Moving!

No the studio is still not finished and yes, I'm frustrated as all get-out. I'm announcing that the remainder of this blog will migrate to a new address : http://cynthiacusick.blogspot.com. The title will be my name, the sub-title/theme/narrative will still be The Glass is Half Full but I've made the decision to switch all my professional stuff to a more name-recognizable address. Well, one day I hope my name becomes recognizable for my art.

There's plenty to do that will utilize my old graphic design skills, rusty as they are. When I launch everything, it will be like a coming-out party for me! If all goes well, I'll have a Facebook presence that will tie into my blog and Etsy site which will also be reflected on the new blog. Frankly, I feel like I'm running in circles...

I hate computers

I have this love hate thing with computers. I'm a former part-time geek, a geek on the wagon, whatever. I have played with Mac computers for a long time and ended up making a career with them in graphic design in the 80's and 90s. My first husband is a consultant so I have a pretty good working knowledge of them and still think new things are cool. And I appreciate all that technology and computers do to add to my life experience, as I do cars, getting me from place to place with relative ease. But like cars, when things fuck up, I despise them, abhor then and wish I'd never known about them.

My iPhoto program is fucking up and had recently started hanging. The problem is it contains my entire art image database and my Adaptation book template. It also organizes all of my home photos. So when it fucks up, I get pissy and it puts the brakes on everything, including updates on this blog. However, I have managed a small fix, I think. So far. So we'll try not to stare at it too long , lest it decide to fuck up again. Reminds me, I need to back up.

Above is the new studio space complete with ceiling, wall, door, window, upgraded electric and new coat of paint. The enclosed space will allow me to regulate the inside temp thus allowing me to work year round. So time to finish up the details, move all my shit back in and get to work.

Work, work, work

Drinking Cup $18.00
Some goings on...
Finishing up the details of the studio, lighting, inside wiring, shelves, figuring out where to put everything..
Getting ready for a show at the end of the month, entering a few other shows and getting some proposals together with my fellow artist, Crimson Duvall.
And in the mean time, in this hot sweltering weather, I am making some more drinking cups that will be up on Etsy within a few weeks like the ones in my shop at the moment.

In other news...

The electric is getting upgraded today. This makes me excited. While I have been in major transition, I have been sketching and planning and making some decisions. I will be upgrading and organizing my Etsy site in the next few months. I will also be in Chattanooga in the next few weeks for my first, post BFA, non-Kentucky opening at a venue called The Association for Visual Arts! Woo! And I will be making some changes to my website to add the Adaptation show and showcase that. I beat myself up too much. I do make progress but it's hard to see until you stop and look back at where you've been.

Block

Grounded Flight
Stoneware, cone 6 oxidation, glazes, slips, osage orange thorns, cedar branches, barn board
Each piece approx.: 9"w x 5"h x 6"d, Approx. 20" across both pieces

I have this weird psychological issue. Well, maybe it isn't that weird but it certainly bugs the shit out of me on a regular basis. It is this: I am uncomfortable exercising my artistic abilities. In other words, even if I have some ideas I wish to execute, I routinely feel that actually making art is somehow "goofing off" and being irresponsible. I will go out of my way to procrastinate until some other "obligation" comes up to prevent me from simply making work. It's like I don't feel I have any value or worth unless I'm doing something for someone else. I enjoy making shit and stepping back and seeing how it all turned out, but I view that as a selfish act not to be indulged. What the fuck is wrong with me?

Grounded Flight is a metaphor for the desire to fly and be free of this and the prickly, clumsy, wooden things that keep me from cutting myself loose. It's not that I have a hate relationship with home and family, but I do not have a smooth, guilt-free relationship with them either.

Some beliefs about oneself have been taught and ingrained from such a young age, it is gruesome and exhausting to undo the effects. It always reminds me of Dali's Andalusian Dog film. I feel like the fellow dragging the donkey, piano, furniture and all the other items behind me. I am on my path and, truth is, have always been, but I still feel like I am dragging so much baggage. It's just a mental hangover. I need to let it go.

Electricity

Here is some more art for today. Officially titled Study 4, I like to call it Vagina Boat. Stoneware, cone 6 oxidation. That is all for today.

We're closing in on the last big things in the studio renovation. I finished painting inside through the hot, soupy weather. Seriously. I changed clothing at least twice each day since the beginning of this week. Horribly tropical here in SE Kentucky at the moment. Part of nearby Berea got hit with a flash flood yesterday; 6 inches of rain in less than an hour. Amazing.

Anyway, we picked up the heavy-duty electrical supplies which will used to upgrade the electric currently in the garage. How inadequate and dangerous is the electric now? Well, while damp-wiping a drill press that was plugged in but not turned on, I leaned my bare leg against a metal filing cabinet next to the press and got zapped. Not good. After we upgrade, I'll be able to run a kiln. Woo!

Last note for today, I saved a big, hairy spider from certain death this morning, inside the house.

Religion and responsibility

I have a gripe. It's about a certain kind of attitude that seems to inhabit quite a few religious people I run into, usually in a non-direct way. My experience is with a certain "brand" or "flavor" of Christians here in Kentucky but this type of smug, self-righteous attitude occurs in any religious group all over the world. My story is here, Kentucky, with some - not all- local Christians.

Anyway, it has to do, specifically, with using one's religion to justify bad behavior or absolve oneself from any responsibility to practice good behavior. Example: a friend posts a "status update' on a popular social networking site that says in effect, "I wish the world was in perfect harmony! Or even semi-harmony!." I had to agree. I often feel like current public discourse (TV, politics, movies) centers around conflict, fear and aggression. It saddens me and I wish we could even take a small break and simply agree to disagree and enjoy a little of life on this planet instead of throwing more gasoline on the fire, perpetuating the contest of the extremes. So I added that I, too, could go for some semi-harmony. Then some of her Christian friends chimed in with what I felt were excuses for not being kind to your fellow human being. Things like, "Keep wishing!' and "We'll have harmony when we're all dead and some of us are in heaven." [emphasis mine] More Christian friends continued the "when we're in heaven we'll have harmony" theme with, "one day the lord will call his people home" and "we will have it one day in heaven!!"

And I thought, why wait until then to practice some harmony? How shortsighted to use religion to absolve yourself from doing better towards your fellow human being? What kind of childish, selfish justification do you need to keep being a prick to people you're threatened by, people who aren't like you? Rather than sit back and say, "Oh well! When I die, I'll get some harmony. I'll be kind to others – others like me – but not others I don't associate with," why not spread a little good will, patience and tolerance today? Right now. Right here. In your own community. It's so easy to pick apart the littlest thing and criticize and judge. And it's so easy to be kind to people "just like you." But, to reference the religion Christians profess to practice, how about being kind to those you don't like so much, ya know, loving thy enemy? How about showing some love and kindness to them? Not self-righteous, patronizing pity but a real smile, a "thank you" and "Have a good day." And mean it. It won't kill you.