post #2

     After much thought of what work I want to begin for the quarter, I found that I arrived back at Cindy Sherman. I know I have mentioned in class about  looking at her work already, but I didn't really study her in depth or her themes behind her work all that intently. I did just a bit more looking into her and stumbled across the first part of an essay written on Cindy Sherman and her untitled film stills.  I felt as if my ideas for my work were put into words perfectly in just the first part of the essay.
     I have recently been having this problem. The problem with feeling that my ideas for work have already been done, and done extremely well, so I cannot even attempt my idea.
     Then I spoke with my professor and he pointed out the importance of studying a master and learning from them, their ideas and their craft in order to make new discoveries.  While this sounded reassuring, I have been struggling with getting started.
     Fear plays a huge role in my stumbling block. I do not even know what exactly causes this fear or what it is that I fear. Is it the work? the conclusion? the process? the media? myself? I'm afraid that I will fail. That my work will be lacking.
      I do want to work with self portraits and that is new to me. Sometimes I feel that everyone else seems to work, not only without fear, but rather, exuding confidence.  I wish I had that.
     So I have decided to...not let go of...that is hard...but work despite of this fear and just attempt the ideas I have, and learn what needs to be learned along the way.
     I am going to learn from Cindy Sherman's work and ideas in order to better understand what it is I

In the beginning of this personal body of work, I will be "learning from a master."

I realized that television sitcoms used to do this frequently. There was a theme, character, or story line that was liked, so they made spin-offs. So maybe I can start off as the Cindy Sherman spin-off and then become me in my own right.

http://masters-of-photography.com/S/sherman/sherman_articles3.html
www.theartstory.org/artist-sherman-cindy.htm
www.bbc.co.uk/photography/genius/gallery/sherman.shtml
www.artscenecal.com/ArticlesFile/Archive/Articles1997/Articles1197/CShermanA.html

First Blog: Pottery Weekend

     This weekend was a three day event down in Fayetteville, Georgia called Farm Heritage days or locally called, the Tractor Show.  It is hosted by a local family who own farm land with very historical tractors, machinery, and artifacts. Each year in September the family opens up their property to the community to come out and enjoy history, tradition, demonstrations, and food. There are a variety of individuals and groups who set up and share their craft.  There was a cotton gin demonstration with the oldest working cotton gin in the south! There was also a sorgham machine powered by a donkey. This machine takes cane and spits it. Speaking of donkeys, there were a variety of different livestock there to pet and feed. There was a blacksmith who demonstrated his work process as well as finished product. A saw mill was also in operation part of the time.
     This year, I was invited to take part in doing demonstrations of making pottery on a wheel. I took my wheel and supplies down and got to play with clay as I explained the process of pottery making and even let the young ones come sit with me and get their hands dirty. Children and adults seemed to really have fun with it. I had a blast sharing this art form that a lot of people may not have ever tried or heard of. There was a wood fire kiln build by someone else a while back that my husband helped me out with. We used the wood cut by the saw mill. The kiln was not exactly in optimum condition to fire pottery in. We busted several of the pieces as well as the shelf they were sitting on, but hey, that added to part of the fun.:)
      I was so excited that at the end of the afternoon today, the family invited me back for next year to come down and demonstrate again and sell my work! My husband is going to be working to construct the wood fire kiln a bit better for next year's use.