I finally got a walk today, cool and wet underfoot, and my neighbors in full bloom and art
Happy little elephant! I have the most cheerful neighbors.
Yesterday was cool enough to make stock
Then use it in a powerhouse soup of kale and celery with barley. Plenty of berbere seasoning and Old Bay, sprig of Italian basil on top.
The kale was easy to cut down, just had it frozen then hit the bag sharply, result small pieces, fine for purpose.
Last visit from Kira the Stringmaker last evening to thank me again, before she goes home, tell me she liked it, and is going to do it again, using the kit I gave her.
She's teaching her Mom and aunt on Friday evening, all arranged! She not being big on talking, Gary filled in the details. So cool. The string going out into the world! Each one teach one.
The drawing of shrubs, no, people, reminded me of another couple of similar experiences, where the customer insisted I knew nothing!
One was back when I was making a lot of paper beads and selling at festivals. One necklace made from shiny coated paper with a black and white abstract design was snapped up by a lady who said I'll take these porcelain beads, please.
Not wishing to commit fraud I explained they were paper, and she swept that away with "No, they're clearly porcelain!" and went off with them, happy with her buy.
Later I realized her knowledge of beaded jewelry extended to people who bought and strung beads for sale. The idea of making them didn't fit in there.
I also quickly found that when someone needs an artwork they are not interested in chatting with the artist. More than once I've been waved away from explaining the methods by the buyer saying none of that matters. I need this! Happened with prints, drawings, miniature needlework, same thing.
I think this is probably quite right. The work matters, not the maker. In the best work you feel as if it was just out there waiting for you to make it, not something you thought up! You assist it into existence, rather than force it.
And here's a lovely Maggie Rudy tribute to one of everyone's favorite destinations
And to the continuing brave struggle in Ukraine
You're an ambassador of string!
ReplyDeletePurchasers not being interested in the bg details is interesting and I guess makes since. On the flip side, a photgrapher may cherish an imperfect photo because of the circumstances and the work that went into it.
ReplyDeleteOh, nothing like a know-it-all artsplaining to the artist!
ReplyDeleteYou do have cheerful neighbors. I love that hibiscus so much and the crepe myrtle (it is crepe myrtle, right) is a glory as I am sure your soup was too.
I didn't know that tree, so if it's crepe myrtle, thank you for the id.
ReplyDeleteThe hibiscus is right across from me, amazing saturated color.
The soup sounds yummy. I never thought of chopping up kale that way! It's odd that people don't want to hear about the art they're buying.
ReplyDeleteYay libraries!
On our first cool day in weeks I made soup stock too. I made the soup on our first rainy day. So good. The kale is a great idea. I use spinach sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThat stock looks great! I love to boil up veggies and make them into soup, using lots of the herbs which are growing so well right now.
ReplyDeleteI love your customer descriptions. One of my own favorites was a woman who said "This looks like I just dragged it out of the closet and threw it on. I need it!" Gaithersburg, MD.
ReplyDeleteI collect cupped hands sized ceramic bowls (soup, tea, coffee, possibly dessert) always from the studio that brought them 'to life' and very preferably only after a conversation with the artist. It is not the 'thing' in itself (although I delight in holding them); it is the opportunity, the person, the experience which make the thing live, that let it represent something and hold memories.
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't one listen to the artist? I am always amazed and impressed by the skill that has been employed, even if i don't personslly feel anything for the result.
T, I think that's the point. If you have an instant bond with the artwork, as my buyers do, it being work you either need or don't, then it's between you and the work. Anyone else, even the maker, is intruding. If the work doesn't have that kind of valence, I suppose you can talk with the maker. But my experience is that there's an intensity of response that excludes the artist.
ReplyDeleteI do love the dangly things on your neighbor's porch. First starting out doing etched glass, at a show, very simple designs surface etched, framed for hanging in a window I stood aside listening as one woman explained to her companion that the work was tissue paper pressed between glass.
ReplyDeleteEverytime I pour the water down the sink from boiling or steaming something, I think of you and how you would be saving it for soup stock or some other arcane use. I still pour it down the sink.
That lady is so familiar. Try explaining original handmade paper to someone determined it's papier mache. Or recycled blended paper..
ReplyDeleteThe porch you like is at a house that an acquaintance in music, miserable little lady, used to live in. She was terrified of the change from a lily white development and fled to one. I think this family is a distinct improvement!
ReplyDeleteI suspect the person who insisted those beads were porcelain wasn't a creator herself. I know I always want to know more about how things are made and like to talk to the artist if I can, but perhaps I'm coming from a standpoint of being creative myself. Certainly have no clue how non-creative types think!
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