I have been stressing out since January. I have had the opportunity to teach four classes thus far and they have been amazing experiences even if at times I have really fallern short of doing a good job with them. I sometimes do not know what a good job entails. Simple things are easily made into mistakes, but it has been a new experience and one that I am very grateful for. I have at the same time been holding on desperately to my past; my death grip clutched firmly around my four shifts at a deli, serving food to the public usually with a smile but sometimes with a sardonic air should I feel that someone views me with condescension. I can honestly say that I don’t belong in that sphere any more. This was the conversation that my mother and I had over the phone yesterday. The day prior my father and I were talking about productivity and problem solving. My large commission lay in pieces, begging to be assembled in an intelligent and eloquent manner. My father talked me through that. In short, my parents came to my rescue this Memorial Day weekend. My parents gave me that objective ear and resolute patience that I needed and with that I have come out of the weekend feeling slightly lighter and ready to get some work done.
Here is the results of my Mortisse and Tenon construction Saturday and Sunday.
The pieces are coming together great and simultaneously the pieces of my psyche are settling back in place. The torrid love affair that is art making has subsided into the calm of production once again and I feel at once full and victorious.
Peace
-Mike