Art and Life

Recently, I learned about making mud and I was not happy with some of the work and wanted to throw some of the "ugly" work away. Then I recalled a good article I read years ago in 2018 May, 

Singaporean artist, Wee Hong Ling shared the following anecdote that changed her perspective. She attended a workshop conducted by American clay artist who shared that in the first 10 years of his career, he would throw away any art pieces that did not meet his expectation. Later, he realised that he had lost 10 years of information. 

Thus, I'm going to keep these "ugly" pieces and take note of why they turned out the way. Do read the following inspiring article. I hope you find it helpful. 

Time is a finite resource. What do you want to spend your time on? I know I want to spend more time on Art, Design and Reading. 

The Straits Times

When life deals you a curve ball, you can still have a ball

To read more, click here

At one such workshop conducted by American clay artist Jack Troy, she was struck by something he said. In the first 10 years of his career, the artist apparently placed a trash bin next to the kiln each time he unloaded his fired pieces. With a hammer, he would smash anything which did not meet his expectations and throw it into the bin.

 “He said: ‘After a while, I realised I had lost 10 years of information’,” recalls Ms Wee. A light bulb came on in her head when she heard that. “We do the same in our lives. We write off people and things which do not meet our expectations and throw them in the trash bin,” she says. When the realisation struck her that she was not only moulding clay but learning about life, she decided she would work with ceramics after completing her PhD.

“I had friends and neighbours who went to work that day and never came home. It was another wake-up call. If you want to do something you care about, you’d better not waste time. Those people who went to work that day never thought they were not going to come home.” The day she got her PhD in 2005, she threw away all her books, journals and academic papers. “That was the past. I needed more room for my art. If I were going to use those books again, they would be obsolete anyway.”

Making mud- Some dark and some bright- representing moments of life with bad and good. 

Watercolour background using salt and paper towel