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Copying ... Myself!


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Lately I have had a vague feeling of unease while doing my work ... a feeling that I had seen the work before or perhaps even that I was copying someone ... just a kind of deja-vu to it that I did not like.

 

Then it hit me ... I went back to my photo files of old work ... and there it was on slides from 1997 ... I was doing the same thing then! Granted I was doing the work in Raku, not high firing colored porcelain ... using leaves instead of fish ...but still the exact same idea.

Should my journey be a circle?? UGH ... NO!!

 

The idea of repeating is not attractive to me. I know some artists spend their whole careers exploring much the same ideas, but I've always wanted to push myself to new places ... apparently, not always successfully.

 

I will stop following this fork in the road ...  I think I lapsed back into safe territory because my new ideas were proving to be very difficult to execute.

Weird how the mind works sometimes. :unsure:

 

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I think what you are going through is normal. A lot of times I have found myself revisiting a theme, technique or process from a different direction ending up in the same spot I was years before. I think we bring more to the second or third trip than we had in the first, so things do work out. Like a dog chasing his tail, he never catches it, neither do we, we just keep chasing it. :unsure:

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Chris,

I can see the similarities, but the end product is going to be much superior to the early raku. Your technique in colored porcelain will have much more impact of color which has been your quest for the past several years of working with it.

So, while you may return to some forms from the past, the growth is still very evident.

 

Marcia

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Thanks Pres for the "revisiting a theme" phrase ... So much more interesting than "copying myself".

You know your art speak! : - )

 

Thanks Marcia for the encouragement ... I appreciate it.

 

I love Benzine's image of having caught my own tail and not knowing what to do next!

 

I'll fire them and see what they look like.

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When I finish a long complicated project I will take a break by doing some work from the past.  It may be coiling or some throwing just something entirely different than the direction I have been going.  It gives my mind a vacation,  I have a lot more zest and some fresh ideas when I get back to my regular work.  Denice

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Chris,

I am new here and don't know you guys yet but I just wanted to tell you that I love your work. I know how you find it discouraging to be copying yourself but I'd turn the table around and say that you should be proud! As people are famous for copying what's great :) Seriously, don't worry. You may change little details at first and then you'll find yourself transforming your "old" art into something totally new. I have faith you're gonna end up a massive winner :)

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