Throwing clay in church

For most churches having an artist paint on stage during a service is a special and unusual event. But at The Stirring, it's just a typical Sunday night.

In the nine years that I have attended The Stirring, we have never had a ceramic artist throwing on stage. To be honest, I didn't think it could be done. There's the potter's wheel to lug up onto the stage. How could you see anything? Wouldn't it be messy and noisy? Years ago, I had even consulted with a couple friends who are potters and they agreed that it was not practical. 

Then along came Ally Guscette. She asked me if we'd ever do pottery on stage. I told her all the reasons we couldn't. She kept insisting that she could. So a little dumbstruck and amazed, I found myself scheduling The Stirring's first guest ceramic artist.


I still had my doubts as I stepped into the sanctuary last Sunday. But as you can see everything worked out perfectly. 

My beautiful artist's assistant, Katie, took a few shots for me (in addition to helping me carry in my supplies and set up). I chose to have a painter on stage in addition to a ceramic artist because I wasn't sure that we could get a camera angle on her. Again, things worked out better than I thought and we could have probably just had Ally up there working. But it is kinda neat to have two artists on stage.

Please come join us Sunday July 29th and/or Aug 5th at 5:30p as we throw some paint and clay at The Stirring.

I am an Artful Mess

So we do these creative exercises at work occasionally. Recently we were challenged to create a label for our personal brand. Something that embodied our personality, traits, and style.

Here's my quick creation. I'm pretty happy with it. It's a combination of doodles and paintings that I have saved on my computer. If you've been to my house, neat and orderly is not my thing. I am an artist and since I'm not married, no room or table is off limits to art making. Every so often the art studio erupts in a fury of creation. It pours out of its confined space and every room has an easel or table full of art. I feel creation needs a little chaos to grow.

Even when the house is in order, there are corners of clutter - little collections of art supplies, mail, or receipts. Stuff I need to get around to going through, filing or trashing.

So that's why I feel like an artful mess. I'm a little messy and a bit of a mess. I don't have a neat and orderly plan for my life. I've had some troubled times. Some spills and tears. But like a good painting, it's all coming together into something beautiful. I'm a messy work in progress. And I'm totally happy with that.  

Yearning for the Open Road

Here's a picture of my summer reading list: "Blue Highways" by William Least-Moon, "In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson, "Turn Right at Machu Picchu" by Mark Adams, "In Patagonia" by Bruce Chatwin, and "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. Truthfully, there's no way that I'm reading all this by the end of the summer.

For me, summer is for road trips. For the past two years, I have gone on a 2,000+ mile roadtrip around Memorial Day weekend. So as Memorial Day came and went this summer with no roadtrip plans and no vacation plans finalized, the travel bug bit me hard. Now I've got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell the open road.

The second best cure is a good travel memoir (or five apparently). I'm currently reading "Blue Highways" by William Least Heat-Moon. And it's been great.

In 1978, after separating from his wife and losing his job as a teacher, Moon, 38 at the time, decided to take an extended road trip around the United States, sticking to only the "Blue Highways." Heat-Moon had coined the term to refer to small, forgotten, out of the way roads connecting rural America (which were drawn in blue on the old style road atlas).

At first, a good story satisfies the travel craving. It's that little taste I needed. I get lost in the narrative and ride shotgun with the author through his journey. But after a while it starts to inspire. It starts to stir up that yearning for adventure. And that's when I relapse. The fever grips me and I get these really crazy ideas. I get to thinking, "well, if he can do a 13,000 mile road trip, why can't I do short one." Why can't I pull out the road map and plot some 3-4 week, 6,000 mile, cross country adventure?

So what would this crazy cross country trip look like? Roughly speaking it'd go something like this: I'd rent a car and drive west. I want to see Austin, TX. Maybe catch one of my favorite bands along the way to New Mexico. I'd stop and say hi to my brother at the Philmont Scout Ranch. Then visit a few national parks like Mt. Zion and the Grand Canyon. Eventally I'd make my way to California to visit my friend Susan Issacs. Here's where I'd return the rental car and switch to the train. I'd take the Coastal Starlight route from Los Angeles to Portland. After such a long train ride, i might rent another car and make my way to Glacier National Park. Once there, I might shift back to another scenic rail route called the Empire Builder and ride to Chicago. Then I'd hop on a MegaBus for the return trip to Memphis with a short stop in St. Louis, MO. I like the idea of mixed transportation. Taking a little bit of everything across country. I think i'd do this trip European style and travel very light. Everything would have to fit in a big internal frame backpack. The kind you'd go trekking across the mountains with. That way I could easily make the switch between car, rail, bus, or plane.

Could I realistically do this? Probably not. I cannot take off more than 2 weeks in a row at my current job. So I'd have to do half the trip at a time. But now I've run off into a tangent. This post was suppose to just be a short list. I really only meant to share with you my summer reading and now I'm outlining my great American road trip.

Recommend listening: David Ramierz "Carry Me Like The Wind"
For every line on my body I want a thousand stories
And for my heart to hold the great American novel 

Open Studios at Marshall Arts

Marshall Arts

639 Marshall Ave. Memphis, TN 38103

Saturday, May 19 

5:00 PM to 9:00 PM

Marshall Arts is having an open studios night this Saturday. If you can make it, you should stop by to visit Ally Guscette. She's a regular at The Stirring and she'll have some beautiful, functional pottery for sale. So get out and support local artists. Here's some samples of her work:

I bought the smaller one already. You snooze you loose.

One of these is mine too. Hands off. (This means you, Katie.)

 You can see more of her work at allynguscette.com

Why you should buy some handmade pottery

Dear Handmade Pottery,
This is my love letter to you. Enjoy.

I think everyone should own some handmade local pottery. Functional stuff that you can use every day. I'm not going to preach about buzz topic things like buy local, sustainability, green, or even supporting small business, local farmers, artists, etc.

I love my little collection because it reminds me of my friends. I'm reminded of whoever made the mug. I have three mugs by Melissa Bridgman and every time I use them I think of her. I think. I wonder how Melissa is doing. What new pottery has she done? Has she solved that clay and glazing issue that's been driving her crazy? How are those chickens? Boy, she did the perfect job shaping this mug. I hope she's doing well and making perfect little mugs with perfect little imperfections. And in that moment, its like I say a little prayer for my friend and share my morning coffee with her.

My handmade pottery pieces seem warmer. Its like they have a warmth leftover from being made by hand. Like how a mug stays warm after the coffee is finished. They are all individual with their irregularities and it seems to give them a personality. I like to run my fingers over the glaze and texture. I sit and ponder them - their individual shapes, textures, colors, how they were made. My other mugs seem as cold, dull, and lifeless as the steel machines that made them.

There's something meditative about the mugs. I love using these mugs. They bring me joy. They give me comfort. They make me smile. I can't imagine my mornings without them.

Thank you. And I'll see you in the morning,
Richard

Art Opening at The Chair Den

Just wanted to share with you some exciting news. My art is being featured in a new local store in Cordova. I think it's great that a locally owned store is so supportive of local artists. If you're a local artist looking for a place to display your work, you should definitely contact Michael Harvey. He's planning to make these art openings a regular event at The Chair Den.

Grand Opening and Art Show

Thursday, May 3 • 5-8 pm

The Chair Den by Babytime

7760 Trinity Rd., Cordova, TN

Featured local artists include:

Kristi Hall, Richard Fudge, Darlene Newman, Joyce Petrina,
Terence Washington Sr., and Gail Wilkins 

Come check out the new space and enjoy refreshments and local art.