Monday memo #72
What is your clay?
The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
The art of the possible is about transforming ideas, that live only in the imagination, into tangible things that people can touch and experience.
This means that, as a creator, you can’t work simply in the realm of ideas. You need to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty. Making ideas tangible requires that you work with tangible materials.
There is great joy and satisfaction that comes with the trial and error of learning about materials. Learning to work with the grain, to achieve the proper mixture and texture, figuring out which temperature, pressure, or gesture will unleash the right flow. Whether you make sandcastles or ice sculptures or furniture or omelettes, or grow flowers, or play the guitar, every material has its idiosyncrasies and special magic.
The more you work with each material, the better you get to know it, and the more you are able to do with it. Some materials become close friends that you find yourself going to when you have a new problem you want to solve or a new thing you want to make. And like any friendship, your relationship with your materials improves as you spend quality time together.
Almost always, working with your material requires the use of your hands. Not always, but almost always. That’s because your hands are the most useful tools when the mind wants to make or do something.
Exercise.
This week, make a list of your favorite materials. The ones you most enjoy spending time with. What is your clay? This week, choose one or two from that list and make something you’re proud of. See what happens.
This week: troika sessions
Last week we reconnected to reflect on our journey so far this year and what we want to accomplish in these final weeks.
This week, April 30th, we will do one final troika session.
On May 7th we will share our final projects with each other in a “practice session” for our spring open house and exhibition.
And on May 14th we will close out the semester with a bang, and invite friends and family to an open house exhibition, where we will open our doors to share what we’ve been working on with the world.
Everyone is invited to our Open House Exhibition!
Here’s the invitation to our Open House.
Please feel free to share this with your family, friends, followers, subscribers, customers, and whoever else you think might enjoy it.
More information for members is below the fold.👇