I love snails. They’re really quite beautiful and intricate, almost delicate if they weren’t such chonky little units.
Recently, I sold this little piece and was quite happy to hear that the buyer was someone who was familiar with my ceramics (they have a handful of monsterpots) but was totally unfamiliar with my drawings and paintings.
A few years ago, a couple bought a bas-relief tile I had in a shop in York. That time they were familiar with my freelance illustration work (he was a former art director in a greeting card publishing company I used to work with) but they didn’t have a clue that I also made ceramics.
The conclusion that I may make from this interesting phenomenon is that people who are drawn to my work with be drawn to it no matter what medium I’m working in. That speaks well of the continuity of my ideas. It means that my ideas and facture (the aesthetics) have constancy and connectedness even when I shift modes. I mean— how cool is it that they actually said they somehow knew that the work was mine ….?!
Congruency is the alignment of one’s thoughts and actions. It’s when you “walk the talk”. In 2024, I had selected congruence as my “keyword” for the year and I looked for all the ways I could be stringently congruent with my work and my life.
Congruence doesn’t seem quite so valued today in our political and social milieu. Saying one thing and doing another is just par for the course for the social media influencers and those duly elected officials. Truth is irrelevant and nothing seems to matter.
And yet it really does. I care deeply about what I say and how I show up in the world. Sure, I’m gonna falter and stumble at times being a hooman and all, but I’ve got you to tell me the truth and get me back on the right path. I do fucking care.
The past few years have been steadily “growthy” for me in a multitude of ways and I forsee this trend as one that’ll continue. I’m eagerly looking forward to more of this personal exploration. How’s your growth spurt been?