Sculpture Class II

Very rainy today but I couldn't sleep last night so I slept in on a drizzly, dark rainy day. I left for school 55 minutes early thinking I'd time myself to see how long it REALLY took me to get there. I walk straight to the subway stop (a great feat) hop on and ride like a pro then I get out. Now, here's the stickler. If you're walking, you go block to block - 64th, 63rd, 62nd and you know which way you are going. Or you go Lexington, Park, Madison, etc. you GET it - east, west, north south. I get all turned around on a subway, underground, and when it dumps me in the middle of an intersection - say 6th Ave. and 3rd WHICH WAY DO I GO? One way will take me to 5th Ave., one way will take me to 7th Ave. but how do I know? I DON'T and I continue to go totally the wrong way. You'd think I'd get it right 50% of the time, wouldn't you? Nope. So a 5 minute walk to school from the subway turns into a 15 minute loser battle. All I can think to do is to start looking for things I recognize - like Washington Square Park - that's a good landmark, if only it were visible from the subway stop...



The teacher was at class today - YEA! He claims, and I have no reason not to believe him, that he simply wasn't told school started last Monday. He is great. He wonders around and looks and doesn't bother you much but you can ask him anything and he'll jump right in and give you the simplest tips and the best advice and - funny, it is all starting to sound like the same. No matter if it's drawing or painting or sculpture. Look. Don't assume. Don't make an eye. Find the form. Feel the form. (Please don't laugh) connect with it emotionally. It is the emotional connection that makes for great art. If it makes you FEEL something, I think you will like it. This static, reproduction of things doesn't do it. I'm sure this is not the only thing that's important here, it just happens to be the last important thing that I happen to be in the mood to grasp.

My head was too European for this Japanese guy. I had to take a lot of clay away and I got too into his mouth - he had a great mouth. It is interesting - we all made ourselves (how do we do that without mirrors?) but it is, evidently, what we know best. Right now, I need to find the FORM - to heck with the details. After 2 weeks of working on this guy - 'Jun' - I cut him up and made him back into the clay blocks from which he came.


I am doing this art for me, I have to remember this, for no one but me. No one else cares and if they DO care, it'll only be for a few seconds, then they're off to what they really care about. Me though, I think about this head for a long, long time. I so love being able to do art for so much of the time in NYC.