Circles

I recently

sat down

at a

potter's

wheel

and

"threw"

a pot. 

 

That's

what

they

 call it. 

Throwing.

It was an

entirely new

experience for me. 

My instructor sat to my left at her

wheel

and showed me exactly

how to position my body. 

As she showed me what to do

she used words like

"centering"

and

"opening". 
 

It took strength

and

concentration.

 More than I thought it would

and as I concentrated on keeping this arm here

and that hand there in one single second I had a feeling that I've never, ever

felt in my life. As I was attempting to create a perfect circle using as much muscle,

and as little muscle as possible, I felt in a very short moment  -  present.

This is the only way I can think to describe this.  I was completely present

and being present in that moment concentrating only on this one thing - to

create a perfect circle, I was complete.  In that instant, I looked at my instructor

and said something like, "whoa, this is incredible" and she got it immediately

replying, "yeah, I've had ministers who have taken my class and written sermons

about

   this."  

The

c

i

r

c

l

e
....... 

It

is

 ever

 present in my work (even if I try to make it into a straight line). 

 

When I was 8, my father

died in a car crash.  It was due to a blown out tire.  When I was 50, I had a show

called "Mapping Memories" with a fellow artist, Kevin Lucero Less, a very

talented fellow.   My partner came up with  "Mapping Memories" and we both explored

the map.  "Lucy" (as he likes to be called) explored Memory Territories with a

collection of painted pieces and a video.  His pieces were precise - super precise

like a map.  His video was called "Re-en-act-ment" a touching story about loss. 

The interesting thing is that we didn't talk much about what I was going to

do or what he was going to do for the show.  The 'map' piece seemed to

have it's own agenda and that agenda brought our work together. 

My pieces were tires.  Yeah...big, black circles

that I reworked to re-make my tragic memory into something else.

 

My pieces (in comparison) were messy with dripping paint. 

 

The circle.

It keeps reappearing in my work

and every single time it's like
a
 big
 hug
       when      
   I 
see
it's
arrival 

.