Is Automatic Drawing just a fancy way of saying doodling?

What do you draw when you're not thinking about drawing? When you just want to do something with your hands but you're not trying to create anything in particular? When you intentionally give up control of the outcome? Automatic drawing is a concept that was developed by the Surrealists. Dalí and Miró were really into it (among many others). The idea was to create marks without using rational thought to make an image that was a direct expression of the artist's subconscious. Some spiritual type people say that automatic drawings are the shape of your soul. There are equivalent concepts in music and writing as well.

I have not, until recently, put a whole lot of thought into what I draw when I'm not thinking (duh), but I do actually always draw the same thing. It is spirals, but not just spirals, they are spirals that branch off from one another and make these cool tendril-like forms or conglomerates or river-flow movements or something. I have been drawing them since I was in middle school or so and, more recently, at work on scrap paper and I realized it was time to give them a spot on my blog.

The trick to these swirly-spiral drawings is to know when to stop. They could just grow forever if I let them. So... are they the shape of my soul or am I just doodling? Either way, I'm gonna keep doing these.

Stamping My Feet (of Clay)

Last night was an auspicious night for ceramics. I am more than halfway through my classes at the Feet of Clay pottery studio in Brookline. My teacher is named Liz and is totally lovely and creative! She left the corporate world to become a full time potter, which is one of the coolest things I've ever heard. Check out her work!

In yesterday's class, I was really finding my throwing groove. I threw two lidded vessels plus lids, and two mugs. One of my bowls from last week came out of the bisque fire and I am SO happy with it!

However, what is REALLY getting me pumped is stamps. I have discovered stamps. I am addicted. I am smittin'. I am looking at the entire world in a new way-- everything has become a texture that I could imprint in clay. I have taken wooden ornaments, keychains, and jewelry into the studio to stamp on my thrown pieces, but by far the coolest stamps are the ones I have made myself. So far I have made three and they all look great! I don't know if I want to make pottery with no stamps on them ever again. Is that a problem?

An example? You want to see an example? Well, this is my first mug from the Feet of Clay studio to come out of the glaze kiln. It is complete with my hand made great blue heron stamp and a glaze called "stormy seas." As a side note, for anyone who was not aware, the names of glazes tend to be rich with clever, descriptive names... like a Land's End catalogue but with heavy metals. Oddly enough, I would rather drink out of stormy seas than wear it.

This mug is only 3.5 inches tall by the way. That's like an espresso and a half.