Thursday, May 15, 2003

One of my absolute favorite quotations, from Henry David Thoreau: To improve the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. 3:32:42 PM    comment []

You can also use the net or mind map to get an overview of the artwork ideas you're exploring right now. Here's an example I did this morning: It can also be interesting and helpful to do an "intellectual mind map" occasionally. For this, you usually need a much larger sheet of paper - at least 11x17. Note that you can fold 11x17 sheets slightly offset so you can still 3-hole punch them to put into binders. And you can even trim more 11x17 sheets slightly and tape them to the main one, so you can create very large mind maps that still fold into a binder. I did this earlier in the year when I consolidated a lot of ideas for my bowls. An "intellectual mind map," though, is a way to discover links among various areas of knowledge that interest you a lot. It gives you a wonderful picture of "of all the myriad things to study and learn about in the world, these are the topics that really interest me personally." If you want to learn more about nets and mind mapping, there's quite a bit of information online that a google search will produce. You can even buy software for making mind maps on the computer. I've looked at the software options occasionally but have never tried any. You can also buy software that organizes your computer documents more like a mind map. I think it cross-files documents automatically so you have lots more links among files than with a usual hierarchical method of filing. I learned about mind mapping mostly from a book on writing, called Writing the Natural Way. That's where I learned that as you're making a net, at the same time you discover what to do next. I'm not sure how this works, but it does work 95% of the time. By the time you're done, you move naturally into doing one of the sparks - or in the case of writing, you know how to start writing. Another classic source of information on mind mapping is The Mind Map Book,by Tony Barzun. He's written several based on mind mapping. From Barbara Sher's book, Wishcraft, I learned that making a flow chart has more power than a list. Like a net, the flow chart uses little circles or ovals connected with lines. You can organize a project in flow chart form. It shows you at a glance what has to be done before something else - and what you can do right now to move the project along. I used this to organize the building of my first blacksmithing studio, which I built myself with the help of two friends. Without the flow chart, I don't think I'd have believed I could do it. If you're going to post something on the wall to help you stay focused, I think a flow chart works better than a list. Of course, it may be different for you. That's where experimentation comes in. 2:13:36 PM    comment []

Netting - like a mind map for the day At some point recently I started experimenting with the idea of simply doing what I most want to do - trusting this process. This starts in the morning. I get up and over my first cup of coffee, "net" the sparks for the day. I think I've mentioned this before. I draw a small circle in the middle of the page, and write in it "sparks" plus the date, like "thur 5/15/03." Then I let the pen or pencil jot down more little circles with lines connecting them to the center and/or to each other. Each circle has a word or two to express a "spark" - something that I feel a real spark of attraction to do today. Hmm. With the new scanner, why not scan in a net so you can see what I mean? (Bear in mind that I was doing this net for myself, so I just scrawled out stuff I'd understand - no excellence in penmanship here.)   11:50:44 AM    comment []

A quick check to see if I'm on my path Lots of ideas are evolving about making some small things to sell along with my bowls: small paintings and collages, plus inkjet prints and notecards from those. What holds the ideas together is the theme I'm exploring now in both bowls and collage. Still, this morning I thought I'd check to see if these "extra" things are distractions pulling me off my true path. The simplest way I know to check, is to do the "unlimited resources" exercise. This is a quick free-writing exercise. By free-writing, I mean that you let the pen or pencil write without any attempt to plan or control what it says. You discover your meaning as you write. To do the "unlimited resources" exercise, you write at the top of the page something like "If I had unlimited resources - all the space, money, and assistance I could possibly ask for - even dream of - what would I do?" Then you let the pen or pencil write whatever comes. I used to do this as the "ten million dollar" exercise. "If I had ten million dollars, what would I do?" At some point, ten million dollars didn't seem to have the effect I wanted. And you'll notice that I added "space" as well as money and assistance, because for several years I've felt very cramped for studio space. Here are my results for this morning: "If I had unlimited resources - all the space, money, and assistance I could possibly ask for - dream of - what would I do?" -------- Same thing as now - I'd do whatever I most wanted to do - collage, painting, bowls - definitely cartoons too - studying as I go. I'd go ahead and declutter this place and make it as beautiful and comfortable and inspiriting as possible. [Note: by "this place" I meant all of Stonebank Farm - the cabin, my studio, my partner's workshop/office, and various little storage places - and the five acres or so of land.] I'd take good care of myself without being obsessive about it. I'd expect that if I felt a passionate, heartfelt desire to make something, then it's needed in the world by someone who will value it and pay me well for it. ----- That was it. No dramatic changes. A nudge to get with the cartoon drawing again and to follow my impulses to declutter the place (and why not plant more flowers) but on the whole, I'm right where I want to be, doing what I want to do. This is a helpful check to do every few months. 11:49:18 AM    comment []