Wabi Sabi Moon

'Wabi Sabi Moon', Drozda 2010

pavement pattern

Today through Friday the days are referred to as the Disseminating phase. This is the sixth phase (out of the eight) that repeat month by month...moon by moon.  Now time and space become available for sharing with others, through your words and your work, what you've learned since the cycle began on May 14.

This is subtle stuff...not something that you necessarily go out of your way to do, yet as you begin to track the manner in which you move through your world you may actually notice how your creative process naturally and intuitively flows with the qualities that we touch on here. Then, if you choose, you can factor this way of using time into your studio schedule. Aligning with the organic quality of the moon's rhythm gives us an easier way to allow all situations and circumstances to gently unfold.

The focus now is on Wisdom. So you have the chance to consciously disseminate that. I'm currently reading a  marvelous book that I choose for this cycle: Joyful Wisdom  by Yongey Mingyur. Another great studio companion is The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers by Jamie Sams...rich in First Nation stories to enrich the creative walk.

On Friday we step into the Last Quarter phase and the focused monthly time that is set aside for prayerful gratitude is here. How empowering it is to be grateful for everything. What a fine exercise during this time to write out all that's come to visit since May 14 when the New Wisdom Moon began.

I wandered  a bit this week looking for simplicity and made a few additions to my Wabi Sabi portfolio:

'Wabi Sabi Sunset', Drozda 2010

pavement pattern

It was a different kind of week. It strarted, as always, in the studio.

'Tree Rings', Drozda 2010

works in process

media blend

And it's ended, after much new and different experience, with a holiday in the garden relaxing on the back porch...

'For K'

This week my bicycle and I had an adventure resulting in two broken bones This cast that will be with me for the next 6-8 weeks. Tomorrow I begin a week long residency. Hundred.s of students will join me and we'll explore the joys and wonders of working with the non dominant hand.

The Wisdom that I have acquired this month is that even a sudden accident can carry multiple silver linings. I immediately began to ask for the best outcome and it has been one demonstration after another of Merci33...thank you, All is Well.

~May you sing the days

Wabi Sabi e-studio

I've been imaging ways to 'move a house', that is to open up to new forms of creative exchange.

As a way to ignite this process I'll start a series of on-line e-studios this spring.






The first will be an exploration of the imperfect beauty of Wabi Sabi, an ancient Japanese aesthetic. Last year I began offering studios to explore this concept at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. The range of work that has emerged is dynamic and inspired.

To prepare the way to offer an e-class I'm learning how to translate a studio to an e-format... and I'm taking photographs of Wabi Sabi imagery to post on the class site. Here in the west there's no real frame of reference for the juxtapostion between nature and human that defines the Wabi Sabi world. That frees us to provide our own sense of discovery. We begin by traveling with camera in hand noticing what we notice before entering the studio to create a contemporary work.

Celebrate what inspires you today.

drozda photos: twig reflection, knife marks on cookie sheet, tree and fence rail

The Wabi Sabi Wrap

Today was our last Wabi Sabi studio at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and a delightful gathering it was. Each of the six artists presented their completed, or near to completed, piece(s) with an attendant statement regarding their personal experience exploring this ancient Japanese aesthetic. The images posted here are well representative of the handmade, imperfect, transient, natural, soft, aging, patina quality that is often used to describe Wabi Sabi. The artist has a love affair with seaweed and enlisted it as the basis for the hand made paper bowls. She intends to allow them to return to the sea by casting the driftwood (holding the bowls) back into the Chesapeake Bay from whence the seaweed came.

click on image to enlarge

The Wabi and the Sabi

I was given a copy of Wabi Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers by Leonard Koren several months ago. It thrilled me to have a name for the way that I love to look at the world. A name for a particular aesthetic view. This first book led me on a journey and that inspired me to offer an adult fall Wabi Sabi studio at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia. My seven adventurers and I are heading into our third week of discovery and exploration.

The first week I showed slide images that I had gathered through my cameras lens. Then we experimented with simple materials like charcoal and graphite on large sheets of white paper.

Yesterday it was time for the artists to share what they had discovered as they wandered through their week capturing images through their cameras. In the studio we played wildly with monoprints. I also gave them the assignment of visiting the blog of Ian Foster to take in the marvelous world view that he shares as artist/photographer. A Google of Wabi Sabi led me to his work and now I follow his blog so I can easily return and enjoy the beauty that he shares.
The main idea behind Wabi Sabi is a simplicity, an imperfect perfection...and that isn't something that can be easily described (I love that) yet it can come to be recognized. The primary element of Wabi is imperfect/natural and with Sabi comes an aged patina...so we could say that which has Wabi Sabi has a natural patina, a gentle aging. I like that. I hope that I personally can accomplish that as I continue to age :-) and in the meantime there are a small band of us at CACV delving into the opportunity to discover and then create our own work based upon what we find. I'll share how it unfolds over the next four weeks.

I thank Kay Hoffler, Lisa Campbell, and Carol Chewning of the Wabi sabi studio for these images.