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Do you think the above maxim by Marc Anthony is true?
The Inquisition begins now! NOW!
There will be a quiz.
Frankly, I think it is one of those “feel good” sayings based upon wishful thinking. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I am doing what I love but also working my fat arse off! If you are involved in the world of artistic creation, what are your thoughts? At the bottom of this post I’m going to rant on about this. I’ll keep mostly within the narrow scope of mosaic art.
But first. . .
Our super-friend Jamie Rixie and I have birthdays a couple weeks apart, so for shiggles she and my lovely wife Kathie conspired to consociate these events so we could have a few laughs, play our favorite board game (Upwords) and bestow lavish gifts. I was given a wonderful cigar and gift certificate, a precious basket that was hand-woven by her aunt and an ornate pocket-watch. That’s some well thought-out gifting! In turn, I gave Jamie a Lazy Suzan I built from sweetgum, burl-maple and teak. A great night, especially since I won the game!
In February I made some 36” long cable frames that needed to be shipped a long way off, in order to accomplish this I built a crate from 1” X 4” fir and cut rigid foam insulation into blocks to work as a cushion. Thankfully it arrived intact, after which Kory and I received these very kind words from the recipient;
"Huge thanks to Kory Dollar of Marvelous Mosaic Fine Art for shipping me two of these bad boys! And to Dave for the excellent crate building allowing them to arrive safely from Deer Island Oregon."
Click on any image to enlarge.
Some bulk frames. 30 if you’re counting, with more to go. I’m using 2” X 6” pine ripped to 1¾” as ends for these particular cable frames. Because the glass is ¼” thick I had to make them rather beefy. Do you think it makes my frames look fat?
╮(╯-╰)╭
Rachel Dollar, Kory’s sister, has a daughter attending a Catholic school. There is an annual art auction held to raise money for this educational establishment. Creating mosaics is one of the ways they pitch in. They asked for a cross to mosaic which had to be 34” tall, 17” wide and have a raised border. Say no more!
Seasonal Mosaics Framed
A couple years or so ago I made these frames for these incredible mosaics by Cathy Essig Schwab.
They’re made from teak as they are to be hung out of doors. I don’t have much info on these except it appears to be a depiction of this phenomena known as “distinct seasons” that I understand some parts of the globe experience. In Northwest Oregon, it rains most the year leaving us mystified by this concept of “seasons,” but we do hear about them. The only way you can tell when summer begins in Oregon is when the rain gets warmer.
There does exist this thing called “the sun” which is normally as shy as a mouse at a hoedown, but not from July 5th until September 30th when it decides to stick around like a doorstep salesperson who obnoxiously refuses to go away. Other than that, it rarely pierces through the murky sky the rest of the year.
Sometimes, for added amusement, it falls as “freezing” rain or snow.
This. Is. Hilarious!
ㄟ(´O`)ㄏ
To watch people attempt to drive in this, when they are already, to put it charitably, among the most challenged of drivers you will encounter, is a riot, so long as you are watching from a 15 story concrete building they can’t topple by slamming into it with either their 5,000 lb. Tesla Landfill Cruiser, 6,000 lb. Ford Exploder or 7,000 lb. raised Chevy Truckster with over-sized tires for an under-sized self-esteem. If there is a snowstorm or silver-thaw, stay put, pop the popcorn and watch the panic ensue.
Look, I know we all have our theories as to why we have such a disproportionate amount of wildly inept drivers, but hear me out on this one:
Every day at the DMV where prospective drivers allegedly have to pass a test to judge their ability to go 5 mile-per-hour under the speed limit in the left lane as the instructor rides along. I’m pretty sure that after traveling two harrowing blocks the driving evaluators become so terrified they say “You’re good, you can drive just fine for Oregon, I’ll just get out here and walk back to the office. I may have to first stop at the bar for few drinks to calm my nerves.” The drivers then get a license to share the road with 45,000 lb. semi tractor-trailers going 85 m.p.h.
“Good luck” says the drunken DMV employee watching from a bunker. But don’t worry too much, because if you blink, you will miss this phenomenon as the snow usually melts in 15 minutes and they’re back to snarling traffic to a crawl anyway.
Of course if you live in the hills, it snows a LOT! At least it’s not Portland, right? This is the same place where it is rumored some big smelly and scary creature lives up there with giant feet, however last I heard my brother actually lives in that other wilderness commonly referred to as Portland. And he has a giant nose instead.
Okay, now on to my rant/question;
Based upon my casual observation, many of my wonderful readers are either serious full-time artists and/or entrepreneurs. Meaning that they are either engaged in art or practice some sort of creativity-related pursuit. Instead of producing widgets for some callous soul-destroying corporate fiefdom, they create unique items by themselves within their own realm, on their own terms. Plus they can begin and end their day whenever they damned well please, right? RIGHT? Eh, well, I guess not. Not if they have to put food on their family and keep a head over their roof.
Even though some of us must get out of bed to make that bread, there is a huge contingent of those who generate a prodigious amount of work, not out of necessity, but because they have a burning passion to create! From the part-time and retired, to those who “do art” to stay busy, to those who want to hang with other artists, to those who have enough money to do whatever in the world they choose - they all want to get their hands busy doing this thing called “art.” The common denominator seems to be that creating beauty is one of the most rewarding, inspiring and fulfilling activities that anyone can engage in.
But, the committed artist is usually working exceedingly long hours, going without sleep, pacing holes into the carpet and pulling their hair out over that time-honored tradition of trying to find that ever elusive muse (I know, look at me, right?). Who else does this?
The elixir is that magic spark of creativity. For many, this is analogous to a spiritual experience and can lead to a great passionate outpouring, even leading to what others see as irrational behavior. Am I right? Because creating art has a way of showing us things larger than ourselves and by finding meaning in the chaos, art may allow us to express what we can’t put into words, even words we may not fully understand ourselves but we nonetheless have to express it or go nutter-butters. Only then, when it is complete, can you rest because you have released that pent-up idea. Hopefully then others will look at your creation and it “speaks” to them. You have now shared something very special, part of your soul such as this piece below.
Even though I somehow took horrid pictures of it, does this not make you go - WOW!?! All this so-called AI glop could never create this because there is a part of someone eternally locked into this small square of glass and wood. It is their energy, their passion, their desires, their love - and even their madness.
So do I work for a living? I don’t sleep much, but it is for all the right reasons - there just aren’t enough hours in the day, days of the year, years left of my life to engage in all my creative expressions, such as writing music, generating graphic art or blathering about on Substack. I want to blossom fully, to enjoy my love of life and of all that I can learn during this short flicker of time that we are here. I spend countless hours in my little Schrodinger’s paradise where I work but don’t “work” because I’m doing what I love. I know, some people see it as only a woodshop, to me it’s a studio. Just like this computer screen. It starts as a blank slate and becomes a diary for my yammering on about patterns and things that I think you will like.
I’ve said all that to say this, my fellow artisans; be good to yourself, stay true to your vision, feed that passion and realize that even though you are all doing what you can, sometimes you may feel unappreciated or misunderstood. If that happens to you, just know that someone somewhere can see what lies inside your heart because you put it on display for the world to see. But if there are those who can not see it or refuse to acknowledge the greatness of what you have accomplished, well then, that’s on them, isn’t it.
[End of rant]
If you have something to add to this long post, please send me your comments. If you see any of this art that inspires you, Kory holds classes two to three times a month plus private tutoring. They mail out kits and you can order any kind of frame you want. Look through this Substack at all the various frames and woodworking projects available. Thank you for coming along for the ride.
The cross is loved by the school!! Thank you so much for all you do!
Another good read, my Love, Keep it up!