Hi y’all this is part of a series of posts. If you havent read the beginning I would say maybe go back to day one of the Artist Practice so you get the jist.

On day three I chose for my artist practice:

a. Rubber rings found on Dungeness Beach- particularly ugly and black, something perhaps to do with fishing or boats. ( I feel a little ignorant not knowing what they are.)

b. Sea glass I collected from the Brighton beach over a couple of years- treasure- goes without saying.

c. Beads from old ugly coasters I found in Oxfam on Blatchington Road- treasure. (so many beads!)

Sea Glass mobile: I am not sure where to take the mobile/ jewellery thing right now but I think I will glue the glass on today as I want to use the glue gun. Sometimes it’s the feeling of the need to use the certain type of equipment, other times if the function of the equipment that takes precedence. I get very excited about using the glue gun.

Process: I worked out on paper where the glass should go and drew around it so I wouldnt get in a muddle when adding it on the ring. The glue drys pretty damn quick so you have to get the things you want stuck on. This is one of the most unsustainable things I have done in my work recently, however there is joy in a glue gun unprescedented to none.

I then took the beads off the coaster- took ages- and threaded them on to cotton and stuck them on the edge of the ring. Round and round I went. It looked like an ugly piece of QVC jewellery and although the glue was fun when I looked at it I wasnt happy. Sometimes the process is more fun than the outcome. i almost chucked it. And I was sad that I had used so much of my sea glass as it took me a long time walking and scouring the beach. There was a sense of loss.

Sea glass stuck on ring with beads and needle.JPG

Sketch book with sea glass stuck on rubber ring.JPG

Outside sea glass on rubber ring in sunshine.JPG

Day 4- Unhappy: I think that when I make something I’m not happy with like the ugly sea glass thing it puts me off doing anything the next day. It doesn’t twinkle like I wanted it to and its heavy and clunky. I was trying to make something beautiful out of something ugly. But now its just gawdy and clunky and still ugly and it doesn’t sparkle.

I don’t feel like it today, (making art,) and I keep moving in and out of feeling flat and happy. The beads around the edge were too obvious for my eyes and the gold thread now distracts them for the good of them not being perfect. I’m not a person that makes perfect stuff. I dont have it in me.

Seaglass mobile, turning things around: ‘‘my happy has come back. I managed to make good the mobile and it’s looking sparkly and twinkly. I can’t wait to get some good pics of it in the sunshine. I added more beads and gold flakes to the first, second and third rubber rings that I found on the beach at Dungeness. Its now complete. I took my time working out how to string it all together.’’

It always pleases me when I manage to turn things around. At times I might walk away from creations not going back to them for months and some for over a year. it takes commitment to stick with it and can be an uncomfortable process, with feelings of frustration and unhappiness. Not much of this is shown publicly. Its more of an inner turmoil. The process is as important as the final piece. More often than not now I can cope with not throwing things away, slowly coming to a solution.

Reading back on this it makes me think about the values that I have in my life. What my values are, and how when others have differing values it can cause a feeling of not getting along or awkwardness or discomfort. This is refelctive of the creative process and when the creation is not what I wanted to be- look like, or pleasing to me, or not what I had in mind- it made me feel discomfort and unhappiness.

Working with it and paying it attention and lending it some care I turned it around to something that brought me happiness. I didnt change, I held onto my values and created a togetherness with the object. Holding it lightly. Perhaps this could be refelctive of how we are in the world. Surrendering to what is and staying true and free within ourselves. I think that this is poigniant, as this being, we can use the creative process as a tool to work with situations or our relationship to others. Using the materials to see this from the outside and make it more tangible, manageable. Something we can hold and look at and feel more comfortable with. Handing the rest over to a higher source.

= Ishvara pranidhana is the final niyama in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and refers to surrendering to a higher source (Ishvara). We do this in yoga. When we move our bodies and listen to our breath- life force- we allow ourselves to feel and release whats inside us to make life more mangageble and this ripples out to the people around us and into the environment. Creating more harmony. I think the link between creativity and yoga is a beautiful thing. Everytime I write I find it there.

Big Love Cass

Day 3 & 4 of The Artist Practice: Sea glass mobile- turning things around.

CASSANDRA WHITFIELD