What I Did At Clayathon

I made a beaded bead, two birdies and started a mad scientist figurine. I was not productive at all. But I don’t care. Leslie Blackford was our guest artist and she gave some wonderful demos on sculpting and making figurines with heads that screwed on and off so you could change them depending on your mood. Leslie’s work is engaging, memorable, clever, funny, punk, outre, and wonderfully screwy all at once. She is a patient, generous teacher and down to earth. We all had a blast. I bought one of her necklaces (a pizza eating cat) and part of the clasp bore the words, “Damn everything but the circus!” I looked up the e.e. cummings poem which seems to describe Leslie’s approach to polymer clay. I think it’s also a good way to live:

Damn everything but the circus!

…damn everything that is grim, dull,

motionless, unrisking, inward turning,

damn everything that won’t get into the

circle, that won’t enjoy, that won’t throw

its heart into the tension, surprise, fear

and delight of the circus, the round

world, the full existence…

— e.e. cummings

I saw old friends, made new ones and took a cold walk on the Atlantic City Boardwalk to Caesars Casino with Leslie, Rob Yost (who came up from Maryland wearing his skunk hat) and Barb. Emily and Lisa were preternaturally prolific as always. People sculpted some incredible things and I took scads of pictures. I hope to post most of them in the fullness of time.

Here are my birds