Rebirth!

I see that two years ago in Jan 2015 I wished everyone that creative high - the joy of making. Well for 2016 I really needed to wish that for myself. as this past year has been a very slow year creatively speaking. I feel like I am wading though deep mud or snow, with new ideas stuck and I have had to really struggle to get them out.

I will give myself another week to clean up my work space in the basement - it is really cluttered with too many things that need to be thrown out. After that I will start sketching again - it is the best way to generate new ideas - and then hopefully there will be a rebirth of new ideas.

One idea that I plan to pursue is getting impressions from germinating seeds.

Germinating wheat seed impressed in clay

This little tea bag rest (above) embodies a fresh start, a new beginning - it was a serendipidous event! In 2015 I had collected lots of wheat stalks from the Saskatchewan farm where my son and his wife were married. I  made a platter with wheat stalk impressions on it as a wedding present. Several days after impressing the clay I noticed that a seed had fallen from a stalk head and was germinating in a little pool of water by the sink where the tap was leaking. I decided to impress it into clay. Once tile was bisqued it was brushed with gosu slip and wiped off and then glazed with Malcolm Davis shino and a little spray of magnesia mat glaze.
It was amazing the details that showed up - even the very fine roots.

I will have to visit the local farm supply store soon as I think that a platter with rows of different seeds germinating - wheat, oats, peas, corn, etc, would make an interesting piece - and with it symbolizing a rebirth of creativity.  Happy new year!