing exposure for NZ Art and Artist rather than profit.

Regarding visitors to website:
Approx 1600 unique visitors a month, 5000 page views.
84% from Search Engines
82% come from New Zealand

Most common search term is “nz artists” or “new Zealand artists”

I often get general public requests for information on a particular artist or wanting to know which NZ artist created an artwork they own. The nature of the emails received makes me think it is usually people looking for information on NZ artists rather than artists themselves.

Regarding the artist profile views:

Premium listings ….. 900+ page views

Standard listings ….. 700+ page views

Promotion and marketing:

Primarily I rely on search results having a background in SEO and my own web development business.
Artlist has been added to many business and art directories in NZ and around the world.
I have an account set up for Google AdWords and am due to trial this form of advertising.

Thank you for showing an interest in Artlist.

Kind regards
Amie McCarron

Artlist Director