The drought streak was finally broken by a brief rain spell that came from the Gulf. Temperatures are dropping below 110’s and it feels like a gift from God. I’ve been stepping outside early first thing in the mornings to catch the breeze. Even at night the heat permeates. June and July were such spirutally dry and depriving months this year. I often resent people who won’t talk about the weather. I find it truly compelling and special. I love when it rains on one street and not the other. I love hugging someone who has just trekked across town and feeling their extreme warmth. I find it sweet when the sun sets so beautifully that people all over town post pictures of it. I think it’s important for people to mention the wind.
A couple weeks ago I went to Bloomer, Wisconsin. It was my first time in the midwest so in an effort to be present I decided to log off and read, as I have had three psychics tell me that I need to be reading more. I’d already been reading Wallace Stegners “Crossing to Safety” so I didn’t question the feeling of many lives lived when we reached the family log cabin on Pine Lake.
I missed my shop while we were gone. The deep greens and perfectly aged browns from the pine forest seem to be at constant play with the rusty orange and red rocks of the lake. I found myself lost in thought daydreaming of making frames with organic shapes and natural dyes. I’ve been slowly accumulating tools that could help carve out a hardwood.
When business is slow I try to recharge on different levels. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about fire and it keeps popping up in different ways. My friend Jenny (Sister Ceramics) said this about her most recent experience with wood-fired ceramics in Montana: “Now we’re reaching a true and ancient excitement of wood fired ceramics ~ the alchemy of the fire, the labor of the alchemist artist, the effort towards transformation instead of destruction. Considering what it means to enter the fire and not be consumed by it.” I’m taken by this.
My horoscope from a couple weeks ago told me this; "Fire rests by changing," wrote ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. In accordance with astrological omens, I ask you to meditate on that riddle. Here are some preliminary thoughts: The flames rising from a burning substance are always moving, always active, never the same shape. Yet they comprise the same fire. As long as they keep shifting and dancing, they are alive and vital. If they stop changing, they die out and disappear. The fire needs to keep changing to thrive. Be like the fire; rest by changing.
Meditating on these thoughts for now.
July 13, 2023
Today is the first day of the rest of my life. Isn’t that how it always feels when you write a single thought down that another person may read? Like you are all of the sudden the tastemaker of humanity.
After framing for going on two years now I wanted to start a pseudo visual/textual archive of not only my work, but also the ongoings of what keeps me creating. Oftentimes I don’t take the time to document projects I’ve done, or reflect (in a concrete way) on postive exchanges I’ve had with individuals. Even the more simple stimulations like an interesting movie or a good mix go unacknowledged by my own conscience. Sometimes I worry I will forget all the ways in which I grew. So in an effort not to – voila.
I watched this film a couple weeks ago and it’s still lingering in my mind. This was a story that felt so close to me in the beginning. The warmth of the colors and all the spaces. The framer. The American, who shines a light equal to Eli Cash – one of my favorite fictional characters of all time. Inevitably the closeness dissolves and slowly but surely I can no longer relate. In fact, the men become boys. I feel they have turned on me. One by one they pluck the feathers of reality and from each others backs until...poof! It’s all gone.
Der Amerikanische Freund (The American Friend), Wem Wenders, 1977
A fun ride nonetheless. Wenders really knows how to put you in universe just familiar enough and then shake it all up into oblivion.
Regarding framing it’s been a busy summer. I’ve been working on a set of 8 custom panels for an artist. She wants them extra sturdy so that she can apply pressure while painting and not have the worry about the face bowing or warping. I start from 8x4’ birch plywood sheets and cut them downto managable sizes for the cradle, and do essentially the same thing with the masonite. After everything is assembled, glued and cured I get perfectly flush edges with the palm router and an orbital sander. The artist has been spraying the back of them with a acrylic-based paint so that the panels have an extra barrier of protection to keep them flat and in plane wherever they end up. It’s been a good exercise in working with plywood and against extreme Texas heat.
Other than that, I’ve been trying to get more precise with cutting window mats by hand, and using the mat cutter in general. It’s one of those tricks of the trade that is unexpectedly difficult. Eventually I want to upgrade to one of those large wall mount cutters, but I think it’s good practice to work with what you have and be good at it.
Next I will be framing some of my personal collection of art which I am really excited for. To be continued ...